Peterborough United 1 v Charlton Athletic 5

I had a good day out yesterday. Watched a mate's son make his full debut for Dartfordians at 18 years of age and felt proud of him myself (I wish he'd still come to home games but we managed to grind that out of him these last four or five years).They shipped a lot of points after the break but took the game to their top-of-the-table opponents first-half and carried a small lead at the break. 


Throughout that first half I thought something was wrong with my phone. Every update I got on it showed that Charlton had scored another goal. Apparently it was 4-0 at half-time! It was only when back in the club house for a cold drink that television confirmation was received that we were indeed thrashing promotion rivals away from home. What a game to have forsaken! I will get the detailed catch-up from a few mates who went but I am now seriously considering the Rochdale trip.


I think the last time we scored five away was at Grimsby Town at the end of 1999. I remember it well because it was a Friday evening and we were playing our way out of the Championship. It was also the night before the Scotland v England match which we drove on to, only to see Paul Scholes break my heart. Can we expect to wait until 2021 to repeat the feat?


The bonus, of course, was that whilst we were putting Posh firmly in their place, those around us were also taking set-backs. I fancied Brighton and Southampton enough away from home to back them both - both went down! Huddersfield also lost at Oldham, so our win has moved us into that precious second place. We now have a real opportunity to make that spot our own as we face a number of genuinely lesser sides - Yeovil, Bristol Rovers, Rochdale, Bristol Rovers and Walsall. There is no reason why we shouldn't be able to extend our current run at least until Christmas when we face Brighton and Southampton.


We are carrying a few injuries after yesterday and one or two face suspension (Semedo) but we appear to have a good squad of players and the feel-good factor should be enough to see us through against Barnet at the Valley on Tuesday. Hopefully, we will be close to full strength for Yeovil in SE7 on Saturday.


Once again, Richard Murray deserves recognition for not panicking after the Brighton humiliation. The Parky Out Brigade were beginning their post-match assembly behind the West Stand. Where are they now? Disgruntled and looking for somewhere else to focus their negativity. This is a lesson we never seem to learn. I just hope that more people are prepared to shout them down the next time they get their opportunity to whine and spew their bile. It may have taken longer than we all expected for the new side to come together, but few can still seriously argue that Parky's bought a load of duffers and that he can't manage.


I still don't believe we will have enough to get out this season but it is proving to be a particularly poor division with very little genuine class. Perhaps that is our biggest opportunity?