Dave Challinor, the manager of Stockport County, believed his team earned their late equaliser against Peterborough United on Good Friday.
Just before halftime in the 90th minute, Posh appeared to have taken a huge step in the right direction when they took a lead from a goal by Ricky-Jade Jones, but Jack Diamond’s superb goal ensured that the game ended 1-1.
County’s prospects of automatic promotion are likely now gone, as they are still one point from securing a play-off spot. After ending a four-game winning streak, they fell to fifth place and are now six points behind the top two with three games remaining.
“The season’s context alone is what makes this a disappointing outcome,” Challinor stated. “The team from Peterborough is excellent. They have just defeated Birmingham City at Wembley, are free-scoring, and frequently contend for the playoffs. However, as I explained to the players, we would have considered this a nice point if the season had just begun.
“We were aware of their style of play, but in the first half, we made mistakes with our push. We gave them too many openings, and they will damage you if you do that to a squad with so much speed and skill. Given how upbeat they are, you would think they would generate opportunities at home, but their objective was up to us. It was the result of several mistakes we made.
To have a chance of defeating them, we needed to be at our peak, but we weren’t. We were not very good during the game. Although we weren’t at our best in the first half, we have a wonderful tradition of playing till the very end and never losing. Because we were chasing, we took the chance of starting the second half early, but we also played more aggressively to keep them trapped back and ultimately earned our point.
“A point here is not the worst thing, and we have no divine right to defeat any team in the division. When we still have everything to play for, we accept it and go on to the next match.
