Northampton Town
Peterborough United
The Cobblers scored early into the first half as Cameron McGeehan was found open from a set piece and barrelled it past a scrambling Nicholas Bilokapic, giving Northampton an early advantage.
Peterborough gained control of the match and dominated possession, finally they brought the game back to a deadlock as James Dornelly's cross eluded The Cobblers’ defence and Malik Mothersille tapped home.
But it was Northampton Town, who had struggled for the majority of the second half who took all three points, as Tyler Roberts held the ball up in the danger zone and played McGeehan in who put it through the legs of Bilokapic.
Despite the Derby defeat, Peterborough United remain above both of their local rivals in the table, but will be frantically checking their shoulders for the looming relegation battle that has its grips on Fergusons side.
With four games left until the calendar year comes to a close, Posh now find themselves two points off the drop zone and could see themselves inside the bottom four before the new year.
Player Ratings
Nicholas Bilokapic - 5
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Nicholas Bilokapic was not up to his usual shot stopping standard against Cobblers, letting two of the three shots they had on target into the back of his net, his distribution however looks to be improving as he managed to not make any mistakes playing out from the back despite storm Darraghs best efforts.
James Dornelly - 5
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Dornelly struggled to perform to his usual attacking standard, which made life hard for Cian Hayes who had to constantly run at the defence.
Dornelly looked to be decent when defending but to concede two goals to a team in the relegation zone was below the standard that this defensive system should be performing at.
Jadel Katongo - 5
The Manchester City loanee failed to perform to the standard we are so used to seeing him perform at, despite remaining calm on the ball, his defensive performance left a lot to be desired allowing McGeehan to elude him and score a goal from a set piece which should have been dealt with.
Having just returned from injury Katongo will hopefully learn from this performance and build back to what the fans know he is capable of.
Fernandez was excellent in attack making clever runs that stunned The Cobblers, running the full length of the pitch on occasion without being tackled. However, despite this, conceding in the 84th minute to a chance that could have been dealt with was is inexcusable and negatively impacted his match rating.
Jack Sparkes - 5
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Sparkes had an average game and looked to be solid in attack and defence for a good portion of the game, but in a similar way to Fernandez, allowing Roberts and McGeehan to have a chance that was easily avoidable is frustrating which is why he has received a five.
Hector Kyprianou - 7
Kyprianou played just over 60 minutes for Posh on Monday night having just come back from a hamstring injury, and performed at the levels that Posh were able to get from him last season, he was a stand out performer and the team looked far weaker when he came off.
His partnership with Archie Collins has been something Peterborough have missed, keeping him in January must be a priority for Darren Ferguson as his side looks weaker without him in it.
Archie Collins - 7
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Collins played below his usual level on Monday night and despite this still has earned a 7/10 for his performance alongside teammate Kyprianou.
Collins' vision and tempo control was imperative for Posh on Monday night and despite not winning the game helped in setting the counter attack off which Posh are so well known for punishing teams on.
Joel Randall - 6.5
Randall again proved why he is one of the best creative players in Posh's system, relentlessly pressing and creating opportunities for the three players in front of him.
However, his lack of physicality harmed Randall as The Cobblers players were able to win balls that Randall should've won and move past him with ease which was detrimental to how Peterborough set up defensively.
Cian Hayes- 7.5 (MOTM)
Cian Hayes was made to fill the place of the absent Kwame Poku who is the league's second top goalscorer with only Aston Villa loanee Louie Barry ahead of him.
Despite this pressure, Hayes could walk away from the defeat with his head held high as he became a nightmare to deal with for The Cobblers defenders. The ball became an evolution of his body moving in a flow state that their defenders did not expect and he looked a threat all evening.
Malik Mothersille - 6
Malik Mothersille was the goal scorer for Peterborough United and brought the game level after McGeehan's early strike, however Mothersille has so much to his game that he didn't bring to the Derby on Monday night.
The Northampton defence deserve their flowers for keeping Mothersille as quiet as possible as in this system, Mothersille is usually a massive problem for teams in League One.
Ricky-Jade Jones - 5
Jones has credit in the bank for Peterborough this season, but he would be the first to admit that this was his worst performance of the season so far. He had a chance to score as he was left with a tap-in from five yards out but he blasted the ball over Sixfield's east stand.
His usual relentless press wasn't as effective and in a similar way to Malik was unable to get going which resulted in not scoring enough goals that on a different day Posh may have scored.
What comes next for Posh?
Peterborough will face newly promoted Crawley Town at the Weston Homes on Saturday as they look to hoist themselves away from the grips of a relegation fight.
After that, they have to face high flying Stockport County and Mansfield Town on Boxing Day before playing Barnsley at the Weston Homes as the last game of 2024.
These games will be crucial for Posh, most noticeably the Crawley Town fixture this Saturday as a loss for Posh would find themselves inside the relegation zone and leapfrogged by Crawley in the league standings.
