And in 2014 – in the first EFL Trophy Final in the club’s history – Posh were second best for a lot of the game against a team from the division below, but scored from two set-pieces and a penalty.
Nerves probably played a part and it looked like they did on Sunday as a young Posh side were dreadful for the opening 20 minutes against modest opposition.
But winning is all that matters in a Wembley final. The celebrations create as many memories as the football itself which will definitely be the case with Posh fans as a scruffy 85 minutes was followed by a remarkable finale which saw three goals and the outcome ultimately decided by an outrageous fluke.
None of that mattered to the majority in the crowd who launched into sensational spur-of-the moment acts of joy. No-one will care that the spectacle overall lacked quality. Posh won. That was all the fans wanted and this special team delivered it.
TALKING POINTS FROM POSH 2, WYCOMBE 1….
1) There is only possible starting point and that’s the form of skipper Harrison Burrows. He’s created some body of work this season. Goals, assists and inspirational leadership at a club he’s grown up at for 14 of his 22 years. He’s far from an orthodox left-back and must have supreme football intelligence to play the position with such attacking quality, while also improving as a defender. After a double strike at Wembley he now has 11 goals for the season which is ridiculous for a defender. Only two have been penalties. It’s the sheer pleasure he appears to derive from playing for Posh which strengthens the bond between skipper and supporter. His relationship with the fans is matched only by that of legendary 1992 Wembley winning captain Mick Halsall and that’s some compliment.
2) The headlines Burrows is creating will inevitably attract the attention of bigger clubs. Posh rejected bids from the Championship in January and clubs at that level, and maybe even higher, will be back for sure in the summer. He could get a big move before Ronnie Edwards and no-one would have predicted that a year ago. Edwards was alarmingly sloppy for the first 20 minutes yesterday, by his own high standards, which many 21 year-olds would not have recovered from, but the England age group skipper is mightily cool and confident and he was more like that Rolls Royce again after the break,
