The Lions’ Emirates FA Cup run came to a hault at Peterborough Sports on Saturday after a last minute goal from from Maniche Sani sealed the tie.
After a fairly even first half, which the visitors slightly shaded, Sports came out on top with a improved display in the second 45 and deserved their place in the fourth round qualifying.
Lee Shaw saw his effort cannon off the post on the tenth minute, the striker nearly opened the scoring after good work from Kaine Felix.
It was the closest his side came to scoring all day but goalkeeper Lewis Moat was kept busy during a frantic first half.
He dealt well with the height of Hamza Bencherif and Kennedy Digie on set-pieces and preserved a clean sheet in front of a record crowd of 435.
As the tension built at Lincoln Road the game turned into a typical cup tie with end to end football after the break.
Shaw had The Lions’ best chance of the half but failed to connect to George Cantrill’s cross and the opportunity was gone when Bencherif fired over from the edge of the box.
Felix was a constant thorn in Peterbrough Sports’ side with the winger delivering plenty of crosses into the box.
Marcus Dewhurst saved his side on three occasions during the second half but he couldn’t stop the winner.
A through ball found Maniche Sani who shot early across Dewhurst and into the top corner, a special finish to settle an entertaining tie.
Will Thornton returned to The Lions’ bench after missing the entire campaign so far with a broken jaw, Dylan Barkers and Andrai Jones recovered from their respective injuries and Scott Garner was back after the birth of his baby boy this week.
Attendance: 435
Team:
- Marcus Dewhurst
- Reiss McNally
- Brad Nicholson
- George Cantrill (90′ Clayton)
- Hamza Bencherif
- Scott Garner
- Kaine Felix
- Jamie Spencer
- Lee Shaw
- Aram Soleman
- Gabriel Johnson (75′ Jones)
Substitutes:
12. Dylan Barkers
14. Andrai Jones (75′ Johnson)
15. Scott Garner
16. Paul Clayton (90′ Cantrill)
17. Aleks Starcenko
18. Will Thornton
