A 47th-minute strike from George Boyd and Craig Mackail-Smith's injury-time finish saw Peterborough United through their first ever league game against Leeds, but the visitors were justified in asking questions of referee Lee Probert at the end of their second defeat of the season.

Boyd's close-range finish divided the two teams until Mackail-Smith scored at the end of a windswept contest, but a display of mediocrity from Leeds also created a slight sense of injustice.

Dominic Green appeared to handle the ball in the build-up to the opening goal, and McAllister's regret over his side's uninspired performance may have been tinged with dissatisfaction at Probert's apparent oversight. He was, however, too magnanimous to show it.

The controversy was befitting of a day which started badly for United's manager and ended with a blunt display that contrasted with every other which had helped to build the club's sequence of six successive wins.

Yesterday's loss was their first in any competition since Oldham Athletic took three points from United's opening home game of the season.

McAllister took a forthright approach to Peterborough, retaining the deliberately attacking line-up which prised a 1-0 victory from a character-testing game against Hereford last weekend, but his chosen team failed to survive the pre-match warm-up. A broken finger forced the retirement of goalkeeper David Lucas, ending abruptly his productive period as McAllister's first-choice ahead of Casper Ankergren.

Ankergren had been named among the substitutes and was hastily promoted 20 minutes before kick-off.
The change did not alter United's strategy significantly – rather than analysing the loss of Lucas with caution, McAllister instead committed three players to his attacking line – but it was an unhappy portent for the game ahead.

Joe Lewis, Peterborough's keeper, was tested with surprising infrequency, and the tepid creativity among his players led McAllister to admit that the better side had won. Many neutral observers shared his view. Not since their defeat to Oldham had United been so short of ideas in front of goal.
After losing Lucas, it was initially reassuring for McAllister to see Ankergren react sharply to the threat which presented itself inside his box after only seven minutes.

Boyd lost Rui Marques 20 yards from goal and sliced a shot towards Mackail-Smith, whose volley crashed against Ankergren's chest. Marques recovered with enough haste to reach the rebound first and bundled the ball past his own goal.

Ankergren was equal to a less potent effort from Paul Coutts in the 18th minute, smothering the shot low to his left, but although Leeds had created no more than Peterborough's attack, their first clear chance two minutes later was asking to be finished.

Jonathan Douglas' chipped pass gave Luciano Becchio the space to sprint away from the home defence and draw Lewis away from his line, but the striker's half-hearted lob bounced across Lewis' goal and wide of the post.