Fergie praise for Maddison

Peterborough boss Darren Ferguson is convinced he can hang onto match-winner Marcus Maddison.

The former Gateshead gem struck with a glorious second-half free-kick to earn second-placed Posh maximum points against Barnsley at London Road. Maddison guided a 30-yard effort past goalkeeper Ross Turnbull in the 69th minute to register his fifth goal since an early-season arrival from the Conference. It also capped a rousing fightback from a home side who had fallen behind after a quarter-of-an-hour to the third goal of young striker Devante Cole's loan spell. Manchester City youngster Cole volleyed in a James Bree cross but Posh hit back on the stroke of half-time as Conor Washington struck for the fourth successive match. The forward rifled a loose ball into the bottom corner of the net, having earlier been denied by a post. A fine Turnbull save denied Jon Taylor moments before Maddison completed the turnaround and Barnsley's hopes of a recovery were dashed by the dismissal of James Bailey who collected two yellow cards in the space of nine minutes - both for fouls on Maddison. Ferguson said: "Marcus' goal was worthy of winning any game at any level of football. "It is an incredible ability to hit the ball so well. It is more Bale than Beckham, and it is a joy to watch. "He couldn't really get into the game in the first half, but he dropped a bit deeper after the break and had a huge impact. "It wasn't his best day, but when you score a winner like that it doesn't matter. "I really don't think we will have a problem holding on to him. He has only been here for two minutes and is loving his football. "And I think we're entertaining people. It is a bad habit to fall behind as we are doing in games, but it is a great habit to recover from it to win." Barnsley boss Danny Wilson took plenty of positives despite the defeat. He said: "It was a great game of football and it has taken a mistake and a worldy free-kick to beat us. "If we had come to Peterborough, sat back, soaked up pressure and been beaten 2-1, I would have been really annoyed. "But we put in an exceptional performance, had a real go at them and overall I'm delighted with everything except the result. "We showed our intent and put them on the back-foot but we're disappointed to concede after a couple of moments of indecision and sloppiness on the stroke of half-time. "If you have to be beaten in a football match, then Peterborough's winner wasn't a bad goal to lose to. "We had a couple of half-chances that we could maybe have done better with, but the lads gave everything they had and that is all you can ask." Breaking news, transfer gossip, line ups and goal alerts from your football club - delivered direct to your mobile. Sign up for Sky Sports Alerts