CITY 3 PETERBOROUGH UNITED 1

PRIDE came before a swift fall for the last City managers to enjoy a winning start.

Relegation was the result at the end of both seasons when Chris Hutchings and Bryan Robson made flying entrances to the dug-out.

We will find out in May whether that unfortunate trend will continue in a campaign which has seen Michael Collins and now Gary Bowyer follow suit.

The recent records suggest that the new manager “bump” usually gives Valley Parade a miss – and when it does happen, that initial euphoria proves a false dawn.

One win does not wipe out the worries and clear the debt in terms of City’s perilous league position.

But it does offer something to cling on to.

Bowyer had spent his first week at the helm talking about belief and making good players feel better about themselves.

An increasingly-jaundiced City public waited to see fine words turned into actions in the only arena where it mattered.

Saturday provided a convincing answer; a first statement that the collective will to drag themselves out of this sorry, self-inflicted mess remains.

Hope flickers with a team seemingly still willing to right the many wrongs that have blighted the last 14 months. It will be a battle against the odds right up to the final day but at least City appear to have the stomach for it again.

Bowyer loved every minute of his return to the touchline; from conducting the crowd with arm-waving encouragement as they greeted his appearance from the tunnel to heartily thanking the fans at the final whistle.

The separation and bitterness of Portsmouth had been replaced by a sense of unity and all fighting for the same cause. Valley Parade felt a happier place to be again.

Bowyer had joked that he had not slept since accepting the job last Sunday because of the excitement. His suit had been pressed for days, his shoes gleaming like a guardsman’s ready for the big parade.

But there is a steel behind the feelgood patter.

At the end of a long and draining day, City’s new boss would not let the last question of his final press conference go unchallenged.

Asked about the need to replicate that level of performance in “nearly” every game now, Bowyer butted in: “Not nearly. It’s got to be every game.

“There’s no nearly. If you’re nearly in this game, you come a cropper.

“They’ve set the standard now, they know it. They’ve spoken about it in the dressing room without me telling them and they’ve got to work their socks off.”

Bowyer had not limited his dressing-room preparations to platitudes, aimed at simply lifting heads for the final push.

He had also given the team a good shake, changing shape and personnel after the Pompey collapse.

The biggest call was leaving out Jack Payne, the attacking talisman.

It was a brave decision even if Payne’s star has been on the wane since signing that improved loan deal in January to keep him at City for the full season.

“Stop Payne, stop City” has been the mantra in a fallow period that had produced just one win since New Year’s Day.

But dropping him to the bench did open the door to number 10 for Jacob Butterfield to take a more advanced role. And he looked a completely different player to the peripheral figure previously stuck in front of the back four.

This was the position where he excelled for Huddersfield as a creative and scoring talent rather than one miscast in playing too deep.

With two strikers in front of him, David Ball providing an excellent foil for Eoin Doyle, Butterfield exerted a hold on the game that we had been impatiently waiting for with his Championship credentials.

Others around him also enjoyed a transformation in fortunes.

Anthony O’Connor, the butt of all the stick on the south coast, emerged from a testing week in powerful and uncompromising mood at the back.

Freed of the skipper’s armband – and all the nonsense that had gone with it – he simply focused on doing his own job against one of the division’s most lively attacking threats.

With Paul Caddis on the bench, for the start at least, Hope Akpan got Bowyer’s nod to lead the troops as the latest winner of captain’s bingo.

He also looked to find another couple of gears, displaying a purpose to his play that has been too long in coming.

But after an understandably nervous opening, there was an extra zip all over the pitch. It was a much-needed reminder of what this bunch are capable of.

The woodwork denied Butterfield the opening goal of the Bowyer era after eight minutes, a curling free-kick pinging back into play off the bar.

Peterborough, though, had the bulk of the first-half and City’s defensive concentration was tested with injuries to both full-backs. Watching Kelvin Mellor and then Calum Woods limp away, it appeared the City curse had struck Bowyer early.

But the home side stuck to their task and lifted the tempo after the break.

Both keepers were finally called into action, Conor O’Malley making a fine save from another Butterfield set-piece, but the Peterborough stopper had no chance from the same player who drilled home from 20 yards with 20 minutes left.

The pressure lifted, City pushed on to strike twice more in a late burst.

Akpan’s chip over the top sent Ball scurrying away and when he was checked outside the box, Doyle picked up the pieces and coolly slotted through the crowd of blue shirts.

And then the striker claimed an assist with a one-two with Lewis O’Brien, whose finish took a Posh deflection to loop over O’Malley.

The cushion of that third goal was appreciated when Peterborough pulled one back from a penalty that should never have been.

Manchester primary school teacher Ben Donohue didn’t get good marks for his first Valley Parade visit as the first-year ref clearly missed Caddis’ clean tackle on Marcus Maddison.

His spot-kick harshly spoiled the clean sheet but could not dampen the mood.

Suddenly Tuesday’s date with leaders Luton can be viewed with anticipation rather than fear. One win may not rescue a season but it has sure changed the outlook.