Darren Ferguson’s Posh dominated, outclassed and comfortably beat Martin Allen’s promotion chasing MK Dons in this east of England clash at London Road.
Posh took control of the game from the opening whistle exposing the Dons frail defence on a number of occasions. Lee Harper was forced to make a number of saves in the first 20 minutes with Craig Mackail-Smith pairing up with a number of his team mates seeking the opening goal.
In an attempt to stem the tide of attack coming from the rampaging Posh, Martin Allen replaced Jamie Smith on 21 minutes with former Peterborough defender Jude Stirling. Four minutes later Mackail-Smith set up George Boyd who’s shot was blocked by Harper but the rebound was slotted home from close range by a waiting Peter Gain.
The Dons defence response to the Posh onslaught was to fire long balls to the front men rather than give them a game of football. Time and time again the Posh defenders comfortably won the ball and fed it back to their waiting attack force which harassed and pressured the Dons throughout the first half.
On 39 minutes Peterborough claimed their second goal when Adam Newton crossed the ball into the box from the right to an awaiting Gavin Strachan who volleyed the ball into the roof of the net to the delight of the home supporters.
Jon-Paul McGovern, who was the only Dons midfielder who looked capable of competing with Posh, was subbed for Leon Knight soon after the start of the second half and for five minutes or so the Dons looked like they were going to make a game of it. The Posh defence however, which included the superb former Don Craig Morgan, comfortably dealt with everything that came their way.
As a final throw of the dice, Martin Allen sacrificed Drissa Diallo for another striker in the form of Jonathan Hayes. For Posh, who were comfortably sitting on their lead in a stroll to victory, this presented an opportunity to turn a win into a rout. George Boyd was substituted by Shane Huke and within 5 minutes Peterborough had scored their third when a 20 yard shot from Craig Mackail-Smith was fumbled by Lee Harper who allowed the ball to cross the line before getting a grip on it.
As MK Dons supporters poured out of London Road to make their disappointing journey home, another Ferguson substitution saw Richard Butcher replace Gavin Strachan and within four minutes he had added his name to the score sheet too, Mackail-Smith being the provider once again.
The final whistle must have come as a relief to the shell shocked Dons side who had suffered possibly their worst humiliation of the season. As for the victors, Darren Ferguson`s Posh look more than capable of pushing on for a play-off place and if this doesn’t give MK Dons the motivation they need to ensure they get an automatic promotion spot then nothing will.
Manager Rating
‘We started badly and got worse. They out-run, out-jumped, out-fought and out everything elsed us. I can take losing if the team have a go and don’t win, at least I can say ‘well donne lads, at least you had a go’, but this?’
Martin Allen – Manager MK Dons
Match Officials
Referee: D WHITESTONE
Officials: G J Lewis and O Saliy
Fourth Official : P C Martin
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