Posh picked up another three points on the road as Shrewsbury Town were beaten 3-0 at the Montgomery Waters Meadow Stadium.
Darren Ferguson’s men picked up another three points on the road as goals from Jonson Clarke-Harris, Ephron Mason-Clark and Jack Taylor earned a very comfortable 3-0 victory at Shrewsbury Town with goalkeeper Will Norris recording his fourth successive clean sheet.
Goalkeeper Will Norris made a routine stop inside the opening two minutes to keep out Carl Winchester’s daisy-cutter as the hosts caused a few issues down the Posh left-hand side. Darren Ferguson’s men were a whisker away from the breakthrough on eight minutes as Jack Taylor’s thumping drive struck the base of the post before Ephron Mason-Clark saw his rebound saved by Marko Marosi.
Skipper Jonson Clarke-Harris pounced on a loose ball on 14 minutes in the penalty area, but his left-foot strike was straight at Marosi. Shrewsbury lost the services of Saydee moments later to injury with the experienced Elliott Bennett introduced in his place.
Kwame Poku was next to try his luck, his stinging drive kept out at the near post by Marosi after good work from Joe Ward. Posh were awarded a spot-kick on 28 minutes as Pennington pushed Mason-Clark in the area, referee Carl Boyeson pointing for a penalty straight away. CLARKE-HARRIS stepped up and coolly sent the keeper the wrong way from 12-yards.
Posh should have doubled their lead moments later as Poku dispossessed Moore and raced on goal, but he fired wide with his left-foot with only the keeper to beat. Clarke-Harris swept a shot over the bar from the edge of the box with Ward well-placed as the first half entered the last five minutes.
Ogbeta side-footed wide of the target in first half injury time after a quickly-taken free-kick caught the hosts cold. Neither side made any changes in personnel at the break as both sides tried to make a fast start to the second 45.
Posh doubled the lead on 52 minutes as Ephron MASON-CLARK collected a pass from Ogbeta, cut inside and drilled a low shot past Marosi and into the bottom corner. Dunkley headed wide from a corner kick at the other end following a deep set-piece.
Norris was cautioned for kicking the ball away on the hour mark, moments after he had saved at the feet of Ryan Bowman. Phillips was shown a yellow card for a foul on Norburn on 65 minutes. Clarke-Harris curled a free-kick just wide of the upright on 67 minutes after referee Mr Boyeson spotted a foul on Poku.
Street was cautioned for a shirt tug on Ogbeta as the game moved into the final 20 minutes. Mason-Clark then had a chance to make it 3-0 with his head at the back post, but he couldn’t get any power on his effort and Marosi saved comfortably.
Hector Kyprianou replaced Poku on 78 minutes as Ferguson made his first change of the contest. Posh made it 3-0 on 84 minutes as Mason-Clark’s low cross was diverted into the path of the onrushing Jack TAYLOR by Marosi and the midfielder, who celebrated the birth of his first child this week, by slamming the ball into the back of the net.
Substitute Harrison Burrows fired wide of the target from 25-yards in the second of five minutes of added time before the referee brought an end to proceedings with Posh recording a controlled victory and a fourth successive clean sheet in the process – the first time that had happened since 2019.
Shrewsbury: Marosi, Leahy, Pennington, Moore, Winchester, Phillips, Bloxham (sub Street 64min), Bowman, Dunkley, Saydee (sub Bennett 16min), Shipley. Unused subs: Burgoyne, Craig, Hutchings, Barlow.
Posh: Norris, Ogbeta, Edwards, Kent, N. Thompson, Ward, Taylor (sub Burrows 88min), Norburn (sub Knight 85min), Poku (sub Kyprianou 78min), Clarke-Harris, Mason-Clark (sub Jones 85min). Unused subs: Blackmore, Butler, Tshimanga.
Half-time: Shrewsbury Town 0-1 Peterborough United
Full-time: Shrewsbury Town 0-3 Peterborough United
Attendance: 6,930 (801 Posh fans)
Referee: Carl Boyeson