Posh picked up three vital points at the Wham Stadium with Jonson Clarke-Harris and Ephron Mason-Clark on target.
Peterborough United climbed into fifth spot in the Sky Bet League One table with a hard-fought 2-1 victory at struggling Accrington Stanley with two first half goals from Jonson Clarke-Harris and Ephron Mason-Clark securing the three points for Darren Ferguson’s men despite a nervy finale.
Kwame Poku drilled a low shot wide of the target on three minutes as both sides tried to get used to difficult blustery conditions at the Wham Stadium. Ephron Mason-Clarke was denied by the body of Lukas Jenson three minutes later with Poku’s header on the rebound cleared off the line by Nottingham.
Jack Taylor then saw a goal-bound shot blocked as the home side struggled to clear a right-wing corner by Poku. Posh were forced into a change on the quarter hour mark as Nathan Thompson limped out of the action following a heavy Hamilton challenge with Josh Knight his replacement.
Aaron Pressley was denied by Will Norris moments later, the keeper atoning well from a slack clearance as Accrington came to life. The deadlock was broken on 22 minutes as a slide-rule pass from Taylor picked out CLARKE-HARRIS and he raced clear before drilling the ball past the keeper and into the back of the net.
Poku curled a shot over the crossbar on 28 minutes after a good set from Clarke-Harris as Posh went in search of a second goal. Posh doubled the lead on 43 minutes as a wonderful drive and pass from Poku picked out MASON-CLARK and he dinked the ball past the keeper and into the back of the net.
Taylor immediately fired wide from a Mason-Clark cross as Posh tried to find a third before the break. The fourth official indicated a total of five minutes at the end of the first period. Hamilton tested Norris from long-range on 49 minutes after collecting a loose ball in the centre of the park.
Norburn was cautioned for a foul on 52 minutes after he tried to atone for a poor pass in the direction of Mason-Clark. Poku couldn’t quite stretch to divert a pass from Kyprianou past Jensen on 55 minutes after a strong run from the former Leyton Orient man.
Rodgers was booked for a foul on Taylor before John Coleman made a double change to refresh his XI. Nottingham planted a header wide of the target from a left-wing McConville cross as the hosts began to up the ante.
McConville saw a header saved at the back post by Norris before Darren Ferguson made a change to his XI with Dan Butler introduced. Butler was cautioned for a foul on 79 minutes and from the resulting set-piece, Nottingham powered a header wide.
Accrington pulled a goal back on 86 minutes as a low cross from Longelo was turned in from close-range by MCCONVILLE.
Accrington Stanley: Jensen, Clark, Hamilton, Leigh, McConville, Nottingham, Longelo, Sangare, Pressley (sub Lowe 61min), Quirk (sub Nolan 61min), Rodgers. Unused ubs: Savin, Whalley, Butler-Oyedeji, Martin, Tharme.
Posh: Norris, Ogbeta, Kent, Edwards, N. Thompson (sub Knight 15min), Taylor, Poku (sub Butler 69min), Norburn, Mason-Clark, Clarke-Harris, Burrows. Unused subs: Blackmore, Kyprianou, Tshimanga, Randall, B. Thompson.
Half-time: Accrington Stanley 0-2 Peterborough United
Full-time: Accrington Stanley 1-2 Peterborough United
Attendance: 2,064 (333 Posh fans)
Referee: Tom Reeves