Peterborough United 0-3 Ipswich Town - Match Report Saturday, 22nd Apr 2023 17:05 Goals from Wes Burns, Conor Chaplin and Freddie Ladapo saw Town to a 3-0 victory over Peterborough, their first ever league success at London Road. Burns gave Town, who remain second, now needing five points for promotion, the lead in the 17th minute, Chaplin added the second on 57 and Ladapo made it three with eight minutes left on the clock. Town made one change with George Hirst replacing Ladapo up front with the XI otherwise the same as the one which beat Port Vale 2-1 at Portman Road on Tuesday. Peterborough included former Blues loanee Will Norris in goal, while Joe Ward, who was expected to be out for the season with an injury, and Dan Butler came into the team for Nathan Thompson, who is injured, and Kwame Poku. Posh switched from their usual 4-2-1-3 to a back three and front two of Ephron Mason Clark and skipper Jonson Clarke Harris as the front two. At a packed and noisy London Road, the Blues, wearing their red and black away kit, struck the first shot in the opening minute, Burns cutting back from the right and Leif Davis running in and rather scuffing a shot through to keeper Norris. Town continued to take the game to Posh, top scorer Chaplin winning a seventh-minute free-kick on the right which Morsy looped in but was cleared. Oliver Norburn picked up the game’s first yellow card in the 12th minute for kicking out at Morsy’s ankles as the Town skipper moved away from him with the ball. The Egypt international subsequently made his thoughts clear to Norburn, who had already been involved in a minor dust-up with Chaplin. On 14, Morsy played a corner from the right low to Broadhead just inside the area but the Welshman’s low shot was blocked by Ronnie Edwards. It had been virtually all Town aside from a couple of Peterborough breaks and in the 17th minute they went in front. Following a throw-in on the left, Broadhead struck a powerful shot which Norris could only bat away to his left. The ball fell to Burns, who had plenty to do from a tight angle, but the Wales international shot back across Norris and into the far corner of the net. Burns celebrated his eighth goal of the season and his first away from home delightedly in front of home fans, who minutes earlier had been berating him after he’d been down injured in front of them. One supporter was seen to spit at the Welshman and was later arrested. Town quickly went about looking for a second goal, Chaplin scraping a low shot wide from 25 yards. The Blues claimed a penalty in the 22nd minute when Hirst skipped away from Ronnie Edwards on the right of the box and was felled. The Town players surrounded referee Gavin Ward but the official awarded a corner. Posh threatened for the first time in the 26th minute from a corner on the left. Frankie Kent nodded back at the far post and Mason-Clark’s overhead kick was superbly stopped at point-black by Christian Walton. As the game moved towards the half-hour mark, Davis was left in a heap by Norburn, much to the fury of Morsy and a number of Town players. However, while Norburn was spoken to at length by the referee, the former Shrewsbury man had won the ball, even if the challenge was a little wild, and the game restarted with a drop ball. In the 38th minute, Hirst was fouled five yards outside the area and Chaplin struck his free-kick well but straight at Norris. On 43, Morsy was shown Town’s first yellow card of the game for a foul on Mason-Clark, although referee Ward clearly wasn’t looking to book the Blues’ skipper until reminded of a couple of earlier fouls by Peterborough players. The fourth official indicated three additional minutes in which Posh had their best spell of possession of the half which ended with Clarke-Harris smashing a shot from the edge of the box which Walton did well to save down to his right. Harry Clarke cleared for Town but eventually the ball was sent back in from the right and Clarke-Harris scuffed a header wide. Referee Ward ended the half with the Blues back on the attack and Town went off at the break deservedly in front. As has so often been the case in recent weeks, the Blues made a strong start and were well worth their goal when it came, Burns doing well with the rebound after Broadhead’s powerful strike had been too much for Norris to hold onto. Town had had one or two other chances but without seriously testing Norris further, while Mason-Clark and Clarke-Harris had both forced Walton into impressive stops, a warning that the game was far from won at 1-0. Peterborough removed Norburn, who had looked like a red card waiting to happen for most of the first half, for Poku ahead of the second period. Five minutes after the restart, Clarke found Burns on the right and the Welshman cut back to Chaplin, who uncharacteristically shot well wide when in space. On 53, with Town having been dominant since the beginning of the half, Peterborough broke down the right and Mason-Clark again tried an overhead kick, this time sending the ball powerfully into the stand behind the goal. Four minutes later, the Blues made it 2-0. Broadhead brought the ball forward down the left, taking it past Hector Kyprianou, before playing a brilliant pass into the path of Chaplin, who broke between Edwards and Butler and hit a low shot across Norris and into the net, the forward’s 26th goal of the season and his 23rd in the league. With their fans rampant and bouncing up and down on the terraces, the Blues continued to dominate and look for further goals, Burns wafting a cross over from the right on 62 but too far in front of a teammate. Three minutes later, Posh swapped Butler and Kyprianou for Harrison Burrows and Ben Thompson. In the 68th minute, Peterborough came close to pulling one back, the ball falling to Burrows inside the box after fellow sub Thompson had sent the ball back across from the right but Burgess dived in to block. The ball ran loose and Walton saved bravely from Clarke-Harris. Play was held up moments later after both Chaplin and Burns went down requiring treatment. Eventually, they were both ushered from the field by referee Ward but Chaplin took too long and was booked. Meanwhile, Town made their first change, Janoi Donacien taking over from Clarke. Posh had switched to their usual system following the substitutions and were taking the game to Town. On 71 Jack Taylor, a Town target in January, shot just wide of Walton’s post, then a minute later, Thompson hit a well-struck effort which the Town keeper batted away. Burns was booked for a foul on Ogbeta before the Blues made a double change, Ladapo and Dominic Ball taking over from Hirst and Luongo. After the couple of shaky moments, Town looked to be seeing the game out comfortably and in the 83rd minute, they made it 3-0. Burns crossed from the right and Ladapo knocked it up with his thigh before superbly volleying into the corner of the net to Norris’s right, the summer signing’s 20th goal of the campaign sending the 3,800 fans behind the goal wild once again. Town switched Burns and Broadhead for Kayden Jackson and Marcus Harness for the final five minutes. The Blues saw out the final minutes and referee Ward’s whistle signalled more rejoicing in the stand behind the goal. Town had fully deserved their 11th win in their last 12 and their 11th on the road in League One this season. Having established their lead in the first half, they started the second period on top with Chaplin’s second goal all but sealing the three points. Ladapo’s excellent third added further gloss to another great afternoon on the road. Elsewhere, leaders Plymouth won 3-1 at home to Cambridge and Sheffield Wednesday came from behind to defeat Exeter at Hillsborough, while Barnsley, who the Blues face at Oakwell on Tuesday, maintained their faint hope of a top-two place by beating Oxford 2-0 at home.  The Blues, who stay second a point behind the Pilgrims and one in front of the Owls, now have three games remaining, while the South Yoirkshiremen have just two, and need five points to confirm promotion back to the Championship after four years away. Town: Walton, Clarke (Donacien 69), Burgess, Woolfenden, Burns (Jackson 85), Morsy (c), Luongo (Ball 75), Davis, Chaplin, Broadhead (Harness 85), Hirst (Ladapo 54). Unused: Hladky, Edwards, Harness, Jackson. Peterborough: Norris, Butler (Burrows 65), Edwards, Kent, Taylor, Clarke-Harris (c), Mason-Clark, Ogbeta, Norburn (Poku 46), Kyprianou (Thompson 65), Ward. Unused: Blackmore, Watts, Knight, Tshimanga. Referee: Gavin Ward (Surrey).
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