Three second half goals condemned Macclesfield to a fifth straight home defeat and gave Peterborough three well deserved points towards their promotion bid.
After an even first period George Boyd put Posh ahead just 30 seconds after the restart as a long throw caused havoc in the home defence. Chris Whelpdale's 25 yard drive ended the game as a contest on 65 minutes and Aaron McLean completed the win by slotting home his 27th of the season.
James Ashmore came back into midfield for Macc with Terry Dunfield out and Gareth Evans partnered Francis Green up front with Martin Gritton still out.
A good one-touch passing move between Levi Reid and Evans forced the first corner of the game in the seventh minute which was easily claimed by the tall figure of Posh keeper Joe Lewis.
Evans was tripped by visitors skipper Chris Westwood as he raced clear down the left channel and the centre-back was extremely lucky to escape without even a booking. The resulting free kick was curled around the wall and straight into the arms of Lewis by Neil Ashton.
Macc continued to press forward in an encouraging start and Evans' mis-kick fell perfectly to Green. The flag up on the far side spared his blushes as his close range shot was hit straight at the keeper's legs from eight yards.
Green again forced Lewis into action at his near post, however despite the home side dominating possession and territory, clear-cut chances were few and far between.
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Francis Green - Took a knock and was taken off just before the break, limiting Macc's attacking threat |
As the half wore on Posh threatened more with Whelpdale lashing a volley over after brilliantly controlling McLean's deep cross and Charlie Lee poked inches past the post when he was allowed to turn far too easily after collecting a corner at the near post.
Prolific strike partnership McLean and Mackail-Smith looked to have a good understanding for the visitors and they looked to have combined to break the deadlock but as Mackail-Smith tapped in from close range the linesman's flag quickly killed off the Posh celebrations.
Boyd forced Brain into a terrific fingertip save to touch his 20 yard effort over the bar and the same man was denied by Brain's legs three minutes before the break.
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Jonathon Brain - Made a few decent stops and had little chance with any of the goals |
After throwing away a first half lead at Lincoln last week, it took even less time for Macc to fall apart this time as they conceded just 30 seconds into the second half. Whelpdale's hurl into the box wasn't cleared and Boyd pounced to slot in off the post for his 10th league goal of the season.
Claude Gnakpa was booked for a wild challenge on Danny Thomas on the left touchline but yet again the set-piece was wasted.
Sensing their opportunity to put the game to bed Peterborough swept forward hungry for more and a perfect Boyd ball put Mackail-Smith who was denied by Brain from a tight angle. However Posh killed the game off from the resulting corner as a poor clearance fell to Whelpdale who let fly from 25 yards out and gave Brain no chance with a thunderous strike which arrowed into the bottom left corner.
League Two's leading scorer McLean compounded Macc's misery on 72 minutes when he latched onto Westwood's ball forward, held off Cresswell's challenge and confidently drilled past Brain into the corner.
Thomas' stinging effort drew a smart save from Lewis with ten minutes to go but there was no sign of any sort of Macc comeback as the game had already petered out into a forgone conclusion.
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Danny Thomas - Forced Lewis into a rare second half save but had little of his usual creative spark |
In fact Posh could have added more before the final whistle with substitute Liam Hatch robbing Cresswell in a dangerous position and from out wide his shot across goal fizzed just past the post and out of the reach of Dean Keates following-up.
Scott Rendell could also have added a fourth deep into stoppage time when he flicked a header just over the bar from close range but it was academic as at the whistle Macc trudged off to a chorus of boos following a ninth home game without a win.
Brightwell's men must surely now be looking at a desperate survival bid with a number of teams involved in the scrap holding games in hand. Two wins in 18 games shows why Macc have slipped so badly and the home form must turn around if they are to escape the drop back out of the Football League.
Andy Brinkhurst
