MK Dons clinched the League Two title on Saturday, but it's a victory for substance over style. Dons can only produce pure, glorious passing football like Posh delivered at Blundell Park in their wildest dreams.

Freed from the pressure of securing promotion, Posh teased, toyed with and ultimately tortured a Grimsby side who looked bemused and befuddled long before the end.

Four goals all beautifully crafted and imperiously converted were the least Posh deserved for an hour of flowing, fantasy football. Only a sluggish start stopped them adding Grimsby to a list of slaughtered innocents which already includes Accrington and Brentford.

Manager Darren Ferguson issued a pre-match plea for entertainment and boy was it answered. This was better than a night in watching Champions League footage of John Arne Riise.

"A joy to watch," was the manager's verdict on his players, although as a Manchester United man he may also have been referring to Riise, and it was a judgement echoed by the fans, and not just those who spent the afternoon partying in the away end.

Posh named an unchanged side from the one that clinched promotion with a win at far superior opposition seven days earlier, but initially they appeared so subdued one suspected they had caught wind of Dons' blistering start at Bradford City.

Passes were often underhit or inaccurate, most notably when George Boyd should have sent Craig Mackail-Smith scooting clear on 20 minutes.

But once Tommy Williams had danced his way into the Grimsby penalty area just past the half hour to tee up Aaron Mclean for the opening goal, the transformation was amazing.

In the 10 minutes leading up to the break, Craig Morgan saw a volley from a corner kicked off the line, Mackail-Smith skied his shot after Mclean had sent him through, Dean Keates forced a fine save from home keeper Phil Barnes and Chris Whelpdale shot over the bar from Adam Newton's cross-shot.

The interval must have arrived as a great relief for the home side, but the respite was brief as Mackail-Smith's control, drive and pace, followed by a perfect cross-field pass enabled Mclean to fire home his second after 49 minutes.

It was fitting that the club and the league's top scorer should claim the 100th team goal of the campaign.

Keates promptly rattled the crossbar direct from a 25-yard free-kick before Grimsby retaliated through substitute Martin Butler's close range volley.

Such had been the Posh dominance home boss Alan Buckley had changed systems three times before he found one that worked, at least in an attacking sense.

Normal service was, however, soon resumed as Posh simply had too much pace and too much trickery going forward for Grimsby.

Mclean and Boyd combined beautifully to send Mackail-Smith through for the goal he deserved 20 minutes from time and substitute Scott Rendell rounded things off with a ferocious 84h minute drive after Williams had picked him out in the area.

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