Peterborough United paper over the cracks at MK Dons thanks to two quality late strikes

The hosts were cruising to a 1-0 success courtesy of a well-placed first-half header from Aaron Collins, but a lovely first-time finish from Chris Conn-Clarke on 82 minutes was followed by a crisp strike from Archie Collins five minutes later to deliver a 2-1 win for Posh.

It’s never a bad trait to win after playing poorly and the goals proved there is quality in this squad. Conn-Clarke’s following a fine cutback from James Dornelly was most welcome given the forward’s slow start to his Posh career. Collins accepted a square pass from a free kick to drive the ball home with precision and power.

It had looked a most unlikely result at the interval as Posh had been worrying lethargic and inaccurate in the opening 45 minutes. Collins converted a cross from former Posh winger Nat Mendez-Laing on 13 minutes and almost made it 2-0 five minutes before the break as Rushian Hepburn-Murphy tested the skills of Posh ‘keeper Alex Bass.

Posh did strike the crossbar through Donay O’Brien-Brady after fine work from Cian Hayes, but it was a rare highlight from 45 minutes of misplaced passes and physical mismatches.

MK were quicker to the ball and on the race occasion they weren’t they soon won it back, or they were gifted it back by a series of underhit passes.

Posh barely left their own half in the opening 15 minutes and it was easy to sympathise with striker Gustav Lindgren who didn’t receive a worthwhile pass in his time on the pitch.

Centre-back George Nevett recovered from injury/fatigue to start. He partnered Oscar Wallin at the heart of the Posh defence. Lucca Mendonca operated at right-back and found it tough against Hepburn-Murphy.

Posh changed their entire team at the break apart from Bass and Kyrell Lisbie. There was a debut for new centre-back David Okogbue. He did okay alongside skipper Sam Hughes.

There was a slight improvement in Posh play, but only occasionally, most notably when Declan Frith cut inside and forced home ‘keeper Craig MacGillivray onto a decent save.

But then, right out of the blue, Frith and Brandon Khela combined to free Dornelly who teed up Conn-Clarke. It was a moment out of all proportion to the previous 82 minutes and it led to some Posh dominance and a winning goal for Collins.

Posh (first-half): Bass, Mendonca, Wallin, Nevett, Mills, De Havilland, O’Brien-Brady, Lisbie, Hayes, Odoh, Lindgren.

Posh (second-half): Bass, Dornelly, Johnston, Hughes, Okogbue, Collins, Frith, Khela, LIsbie (sub Changunda, 61 mins), Conn-Clarke, Ihionvien.

MK Dons (starters): MacGillivray, Jones, Sherring, Offord, Tomlinson, Kelly, Thompson-Summer, Gilbey, Mendez-Laing, Collins, Hepburn-Murphy.

Attendance: 2,171 (339 Posh).