PLAYER VERDICTS: Captain was in charge of a comfortable derby win for Peterborough United

Jack Baldwin celebrates his Posh goal against Cobblers. Photo: David Lowndes.

Club captain Jack Baldwin returned for the Northampton derby at the ABAX Stadium in place of injury victim Ryan Tafazolli today (April 4) and delivered a goal-scoring, man-of-the-match display.

It was a competent rather than classy Posh display in a 2-0 win, but they didn’t have to be that good to see off the struggling Cobblers.

Conor O’Malley: He’s shaping up nicely enough to make it unlikely Posh will need to loan a goalkeeper next season. A key early save for the second game in a row and he handled the corners well 7

Andrew Hughes on the ball for Posh against Northampton. Photo: Joe Dent/theposh.com.

Liam Shephard: Another to have developed better consistency under the new manager. Delivered the two long free kicks that led to two early goals, but also defended very well. Shepherded his opponents away from the danger area. Encouraging 7

Andrew Hughes: The usual no nonsense, hard-working defensive display. Only the occasional misplaced pass when going forward 7

Steven Taylor: Escaped a couple of jittery moments in the second-half, but he was generally as cool and dominant as he has been for most of the season 7

Jack Baldwin: Man-of-the-match display from the captain. Terrific headed goal, one outstanding first-half block, and completely dominant in the air against a big side. Gained great distance on his headed clearances 8

Returning Posh star Gwion Edwards battles for possession with Shay Facey of Cobblers. Photo: Joe Dent/theposh.com.

Chris Forrester: Given more time than usual on the ball by weak opponents and appeared to enjoy it. Kept things nice and simple for the most part 6.5

Leo Da Silva Lopes: Posh were lucky to survive a poor error from their teenage midfielder early on, but his confidence on the ball was rather impressive on other occasions. He covered a lot of ground, but still looked fresh at the end 7

Marcus Maddison: He was more involved than in recent games and unlucky to see a lovely chipped assist ruled out by an assistant referee. But did some daft things also, like passing the ball to an opponent inside his own area and picking up another caution for a dramatic fall 6

Gwion Edwards: A most pleasant surprise to see him start for the first time in close to four months and he played with boundless energy and pace throughout. His sharpness in front of goal wasn’t quite there as he missed a big first-half chance, but his return could be key for the rest of the season 6.5

Posh midfielder Chris Forrester in action against Cobblers. Photo: David Lowndes.

Joe Ward: Asked to play centrally just behind Marriott and he was okay. He looks quite classy when in possession, but this team are struggling to get the most out of anyone playing in this position 6

Jack Marriott: A quite superb finish made it 31 goals for the season. Unlucky to see a second ‘goal’ ruled out early in the second half. Chased everything as usual, but didn’t always take the right option when in possession 7

Substitutes

George Cooper: (for Edwards, 76 mins)

Junior Morias: (for Maddison, 88 mins).

Michael Doughty: (for Forrester, 90 + 3 mins).

Jonathan Bond: (not used).

Danny Lloyd: (not used).

Anthony Grant: (not used).

Lewis Freestone: (not used).