Peterborough United have hit form at a good time as they coast to victory at Lincoln City

The follow-up to a 5-2 romp at Burton Albion was a cosy 3-0 success at Lincoln City on Saturday, a team, although dour and limited, that hadn’t lost at home in 17 League One matches this season.

Jonson Clarke-Harris opened the scoring in the first-half with Jack Taylor, with the help of a kind deflection, and Joe Ward struck in the second-half as Posh won comfortably without really finding top gear for any length of time.

The only change for Posh after their battering of Burton was among the substitutes as Hector Kyprianou replaced Jeando Fuchs.

Lincoln lined up with five at the back and one up front, at home. Mindful no doubt of how Posh exploited the space they found at Burton and of the duffing the Imps received at London Road at the start of the season.

It made for a dull opening quarter in which Posh recorded 75% possession and yet no shots on target.

The Posh passing tempo was slow and when Lincoln did break out they delivered the first shot on goal, a fierce one from Matty Virtue which flew just wide.

But then, in the 28th minute, Posh struck, with plenty of help from their hosts as Nathanael Ogbeta intercepted a sloppy pass, burst into the area and sent in a cross which was deflected and then cleverly dummied by Harrison Burrows enabling Clarke-Harris to thump home expertly. The skipper had scored twice on his 400th career appearance at Burton and added another to take an even firmer grip on the race for League One’s Golden Boot.

And Clarke-Harris should have scored again four minutes later when Ward broke. His cross evaded Burrows, who was flattened by a defender in the process, but reached Clarke-Harris who surprisingly hit a left-foot shot against the outside of a post.

Lincoln were then forced into a first-half change when midfielder Ethan Erhahon limped off. He was replaced by Crystal Palace loanee Luke Plange who immediately livened the home side up.

Just before the break Jack Diamond found himself with a shooting chance from 20 yards, but the ball again flew wide.

Lincoln retained that positive approach at the start of the second-half. Long throws were sent into the Posh penalty area, but the defence stayed firm. Danny Mandroiu lined up a 20 yard free kick, but sent a tame effort wide.

Posh weathered the mini storm and started to create chances of their own.

Burrows saw a shot saved after a fine Ephron Mason-Clark cutback and Ward was then desperately unlucky not to score with a 25 yard strike of a bouncing ball after a corner had been played directly to him on the hour. His swerving effort looked all over a goal, but the ball struck the inside of a post and rebounded to safety.

A whipped free kick from Burrows led to Plange diverting over his own crossbar, but Posh soon extended their lead after a decent spell of pressure, and after both managers had been cautioned after taking exception to the refereeing of Rob Lewis.

There was luck involved in the second goal after Taylor drive forcefully into the home area before firing a left-footer. A generous deflection took the ball past a stranded goalkeeper.

And that was that. A home crowd that can be raucous was silenced and Posh strolled home without reaching any great heights.

A third goal was just icing on the cake and added pressure for those play-off contenders yet to play on Saturday.

It was as easy as you like as well. seven minutes from time. A Clarke-Harris flick from a throw-in, a simple pass from substitute Kwame Poku and Ward was there to finish and complete a most satisfactory 90 minutes.

It’s 7-0 to Posh over Lincoln on aggregate this season and the first time a dogged Imps side had conceded three at home.

Posh: Will Norris, Nathanael Ogbeta, Ronnie Edwards, Frankie Kent, Nathan Thompson, Oliver Norburn (sub Ben Thompson, 76 mins), Jack Taylor, Ephron Mason-Clark (sub Kwame Poku, 79 mins), Harrison Burrows (sub Hector Kyprianou, 76 mins), Joe Ward (sub Josh Knight, 90 + 2 mins). Jonson Clarke-Harris.

Unused subs: Will Blackmore, Joel Randall, Kabongo Tshimanga.

Lincoln: Carl Rushworth, Lewis Montsma, Adam Jackson, Ethan Erhahon (sub Plange, 40 mins), Ben House, Daniel Mandrou, Lasse Sorensen (sub Matt Sanders, 81 mins), Sean Roughan, Matty Virtue (sub Ted Bishop, 65 mins), Jack Diamond (sub Jaovan Makama, 81 mins)

Unused subs: Jordan Wright, Harry Boyes, Dylan Duffy.

Goals: Posh – Clarke-Harris (28 mins), Taylor (68 mins), Ward (83 mins).

Cautions: Posh – Burrows (foul), Ferguson (manager, dissent), Norburn (foul).

Lincoln – Mandroiu (foul), O’Connor (foul), Kennedy (manager, dissent).

Referee: Rob Lewis 6.

Attendance: 9,530 (1,566 Posh).