Peterborough United can't halt the Sheffield Wednesday juggernaut at Hillsborough

It took a deflected cross from wingback Jaden Brown, which beat Posh ‘keeper Will Norris at his near post, just after the hour mark to settle the contest and make it 21 unbeaten third tier matches in a row for the Owls.

Barry Bannon aside, the table-toppers won’t win any awards for pretty football or entertainment, but they are well organised and defend strongly, an effective combination at this level when coupled with an obvious attacking set-piece threat.

Posh, who played some decent football in the first-half, didn’t win a single corner or force home goalkeeper Cameron Dawson into a single save in 96 minutes, not even when Kwame Poku was given a great chance to equalise.

Other results didn’t harm Posh too much, but they are now nine points from the play-off places, albeit with the hardest fixture of them all now out of the way.

The Posh team changes had been well signposted. Oliver Norburn was selected to start for the first time in just over 11 months after a satisfactory recovery from knee ligament damage, while Harrison Burrows was back to play in an advanced midfield role, freeing up Poku to play out wide. Hector Kyprianou and Joe Ward were the men dropped to the substitutes’ bench.

Frankie Kent returned to the side after a two-game absence to replace suspended centre-back Josh Knight. Manu Fenernadez supplied the central defensive cover on the bench.

Wednesday carried the confidence of a team on a club record run of Football League games without defeat. Revenge probably wasn’t uppermost in their minds, but Posh were one of three teams to inflict a third tier defeat on the Owls this season.

Posh were outmatched physically with set pieces an obvious problem. Jonson Clarke-Harris defended one well in the early stages and a clever routine ended with Josh Windass smacking a fierce shot against the crossbar.

But, after a strong start, Wednesday played poorly for the rest of the first-half. Posh played the better football through midfield, helped by a lack of a home press. Pretty patterns were seen, but everything broke down near the home area.

The best cross of the half arrived early when Nathanael Ogbeta fizzed one just out of Poku’s reach. Nathan Thompson’s 30 yarder into the home fans behind the goal and ambitious overhead kick from Ephron Mason-Clark were the only other efforts on goal.

Wednesday played through Posh just once when Michael Smith found space in the area, but he could’t pick out Windass.

To the surprise of no-one the hosts started the second-half very aggressively and penned Posh back for a full 15 minutes before taking the lead.

It didn’t help Posh that Bannon woke up after a dreadful first-half by his standards. He started delivering crosses and passes that led to a point-blank save from Norris from an Aden Flint header and the goalkeeper excelled again to grab a Brown cross.

Posh were now getting pressed in midfield and couldn’t get out. They conceded set-pieces galore, but most were defended well with Kent and Ronnie Edwards resolute. George Byers shot straight at Norris after a couple of poor clearances.

A goal seemed inevitable though and it duly arrived on 61 minutes. Bannon inevitably pulled the strings with neat pass to Brown, and his cross defeated Norris at the near post with the help of a deflection off Thompson. The goalkeeper probably moved too soon.

Remarkably, given what had gone on for 20 minutes, Posh then fluffed a great chance to equalise. Clarke-Harris held the ball up well, Burrows played a superb through ball for Poku who was clear. Sadly a lack of trust in his right foot meant he didn’t even get a shot away as the home defence raced back to tackle.

Burrows had another chance to play Mason-Clark through, but hesitated and the omnipresent Bannon raced back to intercept.

Wednesday then settled for what they had. Posh offered nothing and the game drifted to an inevitable conclusion despite multiple late Posh substitutions.

Posh: Will Norris, Nathanael Ogbeta (sub Ricky-Jade Jones, 87 mins), Frankie Kent, Ronnie Edwards, Nathan Thompson, Jack Taylor, Oliver Norburn (sub Hector Kyprianou, 83 mins), Ephron Mason-Clark, Harrison Burrows (sub Kabongo Tshimanga, 83 mins), Kwame Poku (sub Joe Ward, 69 mins), Jonson Clarke-Harris

Unused subs: Will Blackmore, Emmanuel Fernandez, Ben Thompson.

Wednesday: Cameron Dawson, Liam Palmer (sub Dennis Adeniran, 90 + 5 mins), Dominic Iorfa, Aden Flint, Akin Famewo, Jaden Brown (sub Jack Hunt, 78 mins), Will Vaulks, Barry Bannan, George Byers, Josh Windass, Michael Smith (sub Lee Gregory, 69 mins).

Unused subs: Pierce Charles, Tyreeq Bakinson, Rio Shipston, Adam Alimi-Adetoro.

Goals:Wednesday – Brown (61 mins).

Cautions: Posh – Edwards (foul).

Wednesday – Flint (foul), Bannon (foul), Gregory (foul)

Referee: Anthony Backhouse 6.

Attendance: 26,984 (approx 1,800 Posh).