Peterborough on verge of playoff final after thrashing of Sheffield Wednesday

Peterborough have one foot in the League One playoff final at Wembley after they eased past Sheffield Wednesday 4-0 at the Weston Homes Stadium. Goals from Jack Taylor, Joe Ward, Kwame Poku and Jonson Clarke-Harris sent the home fans into hysteria ahead of Thursday’s return leg at Hillsborough.

The home side – who saw Darren Ferguson return for a fourth stint as manager at the start of the year – were delirious after sealing the last playoff spot as they leapfrogged Derby on the final day and they are in dreamland once again after blowing the visitors away in the first leg. It could be another fairytale finish to the season for Ferguson who has steered the club to the Championship on three separate occasions as well as a League Two promotion.

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Darren Moore’s Sheffield Wednesday were gutted to only be in the playoffs after securing a club record 96-point haul. They now hold the unwanted record of the highest points total ever to miss out on automatic promotion in the Football League – a run of just seven points from a possible 24 heading towards the run-in costing them dearly.

Wednesday, who missed out on a return to the Championship after playoff heartache against Sunderland last season, were the architects of their own downfall once again. They had the first real chance of the encounter as Michael Smith got in behind Peterborough’s defence, but the home side’s goalkeeper, Will Norris, came out on top with a good save.

A mistake from the visiting goalkeeper, Cameron Dawson, opened the floodgates for free-flowing Posh. A poor clearance fell to Taylor, who fired in a shot that inexplicably crept under Dawson in the 20th minute.

Things went from bad to worse as a stroke of fortune doubled the hosts’ lead nine minutes before the break. A well-struck effort from Wardwas flying wide before it took a big deflection that allowed the ball to dip up and over Dawson off the underside of the crossbar.

Wednesday had a couple of big chances to cut the deficit before half-time. They both fell to Josh Windass, who was first thwarted by a good Norris save before he headed over the target. Moore’s side missed another glaring opportunity when Michael Ihiekwe nodded a teasing Barry Bannan cross wide.

Aden Flint shows his anguish during Sheffield Wednesday’s heavy defeat. Photograph: Michael Regan/Getty Images

They were instantly made to pay as the unmarked Poku headed home Peterborough’s third. Wednesday were unlucky not to get a penalty when Marvin Johnson’s strike hit Ronnie Edwards’s elbow, but the referee waved away huge appeals before Ihiekwe’s effort from the resulting corner was cleared off the line.

With 15 minutes to go, the former Rotherham man saw a second strike hacked off the line as Wednesday’s night followed a similar tone. Clarke-Harris hit his 29th goal of the campaign eight minutes from time as he easily nodded home at the back post after Taylor chipped the ball up at the back post following a save by Dawson.