When a team plays below par and the opposition have a good day, there is only ever going to be one result and while Peterborough United had a bad day at the office, you have to give credit to Scunthorpe United, who played some excellent football and deserved their 4-0 success.

In driving rain, this Championship clash got underway at Glanford Park with Posh making two changes to the starting line-up, Lee Frecklington returning to midfield, while Reuben Reid was given a start in attack. Scott Griffths and Kerrea Gilbert were the two to drop out.

Martyn Woolford tested goalkeeper Joe Lewis inside the opening two minutes, but the captain was up to the task, grabbing the ball at the second attempt on a slippery surface. Lewis was in the action again on eight minutes as Scunthorpe caught Posh cold on the counter-attack with Hayes feeding Garry Thompson, but his attempt to lift the ball over the goalkeeper failed as the skipper dashed off his goal-line to deny the front man.

Grant McCann sent an ambitious 25-yard shot wide of the target on the quarter hour mark as Scunthorpe again pressed down their left,. The deadlock was broken on 16 minutes and it was coming in all fairness, the ball worked out to HAYES in the right-hand channel, he took a touch and then rifled the ball into the roof of the net. The ball was initially given away by Frecklington in midfield, but Hayes took his shot from an extremely tight angle.

The goal lifted the home faithful and the Iron were firmly in control as Posh struggled to get any kind of possession in midfield. Mark Little put in a last-ditch tackle to deny Thompson on 23 minutes as the waves of attack continued to be sweeping towards Joe Lewis.

It was 2-0 to the rampant hosts on 27 minutes as a simple ball through from McCann picked out THOMPSON who took a touch before smashing the ball past a flat-footed Lewis and Jim Gannon was looking rightly angry with his team. It got worse with Little limping out of the fray, Josh Simpson replacing the on-loan defender. 

Reuben Reid did see a shot blocked on 34 minutes in a rare foray forward for Posh, but Gannon's charges were still struggling and in fairness the wind wasn't exactly helping Posh clear their lines, but they were not getting the ball down how they have done in recent weeks and understandably quite a number of the players in green were feeling the pace.

Frecklington was booked for a push on Hayes on 37 minutes with Togwell firing inches wide of the target as the ball was rolled into his path. Rowe for some reason decided to attempt to control a horrible ball coming out of the air moments later on the halfway line and Thompson raced clear, he rolled the ball across for Sparrow, he tried to round Lewis, who did well to smother before Torres made a superb block to stop the rebound.

It was 3-0 to the hosts two minutes before the break and if you let anyone shoot unopposed from 25-yards then you are asking for trouble and when TOGWELL had the freedom of the park to let fly, then you just expected to nestle in the back of the net and skidding off the turf, it struck the inside of the post and rebounded over the line and Posh were on their way to a hiding.

Frecklington scuffed a shot wide of the target in the first minute of stoppage time and it just about summed the first 45 minutes up for Posh. Jamie Day replaced Reuben Reid with Geohaghon pushed into attack to try and give some muscle to the attack.

Half-time: Scunthorpe United 3-0 Posh

Mackail-Smith sent a shot wide of the target on 47 minutes, but it was at least a shot towards goal. A long throw from Geohaghon was headed over by Charlie Lee at the near post as Posh tried to at least give themselves a chance in this second half.

Geohaghon fired wide with an ambitious volley on 59 minutes after controlling a difficult ball and Posh were at least giving it a go. Dominic Green replaced Torres in midfield as Posh made their final change of the evening. It was 4-0 to the Iron as Hayes rolled the ball into the path of THOMPSON, who took a touch and rolled the ball past Lewis.

McCann curled wide from the edge of the area as the hosts pressed forward and with Posh now looking ragged, there were more goals surely in the offing for the hosts if they chose to exploit the obvious defensive problems. Of the players in green, only Craig Mackail-Smith, Joe Lewis, Charlie Lee, Gabriel Zakuani, Lee Frecklington and Chris Whelpdale could be considered as regulars in the starting line-up, with three of those recently sidelined due to injury.

Aaron Mclean, Craig Morgan, Ryan Bennett, Liam Dickinson and Izale McLeod are all on the treatment table and Posh were struggling to cope without their first team players at a windy Glanford Park.

Simpson saw a goal-bound shot blocked on 69 minutes and credit must go to the 333 Posh fans who made the journey, they were in fine voice behind the goal and at times outsinging their hosts, despite the score-line.

The lively Green saw a deflected shot well gathered by an under-worked Joe Murphy before Scunthorpe withdrew Matt Sparrow to a standing ovation. Murphy was called upon to make a fine save on 80 minutes as Rowe picked out Mackail-Smith, his header tipped over from point blank range.

Posh were beginning to press and Zakuani and then Jamie Day were both denied by some superb blocks by the Scunthorpe centre backs before McCann nearly scored an own goal, the ball spinning inches wide. Thompson wasted a great chance to complete his hat-trick late on, firing wide from close-range after good work from substitute McDermott.

Final Score: Scunthorpe United 4-0 Posh

Scunthorpe: Murphy, Wright, Williams, Togwell, Milne (sub Canavan 90min), Sparrow (sub O'Connor 76min), McCann, Hayes, Thompson, Mirfin, Woolford (sub McDermott 54min). Unused subs: Lillis, May, Forte, McNulty.

Posh: Lewis, Zakuani, Lee, Frecklington, Whelpdale, Little (sub Simpson 28min), Rowe, Torres (sub Green 62min), Geohaghon, Reid (sub Day 46min), Mackail-Smith. Unused subs: McKeown, Crook, Griffiths, Koranteng.  

Attendance: 4,995 (333 Posh fans)