EFL Trophy: Blackpool 0-3 Peterborough United - Posh through to Wembley final
- Published
Malik Mothersille's opener set Posh on their way to a Wembley final in April
Peterborough booked a trip to Wembley with a convincing win at Blackpool in the first EFL Trophy semi-final.
Former Chelsea youth player Malik Mothersille scored his third goal in four games in the competition to give Posh a first-half lead.
They had lost 2-1 to Blackpool in League One three days ago but were much the better side at Bloomfield Road.
Harrison Burrows' late brace, via a penalty and an excellent third goal, sealed their place in the final.
Posh will face the winner of Wednesday's tie between Bradford and Wycombe in the final on Sunday, 7 April.
Both teams were desperately seeking a win to not only reach the final but also restore their faltering rhythm in the League One play-off race.
Blackpool sought to build on their away win at Peterborough on Saturday by coming out of the traps quickly, forcing a couple of early chances, but Posh soon imposed themselves on the game.
Home keeper Richard O'Donnell's flap at a cross saw two Blackpool defenders hurl themselves in front of Kwame Poku's close-range shot, while Jeando Fuchs hammered the rebound into the side netting.
O'Donnell recovered to be his team's best player in the first half, making fine saves from Joel Randall, Archie Collins and Mothersille.
He was helpless in the 37th minute, however, as Poku's accurate long ball found Ephron Mason-Clark on the edge of the box. He brilliantly twisted in the air to chest the ball into Mothersille's path, and the striker swept his shot into the top corner.
Blackpool struggled to make any impression on the Posh defence in the second half and it was the visitors who looked more likely to score again.
Randall's shot beat O'Donnell but drifted wide, and Mason-Clark''s deflected attempt was acrobatically hooked clear by defender Marvin Ekpiteta as Posh sought a killer second.
It arrived with 10 minutes left as Ricky-Jade Jones raced clear and was clipped by O'Donnell as the goalkeeper advanced to meet him. The result was a yellow card for O'Donnell and a Burrows spot-kick that found the corner.
Burrows, who was at Wembley as a fan in 2014 when Peterborough won the trophy with a win over Chesterfield, rounded things off deep into added time when he finished a slick move with a curling shot into the far corner.