LONDON, CMC- Jamaica international Jonson Clarke-Harris has hailed a “good Easter” for Peterborough United after they held their nerve to beat Exeter 3-1 on Easter Monday and maintain their playoff push in the English League One.
The 28-year-old got on the scoresheet at Weston Home Stadium in the east of England to seal victory after the hosts saw their two-goal cushion reduced through a strike by Exeter substitute Rekeem Harper early in the second half.
For Peterborough, the win was their second on the trot following their 3-0 thrashing of Shrewsbury Town on Good Friday, moving them into fifth on 70 points. They are now unbeaten in six outings dating back to mid-March.
“It’s been a good Easter with the three points at Shrewsbury and how we completely dominated them for 90 minutes,” said Peterborough captain Clarke-Harris.
“Today (Monday), for the first 45, it was complete domination again. They didn’t cause us too many problems.
“It’s one game at a time, though. We’ve got the derby on Saturday, and we look forward to going to Cambridge and trying to get another three points.”
Saturday’s game is an hour away at Abbey Stadium.
On Monday, Peterborough went ahead eight minutes after Exeter defender Alex Hartridge put the ball in the back of his net, and that lead doubled with half-time approaching, Ephron Mason-Clark netting his fourth in six games.
There were nerves when Harper, a 23-year-old midfielder of Jamaican descent, struck in the first minute of the second half, but Clarke-Harris erased any lingering doubt over the result with his 24th league goal of the season in the 70th minute.
“It was a slow start to the second half, one that we did not need at all,” Clarke-Harris explained.
“They came out on the front foot and got the goal early. It pushed us back, and a bit of confidence went from us and we had the wind against us, so it took us a while to regain control.
“It was tough. We didn’t want to concede another goal and have to chase the game. For that 10-15 minute period, the boys dug in, and then we went and got the goal to kill the game off.”
He continued: “They were keeping a high line, and the boss said that we had to get runners in between their left and right wing-backs, and that’s precisely what the two wide forwards did.
“Fair play to Ephron for his goal. He’s been shining for weeks, and hopefully, he keeps tucking those goals away.
“We can only take the positives out of the game as we’ve taken the three points.” Clarke-Harris made his debut for Jamaica last May.
and then 