Top of the table Bristol City went into this evening's clash with Peterborough United aiming to get their season back on track after losing consecutive League One games.
Darren Ferguson's side, who were without a win in their last five games before tonight, saw Luke Freeman and Aaron Wilbraham put the Robins 2-0 up inside the opening 17 minutes, before Freeman added a third midway through the second half.
Read how it all unfolded in our minute-by minute live commentary below.
Good evening! Thank you for joining Sports Mole for some Friday night football as League One leaders travel to London Road to take on Peterborough United.
Neither side goes into this one in great form. Steve Cotterill's Bristol City side went 16 games unbeaten in League One, before losing their last two fixtures to Swindon Town and Preston North End. Meanwhile, Peterborough United have not won in their five league games. Can either side get their season back on track tonight?
TEAM NEWS: The returning Craig Mackail-Smith goes straight into the Peterborough United lineup and will partner Aaron McLean up front. Bristol City's new signing Matt Smith has to make do with a place on the bench as Aaron Wilbraham and Kieran Agard keep their places.
PETERBOROUGH UNITED STARTING XI: Alnwick; Smith, Zakuani, Burgess, Ntlhe; Maddison, Payne, Anderson, Newell; McLean, Mackail-Smith
BRISTOL CITY STARTING XI: Fielding; Flint, Ayling, Williams; Little, Smith, Freeman, Pack, Bryan; Wilbraham, Agard
PETERBOROUGH UNITED SUBS: Beautyman, Bostwick, Oztumer, Vassell, Day, Washington, Mendez-Laing
BRISTOL CITY SUBS: Osborne, Wagstaff, Emmanuel-Thomas, Kane, Richards, Cunningham, Smith
Bristol City captain Wade Elliott is serving the second of game of his three-match suspension and so misses out for the Robins. How much of a loss will he prove to be for Steve Cotterill's side? We'll find out soon as kickoff is just a minute away...
KICKOFF: And we're off as Bristol City get us underway
CHANCE! Great start by the away side as Freeman picks up the ball 40 yards out and drives towards the Posh box before teeing up Bryan on the edge of the area, but the midfielder's shot is high and wide.
Peterborough United have hardly had a touch of the ball as Steve Cotterill's side have come flying out of the blocks. Wilbraham drags an optimistic effort from 25 yards wide of goal. It's another early warning sign for Ferguson's team.
Bryan is proving to be a real menace down the Bristol City left, Michael Smith just can't cope with him. This time the midfielder cuts inside and hammers another effort over the top.
CHANCE! My word, after their bright start the Robins nearly shot themselves in the foot as Fielding's attempted clearance falls to a Peterborough man but he can't get his effort on target. Let off.
GOAL! Peterborough United 0-1 Bristol City (Luke Freeman)
GOAL! The away side take the lead as Burgess fails to deal with Agard's cross and Freeman is on hand to fire the ball home from the middle of the box.
GOAL! Maddison tests Fielding with a rasping low effort but the former England Under-21 international is equal to it. Freeman's goal seems to have woken Peterborough United up.
GOAL! GOAL! Peterborough United 0 - 2 Bristol City (Aaron Wilbraham)
Or has it? Bryan fires in a fantastic cross to the back post where Wilbraham climbs highest to power a header home. A huge blow for the home side, and arguably they should have stopped Bryan from getting that cross in, but it's a fantastic header from Bristol City's top scorer.
It's so nearly three for Bristol City as Little looks all set to hammer home the rebound after Alnwick had beaten a long shot back into his box, but just as the winger is set to pull the trigger Ntlhe slides in to take the ball of his toe. Great defending.
It's almost total domination now from the away side. Peterborough United look all but resigned to playing on the break. They need something to happen and soon or the three points are heading back to the south west...
To highlight how penned in Peterborough are, McLean's biggest contribution so far is a crunching, but fair, tackle on Williams on the edge of the Posh box. The resulting corner comes to nothing, and the home side have the chance to catch their breath and regroup.
OFF THE BAR! Wow, that is a stunning effort and Bristol City are so unlucky not to be further ahead. A long throw falls to the feet of Pack on the edge of the box, the midfielder nonchalantly flicks the ball over his marker and sends a volley crashing against the frame of the goal as Alnwick was completely beaten. Unlucky.
Ferguson's side make it out of their half as a long clearance falls to the feet of Maddison wide on the left. He takes a touch and sets of towards goal, but under pressure from the Bristol City defence he clips a tame shot wide of goal.
UPDATE! In a bid to stop the onslaught, Peterborough appear to have switched to three at the back. Elsewhere, a Mike Edwards goal at Bramall Lane has put Notts County ahead against Sheffield United.
It's an improvement from the home side. Anderson's neat reverse pass so nearly finds a teammate in the box, but the danger is snuffed out and Bristol City clear their lines.
SAVE! Flint swings a deep free kick into the heart of the Peterborough box where Agard finds himself completely unmarked. However, the striker's header is comfortably held by Alnwick.
It's another half chance for the home side as Newell beats Little and bursts into the Bristol City box, however his delicate chipped pass fails to find a blue shirt.
There's one minute of added time added on to the first half, but just as that is about to tick away Ntlhe takes a blow to the head and requires treatment.
HALF TIME: Peterborough United 0-2 Bristol City
Well, it's Cotterill's side who leave the field at the interval with their heads held high. They've dominated this game so far, and unless Ferguson can inspire an almighty second-half fightback, the Robins will be going four points clear at the top of League One tonight.
It's hard to overstate the away side's dominance in the opening 45 minutes. Bryan and Little have been superb in the wide positions, while Freeman, who opened the scoring with a smart finish after 10 minutes, has been the driving force behind much of his side's play. Fielding's little mishap apart, it's been a faultless display so far.
From a Posh perspective, there's not much to be cheery about. If they are going to find a way back into this game, they have to get the ball to McLean and Mackail-Smith with greater frequency and urgency. The top two have been completely isolated so far.
It's not been a great return for Mackail-Smith so far. The striker scored 80 goals in 185 games for the Posh in his last spell with the club. What would Peterborough fans give for a debut goal from the striker this evening? Remember Ferguson's side haven't won in their last five league games.
The teams are on their way out for the second half. Will Ferguson shuffle his pack?
KICKOFF: We're back underway...
No changes from either side, but Peterborough appear to be sticking with their three at the back system. They improved ever so slightly after making the switch in the first half. Ntlhe has recovered from the knock he suffered at the end of the first half, but is now sporting a rather large bandage.
CHANCE! Bristol City draw a free kick on the edge of the Peterborough box. After an elaborate set up, Bryan whips the ball around the bottom of the wall, but Alnwick gets down well and claws it away.
Newell wins a free kick out on the Peterborough left, which Pack gets up to send behind for a corner. Newell sends the corner towards Burgess at the back post, but the big defender fails to make a solid connection and the ball goes out for a goal kick. Better from the hosts, though.
Zakuani and Payne crash into each other as they attempt to deal with a long punt forward and the ball falls to Wilbraham 20 yards from goal. The big striker winds up, but sends his half volley flying over the bar.
PETERBOROUGH UNITED SUB: Ferguson rolls the dice as he sends new signing Harry Beautyman on for Payne and Michael Bostwick on for Anderson. That's a new midfielder pairing for the home side. Can they drag their side back into the game?
Maddison gets a talking to from referee Paul Tierney after barging into Little out on the touchline, but the official keeps his cards in his pocket. No bookings at all in this game yet.
GOAL! PETERBOROUGH UNITED 0-3 BRISTOL CITY (Luke Freeman)
Wilbraham wins a free kick 30 yards from goal, which is quickly played into Freeman who catches the Peterborough defence sleeping and cuts inside to fire a strike into the bottom left hand corner of Alnwick's goal, via a slight deflection.
PETERBOROUGH UNITED SUB: Well Peterborough have it all to do now. Freeman, playing in a more advanced roll than usual, has been superb for the away side all evening. He'll have one eye on the hat-trick, now. The home side send Erhun Oztumer on for Maddison.
For all their dominance of League One this season, Bristol City haven't notched more than three goals in any of their games yet this season. Could they do it tonight?
It's all gone a bit flat. Peterborough are huffing and puffing but struggling to put Bristol City under any real pressure. Cotterill's side meanwhile seem to sense the job is done.
Oh dear. Bostwick shapes up to shoot on the edge of the area, but Peterborough instead work the ball to Burgess who has made a run down the right and into the Bristol City box. However, with the ball at his feet and a host of team mates in the box, the defender wildly over hits his cross and the ball flies out for a throw-in.
UPDATE! Sheffield United have drawn level against Notts County through Jamie Murphy.
Beautyman picks out Smith with a beautiful ball over the top, and the Peterborough man sends a chipped shot towards the back post that has Fielding scampering back towards his goal, but it drifts over the top and Bristol City's lead remains three.
BRISTOL CITY SUBS: Agard, who has linked up well with Wilbraham and Freeman all night, is replaced by Bristol City's new signing Matt Smith. Freeman meanwhile is denied his hat-trick as he's given a rest and Scott Wagstaff is sent on in his place.
For the first time all night McLean finds himself with the ball at this feet in the Robins box. He gets his shot away, but it comes off a defender's boot and trickles out for a corner.
Peterborough enjoy a rare spell of possession, much to the home fans' delight, but unfortunately it's all within their own half. When they finally make it into Robins territory, Newell's deep cross towards Mackail-Smith drifts harmlessly out of play.
Referee Paul Tierney, who has had a pretty quiet night, is called into action as Flint appears to haul Mackail-Smith down in the Robins' box. However he penalises the Posh striker.
Three minutes of added time to be played.
BRISTOL CITY SUB: Little strolls off to be replaced by Todd Kane as the away side look to run out the clock.
YELLOW CARD! BOOKING! The first, and probably the last, booking of the night is given to Zakuani, seemingly for dissent as he appears to continue to argue Mackail-Smith's case for a penalty.
FULL TIME: Peterborough United 0-3 Bristol City
Well it's a great night for Bristol City who get back to winning ways and ensure they will finish the weekend on top of League One. For Peterborough United meanwhile, it's a case of from bad to worse as they take their winless run to six games. They're in free fall down the league and Ferguson has a lot of work to do if he is going to take his side back towards a playoff place.
Right, that's all we have time for this evening! Thank you for joining Sports Mole for what was an exciting, if a little one-sided, League One clash. Bristol City fans will be delighted to see their team reasserting their claims for promotion, while Peterborough United need to stop the rot when they face struggling Leyton Orient in a fortnight's time. Check out our match report for more insight on tonight's game, but that's it from me, so goodbye for now!
