Peterborough United survived a late Bristol Rovers comeback to beat the Gas 3-2 in Sky Bet League One.
The Posh dominated the first half and broke the deadlock through Kwame Poku, who chipped his effort over Josh Griffiths.
The hosts were in control and scored again to take complete control. Ricky-Jade Jones made the most of a defensive mistake and raced one-on-one with the goalkeeper, dribbling around him before slotting his shot into the net.
Malik Mothersille added a third for the hosts before Rovers scored twice in quick succession. Luke McCormick thumped in the first on his 100th appearance for the Gas before Gatlin O’Donkor netted soon after with a header. Jed Steer then denied Shaq Forde in the final stages to help the Posh to a narrow victory.
Manager Matt Taylor made four changes to the team that lost 4-0 to Wigan Athletic at The Memorial Stadium, handing Connor Taylor and Kofi Shaw their first league starts this season.
Peterborough dominated the early possession and took the lead eleven minutes into the contest through Poku, who raced onto a direct pass forward from Hector Kyprianou before looping his strike over Griffiths.
The Posh immediately gained confidence and almost doubled their lead after a fast attack down the right. David Ajiboye raced into the final third before pulling a cutback towards the edge of the box, but Chris Conn-Clark stroked his first-time effort wide of the post.
A cagey fifteen minutes followed before the hosts went close again. Jones did well in putting pressure on Connor Taylor before blocking his clearance, with the ball dropping fortunately at the feet of Mothersille. However, his low strike from close range was saved by the goalkeeper.
Jones was at the heart of the action soon after and scored Peterborough's second goal. He raced clear after capitalising on a mistake in the Rovers defence before going around Griffiths and rolling his shot into the net.
The Gas struggled to get going in the first half but were unlucky not to get one back before the break. Shaw's inviting cross was headed back across the box by Bryant Bilongo towards Sotiriou, but his goal-bound effort was blocked.
Lino Sousa then attempted to get one back for the visitors, tricking his way down the right before firing his strike across the goal and just past incoming Rovers players rushing across.
Rovers continued their good spell after the restart. Sotiriou drove down the right and flashed a low cross into Omochere, but he lifted his first-time effort over.
Peterborough still provided a threat and forced Griffiths into a brilliant save. Jones latched onto Jack Sparkes' free-kick and powered a free header on target from point-blank range, but the shot-stopper got across well to save his attempt.
The Posh kept pushing and scored their third goal just past the hour mark. Mothersille beat the offside trap to get onto the end of Sparkes' chipped pass and struck his shot past the goalkeeper.
The Gas did not stop believing and scored two quick goals to keep the match alive. McCormick thumped his shot into the roof of the net from close range before O'Donkor beat Steer with a looping header.
Forde was added to the attacking unit and was denied his first goal for the Gas with five minutes remaining. He played a quick one-two with McCormick to earn space for a shot inside the box, but his low effort was saved by Steer's foot.
Rovers threw everything at Peterborough to try and level the score, but the hosts survived ten minutes of additional time to claim all three points.
Peterborough United: Steer, Collins, Wallin, Conn-Clarke (Mothersille 20), Poku, Ajiboye (Curtis 80), Jones (Odoh 56), Sparkes, Kyprianou, Katongo, Fernandez.
Subs not used: Bilokapic, Randall, Dornelly, O’Brien-Brady
Goals: Poku 10, Jones 33, Mothersille 63
Bristol Rovers: Griffiths, Sousa, Wilson, Mola, Omochere (O’Donkor 60), Sotiriou (Forde 80), Taylor, Conteh, Bilongo (Thomas 60), Lindsay (Ward 71), Shaw (McCormick 60).
Subs not used: Sinclair, Garrett.
Goals: McCormick 75, O’Donkor 76
Booked: Mola 12
Subs not used: Garrett, Sinclair
Referee: Farai Hallam
