Paul Ince said if his side had scored six or seven against Cobblers then it wouldn't have flattered them after an 'awesome' performance.

Dons breezed past neighbours Northampton and into the area semi-final of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy with ease on Tuesday night.

Striker Aaron Wilbraham's audacious and absolutely outstanding opener was followed up by a brace from the hungry Sam Baldock.

It meant Dons' march to the arch continues, with a record also broken on the way – it was a club record sixth win in a row at stadium:mk.

But it was the manner of the first half show – as Dons cut through the visitors like a warm knife through butter – that impressed the boss most of all.

"I thought we were awesome first half and it could have been six or seven," said Ince.

"It was a fantastic effort. We changed four or five players and to perform the way we did was a credit to the lads who have come in and done the business."

Mark Carrington, Luke Howell and Sol Davis clearly impressed the manager on their return to the side. They didn't look like players on the fringes as Dons started the game at great pace.

On just six minutes they opened the scoring with arguably the best goal ever to be scored at stadium:mk.

Wilbraham left the crowd open-mouthed as with his back to goal he managed in one touch to flick Lewis Gobern's cross over the head of Dean Beckwith, and then spin around him to volley home with his second touch before the ball even hit the floor.

But the fact that it was Wilbraham who hit the sickeningly sublime goal was pretty much the only thing that disappointed Ince.

"It was unbelievable. I'm gutted it was Alby because he'll be talking about it all season!

"Alby is a very technical player and the first touch was sublime before the volley which was just outstanding," he said.

"If that was Man Utd or Chelsea they would be showing that every day, every week, every month. It will be interesting to see just how much coverage Alby gets."

Sam Baldock then fired a superb double on his return to the side that will have reminded Ince of the undoubted quality the England U20 international has.

The first came when he got on the end of Luke Howell's forward pass and picked out the bottom corner after fooling keeper Chris Dunn. And 10 minutes later he scored from the penalty spot after being brought down by Dunn.

Cobblers' Steve Guinan headed a goal back for his side early in the second half, but it was to be little more than a consolation for the visitors in the end.

Dons are now just two rounds away from a return to Wembley – although there are some quality sides left in the southern section of the competition.

Ince isn't dreaming yet though and is instead just worried of a fixture pile-up with his men now competing on three fronts.

"No I don't dream, I am a realist," he said. "Sometimes we are a victim of our own success because we haven't got a massive squad.

"In an ideal world it would be quite nice to have a couple of weeks without a few games.

"With the Christmas period coming up we are going to be choc-a-bloc with games now.

"But it's just what it is and when you keep winning the lads will just want to keep on playing football.

"We will take each game as it comes from here and it will be good to get a home draw in the semi-final. The final is still a long way off yet though."

MK Dons: Gueret, Howell, McCracken, Powell (booked 74) (Ibehre 77), Howell, Gobern (booked 63) (Easter 71), Carrington, Puncheon, Chadwick (Leven 71), Baldock, Wilbraham

Subs: Gleeson, Easter, Ibehre, Leven, Morgan

Goals: Wilbraham 6, Baldock 16, 27

Northampton Town: Dunn (booked 24), Rodgers (booked 40), Guttridge, Hinton, Beckwith (Jacobs 67), Guinan (Akinfenwa 67), Holt, Gilligan, Mulligan, Davis, Kanyuka (McCready 26)

Subs: Brown, Dyer, Akinfenwa, McCready, Jacobs

Goals: Guinan 51