Dons climb into automatic promotion spots with win over Crewe

MK Dons 2-1 Crewe Alexandra
MK Dons made it 14 unbeaten on Tuesday as they brushed Crewe aside 2-1 at Stadium MK MK Dons made it 14 unbeaten on Tuesday as they brushed Crewe aside 2-1 at Stadium MK
MK Dons made it 14 unbeaten on Tuesday as they brushed Crewe aside 2-1 at Stadium MK

MK Dons moved into the automatic promotion spots on Tuesday night with a comfortable 2-1 victory at Stadium MK, piling more misery on bottom club Crewe Alexandra.

All the hard work was done in the first half as goals from Troy Parrott and Conor Coventry put the hosts in the ascendency. And with Rotherham not playing until Saturday, the win moved Dons into the top two, trailing new leaders Wigan Athletic by a point after their 3-0 win over Accrington Stanley.

After their 2-0 win over Shrewsbury on Saturday, Liam Manning named an unchanged side for the visit of bottom side Crewe Alexandra.

Crewe's six match losing streak had them low on confidence heading to Stadium MK, and though they looked spirited in the opening 20 minutes, their resolve was asorbed with ease by a confident Dons side looking to win for a third game in a row and move into the top two.

Without really causing a lot of problems, Dons took the lead on 24 minutes when Dean Lewington pitched a ball in behind for Troy Parrott to get on the end of, but still with work to do, he lobbed the ball over keeper Dave Richards for his seventh goal of the season.

Crewe heads dropped once trailing, allowing Dons to take a stranglehold of the game. Scott Twine, who admitted he was unhappy with his goal contributions this season despite being the most prolific player in League One, came within a lick of paint of firing in his 16th goal of the season but his free-kick thumped the bar.

He would get his reward six minutes before the break though when he provided the assist for Conor Coventry to thrash Dons 2-0 ahead from the edge of the box to fully assert their control.

With the business done in the first half, the game was allowed to fizzle out in the second period. Crewe made a good fist of it, with former Dons loanee Chris Long relentlessly chasing the ball around the back three with precious little reward.

Even half-chances were a rarity as Dons clicked into cruise control, wrapping up Mo Eisa and Troy Parrott long before the final whistle ahead of Saturday's trip to AFC Wimbledon, but the one blot on the book though came in stoppage time when substitute Bassala Sambou bundled one in for Crewe to give the handful of travelling supporters something to cheer.

Referee: Ross Joyce

Attendance: 7,315 (139)

MK Dons: Cumming, Lewington, O'Hora, Darling, Kesler-Hayden, Harvie, Coventry, McEachran (Smith 81), Parrott (Corbeanu 64), Twine, Eisa (Wickham 64)

Subs not used: Ravizzoli, Kasumu, Kemp, Boateng

Crewe Alexandra: Richard, Harper, Offord, Long, Lowery, Ainley, Murphy (Mandron 46), Lundstram, Johnson, Williams (O'Riordan 46), Kashket (Sambou 70)

Subs not used: Jaaskelainen, Porter, Griffiths, Sambou, Billington

Booked: Mandron