Jersey Mike’s Subs Trophy: Bromley 1-2 MK Dons

MK Dons eased into the knock-out stage of the Jersey Mike’s Subs Trophy with a 2-1 win over Bromley, maintaining a 100 per cent record in the competition.

After wins over Crawley and Brentford U21s, goals from Callum Paterson and Jack Burke saw them overturn Nicke Kabamba’s first-half opener to win at the Copperjax Stadium.

With Dons already through to the next round and Bromley unable to qualify regardless of the result, there was precious little riding on the game at Hayes Lane, but Paul Warne opted to field a strong side for the Southern Group H finale, despite making 11 changes to the side which beat Swindon Town in the FA Cup on Saturday.

With precious few in the CopperJax Stadium on the night for the dead rubber occasion, and miserable conditions for the players, the quality was low in the opening half.

Both sides opted to play long from box-to-box, and there were few chances for either side as the defences looked firmly on top.

But it changed midway through the first-half when Mitch Pinnock took a quick throw to get Corey Whitely in on goal, drawing out keeper Will Dennis before pulling back for Nicke Kabamba to fire into the unguarded net.

The lead sparked Dons into life and within five minutes they were level. Nice play between Ibrahim Fullah and Ben Wiles made space for Callum Paterson to rattle home his third goal of the season to equalise.

There were sights of goal for both sides after that, with Jay Matete, Curtis Nelson and Pinnock all coming close before the break.

Both sides started the second-half brightly, but it would be Dons who would put themselves in front just seven minutes in from promising youngster Jack Burke. A quickly taken Dan Barlaser free-kick was headed back across goal by Curtis Nelson for the teenager to loop a header into the bottom corner.

From there, both sides made plenty of substitutes which stunted any flow to the game, with Warne wrapping some of his players up ahead of the weekend’s fixture with Burton Albion, while Bromley boss Karl Robinson threw on the likes of Jodi Jones and Michael Cheek in a bid to get back into the game.

But aside from a late Jones effort acrobatically saved by Dennis, Dons saw out the game with ease to progress into the knock-out stage with a 100 per cent record.

Referee: Matthew Norton

Bromley: Smith, Headman (McKiernan 60), Taylor (Cowin 88), Saville, Archer (J Jones 72), Pinnock, Ifill, Kabamba (Cheek 72), Mendy (Miller 72), Whitely, Conteh

Subs not used: Porter

MK Dons: Dennis, Nelson, Burke, Jones (Curtis 65), Bramall, Wiles (Silver 72), Barlaser (Boateng 72), Lewis-Burgess (Troso 46), Fullah, Matete, Paterson (Perniskie 58)

Subs not used: Stacey, Singh-Hurditt

Booked: Saville, Burke