League Two: MK Dons 5-0 Cheltenham Town

MK Dons shellacked Cheltenham Town in emphatic fashion on Saturday, routing them 5-0 at Stadium MK.

Home fans had to wait since March to see their side win on home soil, and were treated to a performance with it too, beginning after just nine minutes when Jack Sanders headed in the opener. Alex Gilbey bent in a beauty on 15 minutes before Callum Paterson added a third on 25 minutes.

Second-half goals from the excellent Rushian Hepburn-Murphy and Aaron Nemane - both their first for the club - completed the hammering, while the clean sheet was the seventh in a row in the league for Dons’ defence.

After making nine changes to the side for the midweek Carabao Cup clash with Bristol City, Paul Warne reverted back to a more recognised league side, with one change to the line-up at Barrow a week earlier. Will Collar, who impressed at Ashton Gate, came into the side to replace injured Kane Thompson-Sommers.

Cheltenham arrived at Stadium MK having lost both of their opening two league matches, and Dons immediately put them to the sword. Callum Paterson thumped the base of the post after just two minutes but he would not have to wait long for his first goal at MK1.

First though, Jack Sanders headed Dons into the lead after nine minutes when Joe Tomlinson’s deep corner was headed back across the face by Luke Offord, leaving his centre-back partner with a simple close-range finish.

Dons then doubled their lead with a beauty from skipper Alex Gilbey, finishing a brilliant move featuring Paterson and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing, bending past keeper Joe Day on the quarter of the hour.

Ten minutes later Paterson got his goal, lashing in from barely a couple of yards out after Day spilled Liam Kelly’s free-kick into the path of Offord, who redirected it for the Scot roof it.

He nearly had a second to his name on the stroke of half-time when he narrowly missed converting Tomlinson’s cross.

Dons control continued throughout the first-half and into the second, and though they weren’t forcing the issue, they looked comfortable at both ends of the pitch.

One player who deserved a goal from the opening few games was Rushian Hepburn-Murphy, and he finally got his reward on the hour when Paterson turned the ball around for corner for him to race onto, picking his spot in the corner to make it 4-0.

Flexing his muscles on the bench, Paul Warne was able to change his whole front-line, and they combined for Dons’ fifth with ten minutes to go. Jonathan Leko burst down the left, initially looking for Scott Hogan in the middle but his ball was cut out, bouncing kindly into the path of Aaron Nemane to rifle home his first goal for the club to put a bow on the result.

Referee: Jacob Miles

Attendance: 6,772 (365)

MK Dons: MacGillivray, Offord, Sanders, Jones (Ekpiteta 76), Tomlinson, Kelly, Collar (Lemonheigh-Evans 76), Gilbey, Hepburn-Murphy (Leko 67), Mendez-Laing (Nemane 67), Paterson (Hogan 67)

Subs not used: Trueman, Thompson

Cheltenham Town: Day, Jude-Boyd (Harmon 89), Wilson, Miller (Martin 56), Thomas, Power, Broom (Tustin 89), Bennett, Mazionis (Kinsella 37), Archer, Young (Bickerstaff 56)

Subs not used: Diallo, Willcox

Booked: Manzionis, Jude-Boyd, Archer