Pre-season: Maidenhead United 1-4 MK Dons

Rushian Hepburn-Murphy bagged a second-half brace as MK Dons cruised past Maidenhead United in their first pre-season game of the summer, but there were concerns for the fitness of Alex Gilbey.

Damerai Singh-Hurditt gave Dons the lead after just two minutes, but the Dons skipper would go down not long after, writhing after appearing to twist his knee in the turf blocking a shot. He was forced out of the game barely had it begun.

After wholesale changes at the break, Jack Perniskie would rattle home Dons’ second before Alfie Pendlebury pulled one back for the hosts, but Hepburn-Murphy would get his brace to ensure the win.

With two strong sides named by Paul Warne for each half in their pre-season opener, all three of the club’s new signings were given run-outs against Maidenhead, and all three made good first impressions, one of them almost immediately.

Cohen Bramall, starting as a left wing-back, pinged a ball over the top for Damerai Singh-Hurditt to chase, and after the ball got caught under the feet of a Magpies defender, the youngster twisted himself some space on the edge of the box, deftly curling the ball home for the opener after just two minutes.

But the good start was soured barely a minute later when captain Alex Gilbey appeared to twist his knee as he fought for the ball on the edge of the box, needing treatment before being taken off, replaced by Brooklyn Kazungu.

And the youngster would look a lively outlet on the right-flank, twice skipping through challenges to get to the edge of the box, keeping Dons firmly in the driving seat in Berkshire.

Bramall too continued to look dangerous, getting in behind to cross on a number of occasions, and twice lining up free-kicks from the edge of the box, but couldn’t find the target.

At the other end, Dons would be the masters of their own problems with Maidenhead’s best chances coming at the end of the half courtesy of mistakes from the visitors, with Dan Crowley clearing one off the line, while Craig MacGillivray saw one fly just wide of the post.

The second-half exploded into action as both sides made wholesale changes, and once again it was a Dons youth product who worked a moment of magic to net the goal.

Jack Perniskie was the beneficiary of a well-won ball by Kazungu, neatly picking his spot five minutes after the restart.

A minute later, Maidenhead had one back when keeper Seb Stacey, on at the break, was caught in possession by striker Alfie Pendlebury on the edge of the box, leaving the striker with a routine finish to roll into the empty net.

But Dons saw their two-goal lead restored just a couple of minutes later when Perniskie flicked the ball to the waiting Rushian Hepburn-Murphy to blast home.

New signing Dan Barlaser was proving the key orchestrator for the visitors after the break, spreading passes to wing-backs Sim Troso and Gethin Jones, who put one on a plate for Ben Wiles, only to be denied by some last-ditch defending.

Dons would assert themselves further on the game when, with 14 minutes to go, Hepburn-Murphy got his second, patiently picking his spot in the far corner to seal the deal at 4-1.

Referee: Sunny Gill

MK Dons first-half: MacGillivray, Ekpiteta, Goode, Sanders, Gilbey (Kazungu 8), Crowley, Lewis-Burgess, Bramall, Mendez-Laing, Singh-Hurditt, Paterson

MK Dons second-half: Stacey, Jones, Nelson, Waller, Kazungu (Singh-Hurditt 63), Troso, Barlaser, Kelly, Wiles, Hepburn-Murphy, Perniskie