Kabia's brace denied Dons victory on the road at Grimsby

A second-half Jaze Kabia brace saw MK Dons squander a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 with Grimsby Town at Blundell Park.

Dons looked in control at the break when Callum Paterson’s fifth goal in a week gave Dons the lead before a Reece Staunton own goal from Marvin Ekpiteta’s wayward shot gave them a 2-0 lead.

But the visitors looked a shell of the team which went in at half-time at the change, with Kabia, who had a first-half header ruled out offisde, netting a brace to snatch a point for the home side.

After the narrow win over Bristol Rovers on Tuesday, Paul Warne made three changes to the side. Marvin Ekpiteta returned to the side for the first time since New Year’s Day in place of the absent Jack Sanders, while Liam Kelly and Gethin Jones came in ahead of Jay Matete and Aaron Nemane.

Heading into the game, Grimsby had not conceded a league goal since before Christmas and were on a tear of six consecutive wins.

But within a few minutes of the opening whistle, Dons could have been two goals up. Aaron Collins fired over the bar when played through by Ben Wiles inside 45 seconds, before Wiles then looked to be tripped in the box, but referee Kirsty Dowle was unmoved.

Dons were comfortably in control, themselves with three wins in a row, and kept knocking on the door for the opener, with Collins and Paterson both looking threatening.

Having not won a penalty against Bristol Rovers in the week, Collins then got his reward when he skipped past the challenge of Harvey Rodgers, getting a clip from the Mariners captain to win the spot kick. Paterson duly dispatched the penalty for his fifth goal in a week.

Dons asserted their dominance when, five minutes later, Marvin Ekpiteta fired a wayward effort into the mix, and substitute Reece Staunton diverted it past his own keeper to double Dons’ lead.

Grimsby rallied towards the end of the half, and thought they had a goal back when Jaze Kabia looked to have headed past Craig MacGillivray but his celebrations were cut short by the offside flag.

With their six-game winning run on the line, the Mariners emerged a far more threatening prospect after the break. Piling on the pressure on the visitors, set-pieces and corners sailed into the penalty area but MacGillivray mostly had his powder kept dry.

By contrast, Dons barely offered up a threat in the second-half, and as the pressure continued to mount at the other end, it eventually told.

Kabia, who saw that first-half header chalked off, eventually got one to stick on 64 minutes when he was left unmarked at the far post to tap in to half the arrears.

With his tail up, the Irishman would then fire home a bullet header nine minutes later to equalise for the hosts, and it was nothing short of what they deserved based on their second-half performance.

The remainder of the game was played on a knife-edge as both sides wanted to go for the winner but were cautious of being caught open at the back, and despite ten minutes of stoppage time, the honours remained even.

Referee: Kirsty Dowle

Attendance: 6,246 (284)

Grimsby Town: Smith, Sweeney (Staunton 27), McJannet, Lavelle (Warren 79), Rodgers, McEachran, Khouri, Walker (Turi 87), Kabia, Vernam (Sellars-Fleming 90), Cook (Amaluzor 87)

Subs not used: Odour, Burns

MK Dons: MacGillivray, Offord, Ekpiteta, Nelson, Jones, Mellish, Gilbey, Kelly (Lemonheigh-Evans 72 (Matete 83)), Wiles, Collins, Paterson (Hepburn-Murphy 72)

Subs not used: Trueman, Hogan, Tomlinson, Nemane

Booked: Vernam, Offord, Matete