League Two: Notts County 3-2 MK Dons

A late Tom Iorpenda goal claimed victory for Notts County as MK Dons twice led to go down 3-2 at Meadow Lane on Tuesday night.

Nathaniel Mendez-Laing netted a 12-minute brace, sandwiching a Matt Dennis cracker as the game exploded from the off, before Alassana Jatta capitalised on a poor Laurence Maguire header to equalise at 2-2 after just 26 minutes.

With both sides vying for an automatic promotion spot, it took a Tom Iorpenda strike two minutes from time to settle it for County, after he had missed a sitter in the first-half, crashing his strike against the bar from close range.

The result sees Dons drop to fifth place in League Two ahead of Saturday’s game against Cambridge United at Stadium MK.

A late decision from the FA saw Jack Sanders handed three-match ban after he was seen pulling the hair of an Oldham player during the FA Cup clash on Saturday - an incident which went unspotted by the referees on the day but was picked up on video afterwards. It meant he came out of the side, with Marvin Ekpiteta returning having been rested for the first-half at the weekend.

Jon Mellish, Aaron Nemane, Alex Gilbey and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing also came back into the side, with Joe Tomlinson, Gethin Jones, Will Collar and Aaron Collins all dropping to the bench.

Games at Meadow Lane between the sides have usually delivered goals, and the first 26 minutes delivered four of them.

Nathaniel Mendez-Laing bagged a brace in the opening 12 minutes, initially opening the scoring in just the third minute when he raced onto Callum Paterson’s pass.

But they were quickly pegged back by a stunning goal from ex-Dons striker Matt Dennis as he rifled in his ninth goal of the season in style, picking out the top corner from the edge of the box.

Mendez-Laing would then restore Dons’ lead from the penalty spot after the ball struck an arm from Alex Gilbey’s cross, but again the visitors would be drawn back when a poor header from Maguire allowed Alassana Jatta to equalise for a second time for County.

Two minutes later, the hosts should have been ahead but incredibly Tom Iorpenda hit the bar with a fierce strike from six yards.

The game showed no signs of slowing up before the break, with both sides having half-sights of goal but there would be controversy in stoppage time. Already on a booking, ex-County man Aaron Nemane caught Conor Grant, drawing the home players to surround referee Aaron Farmer. Rather than getting a second yellow though, Lewis Macari would instead get a card for his protests. Nemane would be replaced at the break by Gethin Jones.

While the game lacked the same goal-mouth action in the second-half, it continued to be played out on a knife-edge.

Neither side could really lay claim to being the better, both still going hammer and tongs in search of a third goal but it looked as though it wouldn’t come.

Dons threw on Aaron Collins in a bid to get themselves a few more chances, but he could only send one high over Kelle Roos’ crossbar, while at the other end, substitute Kellan Gordon fired one goalwards, which Craig MacGillivray did well to keep out from close range.

But from the resultant corner, the Dons keeper would spill the ball and after pinball in the box, the winner was swept home by Iorpenda, making up for his earlier miss.

Referee: Aaron Farmer

Attendance: 8,872 (462)

Notts County: Ross, Bedau, Platt, Norburn, Grant (Jones 73), Iorpenda, Dennis, Tsaroulla (Kouhyar 73), Macari (Ness 89), Jatta (Gordon 84), Bennetts

Subs not used: Griffiths, McDonald, Traore

MK Dons: MacGillivray, Offord, Maguire (Tomlinson 66), Ekpiteta, Nemane (Jones 46), Mellish, Kelly (Crowley 90), Thompson-Sommers, Gilbey, Mendez-Laing (Collins 66), Paterson (Collar 76)

Subs not used: Trueman, Tripp

Booked: Nemane, Macari, Offord, Thompson-Sommers, Dennis