Nombe's brace seals Dons win over Stevenage

Nombe's pace saw him break through the Stevenage defence twice in the final 13 minutes, adding to Conor McGrandles' first half strike to pick up the three points.

After the disastrous performance on Saturday against Accrington, Paul Tisdale opted to make eight changes to his side for the Leasing.com Trophy game against Stevenage.

The only survivors from the side were George Willims, Joe Walsh and Dean Lewington, with Brennan Dickenson making his first start for the club since his summer move from Colchester.

Conor McGrandles' cameo towards the end at the Wham Stadium did help swing things in Dons' favour late on, and his 16th minute strike, low through a crowd of players, gave the visitors the lead.

They should have been 2-0 up five minutes later when Dickenson got on the end of Sam Nombe's cross, but fired wide when he should have done better.

Stevenage, like Dons, made wholesale changes for the game, but were forced into another when Tom Soares was forced off early on, but his replacement, Craig Mackail-Smith, twice came close to drawing level before half time, first denied by Stuart Moore before heading just wide of the post.

The second half played out much like a pre-season game. Neither side looked especially fussed by the way the game was playing out. With McGrandles orchestrating things for Dons, Stevenage did little to get at Stuart Moore's goal, while Sacha Bastien's powder remained pretty dry at the other end too.

Long balls over the top for Sam Nombe to chase were seldom proving effective, but with 13 minutes to go, Russell Martin's pass found the striker who used his pace to break through the Stevenage defence, firing past Bastien.

Six minutes later, Nombe added his second and Dons' third when he was sent through on goal again, slotting past Bastien to wrap up the points for the visitors.

Referee: Sam Purkiss

Stevenage: Bastien, Soares (Mackail-Smith 9 (Kennedy 58)), Carter, Cowley, Fielding, Iontton, Watts, Smith, Fernandez, Denton, List (Georgiou 64)Subs not used: Farman, Byrom, Rollinson

MK Dons: Moore, Lewington, Martin, Walsh, Williams, Dickenson (Cargill 63), McGrandles, Houghton, Kasumu, Bowery (Boateng 63), NombeSubs not used: Nicholls, Gilbey, Agard, Asonganyi, Sorinola