League Two: MK Dons 5-1 Shrewsbury Town

A brilliant Callum Paterson first-half hat-trick ensured MK Dons breezed into the League Two automatic promotion spots with a 5-1 win over Shrewsbury.

The Scot fired Dons in front after just eight minutes, with a penalty three minutes later doubling his tally before a fine strike 11 minutes from the break completed his trio to effectively wrap things up before the change.

A relative cruise after the break, three goals in the final eight minutes would add some spice to the game, with Luke Offord and Dan Crowley netting either side of a fine George Lloyd consolation.

The win, Dons’ second in a row, sees them climb into third ahead of Tuesday’s home game with struggling Bristol Rovers.

After their comfortable 2-0 win away at Accrington Stanley last time out, Paul Warne made just one change to his side as he welcomed back Aaron Nemane ahead of Jon Mellish. Defender Curtis Nelson was handed his home debut at the heart of the defence after making his bow at the Wham Stadium last week.

Celebrating his 500th career appearance last week too was Callum Paterson, and he waited for his 501st outing to celebrate in style with a brilliant first-half hat-trick to fire Dons into total control at the break.

His first came after eight minutes when he brought down Ben Wiles’ ball with his chest, taking aim from 25 yards to find the bottom corner.

Three minutes later, Alex Gilbey, sporting a protective mask over his broken nose, was bundled over by defender William Boyle to win a penalty, which Paterson duly stuck down the middle.

While the game appeared to settle after the early flurry of activity, Paterson completed his hat-trick - the first trio for Dons since Scott Twine’s four-goal masterclass against Plymouth in May 2022 - 11 minutes before half-time when he was put in again by an excellent reverse pass from Wiles, bending left-footed past Brook for the third, the pick of the bunch.

With the game effectively sealed at half-time, Dons fairly cruised through the second-half but still looked the side more likely to add to the score line as they kept Shrewsbury at bay with relative ease.

There were chances too, with substitute Jon Mellish firing into the side-netting, while both he and Gethin Jones looked to tee up Paterson for a fourth to no avail.

The Scot would be given a standing ovation as he left the field with 13 minutes to go, but there would be three more goals before the whistle.

The first came with eight minutes to go when Luke Offord swept home Dons’ fourth after Jack Sanders clipped Liam Kelly’s free-kick off the post.

Two minutes later, Sanders would make the slip-up at the other end though, gifting the ball to the visitors who fed it to substitute George Lloyd to bend in a cracking consolation for Shrewsbury.

The final word though would go to Dan Crowley, who bundled his first Dons goal through a crowd of players with two minutes to play to complete the rout.

Referee: Alan Dale

Attendance: 7,336 (485)

MK Dons: MacGillivray, Offord, Sanders, Nelson, Nemane (Mellish 46), Jones (Lemonheigh-Evans 68), Wiles, Kelly, Gilbey (Matete 68), Collins, Paterson (Hogan 77)

Subs not used: Trueman, Crowley, Ekpiteta

Shrewsbury Town: Brook, Hoole, Hoyle, Clucas, Perry (Lloyd 72), Freeman, Morgan (Sang 72), Kabia, Ogunsuyi (Ojinnaka 72), Ruffels, Marquis

Subs not used: Cox, Anderson, Lee, England

Booked: Morgan, Hoole, Kabia, Clucas