League Two: Swindon Town 1-2 MK Dons

A big win for MK Dons against fellow promotion hopefuls Swindon Town ensured they took a big step towards automatic promotion on Saturday with a 2-1 win at the County Ground.

Having seen Notts County beaten at Meadow Lane by Chesterfield in the early kick-off, Alex Gilbey shook off missing a glorious chance on 35 minutes to fire Dons into the lead a minute later, before Ollie Clarke levelled for the hosts early in the second-half.

A combination of Marvin Ekpiteta and Scott Hogan bundled the ball over the line with 11 minutes to go though to maintain Dons’ unbeaten run, extending it to 13 games while moving seven points clear of fourth place County.

Despite teasing that Nathaniel Mendez-Laing and Will Collar could return after long lay-offs with hamstring injuries, neither were a part of the squad to face Swindon, as Paul Warne named an unchanged team from the one which started the 5-1 drubbing of Gillingham.

Russian Hepburn-Murphy and Curtis Nelson were included amongst the substitutes after missing the trip to Priestfield.

A bonus for Dons in the early kick-off came in the form of Chesterfield’s 3-2 win over Notts County at Meadow Lane, meaning Dons could go seven points clear of the play-off spots, and they certainly started the brighter.

Ben Wiles and Aaron Collins were looking lively and were pulling the Robins defence across the pitch but chances on Connor Ripley’s goal were few and far between.

But they were too at the other end though half the Wiltshire ground thought Ollie Clarke had put the home side in front, but for a brilliant save from Craig MacGillivray, diving low to his right.

Dons skipper Alex Gilbey ended his goal-drought on Tuesday with the opener against Gillingham, but was left with egg on his face ten minutes before half-time when he fired over the unguarded from five yards after great work from Collins.

The captain would not have to wait long to make up for it though, firing in from 20-yards barely a minute later to give the visitors the lead after good work again from Collins sparked a five-on-four for Dons.

The second-half would be more of a scrap, and it would see Swindon emerge from the changing room with a renewed vigour, one which would see them draw level within 11 minutes of the restart.

Jack Sanders took his eyes off the dangerous Aaron Drinan to allow the striker to pick out Ollie Clarke to rattle the hosts back to 1-1, reinvigorating the home side.

With Dons stuck on the back-foot, they had to be patient to find their foothold in the game again.

But it came with 11 minutes to go when a terrific Ben Wiles cross was put home via a combination of Scott Hogan and Marvin Ekpiteta.

The win sees Dons maintain their second place spot in the division, now seven points clear in the automatic promotion places.

Referee: Jamie O’Connor

Attendance: 8,833 (923)

Swindon Town: Ripley, Wright, Nichols (Bodin 63), Clarke (Mabete 78), Tafazzoli (Palmer 68), Kilkenny, Knight-Lebel, Drinan, Batty, Hoilett (Holman 63), Oldaker

Subs not used: Ward, Borland, Kirkman

MK Dons: MacGillivray, Offord, Sanders, Ekpiteta, Mellish,Jones (Lemonheigh-Evans 70), Kelly (Nelson 70), Crowley (Hogan 60), Gilbey, Wiles, Collins (Hepburn-Murphy 88)

Subs not used: Trueman, Nemane, Tomlinson

Booked: Wright, Crowley, Hoilett, Mellish