Three in a row for Dons as they see off in-form Bolton

Mo Eisa and Scott Twine ended their lengthy goal droughts at home as MK Dons swept aside an in-form Bolton Wanderers side to win a third game in a week and to move level on points with Wigan Athletic in second spot.

Eisa had been waiting since August for his last goal at Stadium MK but fired Dons in front after 17 minutes as the hosts took control against a Bolton side who had won eight of their last 10 prior to kick-off.

Twine, Dons’ leading scorer, had to look back to November for his last strike at home too, but with 15 minutes to go started and finished a move to make it 2-0, moving them equal on points with the Latics in second spot after their defeat to Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.

Liam Manning made two changes to his side which picked up the three points against Charlton Athletic in the week, bringing back Mo Eisa in place of Connor Wickham, while David Kasumu made his first start since early January, taking over from Josh McEachran.

Both sides headed into the game in form, with Bolton having won eight of their last ten ahead of kick-off. Dons though were also in great form though, and were by far the better side in the opening half an hour and were good value for their lead when it eventually came.

Kaine Kesler-Hayden, fresh from scoring his first Dons goal on Tuesday, should have given Dons an early lead when he got on the end of Scott Twine's ball, cutting from his left onto his right but allowed a recovering Ricardo Santos to throw himself in the way of his effort.

Twine then danced his way into the box to get on the end of Conor Coventry's pass but after beating keeper James Trafford, saw his strike hit the inside of the upright.

Twice Mo Eisa got in behind but felt he was manhandled by Trotters captain Ricardo Santos, and was beginning to lose faith in the referee, but kept alert enough to follow-up on one of Harry Darling's trademark bursts forward, and after his deflected shot was well-saved by Trafford, the striker stuck home his ninth goal of the season afrer 17 minutes.

As the game settled into a more patient groove, Bolton began to look more of the threat which has seen them fly up to 10th in the standings, but their efforts barely tested keeper Jamie Cumming, though he did excellently to get a hand to Georeg Johnston's bullet header, tipping it onto the bar just before the interval.

Ian Evatt's half-time team-talk lit a fire under his side as they emerged more lively for the second period as they looked to wrestle control back from Dons, but other than a 15 minute spell at the start of the half, struggled to cause the hosts much of a headache. Darling in particular was magnificent in the back-line, defending brilliantly to keep the visitors out and Cumming's gloves clean.

Further forward, Parrott was equally excellent as he threw his body on the line on so many occasions against a physical Bolton defence, but bounced up to keep Dons on the front foot, and the introduction of Connor Wickham helped get them more of a foothold in the attacking third when he replaced goal-scorer Eisa.

Prior to kick-off, Eisa had not scored at Stadium MK since August and Twine was waiting since November, but with 15 minutes to go he ended his drought too. Hassling keeper Trafford into a rushed clearance, Kesler-Hayden raced onto the loose ball to create a three-on-three and after bypassing Parrott to pick out Twine in the centre, he found the corner of the net for his 14th of the campaign.

Seeing off the final 15 minutes in relative comfort, Dons secured their third win in a week to move level on points with Wigan in second spot.

Referee: Sebastian Stockbridge

MK Dons: Cumming, Lewington, O'Hora, Darling, Watson, Kesler-Hayden, Kasumu (McEachran 75), Coventry, Twine, Parrot, Eisa (Wickham 65)

Subs not used: Ravizzoli, Smith, Kemp, Boateng, Davies

Bolton Wanderers: Trafford, Jones, John (Sadlier 72), Williams, Santos, Johnston, Charles, Bakayoko (Dadi Bodvarsson 72), Fossey, Morley (Afolayan 46) , Dempsey

Subs not used: Dixon, Aimson, Thomason, Gordon

Booked: Morley