Twine’s stoppage time winner seals the points against Burton

Burton Albion 0-1 MK Dons
MK Dons pulled off a brilliant win over Burton Albion MK Dons pulled off a brilliant win over Burton Albion
MK Dons pulled off a brilliant win over Burton Albion

Scott Twine lashed in a stoppage time winner as MK Dons took a well-deserved victory over Burton Albion on Tuesday night.

After lamenting a lack of cutting edge on Saturday against Doncaster Rovers, Liam Manning must have been worried about a repeat after thoroughly dominant first half performance did not result in any goals, despite Tennai Watson and Troy Parrott hitting the wood-work.

Burton provided a bigger problem for the visitors in the second half, and with the game heading to a goal-less finale, Twine popped up in the fifth minute of seven added on at the end to lash home the winner.

With numbers light on the ground for Liam Manning, he named an unchanged side for the trip to Burton Albion, with only six substitutes named too and three of them youth products.

Burton boasted the fifth best home record in League One prior to kick-off but were by far second best in the opening 45 minutes at the Pirelli Stadium as Dons dominated. Once again though, their lack of clinical finishing would mean they would go in goal-less at the interval.

An early double-save from Jamie Cumming in the Dons net threatened to tell a different story, but from that in the ninth minute, it was one-way traffic.

Theo Corbeanu was a constant thorn in the side for the hosts as he gave Cameron Borthwick-Jackson a torrid time, but he fired into the side-netting with his best effort. Josh McEachran was having a terrific time in the centre of the park and even attempted a rare effort on goal which he saw tipped over the top by Ben Garratt in the Brewers' net.

The chances kept coming for the visitors as Tennai Watson saw an audacious volley dip onto the bar, but the best chance came as half-time loomed when Mo Eisa kicked his standing leg instead of the ball inside six yards after Troy Parrott's shot came back off the upright.

A furious looking Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink was not about to settle for a similar second-half performance from his side, and the Brewers emerged less willing to let Dons control the tempo of the game. Their biggest threats remained fromn set pieces as they aimed for their aerial threats of Daniel Jebbison and Gassan Ahadme, with the latter again forcing Cumming into a top-notch save to keep the scores level.

Dons continued to have the lion's share of possession but the chances were harder to come by in the second period. Connor Wickham and Hiram Boateng were brought on to give Dons a more direct edge as the unplayable McEachran pulled the strings for the visitors.

A clash of heads between Troy Parrott and Sam Hughes put a lengthy stop to the game, with seven minutes to be added on at the end. And it was in the fifth minute of time added on that Dons eventually got the winner they deserved. McEachran's diagonal pass picked out Wickham on the edge of the box, and he touched it down for Twine to lash in a superb finish to win it for Dons.

Referee: Darren Handley

Burton Albion: Garratt, Brayford, Borthwick-Jackson (Kokolo 60), Oshilaja, Powell, Ahadme (Moult 83), Highes, Jebbison, Taylor (Shaughnessy 52), Maddox, Hamer

Subs not used: Hawkins, O'Connor, Mancienne, Lakin

MK Dons: Cumming, Watson, Lewington, O’Hora, Harvie, McEachran, Coventry, Corbeanu (Boateng 83), Parrott, Twine, Eisa (Wickham 69)

Subs not used: Ravizzoli, Boateng, Wickham, Bird, Ilunga, Davies

Booked: Hughes, Moult