League One
NorthamptonNorthampton Town2MK DonsMilton Keynes Dons1

Northampton Town 2-1 Milton Keynes Dons

Northampton climbed out of the League One relegation zone with a third-straight league win as they beat rivals MK Dons.

John-Joe O'Toole's early opener was quickly cancelled out by Alex Gilbey but Chris Long ensured the Cobblers moved up to 18th place and were replaced by Dons in the bottom four.

O'Toole latched onto Joe Bunney's low cross to squirm a shot past visiting goalkeeper Lee Nicholls and hand Northampton a 16th-minute lead.

Their advantage was short lived and only three minutes had passed when Dons restored parity as Osman Sow flashed the ball across goal and Gilbey rifled home first time.

Sow then had a header cleared off the line but the away side were behind again when Long was positioned perfectly to divert Sam Hoskins' low cross into the bottom corner four minutes before half-time.

Peter Pawlett shot wide in the second half and the Cobblers also went close through Hilbeberto Pereira and Matt Crooks before two excellent late saves from Richard O'Donnell preserved the points for the home side, with Chuks Aneke seeing red for MK Dons for his part in a late scuffle.

Match report supplied by the Press Association.

Line-ups

Northampton

Formation 4-2-3-1

  • 13O'Donnell
  • 24Facey
  • 6Taylor
  • 37Turnbull
  • 39Bunney
  • 22Crooks
  • 29Grimes
  • 14Hoskins Substituted forPereiraat 57'minutesBooked at 90mins
  • 21O'TooleBooked at 90mins
  • 8Foley Substituted forAriyibiat 73'minutes
  • 19Long Substituted forRevellat 90+1'minutes

Substitutes

  • 1Cornell
  • 2Moloney
  • 10Revell
  • 17McWilliams
  • 26Poole
  • 28Pereira
  • 45Ariyibi

MK Dons

Formation 4-1-2-1-2

  • 1Nicholls
  • 25Brittain
  • 5Wootton
  • 19Ebanks-Landell
  • 2Williams
  • 8Cissé Substituted forMcGrandlesat 71'minutes
  • 17Tavernier
  • 26GilbeyBooked at 90mins
  • 11Pawlett Substituted forAgardat 83'minutesBooked at 86mins
  • 27Ugbo
  • 9Sow Substituted forAnekeat 59'minutesBooked at 90mins

Substitutes

  • 6Upson
  • 10Aneke
  • 13Sietsma
  • 14Agard
  • 16Muirhead
  • 18McGrandles
  • 21Nesbitt
Referee:
Brett Huxtable
Attendance:
7,231

Match Stats

Home TeamNorthamptonAway TeamMK Dons
Possession
Home53%
Away47%
Shots
Home16
Away11
Shots on Target
Home8
Away8
Corners
Home7
Away8
Fouls
Home13
Away15

Live Text

  1. Post update

    Match ends, Northampton Town 2, MK Dons 1.

  2. Full Time

    Second Half ends, Northampton Town 2, MK Dons 1.

  3. Post update

    Corner, MK Dons. Conceded by Richard O'Donnell.

  4. Post update

    Attempt saved. Marcus Tavernier (MK Dons) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top right corner.

  5. Booking

    John-Joe O'Toole (Northampton Town) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

  6. Dismissal

    Chuks Aneke (MK Dons) is shown the red card for violent conduct.

  7. Post update

    Foul by John-Joe O'Toole (Northampton Town).

  8. Post update

    Chuks Aneke (MK Dons) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

  9. Post update

    Hildeberto Pereira (Northampton Town) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  10. Booking

    Alex Gilbey (MK Dons) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

  11. Post update

    Foul by Alex Gilbey (MK Dons).

  12. Substitution

    Substitution, Northampton Town. Alex Revell replaces Chris Long.

  13. Post update

    Attempt saved. Kieran Agard (MK Dons) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom left corner.

  14. Post update

    Attempt saved. Chris Long (Northampton Town) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom right corner.

  15. Post update

    Attempt saved. Chuks Aneke (MK Dons) right footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the top centre of the goal.

  16. Booking

    Hildeberto Pereira (Northampton Town) is shown the yellow card.

  17. Post update

    Corner, MK Dons. Conceded by Joe Bunney.

  18. Post update

    Attempt saved. Kieran Agard (MK Dons) header from the centre of the box is saved in the top left corner.

  19. Post update

    Corner, MK Dons. Conceded by Ash Taylor.

  20. Post update

    (Northampton Town) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

As It Stood

Team P W D L F A GD Pts
1 Wigan 27 18 6 3 53 13 40 60
2 Blackburn 27 16 7 4 50 25 25 55
3 Shrewsbury 27 16 7 4 36 20 16 55
4 Scunthorpe 28 14 8 6 39 26 13 50
5 Bradford 28 15 3 10 44 39 5 48
6 Charlton 28 13 7 8 37 33 4 46
7 Rotherham 28 13 5 10 46 36 10 44
8 Peterborough 28 12 7 9 46 37 9 43
9 Portsmouth 28 13 3 12 34 32 2 42
10 Oxford Utd 29 10 8 11 44 43 1 38
11 Gillingham 28 9 10 9 32 31 1 37
12 Doncaster 28 9 9 10 32 31 1 36
13 Fleetwood 28 10 6 12 39 43 -4 36
14 Bristol Rovers 28 11 3 14 39 44 -5 36
15 Plymouth 29 9 8 12 31 38 -7 35
16 Walsall 27 8 9 10 34 38 -4 33
17 Blackpool 29 8 9 12 34 40 -6 33
18 Northampton 29 9 5 15 27 49 -22 32
19 Wimbledon 27 8 7 12 24 31 -7 31
20 Southend 28 8 7 13 32 47 -15 31
21 MK Dons 28 7 9 12 29 40 -11 30
22 Oldham 29 7 8 14 40 53 -13 29
23 Rochdale 26 4 10 12 26 37 -11 22
24 Bury 28 5 5 18 21 43 -22 20
View full League One table

Elsewhere on the BBC