Notts County 3-2 MK Dons: County twice come from behind to snatch late win over high-flying Dons

Tom Iorpenda’s 88th-minute winner lifted Notts County up to second in League Two with an entertaining 3-2 victory over fellow high-fliers MK Dons at Meadow Lane.

Nathaniel Mendez-Laing twice gave the visitors the lead, only for Matthew Dennis and Alassana Jatta to equalise before half-time, before Iorpenda lashed home after Craig MacGillivray had dropped a corner.

“I’m so proud that we’ve got to the point where we can win games like that” said County boss Martin Paterson.

“As much as I’m critical at times, and I keep that in the dressing room, on a human level I’m delighted with the response to go on and win a massive game at home.”

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Match action

Mendez-Laing opened the scoring after three minutes by finishing beyond home goalkeeper Kelle Roos after being put through by Callum Paterson.

County hit back five minutes later as Dennis collected Jacob Bedeau’s pass just inside the area and slammed a shot into the top corner.

Just five minutes after that Mendez-Laing dinked a penalty past Roos after Laurence Maguire had been fouled by Conor Grant amid a goalmouth scramble.

But Jatta brought County level again, capitalising on a poor defensive header from Maguire after 26 minutes to nip in and finish beyond MacGillivray from a tight angle.

A cagey second half followed before Iorpenda’s dramatic late intervention saw County leapfrog their visitors into second place.

Tom Iorpenda scored the winner for Notts County
(David Davies/PA)

Reaction

Dons boss Paul Warne was relaxed about the impact of the result on his own side’s promotion hopes despite missing the chance to usurp Walsall at the summit and slipping to fifth.

“I thought we played with courage and had a real go, and generally I was really pleased with our performance tonight.

“We came here as the away team and we had more of the ball, more of the chances, more of virtually everything apart from more of the points.

“It’s just unfortunate, and sometimes football’s like that. In cricket and in rugby, the best team usually wins, but in football I don’t always think that’s the case.

“I’m not saying they didn’t deserve to win, I just don’t think, on the balance of play tonight, that we deserved to lose.”

Tuesday’s League Two results

Barnet 4-0 Bristol Rovers

Barrow AFC 0-3 Tranmere Rovers

Bromley 3-1 Crawley Town

Cambridge United 1-1 Chesterfield

Fleetwood Town 1-1 Salford City

Harrogate Town 0-2 Accrington Stanley

Shrewsbury Town 1-1 Grimsby Town

Swindon Town 0-1 Cheltenham Town

READ MORE: Graham Westley: Smart calls are key at this time of year for League Two sides