A bumper Brunton Park crowd witnessed MK Dons take advantage of some Carlisle defensive lapses, in a game that was telling for both sides and their respective promotion hopes.

Replies from Stefan Scougall and Hallam Hope we’re not enough to match Connor McGrandles, Jake Hesketh and Kieran Agard’s goals for an MK Dons side that took advantage of a flat Carlisle performance.

The Cumbrians surpassed their 8k target that was part of an outstanding campaign, with a whopping five-figure crowd coming through the Brunton Park gates.

Steven Pressley had to deal with having star men Jamie Devitt (suspended), skipper Danny Grainger and centre back rock Tom Parkes out of the side as Paul Tisdale made just one change – the eventually effective Hesketh replacing David Wheeler.

Carlisle started the better, with Hope coming close with a header in the most notable chance of the opening stages. However, MK struck first blood as McGrandles finished well across Adam Collin as the hosts were caught napping, and not for the first time.

The away outfit, though, gave away their lead three minutes later as Stefan Scougall won and scored a well-placed penalty that beat Stuart Moore – following arguments that it may have deserved a sending off.

The first half then petered out following its enthralling beginning, as it was a stalemate at the break.

Half-time: 1-1

The home side then never really turned up in the second half, struggling to cope with the intensity of the affair – as Dons struck twice midway through it.

Hallam Hope, the usually influential forward, went down under little contact at the edge of the MK penalty area, and looked on as the away team went to take the lead again courtesy of a curling shot from the eye-catching Hesketh.

Agard earned his 15th goal of the season soon after,  taking advantage of poor positioning from Kelvin Etuhu, a goal that flattened the over 10,000 inside Brunton Park.

Some resolution from the Cumbrians resulted in Hope striking just before added-time, but it was not enough, and rather more than the home team deserved.

The result keeps Dons above Carlisle in the table, meaning while the away side can look upwards towards those automatic places, the Cumbrians are left feeling blue and wondering how they can turn around a poor week of form to keep them in the mix.

Attendance: 10,459 (329)

Home star man: Stefan Scougall

Away star man: Jake Hesketh

Referee: Peter Wright

words Nathan Ridley, D3D4 Carlisle United correspondent