Match report posted by John_  (view the full thread on the forum )

Town bounced back from Saturday's atrocity with a deserved 4-1 thumping of the MK Dons in the League Cup.

Danny Wilson got the perfect response from his players as a rejuvenated and confident Swindon dominated from the outset.
JP McGovern made his first start of the season in a 3-man central midfield role alongside Douglas & Timlin. JP was on the right-side of the trio and linked up well with Macklin and Paynter.
We had two sniffs in the first 5 minutes. A long cross-field ball was initally miss-controlled by McNamee but he showed a willingness to battle back, tackle and resume the offensive. He whipped in a teaser and the ball was cleared for the first corner of the match.
Soon after, the MK Dons had their first real opportunity when following some not-particularly aesthetic build-up play, Lewis Gobern got a header in that lacked any real punch. The ball reached Lucas in the Town goal with Jermaine Easter on the verge of pouncing and the former Leeds man ended up diving and pushing away.

Listening to BBC Three Counties radio prior to kick-off it was announced that MK had made 3 changes to Saturday's 0-0 bore draw against Hartlepool. One of whom, I presume, was a Mr Sol Davis who slotted in at left-back. He didn't do particularly well and was subbed after an hour or so. One of the reasons he struggled was down to the fact that Lloyd Macklin was p***ing all over him. The youngster's blistering pace was just too much and, of all our players this evening, he's my man-of-the-match. His display showed maturity and was a constant threat whenever he had possession. Others worthy of mention include Paynter, Douglas and JP McGovern.

Our best chance fell the way of Paynter on the half hour mark. A clever ball over the top was met by Billy on the volley. Unfortunately the shot, although on target, lacked any real power and Willy Gueret in goal was in the right place to claim comfortably.
Danny Wilson spent almost the entire first half sat in the dugout looking rather pensive it seemed. He needn't have worried as the effort and desire shown by the Town lads far outweighed anything the MK Dons could muster.

The breakthrough came shortly before the break. A long ball over the top had Paynter scampering clear. Gueret, sensing danger, sped out of goal to the edge of his box to head clear just before Billy reached him. The ball was fortunate enough to land at the feet of an MK Dons player but sadly his brain was in the wrong gear. Within an instant McGovern had pounced and dispossessed him and what followed was a sublime 40-yard shot that just flew over everybody - including a back-tracking Gueret who was still a good 10 yds out of goal - and with the aid of a post the ball landed up in the back of the net.
Huzzah.

The second half was just 7 minutes old when the MK Dons were gifted a way back into the game. Lescinel Jean-Francois, whom I thought had done okay thus far into the match, was tracking Gobern into the box when he inexplicably stuck out a leg and brought him down. It was ridiculous. Penalties don't come more obvious than that. We were all up the other end but could clearly see it was a blatant foul. Jesus. What was he thinking?
Jermaine Easter shot low into the corner to level matters. Lucas guessed the right way but the ball beat him.
I should at this point mention that Easter had gone looking for a penalty as early as the second minute of the match. He threw himself to the ground off a light challenge in the box and extended his arms as though some major crime had just been committed. "Get up you tart", we yelled. Almost embarrassingly he started appealing for a corner...the swine.

Anyway back to the 53rd minute and it was 1-1. For a few minutes after the MK Dons looked a bit dangerous. The crowd suddenly found their voice and a drum was beating up the other end. How wonderful....ahem. We withstood this mini-pressure fairly comfortably and then more drama occurred when Amankwaah was suddenly possessed by a Stanley Matthews/Harold Fleming double as he dribbled and weaved his way forward from his own half before playing the ball across goal to Paynter. He had space and a bit of time. We collectively rose from our seats in unison. Billy took a touch or two and then fired in a low powerful shot towards the far corner. It took a deflection off a defender's foot I think and the trajectory changed, but it still appeared on target. The ball just looped beyond Gueret and nestled into the bottom corner. Yes!

WIthin an instant Town poured forward again. Macklin and McNamee looked a real handful and in boxing terms we were after the knock-out. It was at this point that the home team made a couple of changes. One of which saw Jason Puncheon replace Michael Bridges. Puncheon was the star of the show when we lost to Barnet in an FA Cup tie a few years ago and Bridges was, of course, offered to Danny Wilson during pre-season. I think Wilson might feel a bit vindicated in refusing Bridges a trial and contract because the former Carlisle and Hull man had what is generally known in the business as a mare! (I bet he scores on Saturday now).

About 20 minutes from time a cross from the right appeared to cause Gueret a problem. It looked a straight forward catch but he landed awkwardly and the ball spilled. Paynter was waiting to pounce. From barely a yard out he directed the 'spillage' into the back of the net for his 2nd goal of the evening. Yes!
Whilst we were still celebrating, another move down the right and another cross to the back post had Gueret and defender McCracken at sixes and sevens. With Paynter lurking at the back stick, poor old McCracken was in two minds and ended up shinning the ball past Gueret. It was an awful moment for the pair but a hilarious one for the rest of us. 4-1!! It was a rout.
In the remaining time we could have had a 5th or a 6th goal and I in fact reckon we would have deserved it. David Lucas, up the other end - now a cold and lonely figure - was called upon once more when he parried away a viscious free-kick late on.

All told this was a fantastic result and performance and a real morale boster following on from the Gillingham debacle. The hard work though really begins here. Fate has drawn us against the MK Dons again this Saturday in a league game at the CG. I don't quite think it'll be another walk in the park like tonight was... but here's hoping!