Tranmere’s ‘on the road’ visit to Buckinghamshire was a visible improvement on previous fixtures.
The Tranmere manager, Micky Mellon, made three changes to the side that were beaten 5-0 on the stadium of light ten days ago. Sid Nelson replaced George Ray, as Ray took his place on the bench. There were two changes to the Tranmere attack that featured against Sunderland as Kane Wilson and Hepburn-Murphy replaced the suspended Stefan Payne and Paul Mullin, who took his place on the bench alongside George Ray.
Within the first ten minutes of the fixture at Stadium MK, both sides tried to build an attack. Firstly, Liam Ridehalgh crossed towards loanee striker Rushian Hepburn-Murphy but Murphy’s header didn’t hit the target. Then, MK man Dean Lewington advanced down the left but his forward pace could only find the feet of Jake Caprice. Inside the first ten minutes, both sides kept their shape well but no further chances were created.
Paul Tisdale’s side were dominant within the next five minutes, Brittain’s volley from inside the box firing wide of the Tranmere goal. Shortly after the volley Kane Wilson slid inside the six yard box to produce an excellent last ditch tackle to deny MK forward Reeves.
GOALLLL!!!
The visitors were the first to open the scoreline, Kieron Morris finding Rushian Hepburn-Murphy with an inch perfect lowly placed cross who slotted the ball underneath the MK goalkeeper.
The next real chance came a quarter of an hour later, Hepburn-Murphy showcasing his unbelievable pace to counter attack and play it across to Connor Jennings who failed to find the net.
Just before the half-time whistle, Reeves levelled the scoreline for the hosts as he buried a shot from the edge of the box.
However, MK failed to head into half-time with their heads held high due to a Kieran Agard red card, Agard was sent off due to a high tackle on Rovers midfielder Neill Danns.
GOALLLL!!!
Hepburn-Murphy doubled the visitors lead after ten minutes of the second half. Connor Jennings assisting Hepburn-Murphy with a short pass from a central position, Hepburn-Murphy spinned his marking defender as he continued to showcase his pace and slotted past the MK goalkeeper from the edge of the box.
Micky Mellon’s first substitution of the game followed two minutes later, Corey Blackett-Taylor replacing Jake Caprice on the right hand side of play.
GOALLL!!!!
A pass from the middle of the Tranmere half from Manny Monthe found the feet of Hepburn-Murphy who spinned his man using his unbelievable pace and slotted under the MK goalkeeper, Murphy got his hat-trick.
The next attacking chance came five minutes later, Murphy close to scoring his fourth of the game as he beat a few MK defenders but fired wide of the post.
The only remaining moment of the fixture was when Mellon made his second substitution of the game, Paul Mullin replacing hat-trick hero Hepburn-Murphy.
Full time result : MK 1 Tranmere 3.
Line-ups :
MK – Nichols, Lewington, Moore-Taylor, Walsh, Williams, McGrandles, Gilbey, Houghton, Brittain, Agard, Reeves.
Used substitutions – Poole, Cargill, Asonganyi.
Tranmere – Davies, Wilson, Ridehalgh, Monthe, Nelson, Caprice (Blackett-Taylor), Perkins, Danns, Jennings, Hepburn-Murphy (Mullin), Morris.
Attendance : 7,171 (621 Tranmere).