A sparkling second-half display earned MK Dons a 3-2 win at Carlisle in a battle of the Sky Bet League Two promotion hopefuls at Brunton Park.

It was level at the break as Stefan Scougall's penalty for Carlisle cancelled out a Conor McGrandles opener.

However, the Dons got on top with a couple of excellent strikes from Jake Hesketh and Kieran Agard before Hallam Hope netted a late consolation for the home side.

Two goals in the space of three minutes early on brought the game to life with Carlisle replying quickly to McGrandles's 11th-minute strike for Dons.

Dean Lewington's cross into the box prompted a slip by Carlisle defender Peter Grant and McGrandles took the ball smartly on his chest and made room before firing a low left foot shot past Adam Collin.

Carlisle were awarded a penalty when Scougall was brought down inside the area by Baily Cargill before he dusted himself down to coolly tuck away the spot-kick.

There was a scare for Carlisle when Hesketh nearly caught out Collin with a looping cross that bounced off the top of the crossbar.

The visitors' regained the lead in the 69th minute when Gary Liddle failed to deal with a ball from Chuks Aneke and Hesketh pounced to curled past Collin from just inside the area.

Paul Tisdale's side extended their advantage in the 77th minute following a great move involving Agard, Hesketh and Alex Gilbey which left the striker with a simple close-range finish.

Hope hammered home to give Carlisle a chance of salvaging a draw but they were unable to prevent a second successive defeat.

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