MK Dons 2 Bristol Rovers 1: Bristol Rovers contributed to their own downfall as a goal in each half saw MK Dons complete a double over the Pirates and maintain their march towards the play-offs.

Though Chris Lines grabbed a late consolation for the Pirates, when Steve Elliott's header from a corner went in via his knee, it was too little, too late for Paul Trollope's side.

For it was only in the latter stages of the game that they showed any real sense of urgency. But by then the Dons had the comfort of a two-goal cushion thanks to strikes from Ali Gerba and Luke Chadwick.

It was another miserable afternoon for Bristol Rovers central defender Byron Anthony.

The Welshman had scored an own goal to seal a 2-1 victory for the Dons when they visited the Memorial Stadium in December.

This time he was caught in possession when he tried to dribble the ball away from his own penalty area. Gerba duly broke clear to fire Roberto Di Matteo's side into a 29th-minute lead.

The breakthrough came after an uneventful opening 20 minutes, although Jason Puncheon had gone close just before Gerba scored, firing narrowly wide from 20 yards.

Rovers failed to make much impact in the final third during the opening period, and Willy Gueret's only save of any note came seven minutes before the break when he fisted away a right-footed shot from Jo Kuffour.

Though Bristol Rovers looked to up the tempo in the second half, it was the home side who struck again in the 51st minute.

Joe Jacobson conceded possession in the Dons' half of the field and as the home side broke, Gerba turned provider with a pass which split the Pirates' defence and allowed Luke Chadwick to burst clear and tuck the ball past the helpless Phillips.

The dangerous Puncheon threatened to add a third shortly afterwards, but Phillips managed to divert his low shot into the side netting.

The introduction of Craig Disley and Darryl Duffy from the bench gave the visitors more of an attacking threat, although it was still the Dons who looked the more dangerous of the two sides.

Phillips had to make another low stop to thwart Puncheon again after he had got past Steve Elliott and Jacobson.

At the other end, Disley saw a flighted shot drift just wide with Gueret a spectator.

Then Duffy made the keeper make a low save to his left with a curling strike from 20 yards.

But it wasn't until Rovers grabbed their goal six minutes from time – Lines getting the final touch on Elliott's header from a Stuart Campbell corner – that the visitors seemed to believe they could actually take something from the game.

Rickie Lambert twice went close from 30 yards, Lines almost set up an equaliser with a header and the Pirates also had a penalty appeal rejected in the dying moments as they made the home side sweat over the final stages.

Lines said: "I'm happy to have scored but I'd have preferred my goal to have been a winner – or even an equaliser.

"We knew MK Dons had let in a few late goals and I think we had a strong case for a penalty for handball near the end, so we were a bit unlucky not to take a point.

"MK Dons are one of the best sides in the league and pass it for fun. They have got a massive pitch and at times we were chasing shadows, but we soldiered on and finished strongly.

"We didn't play quickly enough in the first half and they were very composed on the ball. But we can learn lessons from this."