MK Dons were beaten 6-3 by Newport County in an eventful game in South Wales in which two Exiles players scored hat-tricks.

Newport had raced into a 4-0 lead in the first half when Bryn Morris scored a hat-trick and Bobby Kamwa scored a further strike.

Luke Offord had made it 4-1 in first half stoppage time only for Kamwa to grab a fifth that seemingly put the game out of the Dons’ reach.

MK Dons got the game back to 5-3 as Joe White and Offord reduced the deficit, but any hope of a previously unlikely comeback dissipated when Kamwa completed his hat-trick, making it 6-3 and sealing the points for the hosts at Rodney Parade.

Defeat drops the Dons to 9th in the League Two table, although they are a point off the play-offs in a congested table and have at least one game in hand on several of the teams ahead of them.

Having suffered a disappointing reverse at Gillingham, MK Dons had hoped for some joy in their last away game in 2024 and their first in several weeks after recent weather-induced postponements of trips to Fleetwood and Barrow. The Dons had been hoping for success against a Newport side that had failed to win any of their previous six games.

The Dons had seen a few promising moves fail to deliver in the opening stages, but a mistake in their defensive ranks lead to Newport opening the scoring in the 12th minute.

Laurence Maguire lost possession a few yards outside his own box, and having won the ball off Maguire, Morris was able to cut inside and drill a fine curling shot into the back of the net.

Just four minutes later, the Dons’ defence was breached again. Luke Jephcott saw an initial shot from Kamwa’s pass denied by Tom McGill but Morris was there to convert the rebound.

Newport then scored again, making it 3 goals in 11 minutes. Nico Lawrence’s pass was intercepted and Jephcott teed up Kamwa, who duly beat McGill.

MK Dons came close to falling 4-0 down just after the half hour when Cameron Antwi blasted off target from close range.

But the visitors’ miserable first half would see them fall 4-0 down with 36 minutes on the clock. Offord was penalised for handball in the box, and from 12 yards, Morris confirmed his hat-trick by beating McGill with his penalty.

Scott Hogan wafted a shot off target before MK Dons did grab a goal back in first half stoppage time. White’s long free-kick into the box found Offord, who was able to force a header into the Newport net.

Any hopes the Dons had of a comeback were however damaged when they conceded again less than two minutes after the restart. Kamwa eluded Maguire’s attentions before being able to loft his shot above McGill and in to make it 5-1.

With just under 20 minutes to go, MK Dons got what seemed like being a further consolation when Ellis Harrison’s set up work saw the ball bobble for White, who was able to strike home his effort.

Any hopes of a Dons comeback were then seemingly further boosted when they made it 5-3 a few minutes after making it 5-2. Offord was able to prod the ball home after a Tom Carroll free-kick wasn’t fully cleared.

But Newport shut the door on the Dons’ comeback ambitions as Kamwa broke an offside trap before drilling a firm strike beyond McGill’s reach.

That condemned the Dons to back-to-back defeats, if in very different circumstances to their 1-0 loss against Gillingham in their previous contest, as they seek to bounce back when they host fellow play-off contenders Notts County on Boxing Day.