TWO first half goals ensured that Grimsby Town's first visit to stadium:mk ended in defeat by Milton Keynes Dons.

The Mariners made an awful start to the game and supporters were still filing into the ground when Aaron Wilbraham put the hosts ahead after just 25 seconds.

Town had plenty of possession but as has happened so often, they struggled to create goalscoring chances and they went further behind when Mark Wright's curling shot doubled the league leaders' advantage five minutes before half time.

And Grimsby were lucky not to go in 3-0 down as Colin Cameron hit the post with an injury time penalty given for handball against Shaleum Logan.

Town battled on after the interval and had a string of half chances, including shots by substitutes Andy Taylor and Nathan Jarman.

But they couldn't find a way past Dons keeper Willie Gueret and Paul Ince's team closed out the win, sending Alan Buckley's side to a sixth defeat in their last seven outings.

Nick Fenton missed out for Town after being sent off in the defeat at Rotherham on Saturday.The centre back's suspension meant a return to the starting line-up for Ryan Bennett, buoyed by the news earlier in the day that he had been put on standby for the England U18 squad.

The rest of the back four was unchanged, with Shaleum Logan playing the last game of his one-month loan deal alongside Justin Whittle, Bennett and Tom Newey.

Alan Buckley again opted for a five-man midfield, with Ciaran Toner on the left, Peter Till on the right and the trio of Danny Boshell, James Hunt and Jamie Clarke across the middle.

Martin Butler recovered from his bout of illness sufficiently to lead the line, while Phil Barnes was back between the sticks after serving his one match ban at the weekend.

The Mariners subs bench had an attacking look to it, with Andy Taylor, Nathan Jarman, Gary Jones and Nick Hegarty alongside reserve goalkeeper Gary Montgomery.

Town weren't the only side suffering from the suspension of key players, with the hosts without skipper Keith Andrews and winger Lloyd Dyer after both were sent off in the draw at Wycombe on Saturday.

Paul Ince was able to welcome back midfielder Alan Navarro after he sat out one match for collecting five bookings.

Town were looking to end a run that saw them take only one point from the six games prior to this one, while Milton Keynes would aim to cement their position at the top of League Two with a home win.

The Mariners made the worst possible start to the game as they conceded the first goal after just 25 seconds.

Town kicked off but lost possession and allowed Leon Knight to get down the right side and put a cross in.AARON WILBRAHAM was there to effortlessly head past Barnes and leave Grimsby with an even tougher task than they had faced to begin with.

Grimsby won a free kick on four minutes for a foul on Till by Dean Lewington out on the right.Till's free kick eventually led to a cross by Jamie Clarke but Town couldn't make it count.

A spell of Mariners possession then led to another free kick for a foul, this time on Hunt.The ball was worked to Boshell and his shot was deflected over the bar for a corner.

Newey had to head another Wilbraham header clear after a free kick inside the Town half while his fellow striker Knight was looking dangerous in the opening quarter of an hour.

At the other end, Newey shot well over from 30 yards after a Logan free kick that had been won by Boshell.

Town were seeing plenty of the ball but were yet to test Willie Gueret in the Dons goal, while the home side were mostly happy to play keepball when in possession, sitting back on their one-goal lead.

The Dons went close again on 22 minutes but Barnes was able to stop a Sean O'Hanlon header from a free kick given for a foul by Logan.

Another free kick was given away in a dangerous position a minute later, this time for a foul by Whittle.Again, it was a Dons head that connected with the ball, this time that of Drissa Diallo.Luckily for the Mariners, it was off-target.

After MK had made another foray into the Town box, Alan Buckley took action, sending on Nathan Jarman for his Mariners debut in place of Jamie Clarke with 24 minutes on the clock.

Again, it meant reverting to a 4-4-2 system relatively early in a game after going behind.

But Town still struggled to make an impression initially as, although they were still enjoying long spells of possession, it was the league leaders who were looking more threatening.

Logan had to make a good challenge on Knight on the edge of the box after the striker was played in by winger Jemal Johnson.

Town then had what had been their best period of the game as they kept the ball and put some pressure on the home defence, if not troubling Gueret.

Despite this rally though, the hosts always looked the more likely to get the next goal and so it proved when they extended their lead five minutes before half-time.

A slip by Boshell let in Wilbraham.He looked to have space to shoot but instead, he unselfishly brought in MARK WRIGHT, who curled a shot past Barnes from the edge of the area.

And it probably should have got worse for the Mariners as Milton Keynes were awarded a penalty in first half stoppage time.Logan was adjudged to have handled the ball inside the box but Colin Cameron hit the post with the spot-kick.

The miss gave Town a glimmer of hope as the teams headed back into the changing rooms at the break.A three goal deficit would surely have proved too much to claw back but at 2-0, an early second-half reply from Grimsby would set up an interesting finish.

As in previous games, Town would have to make more of an impact in their opponents' final third in the second half if they were to get anything out of the game, having gone through the opening 45 minutes without managing a shot on target.

Grimsby made another substitution before the restart, with Nick Hegarty coming on to replace Toner on the left of midfield.

Town began brightly, with a Ryan Bennett long throw being headed down inside the box by Whittle before going through to Gueret.

Then a shot by Jarman from 25 yards took a deflection that looked to have deceived Gueret.The keeper recovered to claim the ball but it gave some encouragement to the travelling Mariners supporters that their team was getting closer to scoring.

And they got even closer to halving the deficit soon afterwards when a run into the box by Newey led to another long throw from Bennett.

Whittle headed down for Hegarty to put the ball into the net but the goal was disallowed as the referee blew for a foul by Whittle.

Town had made all of the early running in the opening ten minutes of the half but Boshell had to be alert at the other end, getting a toe in just as Wilbraham was about to shoot from inside the box.

Paul Ince used his first substitution to replace Knight with veteran striker Kevin Gallen and his first contribution was to give away a free kick for a foul on Newey.

Town made their final change on the hour, with Andy Taylor coming on for Till.Taylor initially took up Till's position on the right wing but it gave the Mariners the option to go 4-3-3 as they continued to chase the game.

Another Bennett throw-in led to a corner for Town on the left.Hegarty's ball in fell to Taylor, who eventually won another corner on the other side.

This time it was Bennett's header that cleared the crossbar before landing on the roof of the net.

Almost immediately, Milton Keynes broke and Town had a let-off when Logan was only cautioned for a foul on Johnson as he ran towards the penalty area.

Lewington's shot from the set-piece hit the Town wall before the Dons' next attack ended with Wright somehow failing to add to his earlier goal, firing wide from inside the six-yard box.

Grimsby then won another corner after Taylor's shot was deflected wide.Gueret gathered Boshell's kick comfortably before launching another attack for the home side.

Hegarty was booked for a foul on Gallen with 73 minutes gone before a Dean Lewington corner was cleared by Newey.

Johnson was then replaced by Norwich loanee Bally Smart as Milton Keynes boss Ince looked to close the game out.

Town were still searching for the goal that would give them a foothold in the game but another long throw by Bennett was easily claimed by Gueret on 78 minutes.

Grimsby looked to be missing the aerial power of Nick Fenton as despite several throws being launched by the youngster, very few had caused any problems for the former Swansea stopper.

The Dons were still looking to extend their advantage and they had a good chance when Wilbraham went past Hegarty before shooting.Barnes gathered it at the second attempt as Wright closed in looking for a rebound.

Wilbraham was the last man to be substituted as he was replaced by ex-Boston striker Drewe Broughton with three minutes remaining.

Then Whittle became the third Town player to be shown a yellow card for a foul on Diallo.

Three minutes of added time were signalled and the first of them brought Grimsby's best chance yet to get onto the scoresheet.

Taylor was put through by Boshell but the striker showed too much of the ball to Gueret, who was able to dive at the feet of the Town man and preserve his clean sheet.

It proved to be the Mariners' last chance to register a consolation and as the final whistle blew, thoughts began to turn to Saturday's daunting FA Cup trip to League One table-toppers Carlisle United.