Aaron Collins needed less than a minute to settle the contest at Stadium MK, punishing Newport County goalkeeper Jordan Wright's poor clearance to roll the ball home against his hometown club and earn MK Dons a 1-0 victory.
The result extended MK Dons' unbeaten league run to seven matches and kept them fifth, just one point off the automatic promotion places, while Newport were condemned to a 12th away defeat of the season and remain bottom, five points adrift after Harrogate's draw at Chesterfield.
Self-Inflicted Start
The Exiles were behind almost from kick-off when Wright's attempted clearance went straight to Collins, the former Newport academy graduate, who stroked the ball into the empty net.