By The MKDSA Media Team
The Dons travelled to Hillsborough after a 5-0 drubbing at fourth placed Bolton on Tuesday night and the hope with a trip to face second placed Sheffield Wednesday who were flying towards promotion was damage limitation.
With Jackson’s option for change rather limited he changed Watson and Johnson for Lawrence and Devoy as he looked to stop Bannon and Co doing their thing.
Well it couldn’t really have started any better could it ? Leko ran through after the ball was cleared from a first minute Wednesday corner and he just ran and ran and then just like he’d done a dozen or more times since his debut he let fly. Now unlike all the others that have sailed over the bar this one went under it and nearly ripped the net of the goal frame. 0-1
Our tails were up and just two minutes later Eisa had a pop and yeah, he scuffed it wide ahead of an expected home onslaught, which started immediately as they came forward with Tucker conceeding a corner with a good block. The Dons cleared but with the next wave Wednesday won a free-kick just outside our box, this is traditional Bannon territory but it was Windass who curled the chance wide.
Wednesday equalised with ease as Windass caught Tucker out of position, in doubt what to do and yards behind the play and with out too much fuss he lobbed the advancing Cumming. 1-1
The Dons had to dig deep as Wednesday now were back in roared on by nigh on 24,000 fans who could sense blood. Some real determined and desperate defending followed as the Dons at times looked solid, vulnerable, brilliant and lucky as they kept the home side out in the following minutes.
Jackson’s side clearly hadn’t read the script because driffting in from the ledt corner of the Wednesday area as a partially cleared header fell to him and he stepped and danced inside the box and drove the ball into the bottom right hand corner to restore the lead. Unbelievable the side who struggle to score now had two inside twenty-five minutes at the home of one of the meanest defenses in the country let alone League One. 1-2
The game then saw the sides trade attacks with Dons riding their luck as bodies were put on the line, Jules saw one block skip off him and land on the top of the bar as the Dons aedged towards a half time lead.
HT Wednesday 1-2 Dons
The Dons came out with the same eleven but seemingly with a change of plan and this seemed to be our downfall.
Our chances to attack were fewer and farther between as the half went on, we sat deeper and looked like we were trying to protect the lead, which was never going to work. We’d had enough warnings and through a mixture of poor postional play, passing, communication and a few disputed descisions we shipped four second half goals as we reverted to being Tuesday Night Dons again.
No problems for me with the penalty, if it hits a hand or arm its going to be given. Call it stupid, unlucky or insticntive its still a penalty. 2-2
The home side then made some crucial substitutions, ones of the like we can’t make and from then for me it was a matter of when not if. Hunt and Vaulks for Adeniran and Gregory we switched Devoy for McEachran. They got stronger we didn’t. As Gregory scored inside 4 minutes, there may have been a handball but in the grand scheme of things, yes it gave them the lead but in honesty the flood gates on mistakes and shoddy defending were way open by then. 3-2
This was only going to get worse now, blood in the water was the feeling. The confidence within the home side was growing and they were on the front foot and when your luck is in it’s in as Smiths shot on goal took the wickedest of deflections and looped over the stranded Cumming as Jules attempted to block it. 4-2
If that wasn’t bad enough the right hand side of our defensive play fell apart in the dieing minutes and with the Freedom of South Yorkshire Wednesday took it to the deadball line and the peach of cross was met by the unmarked Byers who powerfully headed past the blameless Cumming. 5-2
We’ve shipped ten goals in two games and Cumming isn’t to blame for any of them. Infact he was our Man of The Match in both games this week. I feel sorry for him.
The ground we made up in our fight to stay up has almost entirely been lost again. We have Ipswich at home on Saturday. We need to start getting points again.
MKDSA Live will be back on Monday Night 730pm …deep joy.
