The Dons made three changes as Tucker, Harvie and Grant were replaced by Jules, Lawrence and Holland.
It didn’t start well with the Dons looking to silence the big noisy home support Derby hit the post in the first attack they had inside two minutes.
From then the Dons looking as shakey as they ever had spending vast amounts of time sitting very deep giving Derby all the time and space they needed to pick the passes through the ranks of defenders.
Too many passes and first touches were poor, it was sloppy and Derby grew in confidence, not they needed any encouragement.
On sixteen minutes a low corner hit towards the near post was left by up to three red shirts and McGoldrick was left with a tap in on the line.
The Dons were seemingly looking to hit the home side on the break, but in the only chance of getting close to goal we were caught offside as McEachran held the pass too long.
It was seemingly one way traffic for the remainder of the half as the home side spurned chance after chance.
HT Derby 1-0 Dons
A switch at the start of the second half for the Dons saw Grant for Leko where many thought Holland was more worthy of an early bath as he was having a tough afternoon.
The second half started much like the first half ended with Derby looking the more dangerous going forward, but with a combination of skill, luck and sheer determination Cumming’s goal stood fast.
It really was a case of catching a break on the counter, but the run of the ball wasn’t going our way. The final pass just wasn’t there until the 68th minute when Holland who had just seemingly wasted a good opportunity got the ball back drove to the deadball line and Lawrence found himself three yards out who smashed it past the keeper.
The game really was stretched end to end as Derby legs tired and the Dons got more of the attacking play.
Claims for this and that from the increasingly desperate home fans who could feel them losing ground in the playoffs.
It wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t classic MK Way, but it was was effective. Collecting our third point against three promotion chasing sides, a now, six game unbeaten run. Sees the Dons edging closer to survival but its Not Don Yet.
See you at SMK next Saturday.
