By Alfie Marlborough
The Dons are held to a draw to Accrington Stanley in a very physical encounter at Stadium MK.
Team Line-ups:
The Dons; Cumming, Lewington, Tucker, O’Hora, Robson, Oyegoke, Johnson, Grant, Kemp, Lawrence, Dennis
Accrington Stanley; Jensen, Clark, Hamilton, Astley, Leigh, Pritchard, McConville, Sangare, Rodgers, Adedoyin, Conneely
1’ Stanley get us underway here at Stadium MK!
3’ Incredible save by Jamie Cumming as Adedoyin’s shot from close is parried away for a corner. The corner comes to nothing.
6’ The Dons taking control of the game and looking promising in possession. Stanley are looking physical so far in the opening stages.
10’ Stanley get the first booking of the game after a cynical foul by Ethan Hamilton on Dan Kemp in the middle of the park.
12’ Nathan Oyegoke does well to beat his man, but his cross is drilled in too fast, and Lawrence is unable to connect.
15’ The Dons have their first big chance of the afternoon as Grant drives forward before playing it out wide to Lawrence whose ball finds Johnson who then plays it on to Oyegoke who fires just over.
19’ Cumming saves the Dons again as Hamilton shoots from afar. Accrington look dangerous in the final third. The corner afterwards comes to nothing.
24’ Stanley break away after a poor corner from the Dons, but Lewington uses his experience to force them wide. A shot is made but it’s blocked by the skipper.
28’ Big chance for Dennis but an Accrington body times his tackle perfectly to deny the Dons the lead.
30’ WHAT A GOAL ETHAN ROBSON! The midfielder drives forward before firing In the top left corner. Incredible! Stanley bench in uproar after one of their players went down! Nevertheless, Dons Lead 1-0!
38’ Astley heads just wide as John Coleman is throwing a strop on the sideline. Been quiet since the goal.
40’ Dennis drives forward despite being pulled back by several Stanley players. He scuffs his shot wide though. Shortly Afterwards, Dan Kemp is played through, but Stanley do well to put him off.
43’ Another yellow for Stanley as Mitch Clark is cautioned for pulling Henry Lawrence’s shirt as he goes through on goal. The free kick hits the wall before falling to Kemp whose shot is blocked and then cleared off the line before Dennis can get to it.
HALF-TIME: Dons lead at the break thanks to a superb goal from Ethan Robson. The game has been very even so far with both team getting a lot of the ball and looking threatening in the final third. Accy have had plenty of chances to score but some phenomenal work from Cumming to deny the Lancashire side. Dons could have doubled their lead in the dying embers of the half, but Stanley were somehow able to clear their lines. Been much improved at both ends of the field so far this afternoon. Second half to follow…
45’ Dons kick us off for the second half but lose the ball very quickly, Stanley drive forward but McConville’s strike doesn’t threat Cumming and goes wide.
49’ Dean Lewington plays a lovely ball over the top, which is met by Matt Dennis, but a perfectly timed challenge prevents Dennis going through on goal.
51’ The Cowshed in full voice here at Stadium MK after a decent start to the second half by the Dons.
52’ Adedoyin gets the ball on the right-hand side. Despite some step-overs, his shot is blocked by Kemp and goes out for a corner which leads to nothing.
56’ A ball over the top must be cleared by Jensen who sprints out of his box and heads clear.
59’ Ethan Hamilton is shown a yellow card after bringing down Lawrence who skips past him.
60’ Bradley Johnson is shown a yellow for nothing.
62’ The Stanley goalkeeper goes down easily again. The referee gives them a free kick for no reason.
64’ Stanley make a triple change while play is stopped. Coyle, Whalley and Tharme replace Pritchard, Sangare and Conneely.
67’ Double change for the Dons as Conor Grant and Dan Kemp are replaced by Matt Smith and Louie Barry.
68’ Sean McConville is shown a yellow for lashing out at the Referee who is starting to lose control in this game.
69’ Smith makes an instant impact, his shot from the edge of the box is saved dramatically by Jensen in goal.
70’ Henry Lawrence is shown a yellow card for a bad tackle. The free kick leads to nothing. Both teams starting to get feisty here in the final 20 minutes.
74’ Lawrence caught out of position on the right-hand side, but the shot is deflected over for a corner which is good from Stanley but is eventually claimed by Cumming.
77’ Penalty Stanley. Tucker brings down Adedoyin. GOAL. McConville sends Cumming the wrong way and the visitors equalise.
78’ Another Dons change as Daniel Harvie makes his return to the Dons from injury coming on for Henry Lawrence. A decent performance from the Chelsea loanee today.
80’ So Close by Dennis. Brilliant from O’Hora to cross into Matt Dennis whose shot is saved by Jensen. Dons should be leading.
85’ Another sub, Matt Dennis is replaced by Will Grigg for the final 5 minutes or so.
90’ A horrific second half from the Ref as 2 Stanley players go down. A foul is given somehow. We head into 5 minutes of additional time.
90+1’ Stanley putting on plenty of pressure in the closing stages here.
90+3’ Ethan Hamilton almost scores a spectacular goal from 25 yards out. His effort is drilled towards goal and just about goes over.
FULL-TIME: A decent point against a very physical team today. Much improved until the final 30 minutes or so when Stanley turned up the pressure and looked much more threatening than the Dons.
Next up we travel to Vicarage Road to face Watford in the Second round of the Carabao Cup where over 1400 Dons fans will be cheering the boys on!
