Emphatic Mansfield win kills off Dons' chances of automatic promotion

An emphatic win for Mansfield Town all-but ended MK Dons’ chances of automatic promotion on Saturday, winning 4-1 at Stadium MK.

With Dons’ hopes hanging in the balance, needing a win over the Stags to keep their top-three chances alive, they got off to a flying start when Max Dean fired home after 13 minutes.

But a poor defensive show allowed Elliot Hewitt to draw level on the half-hour, before another shocker at the back saw Davis Keillor-Dunn give them the lead five minutes after the restart.

As Dons piled forwards late on, Keillor-Dunn added his second in the 90th minute before James Gale fired in a fourth in stoppage time.

Despite the result, Dons’ play-off campaign has been confirmed, but their automatic chances now need snookers.

For the clash against Mansfield Town, Mike Williamson named an unchanged side to the one which beat Forest Green Rovers a week prior. Michael Kelly once again took on the gloves after keeping clean sheets in his last two, Dean Lewington and Jack Tucker kept their spots in the side, and Max Dean led the line.

The young striker has been in sensational form since returning from injury, netting four in three heading into the game. And he made it five after just 13 minutes with another goal straight out of the top drawer. Capitalising once again on a defensive lapse, this time from ex-Dons man Jordan Bowery, Dean raced away, cut inside Aden Flint and bent home a brilliant left-footed strike past Christy Pym.

It was a goal which threatened to set the tone, with Dons controlling the pace and tempo for long periods of the game, but as Mansfield regathered themselves, opportunities were hard to carve.

Dons though, as so often this season, were the makers of their own problems and it was the case again to allow the Stags to equalise on the half-hour. Stephen Wearne had his pocket picked on half-way, allowing Mansfield to cross from the right. The ball was only half-cleared though, and Lewington afforded Will Swan time and space to roll Hiram Boateng down to the byline, pulling back for Elliot Hewitt to score from inside the six-yard box.

It could have been worse for Dons when, eight minutes later, there was almost a carbon copy as Swan was able to cross, picking out Ollie Clarke, but his strike thumped against the bar from 15 yards.

From there, Mansfield would tighten their grip on the automatic promotion spots. Half-time substitute Davis Keillor-Dunn would prod home from close range after a defensive shocker from the home side, unable to clear the ball from their six-yard box despite three or four bites of the cherry to do so.

There would be chances to get back into it, with Stephen Wearne, Dean and Lewis Bate all coming close, testing keeper Pym but as they threw everything forwards, the Stags put an emphatic bow on the game at the death.

A counter-attack goal gave Keillor-Dunn his second and Mansfield's third as the clock ticked over to 90, before James Gale added a fourth two minutes later with a cracking strike after Dons were once again caught short at the back.

It sparked wild scenes of celebration from the 3,600 travelling Mansfield fans, who squashed the ghosts of the past and their last visit to Stadium MK, all but certainly sealing their automatic promotion to League One, while leaving Dons to battle it out in the play-offs.

Referee: Ben Speedie

Attendance: 11,212 (3,653)

MK Dons: Kelly, Lewington (Harrison 70), O'Hora, Tucker, Harvie, Lofthouse, Payne (Kemp 79), Bate, Gilbey, Wearne, Dean

Subs not used: Marschall, Norman, Williams, Robson, Tezgel

Mansfield Town: Pym, Hewitt (Maris 59), Akins, Clarke (Nichols 59), Bowery, Flint, Lewis, Williams (McLaughlin 73), Reed, Swan (Keillor-Dunn 46), Boateng (Gale 86)

Subs not used: Flinders, Quinn

Booked: Swan, Clarke, Gilbey, Lewis, Harvie