Entertaining draw between Dons and Ipswich ends goal-less

MK Dons had to settle for a second draw in a row on Saturday as they were held to an entertaining 0-0 with Ipswich Town at Stadium MK.

Both sides were in-form heading into the game, and both played some lively football in front of more than 15,000 supporters, but it was the hosts who had the better of the scoring opportunities.

Theo Corbeanu had two strikes come close in the first half, while Scott Twine had efforts at the end of both halves which brought the best out of Christian Walton in the Ipswich net.

The result keeps Dons in third spot, extending their unbeaten run to 10 games, with another difficult trip to Sunderland up next.

After the tricky conditions hampered their performance away at Fleetwood Town on Tuesday night, Liam Manning reverted back to the side which beat Wycombe Wanderers and Lincoln City with three changes to the side. Tennai Watson, Josh McEachran and Theo Corbeanu returned to the side, with Kaine Kesler Hayden, Matt Smith and Mo Eisa dropping to the bench.

Those changes almost made an immediate impact too with Corbeanu, beginning on the left flank, firing into the side netting within three minutes of the opening whistle as Dons grabbed hold of the game early on.

The hosts popped the ball about nicely on the difficult Stadium MK surface, but struggled to carve anything clear-cut in the final third despite the work-rate of Troy Parrott and Scott Twine as the Ipswich defence marshalled them well.

Roared on by more than 7,000 travelling supporters, Ipswich didn't offer up much in the way of a threats on Jamie Cumming's goal, but grew in influence during the first half, with Sam Morsy and Wes Burns in particular seeing a lot of the ball and pulling the strings.

The best chances though kept falling for Dons in the run to half time, as Corbeanu forced Walton to tip a low effort around the post before the keeper then made a brilliant reaction stop to deny Twine's acrobatic effort from around the penalty spot.

Frustrations began to mount in the Dons camp though as they felt aggrieved by the number of fouls they were suffering without much punishment from referee Oliver Langford - Kayden Jackson a persistent culprit in the first half.

But it would be Dons players who would go into Oliver Langford's book early in the second half as innocuous tackles were suddenly being penalised, and the card-happy referee ended up flashing six cards in the second period.

Ipswich had a decent spell at the start of the second period as they looked to take control of the game, kicking towards their fans but did not really cause a lot for Cumming to get worried about - the Dons defence standing up brilliantly in front of him.

The better of the chances fell Dons' way again in the second half, the best though for Twine deep into stoppage time, but his free-kick, in a similar position to where he scored in the reverse fixture at Portman Road, was tipped wide by Walton, who dived to his right to ensure it ended goal-less.

Referee: Oliver Langford

Attendance: 15,311 (6,850)

MK Dons: Cumming, Lewington, O'Hora, Darling, Harvie, Watson, Coventry, McEachran (Hirma Boateng 75), Twine, Corbeanu (Wickham 61), Parrott

Subs not used: Ravizzoli, Smith, Eisa, Kemp, Kesler Hayden

Ipswich Town: Walson, Edmundson, Woolfenden, Burns, Bakinson (Aluko 90), Jackson (Norwood 76), Chaplin (Bonne 76), Thompson, Celina, Donacien, Morsy

Subs not used: Hladky, Vincent-Young, Carroll, Burgess

Booked: Watson, Lewington, Thompson, Bakinson, Coventry, Morsy