Battling Dons hold on to claim win at Newport County

It was a tale of two penalties at Rodney Parade as MK Dons scored while Newport County missed as the visitors claimed a 2-1 win in south Wales.

Trailing to Habeen Ogunneye’s sixth minute goal, which Craig MacGillivray uncharacteristically fumbled into his net, Dons were awarded a controversial spot-kick on the stroke of half-time when Jack Sanders was deemed to have been pulled down, allowing Nathaniel Mendez-Laing to equalise.

Callum Paterson would head Dons in front six minutes after the restart before Newport would win a penalty of their own for handball, but Bobby Kamwa would hit the upright with 20 minutes to go as Dons claimed victory on the road.

Without injured Joe Tomlinson, Paul Warne was forced into a change to his side, but in fact made two for the trip to south Wales. Marvin Ekpiteta was handed his first league start for MK Dons as he came into the defence, shifting midweek goal-scorer Luke Offord to left-back, while Rushian Hepburn-Murphy was a surprising omission from the side, dropping to the bench in favour of Aaron Nemane, who impressed during the 1-1 draw against Crawley Town on Tuesday night.

And just like at Crawley, Dons found themselves behind. This time though, it came from an uncharacteristic mistake from keeper Craig MacGillivray, who seemed to palm in Manchester United loanee Habeen Ogunneye’s cross after just six minutes.

It took Dons about a quarter of an hour to settle into the game, and when they did they looked the more dangerous of the two sides, but were met with a stern Newport defence who put bodies behind the ball and blocked everything Dons threw at them.

The best chance for the visitors came from Alex Gilbey, who looked for all the world as though he would blast home Nathaniel Mendez-Laing’s cut back, only to find ex-Dons midfielder Matt Smith on the line to deny him.

At the other end, Michael Reindorf should have made it 2-0 ten minutes before half-time when he broke the offside trap, but MacGillivray atoned for his earlier error with a fine stop.

With Dons forcing the issue before the break, Jack Sanders was dragged to the ground and referee Stuart Morland pointed to the spot, with Mendez-Laing converting on the stroke of half-time to draw Dons level.

And they would not have to wait long to take the lead in the second-half when Callum Paterson headed Liam Kelly’s corner into the corner of the net just six minutes after the restart.

From there though, the odds started to stack against Dons. After losing Tomlinson in the week, Dons were down to just one fit full-back in the form of Gethin Jones, but he was forced to limp off after reaching to put a cross in on the hour mark, meaning Dons would finish the game with four centre-backs across their back line with Nathan Thompson replacing him;

Ten minutes later, Newport were offered a huge lifeline to get back into the game when Offord was deemed to have handled in the box but Bobby Kamwa could not replicate Mendez-Laing, hitting the post with his spot kick.

Dons were dealt more injury woes when Scott Hogan, who had been on the pitch barely 10 minutes, was forced off through injury too.

With a lengthy spell of stoppage time, substitute Ged Garner should have levelled for Newport at the death but blasted over the bar as Dons held on to claim the win.

Referee: Stuart Morland

Attendance: 3,821 (325)

Newport County: Tzanev, Ogunneye, Jenkins, Baker, Davies (Glennon 89), Smith, Antwi (Garner 67), Lloyd, Kamwa, Reindorf, Spellman (Thomas 46)

Subs not used: Wright, Evans, Glennon, Clarke, Brennan

MK Dons: MacGillivray, Jones (Thompson 61), Sanders, Ekpiteta, Offord, Kelly, Collar (Thompson-Sommers 78), Gilbey, Mendez-Laing (Hogan 78 (Leko 88)), Nemane (Hepburn-Murphy 72), Paterson

Subs not used: Trueman, Crowley

Booked: Thompson, Davies