League Two: MK Dons 1-3 Barnet

MK Dons suffered their first defeat in 15 games on Saturday as they missed out on the chance to go top of the league with a 3-1 defeat to Barnet.

Despite leading and cruising for much of the first-half after Jon Mellish’s seventh minute goal, Danny Collinge’s header on the stroke of half-time levelled for the Bees and swung momentum the way of the visitors.

Two goals in nine second-half minutes, from Kabongo Tshimanga and Idris Kanu would do the business for Barnet, while a miserable Rushian Hepburn-Murphy penalty was easily saved by keeper Cieran Slicker as the visitors cruised to the points.

Setting up for their fifth game in 11 days, Paul Warne made three changes to the side to face Barnet. Rushian Hepburn-Murphy, Connor Lemonheigh-Evans and Aaron Nemane were back into the starting line-up, with Aaron Collins, Dan Crowley and Gethin Jones amongst the substitutes.

After a bit of a fortunate goal in the 1-0 win over Colchester in the week, Dons were given another gift after seven minutes when Nemane looped a high cross into the area, keeper Cieran Slicker got caught under it, palming it into the path of Jon Mellish to tap in his third of the season. The keeper though would make amends later.

While Dons looked comfortable for much of the opening half, it was a patchy and bitty affair, with neither side really building a lengthy spell of pressure.

There were chances for Dons though, with Ben Wiles and Rushian Hepburn-Murphy both having half-sights of goal, but for some last-ditch defending from the Bees.

The hosts were dealt a blow before half-time when Connor Lemonheigh-Evans twice went down after suffering a blow to his knee, and had to be replaced by Aaron Collins.

Barnet came close to drawing level when the dangerous Ryan Glover found himself onside and through but fired straight at Craig MacGillivray, but they got their reward deep into stoppage time at the end of the half when former Dons academy product Danny Collinge headed home from a corner. And it was a goal which would sway momentum into the second-half.

Two goals in nine minutes would be Dons undoing, with the first coming when Glover orchestrated a move to allow another former MK1 academy product Kabongo Tshimanga to bend the Bees in front three minutes after the restart. And on 57 minutes, Idris Kanu bent home a similar finish after Dons flapped at clearing a ball into the mixer, swiftly finding themselves 3-1 down.

The hosts though were offered a glorious chance to pull one back when Collins was downed by Nnamdi Ofoborh for a penalty, but Hepburn-Murphy’s was a poor effort from the spot, easily saved by keeper Slicker, making up for his earlier error.

The miss really sucked the wind out of Dons’ sails. Ben Wiles had a couple of efforts just wide, as did Collins but the hosts never really looked like finding a way back into the game as they suffered their first defeat since New Year’s Day.

Referee: Dale Baines

Attendance: 7,944 (778)

MK Dons: MacGillivray, Offord, Sanders (Tomlinson 72), Ekpiteta (Hogan 69), Nemane (Jones 69), Mellish, Kelly, Lemonheigh-Evans (Collins 37), Gilbey, Wiles, Hepburn-Murphy

Subs not used: Trueman, Crowley, Leko

Barnet: Slicker, Collinge, Senior, Stead (Jaiyesimi 90), Kanu (Chinedu 90), Glover (Hartigan 90), Shelton, Tshimanga (Hawkins 90), Crichlow-Noble (Kizzi 87), Tavares, Ofoborh

Subs not used: Evans, Howland

Booked: Kanu, Crichlow-Noble, Jones