Dennis finds the net again as Dons beat Chelmsford in pre-season

Matt Dennis scored a brilliant solo goal as MK Dons beat Chelmsford City on Wednesday night.

The striker burst nearly 40 yards before picking out the bottom corner of the net early in the second-half as Dons claimed the 1-0 win at the Melbourne Stadium against a Clarets side led by former striker Robbie Simpson.

After the side's training camp in Germany, the game at Melbourne Stadium was largely used to top up those who had missed football over pre-season thus far. It meant there was a mixture of youth and second-string, with new signings Tom Carroll and Tommy Leigh also included.

The first-half was a fairly nondescript affair. There were patches of play for Mike Williamson's side which cut through the hosts with ease, but the keeper was wholly untested in the opening 45 minutes.

Despite Dons' control for much of the opening half, it was the hosts who had the better of the goal-scoring opportunities, with an ambitious overhead-kick and a scuffed shot bobbling wide about as good as it got. Nathan Harness was never really troubled.

The second-half though started with a bang in the form of a brilliant solo effort from Matt Dennis to give Dons the lead. A great step-in from Charlie Waller won the ball on half-way, before offloading to Dennis ten yards inside the Chelmsford half. A brilliant turn from the striker and he’s away, he breaks a good 40 yards with the ball, powers into the box and nearly finds the back of the net.

Dennis had a chance to make it five goals in three games just a few minutes later in almost a carbon copy of his goal, but this time was off-balance when he struck it and the keeper was able to save.

At the other end, a Chelmsford ball over the top picked out the roaming full-back, but he fired straight into the chest of Harness.

Both Tommy Leigh and Ellis Harrison would have decent efforts blocked, while Harness would again be called into action with a decent save low to his right.

As both sides began to make changes, the ball's fluidity began to ebb away. Dons though would end with 11 academy products on the field at the end of the game.

MK Dons: Harness, Tripp, Tucker (Sinclair-Linton 60), Waller, Scholtz, Wood, Carroll, Grant, Leigh, Dennis (Singh-Hurditt 63), Harrison

Subs on 76 mins: Seb Stacey, Josh Clark-Anderson, Jack Burke, Keon Lewis-Burgess, Michael Brammeld, Brogan Matthews, Rian Silver, Marcel Guzynski, Chase Medwynter