Dons concede late as Wednesday take victory

MK Dons conceded twice in the final seven minutes to lose 2-1 at Hillsborough on Tuesday night against Sheffield Wednesday.

Leading through a stunning Scott Twine effort 90 seconds into the second half, Dons’ defensive mettle was tested throughout the second period as the hosts piled on the pressure and eventually it told. Lee Gregory headed Wednesday level on 83 minutes, before substitute Josh Windass netted in stoppage time to see Dons drop to eighth in League One .

After their 1-0 win over Burton on Saturday, MK Dons boss Liam Manning only mades the one change to his side, bringing in Hiram Boateng for Josh McEachran in the midfield, with Harry Darling on the bench on his return from suspension.

Keeping only their fourth clean sheet of the season on Saturday, the Dons defence was certainly kept on their toes throughout an entertaining first half at Hillsborough as Wednesday set out their stall after a slow opening 15 minutes. With Barry Bannan pulling the strings for the home side, corners aimed at Chey Dunkley were Dons’ biggest concern as the defender won header after header, with Andrew Fisher tipping one over the top, before having his blushes spared when the whistle went after he parried the ball off Florian Kamberi and into the net.

Dons struggled to really make much of an impact in the attacking third, though they while their chances were rare, they should really have been converted. Scott Twine looked as though he was anticipating a touch when he was put through on goal and fired high and wide, while Peter Kioso saw a left-footed effort skid just wide of the post.

After a pretty solid defensive display from his side, Liam Manning would have asked for a bit more bite up front from his side, and within 90 seconds of the restart Scott Twine stunned the Hillsborough crowd into silence with a wonderful strike to give the visitors the lead. Bringing down Hiram Boateng’s pass, the ball sat up beautifully for him to rifle in from 22-yards, leving Peacock-Farrell with no chance.

Wednesday though would mount more and more pressure on Dons as the game wore on and it would eventually be the undoing of the visitors.

They almost conspired against themselves when miscommunication between Fisher and O’Hora gifted Jack Hunt a sight at an open goal but he hit the post on the hour mark, and from there the pressure only mounted.

Dons appeared though to be content to absorb though in the latter stages, but a chance in the back line, bringing in Darling for Baldwin, and it looked as though it threw them off their stride as Wednesday scored twice late on to win it.

Eventually, one of Wednesday’s 14 corners paid off as Gregory rose above to nod past Fisher on 83 minutes to lift the home fans and they roared their team on to victory in stoppage time.

With no-one looking to close down the influential Barry Bannan, he was able to pull the ball back to the unmarked Josh Windass 15 yards out, and with Dons sat so deep, he was afforded the chance to swing and miss at first before nestling the ball into the bottom corner to win it for the hosts.

Referee: Robert Madley

Attendance: 18,571

Sheffield Wednesday: Peacock-Farrell, Palmer, Gregory, Bannan, Byers (Luongo 55), Dele-Bashiru (Berahino 72), Kamberi (Windass 54), Dunkley, Corbeanu, Hunt, Brennan

Subs not used: Wildsmith, Brown, Shodipo,Wing

MK Dons: Fisher, Baldwin (Darling 77), Lewington, O’Hora, Kioso, Harvie, Kasumu, Boateng (McEachran 83), O’Riley, Twine, Watters (Eisa 72)

Subs not used: Ravizzoli, Jules, Darling, Brown, Ilunga

Booked: Baldwin, Palmer, Kioso