Dons slump to fourth consecutive home defeat as Stanley claim win

MK Dons lost for a fourth consecutive game at home when they were easily beaten 2-1 by Accrington Stanley on Saturday.

Once again, a poor first-half performance laid the foundations for Paul Warne’s side, with Isaac Sinclair finishing off a neat one-touch move on 19 minutes to give Accrington the lead.

Dons looked like they had a lifeline when Alex Gilbey scored a couple of minutes after the restart, despite Stanley protests for a foul, but it mattered little to the visitors who would complete their first away win of the season when Charlie Caton netted from close range with 17 minutes to go.

The misery would be compounded when, deep into stoppage time, Luke Offord was sent off for a second booking as Dons slumped to a fourth home defeat in a row in all competitions, dropping them to 14th in League Two.

After their 1-1 draw with Chesterfield last time out, Dons named an unchanged side to face Accrington Stanley. There were changes on the bench though, and concerns for Aaron Collins who was out of the side just a week after making his return to the side after breaking his arm. Laurence Maguire, Scott Hogan and Kane Thompson-Sommers came back onto the bench.

First-halves have been Dons’ undoing particularly at home in recent weeks, and the opening 45 minutes against Accrington proved to follow suit once more.

While offering a little promise in the opening 15 minutes, with Nathaniel Mendez-Laing forcing a top stop from keeper Ollie Wright, things all fell apart around them after Accrington took the lead.

A neat, one-touch passing move, which featured ex-Dons man Charlie Brown at the heart of it, saw Marvin Ekpiteta caught too narrow, and Isaac Sinclair was allowed to calmly go one-on-one before rolling the ball under Craig MacGillivray to put the visitors in front after 19 minutes.

The hosts then struggled to put moves together, losing possession easily and looking on uneasy grounds at the back. The visitors in fact could have been further ahead by the break, with Josh Woods seeing a last-ditch effort tipped wide by MacGillivray before then hitting the post in first-half stoppage time.

There were signs at the start of the second-half, though, that Dons could get back into it, especially when Alex Gilbey slammed home two minutes after the break, despite Accrington’s pleas for a free-kick after a shove from Callum Paterson went unpunished.

But in truth it was a false dawn for the home side, who barely moved the needle thereafter.

Accrington, who had only one league win to their name all season, reacted far better to the equaliser than the home side, and continued to look the much better side as they sliced through Dons’ vacant midfield with ease.

So it came as little surprise when substitute Charlie Caton poked home after Isaac Heath’s unchallenged break down the Accrington left with 17 minutes to go.

Things went from bad to worse for Dons in stoppage time when Luke Offord was shown a second yellow card and his marching orders as Dons finished with ten for the second time in a row, and lost for a fourth in a row at Stadium MK.

Referee: Scott Jackson

Attendance: 6,010 (86)

MK Dons: MacGillivray, Offord, Ekpiteta, Lemonheigh-Evans (Hogan 79), Nemane, Kelly (Collar 46), Crowley (Leko 87), Gilbey (c), Mendez-Laing (Maguire 79), Hepburn-Murphy (Thompson-Sommers 87), Paterson

Subs not used: Trueman, Thompson-Sommers, Medwynter

Accrington Stanley: Wright, Sinclair, Ward, Bauress, Matthews, Brown (Love 78), Walton (Caton 65), Smith, Conneely (Coyle 64), Heath, Woods (Henderson 83)

Subs not used: Kelly, Grant, Martin

Booked: Kelly, Heath, Conneely, Offord, Lemonheigh-Evans

Red card: Offord