First goal MK Dons for Hepburn-Murphy makes up for haunting disallowed effort
The front man thought he had scored his first goal against Barrow last week
Scoring his first goal for MK Dons was a long time coming for Rushian Hepburn-Murphy, even if he did think he broke his duck a week earlier.
The summer signing from Crawley Town looked like he did everything right at Barrow last week, rounding the keeper to tap into the unguarded Holker Street net, only for the assistant referee to claim the ball had gone out of play, ruling out what would have been his first goal for the club.
Carrying the ghost of that goal all week with him, Hepburn-Murphy shone against Bristol City on Tuesday and was named the sponsor’s man of the match against Cheltenham Town on Saturday, with his goal coming as something of a vindication for the 26-year-old.
“I cannot get that one out of my head, I’m still thinking about it!” he said after the 5-0 win over the Robins. “To score today, honestly I think I’ve deserved it.”
Hepburn-Murphy had looked a live wire throughout pre-season for his new club, eager to impress and, crucially, take chances when they came along. But he wasn’t able to score during the pre-season campaign, and had to bide his time to finally get his first goal in a Dons shirt.
But with the first one now officially in the record books, he hopes it will open the door to more.
“I’m a forward, we always think about goals and assists,” he said. “I probably should have had a few in pre-season, and I should have scored against Barrow.. Well I DID but it wasn’t given! Today, I finally got my reward.
“Once you get one, the next one comes, then the next one and you start to build momentum.”