Late goals resign Dons to final pre-season defeat against Northampton

Two late Northampton Town goals ensured MK Dons ended their pre-season campaign with another defeat at Stadium MK, going down 3-1 on Saturday.

Mitch Pinnock gave League One Northampton the lead after just eight minutes with a finely struck finish, and he should have doubled their lead when he struck the post 10 minutes later.

But a change in formation helped give Dons a bit more control of the game, and they started the second-half brightly, equalising through Warren O’Hora’s header on the hour mark.

Teenager Joel Anker had a bright outing and should have put Dons ahead but fluffed his header from just inside the six yard box.

With the game looking destined for a draw, substitutes Peter Abimola and Ben Fox grabbed two goals in a minute for the visitors to secure victory for Jon Brady’s side, with Dons heading to Wrexham for the League Two opener next Saturday without a victory in any of their four pre-season encounters.

Heading into the final pre-season game of the campaign, Graham Alexander opted once again to go five at the back, with Daniel Harvie shifted inside to centre-back. Mo Eisa, who missed out on Tuesday night through injury returned on the bench.

The head coach backed up his faith in the youngsters by giving starts to Brooklyn Ilunga and Joel Anker for the final game against Northampton.

But Northampton appeared to target Ilunga in the early phase of the game, and Akin Odimayo gave him a real headache as he turned him inside and out to put Cobblers in the ascendency. And it was his good work on the right which helped his side open the scoring on eight minutes when he lost the 19-year-old, forced Craig MacGillivray into a decent save at his near post, but the loose ball was recycled to Mitch Pinnock who lashed it home.

Odimayo continued to torment Ilunga and it almost saw a carbon copy of the goal 10 minutes later, this time though Pinnock's shot hit the post and bounced clear.

Alexander had seen enough though and withdrew the teenager after 23 minutes, replacing him with Ethan Robson and allowing for a change of formation. And it brought about a bit more control and rigidity for the hosts.

While one teenager struggled though, the other in the form of Anker, was having a decent outing in the blue third strip, which launched earlier in the week. Twice he cut in from the left flank to take aim, only to see his effort go over the top, while Cameron Norman's shot skidding wide was as close as Dons would come in the first-half.

They would look a wholly different beast in the second-half though as Dons put in what was their best performance of the summer, but two late goals would ultimately cost them.

Looking more of an attacking threat with Robson on the left-flank, the hosts took the game to their League One opponents but had to wait until the hour mark before finding an equaliser, courtesy of Warren O'Hora's bullet header converting Anker's corner.

The youngster would have a cracking afternoon, but should have ended with a goal to his name but he could not direct his header, from Harvie's cross, goalwards. Anker would be given a standing ovation when he left the field with 15 minutes to go.

Much like against Coventry City in the week though, Dons would end up conceding twice in quick succession which would draw a disappointing line under the pre-season campaign. With two minutes to go, Peter Abimola flicked Northampton back in front before Ben Fox had an effort deflect over the top of keeper MacGillivray to seal a 3-1 win.

Attendance: 3,087 (1,073)

MK Dons: MacGillivray, Norman, Tucker, O'Hora, Harvie (Scholtz 90), Ilunga (Robson 24), Williams, Gilbey, Burns (Eisa 58), Anker (Dean 75), Leko (Holland 58)

Subs: Harness, T Smith, M Smith, Devoy, Tripp