FA Youth Cup Milton Keynes Dons 2 Dunstable Town 1 att 650

BLUES DENIED AS DONS BLUSH

Erroneous decisions affect the outcome

There is a character in a story by Joseph Conrad who used the saying that zeal overcame everything. The over zealous refereeing had a distinct influence on this game, which saw Dunstable Town denied a legitimate opening goal. Tom Dolan who had been a distinct menace to the Dons’ right back, Jordan Browne, had put the ball past Ashley Harrison, despite his best efforts to make a save.

Incredibly, the referee over ruled the goal, claiming that it had not crossed the line.
Dons players were turning away in recognition of the goal and the Dunstable players and supporters were about to celebrate the best of starts. The Blues has listened to Lee Connelly’s inspirational team talk on the players’ coach and had applied themselves as directed.

It is no exaggeration to state that, despite their obvious nervousness that the Blues ought to have been two goals to the good in the first ten minutes. Dolan’s shot in the third minute was a chance he would have put away for fun in a lesser arena, and then came his disallowed goal.

Should anyone think that there is an obvious bias from me, let me state here that after the game, the Dons players were unanimous in the view that Dolan’s strike had crossed the line and they were as mystified by the referee’s decision as were the 650 plus spectators.
This was a costly mistake by the referee for the Blues, compounded later by the bizarre award of a penalty against Takunda Marevesa whose brave piece of goalkeeping saw him emerge with the ball.

The referee did hesitate before he made the decision, but he did not consult a linesman. Again we were perplexed, since for the majority this was no penalty, and with a duplicate ‘offence’ committed by the Dons’ keeper late in the second half saw a penalty appeal loftily dismissed.

It was a shame really. A hallmark of a good game is where one is almost unaware of the presence of officials. I am sure the young Mr Hillier endeavoured to do his best, but there was ample evidence that he simply got it wrong at crucial moments. We have seen this in the Premiership and so it is nothing new.

A good indicator was the post match attitude of the Dunstable players. I have followed their fortunes in every game as their reporter, bus driver and welfare officer, and am used to their reactions. If they have been beaten fair and square they have accepted it and moved on.
After this match there was suppressed anger and it was universal in the condemnation of vital refereeing decisions.

If Tom Dolan’s legitimate goal had stood, I am sure the game would have taken on a different tone. The disappointment of this, after such an attacking start was compounded by the award of a penalty against them.

This was a special night for our youth team and for the club as it offered a rare chance to visit and play in a stadium of a professional club. The Stadium MK is simply glorious and is still a work in progress. It is a mini Emirates and the Dons are indeed fortunate to have such a home venue. The special night was cast into gloom not so much by the result but by the way the result was achieved.

To deflect bias again, I will quote the MK Dons chairman who considered our lads desperately unlucky not to have beaten his academy side. He also added that the Dunstable team was a credit to our club.

So, four minutes and forty seconds, Dolan had broken through and we all though he had scored. The electric score board retained the nil-nil score. But the Blues were calling the tune against the academy side, for the moment.

The home side settled quickly, kept a close watch on the pace of Dolan and Aidan Murray.
They had their own danger man, skipper Charlie Collins whose cunning matched his pace and awareness. Dolan and Denton made the most of half chances as the Dons began to encroach in the Dunstable half.

Martel Powell had twice sent Collins to chase a penetrating through ball, and a feature of the Dons’ play was to time their moves and more than once they stretched the Blues defence, almost always evading the off-side.

Dunstable were not, however at their very best and they lacked precision in defence and attack. The lack of fluidity on their movement may be attributable to their apprehension and nerves, playing in an unaccustomed splendour of such a modern and impressive stadium.

But the Dons, for a well–groomed side were not as yet showing the ‘part-timers’ how it was done. Their superiority was clear in their accurate and confident passing, especially out of defence and their greater overall tactical awareness. They rode the expected early storm and composed themselves, yet it would have been difficult for a stranger to point out who were the virtual professionals here.

The penalty kick was awarded after twenty-one minutes after Marevesa was adjudged to have fouled Troy Farden, who indeed made the most of his stage fall to the ground. TK had made a decent save and had clearly gone for the ball. In many games such a challenge would see the referee wave away appeals, and indeed he did later with Dunstable the more aggrieved. Charlie Collins scored well from the spot, thus denying a nice bit of poetic justice had TK saved the shot.

But just three minutes later, a huge roar from the crowd greeted the fact that Tom Dolan had bagged the deserved equaliser, after a splendid assist from Elliott Denton. He took it calmly and well, having skinned the full back again. The tremendous reaction of the visiting supporters drew my attention to just how many there were and they were very welcome.

It gave Dunstable a boost after the double disappointment of the disallowed goal and the dubious penalty. Josh Edwards reprised his role as a Mr Cool in defence and he was later given the Blues man of the match award by Lee Connelly and Tom Brogan.

Aidan Murray tested Harrison with a fiery shot after half an hour. Dunstable had a bit of pressure with successive corners, but the Dons were effective with their counter play.

Collins and Carter were indeed full of pace and intelligent running off the ball. Dean Hitchcock and Chris Doggett were kept very busy, and the spearheads of Bewley and Osborne were beginning to get their breaks from midfield. However, free kicks from both sides left much to be desired as they resembled generous back passes at times, and when a shot was fired straight at the keepers they were simply comfortable.

Reese Brogan, note the spelling of his forename, as given to me by his Dad, had a battle on his hands and he strived to prove equal to it. He was mostly successful but was substituted later as a tactical move.

The remainder of the first half saw a rather scrappy last ten minutes, but there was one magnificent save by TK from Collins to enjoy.
But the Blues had held their own and deserved parity and more, what had deserted them was that elusive matter we call luck. They had worked hard and adapted well, and had risen to this auspicious occasion.

I left my seat to join the chairman and the rest of the Dunstable party in the hospitality room, where the likes of first team manager Darren Feighery were munching on chicken. For me, a vegetarian (do not post jokes, I have heard them all), there was no provision.

Memo to MK. Please remember the veggies.
I had a single crisp and a warm coffee and patiently endured the sight of many bits of chicken being consumed. Never mind.

What we needed was Dunstable to put the meat on the bones and go into the lead. The longer the game went on the more it became believable that the Blues could win and go on to face either Bishops Stortford or Marlow at Creasey Park in the next round.

The prospect looked likely when Aidan Murray sent in a rasper but it hit the stanchion and not the back of the net. The electric score board had gone ominously blank, but miraculously reappeared when the Dons took the lead.

The Dons began to show with their easy retention of possession and slick moves that they had the benefit of professional training.
Aaron Morgan, focused as ever, found himself cautioned on fifty minutes. Hitchcock did not need to prompt the young referee for his usual booking and both Dowling and Ivey-Ward were cautioned for the hosts.

What surprised me was the amateurish finishing by the Dons when they were presented with a chance with absolute knobs on. Three one –on- one chances came their way later when Dunstable, a goal down again were committed to attack and thus left gaps at the back.

The home side ought to have put these away and somehow conspired to miss. At other times they took advantage of a tiring Dunstable to power in to the area and lose out to an up and at ’em defence that was crude but effective.

The superior fitness of the Dons would indeed have told had the tie gone to extra time. But before then there were chances enough, if not in abundance for a battling Blues’ side to snatch the lead.

Ironically it was after an all out attack to try to get a goal ahead that the Blues conceded. There were inevitable gaps at the back, but the Dons should blush indeed at their failure to exploit them.

Harrison had made a smart save and quickly sent the ball out, it being whisked forward so quickly it caught the Dunstable defence cold, yet there was more of a hint of off-side, with no decision given except to signal the kick-off after Collins had scored his second goal.

Sixty-five minutes had gone. Both sides made substitutions, with the Blues employing Ryan Connelly, Kylrn Brooke-Lynch and Jack Walker. That meant that Dan Wills would see no action on this occasion.

The bookings that followed reflected the frustration, as the Dons displayed once again their ability to retain possession and play the ball confidently out of defence. KBL found himself unexpectedly in possession from a poor defensive pass but he was unable to turn and set himself right for the shot.

Dunstable chased down, regained possession when they could but tiredness was evident as passes went astray. Jake Bewley and Lewis Osborne sought inroads but one or two crosses were not up to their usual standard. The team was also visibly angry and it did mean that they were just a bit off the boil.

MK broke down attacks and counter attacked in a leisurely fashion. They had a free kick just on the edge of the area – another golden chance in the seventy-fifth minute – and all from a more or less unforced error. The ball was sent way over the bar. They could not really afford to be as profligate as the lead was not entirely comfortable.

Great positioning by Doggett almost caught the Dons’ defence napping after a free kick, but they recovered in time to break the attack down. Good passing football came from the hosts as Dunstable snapped at their heels, ever eager to regain possession, yet once they did they were met with a challenge as robust.

KBL appeared to be held in the area, and he was later stopped in his tracks as he attempted a run on goal – a feature that the Dons had nullified. A Hitchcock free kick landed disconsolately on the roof of the net, and still the Blues tried as time ran on.

Morgan’s run was crowded out by no fewer than three intervening players. MK were doing their job well, with passing triangles and patience. Ryan Connelly ran in on Harrison who snatched the ball to his chest.

While there was just the one goal deficit there was hope, but the fatigue was visible on the visitors, and again I thought how tortuous extra time would be for them – fuelled by adrenalin.

The penalty appeal came and went; KBL won another free kick for obstruction, his persistence indicative of the team as a whole.
The free kick from Aaron Morgan brought only a corner. That was too high and it was cleared, as was another quick chance for a counter attack. Stoppage time approached and the Dons missed their last chance – a veritable open goal which saw Martel Powell shoot embarrassingly wide. This was also the case for Mark Lee seconds before the whistle – only he will know how he missed that sitter with the exhausted Dunstable defence absent.

But the Dons held firm and took the tie, and they did have the good grace to admit that fortune had indeed favoured them with a wrongly disallowed goal and the award of a penalty that should not have been.

TK did himself no favours by approaching the referee after the final whistle and earning a red card for his obviously resentful remarks. It was ill advised as no referee should be subject to verbal abuse. Referees are human, and to err is human. Perhaps a referee needs divine inspiration……

On the other hand, we are distinctly proud of our lads and applaud their excellent cup run.
There is still much to play for this season, and they will do. They are managed and coached well and have an admirable team spirit. It was just a little flagging after this game where the psychological feeling of being robbed induced a well, very loud silence, if you see what I mean.

It remains for me to thank all at Milton Keynes Dons for looking after us well, we will remember the night, including those enormous changing rooms, big enough to play a five a side game. The little bit of glamour was well deserved by the lads and it is just a shame that the narrow loss was abetted by some erratic decisions.

Not done by the Dons, but robbed by the ref?

MILTON KEYNES DONS

Ashley Harrison, Jordan Browne, Liam McGovern, Martel Powell, Jordan Ivey-ward, George Williams, George Baldock, Justin Dowling, Charlie Collins, two goals 21 and 65 minutes, Troy Farden, Hayden Carter.

Substitutes- Daniel Glass, Mark Lee, Awadh Ahmed, Joel Gyasi, Ben Walster.

DUNSTABLE TOWN

Takunda Marevesa, Reese Brogan, Chris Doggett, JOSH EDWARDS, Dean Hitchcock, Lewis Osborne, Tom Dolan , goal 24 minutes, Aaron Morgan, Aidan Murray, Elliott Denton, Jake Bewley.
Substitutes- Ryan Connelly, Kylrn Brooke- Lynch, Jack Walker and Daniel Wills.

Officials- J Hillier referee assisted by Q Peasall and W Harvey.
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To the Regiment, I wish I was there.

Posted: Fri Nov 06, 2009 12:35 am Post subject:

Here are some match stats that may be of interest

Shots on target MK 7 DT 8
Off target MK 6 DT5
Off sides MK 8 DT3
Fouls conceded MK 12 DT 16
Corners MK 3 DT 7
Cautions MK 2 DT 2
Dismissal DT, after final whistle 1 MK 0

Pipeman moment.
As the team bus pulled disconsolately away, Aidan Murray issued intructions to the driver to ensure he would not, as he did on the inward journey, circumnavigate the stadium twice.
An MK fan held up his fingers to remind us of the score. Dean Hitchcock asked to be let off 'to bang the geezer out.' I told him that the fellow was just gloating. 'Yeah' said Dean, 'but he had his fingers the wrong way round.' Dean was restrained but not mollified.

To the victor the spoils, to the losers the rude fingers.
_________________
To the Regiment, I wish I was there.