MK Dons' winless September continues after defeat to Accrington Stanley

MK Dons’ winless September continued as they suffered a 2-1 home defeat by Accrington Stanley at Stadium MK.

Isaac Sinclair’s goal had given the visitors the lead, before a controversial Alex Gilbey equaliser brought Paul Warne’s hosts level.

But Accrington sub Charlie Caton was the matchwinner, handing Stanley a first ever win at Stadium MK.

There was further despair for the Dons, meanwhile, in a game that would see defender Luke Offord sent off in stoppage time as the hosts suffered a fourth defeat at home in a row in all competitions.

Having failed to win any of their last 3 league outings and suffered a heavy defeat to the West Ham U21 team in the EFL Trophy, Paul Warne was seeking a lift as MK Dons returned to league action.

They came up against an Accrington Stanley side who were chasing back-to-back wins, having won their first match of the season at home to Colchester last time out.

Warne had rested players in midweek and duly made 11 changes from that game, with the players chosen to start their previous league outing at Chesterfield returning to start.

The Dons had made some bright early running. Aaron Nemane saw a pass intercepted when in shooting range, before Callum Paterson saw an effort trundle wide from Gilbey’s pass.

A better chance fell the way of Nathaniel Mendez-Laing. The winger was picked out after making space down the left flank, and he was able to cut inside before firing in a strike well stopped by Accrington Stanley keeper Ollie Wright.

As the half wore on, however, MK Dons began to struggle for momentum, which opened the door for Accrington Stanley to begin asking questions of their own.

With 19 minutes on the clock, the visitors would duly open the scoring. Tyler Walton’s pass set up kindly for Sinclair, who charged forward and threaded a low strike into the back of the net. The strike was Sinclair’s second in as many games, having scored the only goal in their last outing.

Joe Buaress would see a long-range strike narrowly miss the target, but for much of the half, a second Accrington goal was looking likelier with the Dons seemingly getting lost when crossing halfway.

Accrington Stanley then missed two great chances in first half stoppage time. Josh Woods received Walton’s pass and saw a strike thwarted by Craig MacGillivray, then after MK Dons failed to clear the corner, Woods had another go that duly cannoned off the post.

Having got through that, MK Dons began the second half brighter, as Paterson saw a strike deflected wide.

It was from that corner that the Dons equalised, albeit in controversial fashion. After an initial cross was cleared, Marvin Ekpiteta’s prod forward seemed to be there for Wright to gather. However, he couldn’t gather the ball and it landed for Gilbey to score.

Replays suggested Paterson had shoved Walton into Wright, with Accrington adamant this was a foul, but the referee was content to allow the goal.

The Dons did not get going after equalising, however, with the visitors getting closer. Woods had a header saved by MacGillivray before ex-Dons man Charlie Brown had two strikes blocked in quick succession.

Accrington Stanley suffered a blow when Walton was stretchered off, but his replacement would end up making an impact.

Caton, who replaced Walton, was in the right place when Isaac Heath fired in a cross after a charging run, and the summer signing from Chester duly turned home his first goal for the club.

MK Dons nearly managed a quickfire equaliser as Rushian Hepburn-Murphy headed wide from Paterson’s cross.

But the Dons never really built up momentum as they sought an equaliser, with the closest they came coming when Scott Hogan had a deflected strike held by Wright.

Heath would have a strike kept out by MacGillivray in a rare moment where the visitors threatened to grab a third, before there was further misery for the Dons with a red.

Already missing several defenders through injury and suspension, the Dons saw Offord shown a second yellow for a foul on away sub Alex Henderson, and with it his dismissal in the final stages of stoppage time, with any hopes of a Dons equaliser duly being ended moments later with the final whistle.

MK Dons: MacGillivray – Lemonheigh-Evans (Hogan 80), Offord, Ekpiteta, Nemane – Crowley (Leko 87), Kelly (Collar 45), Gilbey – Mendez-Laing (Maguire 80), Paterson, Hepburn-Murphy (Thompson-Sommers 87)

Subs not used: Trueman, Medwynter

Goal: Gilbey (48)

Sent Off: Offord (90+5)

Booked: Kelly, Offord, Lemonheigh-Evans

Accrington Stanley: Wright – Smith, Matthews, Ward – Brown (Love 79), Conneely (Coyle 66), Bauress, Heath – Sinclair – Woods (Henderson 83), Walton (Caton 66)

Subs not used: Kelly, Grant, Martin

Goal: Sinclair (19)

Booked: Heath, Conneely