MK Dons start new season with goalless draw against Oldham

MK Dons began the new season with a 0-0 draw at home to Oldham Athletic after a game of few chances.

Neither side created a large deal of chances, with a combined total of just one shot on target created between the two sides, with the net result seeing both sides end the game without scoring.

The result means that the Dons have now played out four 0-0 draws in the five competitive games overseen by Paul Warne, who managed the final four games of last season but is now embarking on his first full campaign in charge of MK Dons.

After a big summer of spending and a lot of people naming the Dons as a potential promotion contender, the meeting with last season’s National League play-off winners Oldham represented the Dons’ first opportunity to try and get points on the board.

Four of the Dons’ summer signings were given debuts from the start, with Aaron Collins, Nathaniel Mendez-Laing, Rushian Hepburn-Murphy and Gethin Jones getting full starts. Fellow recruits Callum Paterson and Will Collar began their first assignment with the Dons as substitutes.

On a summer’s afternoon at Stadium MK, both sides had a few early forays forward, although creation of strong chances was proving challenging.

The first tangible opportunity was created by Oldham, with space opening up for Kane Drummond, who saw a low shot skim wide.

Mendez-Laing has a strike blocked from outside the box, while the Dons had a few set-pieces and crosses blocked or cleared as they tried to find a way through.

Although Oldham also carried a threat on the counter, neither side had their shooting boots on, with the general misfiring summed up when Kane Thompson-Sommers planted a strike in the stands for the hosts.

A flash point then came in the final moments of the half. Alex Gilbey played through Aaron Collins, who charged into the box before being challenged by Oldham defender Donervon Daniels. Many of a Dons persuasion felt Daniels had fouled Collins, with the defender going through Collins to win the ball, but the referee opted to give a corner instead.

That corner would see a Jack Sanders header across goal blocked, while the second corner was cleared.

The Dons tried to up the tempo after the break, with Liam Kelly narrowly missing out on Collins’ pass while Luke Offord later missed the target with a header at a corner.

Warne introduced Paterson, signed earlier this week from Sheffield Wednesday, but the home side continued to find chance creation problematic.

Oldham then had a bright spell of their own but they were also found guilty of wasting good positions in the final third.

The Latics then had their own question on whether they should’ve got a penalty when substitute Luke Hannant met Josh Hawkes’ pass and went down when trying to get ahead of home goalkeeper Craig MacGillivray. The referee however ruled Hannant dived, giving the hosts a free-kick and booking the former Gateshead player.

MK Dons then nearly had an unorthodox breakthrough when Jonathan Leko’s low cross-shot took a huge deflection off Oldham’s Ryan Woods, requiring a second Oldham player to stop it from going into the back of the net.

The only shot on target in the entire match ultimately came in the 88th minute. Oldham broke after MK Dons lost the ball on the edge of the Latics’ box and they worked the ball through to Mike Fondop, who fired a strike that was straight at MacGillivray.

Injury time failed to provide what would’ve almost certainly been a winner, leaving the two sides to start their campaigns off with a point apiece. It was the first time in four years that the Dons have drawn their opening game of a season, with the team having a week to process what they learned from this game before next weekend’s match away at Barrow.

MK Dons: MacGillivray – Jones, Sanders, Offord, Tomlinson – Thompson-Sommers (Paterson 61), Kelly – Mendez-Laing (Collar 87), Gilbey, Hepburn-Murphy (Leko 73) – Collins

Subs not used: Trueman, Nemane, Lemonheigh-Evans, Waller

Booked: Sanders

Oldham: Hudson – Ogle, Daniels, Monthe, Leake (Hammond 84) – Morris (Hawkes 59), Woods, Conlon, Stevens (Hannant 68) – Drummond – Fondop

Subs not used: Donaghy, Sutton, Harratt, Waters

Booked: Hannant, Conlon, Fondop