MK Dons dumped out of FA Cup by foes AFC Wimbledon

MK Dons are out of the FA Cup after a 2-0 loss to AFC Wimbledon at Stadium MK.

In a first round tie, goals either side of half-time by Matty Stevens and Omar Bugiel decided the contest in favour of the visitors, and in the process eliminated MK Dons from their FA Cup.

A miserable day for the hosts was compounded when midfielder Connor Lemonheigh-Evans was sent off for a second yellow card during the second half.

The result means MK Dons are out of the FA Cup in Round One for the fifth time in seven seasons, and also means a third straight defeat without scoring to post-Wimbledon FC rivals AFC Wimbledon after two league defeats to the South London-based side in March and September.

One of the most eagerly awaited ties of the FA Cup First Round provided an intriguing contest at Stadium MK, with the game being the first FA Cup tie between the two sides since the very first meeting of MK Dons and AFC Wimbledon back in 2012.

A reshuffled MK Dons side entered the game missing players, with Tom McGill, Laurence Maguire and Liam Kelly all absent from a side that had won the Dons’ previous 3 league games.

This meant starts for Craig MacGillivray, Dean Lewington and Kane Thompson-Sommers – the latter making his first start for the club – while Tommy Leigh was also given a recall.

The game began in a scrappy manner, with the two sides looking for a way through. Each side had an early moment, with Scott Hogan seeing a strike blocked for MK Dons before AFC Wimbledon spurned an opportunity after Lemonheigh-Evans was dispossessed.

Some full on tackles were seen, with Josh Neufville of the visitors earning an early booking for a rough tackle on Joe Tomlinson.

Chances began to appear, with the visitors taking the lead in creating opportunities. Stevens headed wide after being picked out by James Tilley before James Ball headed off target at a corner and two more corners saw chances fall the way of Myles Hippolyte, who had a chance blocked and another miss the target.

After surviving that, MK Dons then had a better burst, with Alex Gilbey seeing a shot just touched wide by a faint touch from AFC Wimbledon goalkeeper Owen Goodman before a fine recovery tackle by Joe Lewis denied Gilbey shooting room when he burst through to the box.

A few half-chances peppered the rest of the half, with MacGillivray making a stop to deny Alistair Smith before space opened up for MK Dons’ Thompson-Sommers only for Tilley to block his strike.

Just as it looked like the two sides would enter half-time level, however, AFC Wimbledon broke through. Tomlinson’s clearance was intercepted by Bugiel, who was able to flick a pass through for Stevens to control and convert, and in the process put the visitors in front.

Things then didn’t get better for MK Dons as they fell 2-0 down within five minutes of the restart. MK Dons failed to fully deal with a free-kick and from a second ball, Tilley’s deflected shot arced in front of the goal line but fell kindly for Bugiel, who raced in ahead of Lewington to lash the ball and take in the acclaim of the away fans behind the goal.

MK Dons needed a quick goal to spark hopes of a comeback but it never looked like coming, with the visitors coming close again when Bugiel broke through an offside trap but struck straight at MacGillivray.

Scott Lindsey threw on substitutes and a formation change to try to get going but the visitors continued to apply pressure, with Callum Maycock firing a shot wide.

Those comeback hopes were further dented when Lemonhaigh-Evans brought down Neufville, earning a second yellow and an early ejection.

A double stop from MacGillivray denied Bugiel as the visitors continued to look dangerous.

MK Dons saw some late chances, with Callum Hendry having a shot deflected over before AFC Wimbledon substitute Riley Harbottle nearly headed a free-kick into his own net.

But it was all in vain for MK Dons, who were left to lick their wounds after the defeat and a week of querying what went wrong ahead of next weekend’s league game against Swindon.

MK Dons: MacGillivray – Sherring, Offord, Lewington – Nemane, Lemonheigh-Evans, Thompson-Sommers (Williams 85), Tomlinson (Harrison 58) – Leigh (Wearne 58), Hogan (Hendry 85), Gilbey

Subs not used: Harness, Pritchard, Tucker, Ilunga, White

Sent Off: Lemonhaigh-Evans

Booked: Hogan, Lemonhaigh-Evans, Thompson-Sommers, Harrison, Gilbey

AFC Wimbledon: Goodman – Lewis, Ball (Harbottle 54), Johnson – Neufville, Maycock, Smith, Hippolyte, Tilley – Stevens (Kelly 88), Bugiel (Pigott 88)

Subs not used: Ward, Biler, Furlong, O’Toole, Williams, Ogunder

Goal: Stevens (44), Bugiel (50)

Booked: Neufville, Hippolyte, Stevens, Lewis