MK Dons match reportMK Dons match report
MK Dons match report | JPI
League Two: MK Dons 0-1 Gillingham
A rare Tom McGill mistake brought MK Dons' winning run to an end as Gillingham claimed their first win in Milton Keynes for ten years on Saturday.
Robbie McKenzie's strike through a crowd on 58 minutes somehow wormed between the Canadian keeper's legs for the only goal of the game at Stadium MK, bringing to an end Dons' six-game winning streak in League Two, also seeing them drop out of the play-off spots in the process.
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Eleven days since their last game, Scott Lindsey named an unchanged side to the one which beat Chesterfield earlier this month. Joe Tomlinson and MJ Williams remained sidelined through injury, with Joe Pritchard making his second league start for the club at wing-back.
The lack of football recently - only playing twice in the last month - showed in Dons' play in the first-half as they pieced together the most complete performance of Scott Lindsey's tenure in the opening half at Stadium MK.
Dominant from the opening whistle, the hosts controlled the tempo and the territory, claiming 75 per cent possession in the first 45 minutes. But it would remain goal-less at the break.
Liam Kelly and Joe White would orchestrate with ease in the centre of the park, while Aaron Nemane and Stephen Wearne looked on the same page as they carved out chances from the right-flank.
Scott Hogan could have had a couple of goals to his name before the interval, the best of them coming after just five minutes but he looped the ball safely into the arms of keeper Glenn Morris, while Joe Pritchard on the left grew in confidence as the half wore on.
At the other end, keeper Tom McGill had barely a lick to do but just moments after tipping Jack Nolan's second-half shot around the post, he was left with egg on his face. As Dons cleared Nolan's initial corner, the ball dropped to Robbie McKenzie on the edge of the box to dril it through a crowd of players and somehow, it squirmed between the legs of the Canadian keeper to give the visitors an unexpected lead after 58 minutes.
With the lead to hold onto, Gillingham would continue to smother Dons defensively in the final half-an-hour, limiting the hosts to scrappy efforts and half-chances.
The defeat though would see Dons drop to eighth in the table, outside of the play-off spots.
Referee: Dale Baines
Attendance: 7,191 (1,009)
MK Dons: McGill, Maguire (Carroll 81), Lawrence, Offord, Nemane, Pritchard (Hendry 640, Kelly, White, Gilbey, Wearne (Harrison 64), Hogan
Subs not used: MacGillivray, Lewington, Sherring, Thompson-Sommers
Gillingham: Morris, Clark, Masterson, Ehmer, Coleman, Nolan (E Williams 69), Rowe (Ogie 690, McKenie, Clarke (Dack 81), Nevitt (Andrews 81), Webster (Hutton 59)
Subs not used: Turner, J Williams
Booked: Rowe, Ehmer
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