A ten man MK Dons side made a second half comeback against their promotions rivals Bournemouth to grab and important away draw. This is a draw that certainly feels like two points dropped for Bournemouth, and the lack of inspiring play left fans unimpressed.
A tense and scrappy opening ten minutes soon lead to Bournemouth taking control of the game, with Marc Pugh linking the play between the midfield and the forward line. The first real attack of the game saw Charlie Daniels come from his left back position to take a shot, which was blocked, but the ball found it's way to Lewis Grabban who after a clever turn, hit a weak shot into the corner of David Martin's net. Soon after Alan Smith was given a straight red card for a reckless two footed tackle on midfielder Harry Arter. It's disputable as to whether the tackle warranted a red, but it deserved a yellow, and Smith committed a foul earlier that was worthy of a yellow also, ultimately justifying his dismissal. Bournemouth soon took control of the game, spreading the ball from wing to wing, with short passing football tiring out the weakened Dons team. The second goal never came though, and half-time came perfectly for Karl Robinson to sort his team out.
Paul Groves made the strangest decision I have ever seen at a match, choosing to replace the energetic Arter with 40 year old target man, Steve Fletcher. This completely destroyed our gameplan, and our tactics were worthless with the change in formation. The Dons took advantage of this, their manager recognizing our vulnerability and taking full advantage. After a prosperous ten minute spell, Darren Potter surged forward, playing a short pass to Daniel Powell who dinked the ball over the helpless Shwan Jalal. The remainder of the second half was for lack of a better word, rubbish. Bournemouth endlessly hoofed the ball up to Fletcher & co aimlessly, ultimately to no prevail, with the MK Dons defence never looking troubled.
The Bournemouth fans walked away from this game wondering just how we didn't win the game, when we looked so comfortable for the first 45 minutes. The blame ultimately comes down to the eye opening substitution; it was like watching two separate teams. I still have more questions about this team than answers, but it's Groves' job to figure it out. We may not have lost so far this year, but we have not won either, making a win at home against Preston on saturday quite important. Our visitors returned to Milton Keynes with a solid away point, hopefully that will not come back to haunt us at the end of the season.
Player Ratings:
Jalal; 7- Didn't have to do much, but I felt comfortable with him in the goal all night, couldn't do anything about the goal.
Francis; 6- Provided an option going forward but service was not his usual, lack of concentration led to the goal.
Cook; 7- A solid performance, was one of the few players driving on towards the end.
Addison; 6- Decent, but didn't do much of note, mix up contributed to Powell having so much space.
Daniels; 5- What happened to him? Never helped going forward, needs to link up with Pugh better.
Thanks for reading.
Arter; 7- Energetic and enthusiastic display that did not warrant being subbed, missed him when he went off.
Pugh; 6- Good first half but anonymous second half, time to be dropped me thinks.
O'Kane; 6- Some nice passing and he was helpful, but never provided killer balls or anything dangerous
Partington; 7- his best game so far, always there for help and provide solid service throughout
Grabban; 6- Took the goal well but contributed little of note elswhere
Barnard; 5- Harsh maybe, but barely noticed him playing, he was much better against Portsmouth
Subs:
No impact.
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