MK Dons vs BWFC Match thread

1 Shot on target all game that's poor and I think this could be the end of our play-off hopes but not the end of our season. Stay safe one and all onwards and upwards COYWM

Another very average away performance – in fact, not average but poor.

We created nothing. Hit the bar from a corner but that was it.

Midfield completely outplayed.

Defence dragged about too easily and the keeper had a day to forget.


I am not one for continually changing the team. I understood Santos coming back but the other 2 changes added nothing to the team. If we have a winning team, stick with it!


We just never got started. Charles was busy but the midfield could create nothing and couldn’t hold the MK Dons midfield.

We were fortunate early on when the defence went to sleep and Twine got through and hit the post – could easily have gone in. We were very lucky.

We went behind when the MK centre half picked the ball up well into his own half and came forward. No-one challenged him so he came further and further and when he got 30 yards out, he shot. It looked a reasonable shot but Trafford pushed it straight back out to their striker who had an easy tap-in. I don’t know if the shot was deflected but it was poor keeping.

And we were second best for the rest of the half until we got a corner late on and either Bakayoko (I think) headed against the bar and they scrambled it away.



Second half, MK were much poorer and I was sitting there thinking if we upped our game that we could get something.

One thing MK were very good at was keeping us away from their goal. We may have had possession but didn’t really get near enough to worry them. We had a couple of breaks on the right but each time the centre was cut out easily.

And then what has been waiting to happen all season happened! We passed about across the back too much and Trafford then tried to find Sadlier but it was a dreadful pass and they got possession and out numbered us to score easily. It was a poor pass. Sadlier though could have been more awake but a dreadful goal which was certain to happen sometime.

That killed the game. MK easily managed the game out.


We were poor. MK were just OK – nothing exceptional but deservedly got the 3 points


On to Gillingham but please Mr Manager pick your best team and stick with it. Stop messing around with the team.



Marks:-

Trafford - 4 I don’t know if both shots were deflected or not but you can’t push shots back to an on-rushing forward or cock up on the passing about at the back
Jones - 5 Couldn’t get any combination with Fossey at all
Santos - 7 Strong. Seemed intent on knocking the opposition over and got away with it
Johnston - 4 He got pulled all over. Lost his man many times and his passing was poor
Fossey - 5 Apart from the final 10 minutes or so, he just couldn’t get into the game. No link up with Jones
John - 5 Nothing really apart from a couple of good corners
Morley - 5 Out-muscled.
Williams - 3 Just awful. Very few decent passes and seemed a yard behind everything
Dempsey - 4 One decent shot in 1st half but he couldn’t get in the game
Bakayoko - 3 He is not a starter for me. His hold up play is non-existent
Charles - 6 Very busy as usual. Looked our only hope but he also faded 2nd half
Afolayan - 5 Some runs but no final ball
Sadlier - 5 Caught in possession to start Lincoln’s equaliser on Tuesday – caught in possession for goal no 2 today.
Bodvarsson - 4 Never noticed him

quick round up on other results :

Wycombe lose again 3-2 to Accy. Mcconville ( of Accy) with another assist. extends his lead in assists table. he's got 13. next best has 9.

Ipswich drop points too. 1-1 to Morecambe.
Oxford continue their Kevin keegan style games( score a lot, but leaky ) 4-2 win vs Cambridge. 1 more goal for Matty Taylor there, taking him up to 17 for the season.
Plymouth lose too. to Rotherham. so impressive Rotherham. yet another away clean sheet. insane. still 5 away goals conceded all season. again..we've conceded 2/5 ( two-fifths) i.e 40% of that today alone !!
Michael Smith with the goal - 18 for the season. sharing 2nd place with Cole Stockton.

Pompey drop points 3-3 with Fleetwood.
Sheff wed beat Chartlon 2-0. pretty good defensive sheff wed. another clean sheet for them.

Sunderland beat wigan 3-0 at the DW. finally back on form. 2 pens for Ross Stewart to extend his lead at top of the goal charts - 22 for the season.

for those above wanting settled sides, Evatt mentioned the hectic Feb schedule as a factor both post-match and pre-match.
i'm glad he did make reference pre-match as it would have seemed more of an excuse just post-match.
you can say he's only answering questions but the in-house reporter doesn't ask much the manager doesn't want him to ask,
and he's clearly been rotating a fair bit in recent games anyway. personally don't mind a bit of smart rotation, if you've got the squad to do it, and we have.
not in key positions like centre backs or keepers. never liked the way DF did it. at one point, if you scored, you seemed destined to be dropped
with no chance to build a run of form.


key bits approx 1.35 to the end.



approx 2.45 in the pre-match.

Reading reports expected to watch highlights and for once Santos not to be at fault.

Disappointed. Goal three is much more down to him than Trafford. Hits a dozy pass back then stands still and despite Trafford's kick being intercepted and a new attack he remains nowhere near the one forward who is free to score unpposed. On goal one he is lummoxing about in noman's land, watches the shot bounce back and although it's Jones who switches off he remains frozen. On the first clip he misses a challenge and a forward clips a post.

In between times he misses a very scorable header.

We changed the team at centre half of course. In midweek I thought Aimson and Johnston had done well really- much more orthodox marking.. With Santos it's all recovery play. He is good at that but it shouldn't need to be recovery half the time?

I’ve left it until now to post as it’s took me that long getting off the ceiling 😡😡😡

As I commented earlier on the thread re Trafford

“They’ll also have a ReeMac quality pitch for Dion to run at them with pace
Do worry about Santos’s lack of command in the box at times and Traffords Dixon’esque Crellin fails on some of the crosses that enter the box but other than this, I think we should be all good for at least a point at worst, which won’t be the crime of the season”

I know he’s only a youngish lad but come on ‘good enough - old enough’
I also note that we were waxing lyrical only a week or so ago about his succession of clean sheets!! All that was completely undone on Saturday and it was all Traffords fault

You could argue that the defence should be on hand to clear up any weekly parried shots from Trafford or that Trafford must learn to parry them away to safety like better keepers do (what’s wrong with actually catching one in the gloves and the stomach so that it doesn’t rebound to the opposing attackers)

And don’t get me started on keeper distribution🥵🥵 it’s like Gilks has passed on the poisoned chalice of weak kick outs onto Crellin and Trafford. Both are weak as piss with their clearances

That all said, we should have been up for at least a point given our recent run and also that Ian the ‘tinker man’ should stick to a winning side. Why was Dapo dropped for the start of the MK game. Ian should have gone for it with pace (Baka Dapo and Dion)

As a side swipe.
Anyone else laughing at Man City’s blatant handball which prevented Everton a penalty/goal and had Lampard sulking?
Hope that’s the much needed ‘point’ that sends them down