Dons end interest in Trophy

MK Dons 3-1 Northampton Town
Johnstone's Paint Trophy, Southern Section Quarter Final
Tuesday, September 10th

The Cobblers crashed out of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy last night as a rampant MK Dons side eased through with a first half battering of Ian Sampson’s men. The Town defence couldn’t cope with the pace and style of the home side and despite a Steve Guinan effort early in the second half the damage was done and it was a disappointing evening for the 2,200 travelling fans.

It didn’t look good from as early as the sixth minute when Aaron Wilbraham volleyed home brilliantly and it was all downhill from there. Ten minutes later Sam Baldock made it 2-0 as he beat the offside trap to fire home and despite the calls from the Cobblers defenders it was still disappointing that we were beaten by pace once more, a worrying recurrence this season.

Baldock was in the middle of the action again just a few minutes later as Chris Dunn came out and collided with the Dons man and Pat Kanyuka, making his first start for the Cobblers and referee Mr Wright awarded a spot kick. Baldock slotted home the penalty, Kanyuka was forced out of the game and we were 3-0 down. It really couldn’t have been much worse at half time!

We at least gave the claret army something to cheer six minutes into the second half as Luke Guttridge swung in a free kick that the top scorer did well to divert past Willy Gueret. For a while it looked like we could make a fight of it with Liam Davis having a shot deflected wide and Guttridge shooting over from a free kick.
But despite Bayo and Michael Jacobs being introduced it wasn’t to be and you got the feeling that Dons were playing at reduced pace and could break at any time. The speed of their attack was always threatening and it was comfortable enough for the home side.

So the adventure of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy is over for another season and it’s back to the league for the visit of Grimsby this weekend. It’s looking worrying at the back for Sammo and it’s surely something he will look at come January. Hopefully we can keep our heads above water until then.