MK Dons beat Barnet on penalties in Checkatrade Trophy opener
MK Dons kicked off their Checkatrade Trophy entry with 2 points after drawing with Barnet and winning the attached penalty shootout.
In their opening match of the controversially altered competition, the Dons took the lead through Ben Reeves’ piledriver in the first half. Barnet then turned it around to lead, when Alex Nicholls and Curtis Weston scored in quick succession after defensive mix-ups. But Joe Walsh got one back to force penalties.
The unlucky misser in the contest at the end was Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro, who blazed Barnet’s 4th penalty over. Brandon Thomas-Asante duly won the shootout for the Dons, giving them the bonus point.
After the disappointment on Saturday, the Dons’ main aspiration from the first match of the new-look Checkatrade Trophy was a first home win of the season. In response to the loss to Peterborough, the Dons picked a strong line-up for the match.
Rather than the 11 and 8 changes made for the 2 EFL Cup games, the Dons made four changes for this one. They almost got off to the best start, as a defensive error played in Daniel Powell. But the winger was denied by Josh Vickers, and Reeves scuffed the rebound wide.
Aside from one or two moments of defensive jitters, the Dons began the clash on the front-foot, and they scored first. It was in excellent style too. A half-cleared corner was returned to Dean Bowditch on the edge of the box. He laid the ball off to Reeves, who duly hit an unstoppable drive into the top corner for his first of the season.
As the game progressed, it was the Dons who continued to look the likelier side to score. At the same time, Barnet’s tackling became feistier, leading to the game becoming momentarily heated. As for chances, the best came the way of Reeves, who saw another one from distance turned behind by Vickers.
The Dons continued to look likelier to score after half-time. An early chance came for Powell, but he shot straight at Vickers. This was to the visible frustration of Nicky Maynard, who looked to be in a better position.
Barnet changed to a back 3 at half-time, and curated their first chance shortly after the re-start. However, Curtis Weston could only fire his effort from the edge of the box over the top.
Concern arose for the Dons, however, with George Baldock unable to continue after picking up a knock. Reeves was then substituted as he continues his return from injury.
Barnet were beginning to assert themselves more, and took advantage of a mix-up to equalise. A through-ball lead to a collision between the Dons keeper and Scott Wootton, and the ball eventually rolled for Alex Nicholls to poke home. It lead to a further injury worry for the Dons, with the ex-Leeds defender taken off after being treated on the pitch.
Barnet then managed a complete turnaround. After Lee Nicholls’ goal-kick was intercepted, the ball was floated back into the box, and Weston edged out Samir Carruthers to put the North Londoners ahead.
But the Dons were quickly able to get parity, as Walsh headed in Bowditch’s floated free-kick to equalise. While Thomas-Asante came close with a few efforts, there was no victor after 90 minutes. In keeping with the rules of the trophy following its highly controversial alteration, this was the cue for penalties.
The unlucky figure of the piece was Barnet’s Akpa Akpro, who missed the Londoners 4th penalty by blazing it over the bar. This duly gave Thomas-Asante the chance to win the Dons an extra point, and he duly did. The result put the Dons second in the group, with Norwich City’s academy winning 6-1 at Peterborough in the other contest, in a game where ex-Dons loanee Josh Murphy scored twice.
MK Dons: Nicholls – Baldock (G.B. Williams 55), Wootton (Jackson 65), Walsh, Lewington – Potter, Carruthers – Bowditch, Reeves (Thomas-Asante 62), Powell – Maynard
Subs not used: Burns, Brittain, Tilney, Rasulo
Goals: Reeves (17), Walsh (82)
Booked: Wootton, Reeves
Barnet: Vickers – H.Taylor (Amaluzor 45), N’Gala, Nelson, Johnson – Vilhete, Togwell, Weston, Muggleton (Akpa Akpro 45) – Nicholls, Akinde (Tomlinson 79)
Subs not used: Stephens, Watson, Champion, J.Taylor
Goals: Nicholls (64), Weston (72)
Booked: Nelson
Attendance: 2,114