MK Dons defeated by late Shrewsbury strike
MK Dons slipped to defeat as they were beaten 1-0 at home by Shrewsbury Town.
The Dons had enjoyed a lot of possession and forward play on a cold night at stadium mk, only for Shrewsbury substitute Tom Bayliss to win the game for the visitors right at the end of normal time.
Defeat means the Dons remain 19th in the League One table, though they have played at least one game more than the 4 teams that are immediately below them and within three points of the Dons’ points total.
Having picked up a big victory in a relegation six pointer with Forest Green Rovers at the weekend, the Dons looked to deliver back-to-back wins for the first time under Mark Jackson.
This would see them take on a Shrewsbury side who scored five in a win over Cambridge in their previous assignment, and the visitors nearly struck first when Taylor Moore tried an ambitious volley that didn’t miss the target by much.
The Dons responded by taking up a lot of possession, and while a Dawson Devoy shot that Marko Marosi saved wouldn’t have counted due to an offside, Mo Eisa was left to rue a free header that missed the target.
Eisa had a further chance to add to his brace scored at Forest Green the previous weekend, as he received Devoy’s pass and hit a fine curler from the edge of the box that Marosi kept out.
Jonathan Leko would then fire over on his home debut after some decent work to create a chance, and a similar inaccuracy befell Shrewsbury’s Rob Street, who ran into the box but fired wide.
Much of the first half would follow the pattern, with the Dons enjoying a lot of possession but unable to create a string of big chances when they reached the final third.
Having lost three players to injury in their last home game, the Dons then had an injury scare when Jamie Cumming pulled up injured after initially failing to gather a free-kick, but the Chelsea loanee was able to continue.
The second half begun with the Dons trying to find a way through, with Eisa being unable to force the ball over the line in a scramble from Devoy’s deflected cross, Daniel Harvie seeing a strike from range just bounce wide, and Eisa having a free-kick deflected over.
Jackson rang the changes, introducing Matt Dennis, Matt Smith and debutant Paris Maghoma, but the home side were still struggling to turn possession dominance into goals, with a blocked Tennai Watson drive the closest they came in a long period of the half.
Shrewsbury nearly made the Dons pay for their chance creation problems, but substitute Ryan Bowman saw a header go straight at Cumming from a Luke Leahy free-kick.
Bradley Johnson saw a free-kick strike the wall, as the Dons tried to find a late breakthrough.
But a late twist came in the opposite direction. A misplaced pass in his own half by Jack Tucker was intercepted by Moore, who fed substitute Bayliss to drill it past Cumming, to the delight of the away support and the frustration of the home bench and crowd.
Five minutes were added on but a deflected cross held by Marosi was as close as they came, as the Dons slipped up.
MK Dons: Cumming – Watson, Tucker, Jules, Harvie – Johnson, Devoy (Smith 68), McEachran (Maghoma 68) – Leko (Burns 86), Grigg (Dennis 61), Eisa
Subs not used: Ravizzoli, Grant, Lawrence
Booked: Devoy
Shrewsbury: Marosi – Pennington, Dunkley, Flanagan – Moore, Winchester, Leahy, Shipley – Phillips (Bennett 73) – Street (Bayliss 45), Saydee (Bowman 80)
Subs not used: Burgoyne, Pyke, Bloxham, Barlow
Goal: Bayliss (89)
Booked: Moore, Winchester, Leahy