Accrington Stanley 0 MK Dons 1
6:12pm Monday 24th March 2008
MUSIC entrepreneur Pete Winkelman is conducting a football experiment in Milton Keynes - and a successful one at that.
He's managed to buy a club, a manager and a team and slapped them into a soccer-free zone, and the results thus far are very good.
British football's first franchise outfit are odds-on for promotion and they are also heading to Wembley in the Johnstone Paints Trophy.
So they could have been excused if their focus was on grander venues than the freezing Fraser Eagle Stadium.
But, no matter the why and wherefores, it's a mark of a good team to win when they're not playing well.
However, there were also positives to take for Stanley.
Just three days ago, Accrington Stanley left Chesterfield battered and bemused.
But, after more than matching League 2's mega-bucks side MK Dons, some measure of pride has been restored.
Stanley were again without top-scorer Paul Mullin with a calf strain, so the diminutive duo of Shaun Whalley and Ian Craney continued up front.
And Andy Todd and David Brown replaced Mark Roberts and David Mannix as John Coleman tried to shake things up after the farce at Chesterfield.
The Reds attacked from the first whistle, with Jay Harris having Stanley's first effort on goal after only seven seconds, but it went straight at Willy Gueret.
Then Ian Craney flashed a 25-yard effort just wide.
David Brown squandered a good chance after a mix-up in the Dons box.
Craney fed the ball into Brown, who could have shot, but elected to go to the by-line and the chance was gone.
From the resulting corner, Harris fired over.
The biggest cheer of the opening quarter of the game was a shanked effort from the edge of the area by former Stanley midfielder John Miles.
But the Dons should have been in front on 26 minutes when Jude Sterling's long throw was flicked on and an unmarked Sean O'Hanlon somehow looped his header over the bar from 10 yards out.
As the half grew older, Stanley grew in confidence, and started to pen back Paul Ince's side into their own half.
Whalley showed a moment of magic as he engineered space for a shot, but his effort curled just wide with the keeper beaten.
But, for their territorial advantage, Stanley couldn't muster much in the way of clear-cut chances.
And their knack of shooting themselves in the foot almost came back to haunt them.
Kenny Arthur was thanking his lucky stars in the final minute of the half when former Accrington midfielder Alan Navarro's shot took a wicked deflection, but bobbled just wide.
Then Edwards produced a last-ditch tackle to deny Aaron Wilbraham after a defensive howler by Leam Richardson.
And only the Lord will know how the Dons failed to score in first-half stoppage time. Dean Lewington's shot was saved by Arthur.
What ensued can only be described as a goalmouth scramble, which ended with Danny Swailes spooning the ball over from three yards.
Just as at Chesterfield, Stanley had to weather a storm after the re-start, and the seemingly omni-present Edwards was responsible for keeping the scoreline blank with a superb block.
Keith Andrews and Wilbraham both had efforts as the leaders tried to find the opener.
Then Arthur got down smartly to deny a shot on turn from Kevin Gallen.
As the time ticked by, the Dons seemed to get more and more anxious in their search for a goal.
Former Blackburn Rovers striker Jemal Johnson entered the fray just after the hour mark, but they still couldn't find a way through.
O'Hanlon flashed a header just wide with 15 minutes left, but still Ince was frustrated.
Although a goal didn't really look on the cards, it wasn't a surprise when it came seven minutes from time.
Lewington's cross into the box found sub Mark Wright totally unmarked and he tucked the ball away.
All Stanley's hard work was undone in a flash.
The Reds never looked like recovering from that knockout blow, but the end of the game was marred by an ugly incident.
Richardson tried to take a quick throw-in only for Dons assistant manager Ray Mathias to get in his way.
Mathias went over in a heap, which provoked a furious reaction from Ince, who pushed the Stanley man in the face with two hands.
Coleman then vented his spleen and got sent to the stands for the second game in succession, while Ince got away with his physical assault.
The final whistle signalled the end of a decent game, which hopefully, will give Stanley some heart for the future, despite another home defeat.