MK Dons 3 Stanley 1

Back in August, the Reds were beaten 2-0 at Chester City but reflected on the positives and looked to the future. And nine months later, spirits remained high despite a 3-1 reverse at the National Hockey Stadium.

Having secured League Two safety by beating Macclesfield seven days previously, the pressure was off John Coleman's side, and early on it showed.

Even with four changes to the side that sunk the Silkmen the Reds looked comfortable in the early stages. Leam Richardson, Michael Welch and David Brown were all handed starts with Phil Edwards rested and Shaun Whalley and Rommy Boco injured, while Coleman handed a debut to 16-year-old Bobby Grant who deputised for a crocked Sean Doherty.

After riding a spell of early pressure from the Dons, it was Stanley who took the game by the scruff of the neck to strike first. With 13 minutes gone, debutant Grant bamboozled three defenders down the Stanley left before laying the ball off to David Brown on the edge of the box.

The 28-year-old calmly passed the ball into the bottom left corner to silence the crowd and put his side in front.

The MK Dons needed a big win combined with a Swindon defeat, and Stanley scoring first was not in their script. But the shock failed to galvanise the home side, who produced a series of long balls from the back to try to pick out Leon Knight and top scorer Izale McLeod, largely to no real effect.

In fact, the closest the Dons came to scoring was when Stanley's Jay Harris diverted Gareth Edds' cross onto his own post, only to see it rebound out for a corner.

Stanley looked a threat on the counter attack, and four minutes from half-time might have doubled their lead. The Reds broke quickly after a Dons attack, and Jay Harris threaded a pass to Paul Mullin down the left channel. The striker, who had earlier had stitches in a head wound after a clash of heads, lifted the ball over Ademola Bankole from a tight angle, only to see his effort rebound off the left hand post and back into the arms of the grateful goalkeeper.

Appeals for a handball from the home supporters fell on deaf ears after Richardson charged down Edds' shot inside the box in stoppage time, and Stanley made it to the break in front.

The scoreline at half time was unexpected but not undeserved, and as John Coleman led his side out for the second half, the Dons were conspicuously still in the dressing room.

Inevitably, the revival for the home side began, with Stanley keeper and former Don David Martin thwarting captain Keith Andrews six minutes in and then the Reds being forced to defend a series of corners.

Moments later, the Dons were level after Richardson was judged to have brought down McLeod in the box and Andrews stepped up to dispatch the penalty into the bottom right corner.

Now the crowd burst into life, and other than a Brown shot which fizzed over the bar, Stanley were largely on the back foot. Martin Allen's side again piled on the pressure from corners and free kicks.

As the hour mark came and went, Martin was again called into action, this time to deny Gareth Edds, but the feeling was that a Dons goal was just around the corner.

And that goal arrived on 68 minutes when Andy Todd fouled substitute Jonny Hayes on the left hand side and Jon-Paul McGovern found the head of Sean O'Hanlon from the free kick. The defender was unchallenged, and nodded the ball home to make it 2-1.

Now it appeared that there would only be one winner, with Martin the busiest man on the pitch. The on-loan Liverpool man pulled off further great saves from McLeod and Edds before being replaced by Ian Dunbavin to a rapturous applause from both sets of supporters.

But his replacement, who celebrated signing a new contract by making a first appearance this calendar year, was soon in the thick of things. As the Dons packed the Stanley box, they made another breakthrough with Jude Stirling powering home a header from McGovern's corner on 82 minutes.

Stanley continued to make chances on the break though, with sub Leighton McGivern, Brown, Todd and Grant all going close in the closing stages. But as the final whistle sounded and the MK Dons fans invaded the pitch, Stanley's players were left to applaud their supporters and reflect on their least significant defeat of the season.