GOOD afternoon and a warm welcome to this afternoon’s coverage of Milton Keynes Dons FC vs Coventry City.
Quite dreary weather with no sun shining through yet. Plenty of rain in the air too which will make the playing surface slippy.
Kick off at 3pm.
Full-TIME: Milton Keynes 1-0 Coventry City.
’84 – Milton Keynes playing the game out. Sky Blues fighting for possession. Six minutes of normal time left. 1-0.
Substitution: Downing replaces Baldock for the home side.
’77 – Chance for MK Dons as Barnes advances past Haynes and Rawson in defence. He over hits a touch and is forced to cross from a tight hangle. Burge saves. At the other end George Thomas cheaply loses possession when on a possible one on one. Lameiras with a follow up effort. Corner given, free kick to home side results from it. 1-0.
Substitute: Potter replaces Muirhead.
’74 – Corner to City after Vernam advanced down the left and had his shot deflected wide. Save comfortably made by Martin. Sky Blues gain possession from Martin’s kick. Reilly shoots just over Martin’s crossbar. Strong effort. 1-0.
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SUBSTITUTION: Chris Stokes off, Ryan Haynes on.
ATTENDANCE: Match attendance announced as 9,060.
Substitution: Kieran Agard comes off, he’s replaced by Ngombo.
’66 – Huge cheer from Sky Blues travelling fans as Reilly gets a poor shot on target. Simple ‘long barrier’ save for Martin. Sarcastic celebrations follow. 1-0.
’64 – Barnes’ cross finds Agard in the penalty box. His header is well saved by Burge. Agard called for offside though. 1-0.
’63 – Baldock lucky not to be booked. He contests for the ball with Reilly. The pair clash. Reilly goes to ground and tugs on Baldock’s shirt – Baldock then swings a hand at Reilly’s face. Handbag stuff. 1-0.
’61 – City very shot shy. Lameiras, Reilly and Stokes pass the ball around on the edge of the area but cannot find a breakthrough. 1-0.
SUBSTITUTION: Dion Kelly-Evans comes on for Jordan Willis. Nathan Clarke now skipper.
’55 – Uproar from home fans as Baldock sends the ball through Thomas’ legs before running around him and regaining possession. Thomas recovers well though and earns the ball back. Soft foul. Baldock furious. 1-0.
’50 – GOAL! Milton Keynes take the lead. A corner is comfortably headed clear but it falls straight to O’Keefe who is unlucky to have not scored already. A great strike from outside the box finds the top corner. No chance for Burge. 1-0.
’47 – Barnes goes close for the home side from far out. Sky Blues defence apply no pressure. Barnes shoots, Burge is beat – shot goes inches wide. Unlucky for Milton Keynes. 0-0.
SECOND HALF: Underway for the second half at Stadium MK. Goalless so far. Half-time report below if you’re just joining us.
A SCORELESS first half at Stadium MK is a fair reflection of a game which has thus far produced very little in terms of attempts on goal.
Goalkeeper Lee Burge was tested on few occasions as Coventry’s back four blocked several attempted shots from the home side.
Milton Keynes were presented with a handful of early opportunities – the first coming in the opening minute when Robbie Muirhead couldn’t connect onto a cross when positioned just outside the six-yard box.
Constant drizzle in the air throughout the opening half caused problems for both teams who struggled to deal with the additional pace on the ball as a result of the wet playing surface.
Several attempted through balls from the Sky Blues were all blocked by the home side as Robins’ men struggled to find a way in the Milton Keynes 18-yard box.
Stuart O’Keefe went close for the home side after 29 minutes when volleying a deflected cross from 20 yards. Though he connected, his effort was hit straight at Burge who made a comfortable save.
Moments later, Ben Reeves took advantage of a loose pass in midfield to force Burge into a low save down to his right – a second save in as many minutes.
Marcus Tudgay was then substituted minutes before the conclusion of the opening half after landing awkwardly when contesting for possession in the air.
Jodi Jones put City’s first promising chance of the game wide in stoppage time when shooting from a tight angle to force a corner – which was cleared.
HALF TIME: Milton Keynes Dons 0-0 Coventry City.
’45 – Jones shoots from a tight angle. It was going wide but a cautious save made by Martin. Corner to City. Stevenson finds Willis – free header – but it goes wide. Ball played back in and a foul is given.
’44 – Another chance for MK Dons. Lewington headers a cross but again it’s straight at Burge. Neither keeper tested in this first half so far. 0-0.
SUBSTITUTION: Charles Vernam replaces Tudgay.
’41 – Tudgay now back on the pitch but he’s limping awfully. No chance he’ll be able to run on it.
’39 – Awkward landing for Tudgay who is down receiving medical attention just outside Dons’ penalty area. 0-0.
’36 – MK Dons go close from a corner. From our angle it looked like the ball snuck past Burge – home fans celebrating. Deceiving angle though as a goal kick awarded. City blocking plenty of MK Dons attempts on goal. Home side looking stronger. 0-0.
’34 – Bad tackle by Joe Walsh on Ruben Lameiras. Walsh showed a yellow card. 0-0.
’33 – Free kick to City. Stevenson sends a ball in but Tudgay is penalised. Free kick to the home side in their own area. 0-0.
’31 – MK Dons piling on the pressure as Reeves takes advantage of City failing to clear their lines. Burge forced to dive down to his right. At the other end a loose ball almost finds Thomas who is beaten in a foot race and tackled when attempting to gain possession for what would’ve been a one on one. 0-0.
’29 – First chance on goal for the home side as O’Keefe volleys a deflected cross from outside the 18-yard box. Simple save for Burge. Caused no problems. 0-0.
’27 – Game resumes. Clarke is now fine. George Thomas has now gone down. More stoppage time. Thomas now back up. Games resumes once more. 0-0
’25 – Slight pause in the game as Nathan Clarke is receiving medical attention.
’23 – Corner for MK Dons gathered by Burge. Little action in the past five minutes. Both teams struggling to break into the 18-yard box. Plenty of midfield passing. 0-0.
’17 – Oddly no call for a penalty from City as Thomas sends a ball into the box from the right. Tudgay held in a near headlock position in the box – though he doesn’t go to ground. Ball escapes everyone and MK Dons clear. 0-0.
’15 – Reilly passes to Tudgay who sends a searching ball to Jones. Great teamwork from the forward unit. Jones unfortunately can’t get to the ball. Very wet surface. 0-0.
’11 – Wayward pass from Willis forces Stevenson to stretch and he can’t control the ball. Home side break but fail to string passes together and City comfortably clear. Dons having most of the possession so far. 0-0.
‘7 – City advancing through the midfield well but struggling to break down MK Dons’ back four, early days though. Promising start. City fans at the other end of the ground still by far the loudest – Wembley ready I’d say. 0-0.
‘4 – Poor pass from Stevenson is intercepted by Barnes whose cross is dangerous and almost finds Muirhead in the centre. Had he connected Burge would’ve been in trouble. Let off for the Sky Blues. 0-0.
‘1 – Chance for the home side as a cross aims to find Muirhead. Burge drops the ball when jumping to catch, good recovery to dive on the loose ball in the six yard box. Home side having most of the early possession.
KICK-OFF: Underway here at Stadium MK.
2.58pm – Teams out on the pitch. Moments from kick-off. Coventry kicking from left to right from our press viewing area. A very muted home crowd it must be said – could hear a pin drop. Coventry fans the loudest.
2.54pm – Pre-game build up now underway. It’s MK Dons vs Coventry. Updates to follow. Home crowd swelling just before kick-off. Plenty of City supporters have made the relatively short journey too.
2.30pm – Both teams going through their usual pre-match warm-up. Coventry fans gathered in the top left corner of the stadium. Looks like 200 have made the trip with more to come in over the next half hour.
