Newport Town too strong for young Dons

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Milton Keynes Dons winning pre-season run came to an end at Newport Town today (Saturday) as academy boss Mike Dove took a side filled with youngsters to Willen Road.

The surprise of the afternoon was the inclusion of Jemal Johnson in the team as his trial move to Americas Major Soccer League outfit DC United has been delayed.

It was Swans that took the lead with a well struck Darren Lynch free kick on 10 mins after Stefan Powell had handled on the edge of the box.

In a game that lacked commitment during the first half both sides cancelled each other out while the busy Igor Coronado stood out despite having played for nearly an hour against Aylesbury last night.

With the Dons trailing 1-0 at the break Jordon Browne and Ryan Plowright were introduced at the restart but it was Newport who took control of the game with Vinnie Shrieves making it 2-0 in the 55th minute.

That goal saw Fuad Ahmed and Tom Flanagan coming on for the Dons who began to look more purposeful before the Swans struck again soon after injured keeper Dan Glass had been replace by Louis Bragg as a result of a Shrieves challenge that went unpunished.

Newport sub Scott Mulkern netted the Swans third in the 66th minute after Shrieves had been booked for another poor lunge.

Adams Chicksen fired the Dons only goal of the game with five minutes to go when he hit a long range curling shot from the right flank.

The game threated to boil up as tackles became more robust, Shrieves was replace and Flanagan picked a yellow card for a challenge on Newport keeper James Howarth.

MK Dons continued to press and another fine save from Howarth denied Chicksen a second while Johnson peppered shots into the box.

It was with the last kick of the match that Mulkern hit his second goal of the game, this time from the penalty spot, but not before Newport's Jordan Spruce had received a red card after he had kicked out at Ahmed.

So it was Newport that picked up the pre-season Marshalls trophy with a comfortable 4-1 win but you can expect a very different Dons team to take to the field at stadiummk against West Ham on Wednesday evening.

MK Dons Team.
Glass (Bragg 60), Williams (Ahmed55), Chicksen, Coronado, Milton (Cpt), Ivy-Ward (Plowright 45), Stefan Powell (Browne 45), McGovern, Collins, Johnson, Daniel Powell (Flanagan 55)