MK Dons’ final game of 2024 saw them play out a 1-1 draw with Crewe Alexandra at Stadium MK.
An early goal by former Crewe man Joe White put the Dons ahead, only for a second half equaliser by Jamie Knight-Lebel to bring the visitors level.
With neither side able to find a way through, the result meant MK Dons ended a run of three defeats in a row, but the stalemate meant they are on a run of four without a win.
The result means MK Dons currently sit in 11th position in the table, with Scott Lindsey’s side five points behind Crewe in the final play-off position, although the Dons have at least one game in hand on several of the teams above them.
After a loss at home to Notts County on Boxing Day inflicted a third straight loss on them, MK Dons entered their final contest of 2024 seeking three points that could get them closer to the play-off positions.
A stubborn obstacle awaited them, however, with Crewe on a run of one defeat in 13 league games, although that defeat did come against Cheltenham in their last game on Boxing Day.
A reshuffled side was chosen by Lindsey with three changes from the Boxing Day defeat, with a space also on the bench for Charlie Waller on the day MK Dons confirmed he had been recalled from a loan with National League side Sutton United in the wake of an injury to Laurence Maguire.
After an even opening phase to the competition, it was MK Dons that found a breakthrough courtesy of a familiar face to Crewe fans. When Liam Kelly fed the ball through to White, the Newcastle loanee and former Crewe loanee was able to control and then fire a low shot beyond Crewe’s former MK Dons loanee goalkeeper Filip Marschall.
Much of the first half would see few opportunities created aside from that, with the two sides finding the going difficult when they reached the opposition’s final third.
Perhaps the single best opportunity of the rest of the first half fell Crewe’s way. A cross from their left flank was able to find a way across to Omar Bogle, who spun and had a shot on target that Tom McGill kept out.
McGill nearly got caught out when he was pressed outside his box and had to rush a clearance, but at half-time, MK Dons retained the advantage.
The visitors were accumulating a lot of free-kicks and corners, and it was from one of the latter when Crewe were able to equalise.
From Joel Tabiner’s corner, MK Dons couldn’t clear and somewhere in the middle of a scramble, the ball fell the way of Knight-Lebel, and the man on loan from Bristol City prodded the ball home.
Ryan Cooney blasted a shot off target a few moments later as Crewe had their moments in seeking to find a second goal.
MK Dons had their own moment when Joe Tomlinson had a strike from the edge of the box charged down, before a great chance was created by the visitors as McGill denied Shilow Tracey when a one-two with Matúš Holíček released the Crewe striker for a one-on-one.
Another chance would come Tracey’s way later on when he beat McGill to a long ball down the Crewe right, but he could only prod a strike wide of the mark.
In the final stages, MK Dons were beginning to see a bit more joy than they had in earlier moments of the game, with Scott Hogan firing wide under pressure and Aaron Nemane having a shot blocked.
MK Dons would have the last half-chances in the game, as substitute Callum Hendry had a shot deflected wide before former Crewe captain Luke Offord saw a header kept out by Marschall with the final touch of the game.
But there was no further big chances to trouble the scoreboard, as the two sides ended level at the end of the contest.
MK Dons: McGill – Sherring, Offord, Lawrence – Nemane, Thompson-Sommers, White (Hendry 63), Tomlinson (Harrison 74) – Kelly (Carroll 85), Hogan, Gilbey
Subs not used: MacGillivray, Williams, Lemonheigh-Evans, Waller
Goal: White (9)
Booked: Sherring, Gilbey, Hogan
Crewe: Marschall – Knight-Lebel, Demetriou, Williams – Cooney, Holicek (Long 78), Sanders (Finney 89), Tabiner, Conway (Powell 89) – Bogle, Tracey (Lunt 89)
Subs not used: Booth, Connolly, Billington
Goal: Knight-Lebel (56)
Booked: Conway
Police are appealing for witnesses following a theft from a car parked outside a bank in Milton Keynes.
The theft happened in the car park outside the Metro Bank in Oakgrove at approximately 2.20pm on Wednesday 18th December.
The victim, who was described by Thames Valley Police as a man in his sixties, returned to his car after visiting the bank, and placed his bag in the passenger seat, which contained a large quantity of money.
An offender opened the victim’s passenger door and stole the bag and money, before departing the scene in a silver estate vehicle in the direction of Ada Walk.
The bag is a camel colour and contained £2,200, along with a passport and some personal documents inside.
Thames Valley Police have described the offender in their appeal as a white man, of a large build. They were seen to be wearing a black face covering.
Investigating officer Detective Constable Grace Boland, said, “We are appealing for witnesses following this robbery.
“We are asking anyone who witnessed this incident to come forward. Additionally we believe there were several cars in the vicinity of the bank who may have dash-cam footage of this incident.
“As such we would ask them to please check their footage and get in touch if they think it could assist our enquiries.
“Anyone with information should call 101 quoting reference 43240611831 or you can contact via our online form.
“Or if you do not wish to speak to the police you can contact the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 and they will take your report 100% anonymously.”
Kevin Nolan oversaw defeat in his first game as Northampton Town boss after a 4-1 loss at Reading.
Harvey Knibbs, Sam Smith, Charlie Savage and Mamadi Camara scored the goals for the Royals, who got their first win under recently appointed boss Noel Hunt to move into the play-offs.
Tom Eaves had scored a goal back for the Cobblers between Reading’s third and fourth goals, but there was no resisting the Royals for Northampton, who slipped to a third straight defeat.
Northampton remain one place above the relegation zone, with the Cobblers two points ahead of Crawley Town and four clear of Cambridge United after both lost. The team face a big relegation six pointer away at Shrewsbury in their final game of 2024 on Sunday (29/12).
The Boxing Day trip to the Select Car Leasing Stadium gave Northampton fans a first look at new boss Nolan, who was confirmed as Jon Brady’s successor as manager 3 days earlier.
But the Cobblers made a bad start as they fell behind in Berkshire after five minutes, as Knibbs volleyed in from a tight angle after Northampton failed to clear from a Reading free-kick.
Northampton’s best opportunity for an equaliser saw Jon Guthrie have a header cleared off the line, but the Cobblers largely struggled to get opportunities to equalise.
Just before the half-hour mark, Reading made it 2-0. Smith had just missed a chance, but the striker would receive Lewis Wing’s through-pass and beat Nik Tzanev to double the home side’s lead.
Northampton had a few half-chances to try to get a goal back, but nothing quite fell their way before a 75th minute third for the hosts.
That was scored by Charlie Savage, as the midfielder placed a fine strike from outside the box into the bottom corner.
The visitors would grab a goal in the final ten minutes, as Eaves was able to bundle the ball over the line to cut the deficit to 3-1 and grab Nolan his first goal as Cobblers boss.
But any hopes of a comeback quickly dissolved as six minutes later, Camara turned the ball in from Andre Garcia’s set-up work to give Reading a fourth.
That meant no points for the Cobblers ahead of their big trip to Shropshire to face dropzone rivals Shrewsbury in their final game of 2024, before Northampton welcome Stevenage on New Year’s Day in Nolan’s first home match in charge.
MK Dons’ Head Coach Scott Lindsey accepted his team were beaten by the better side as they lost to Notts County on Boxing Day.
Goals by George Abbott and Dan Crowley decided the contest at Stadium MK, consigning MK Dons to a third defeat in a row.
Speaking after the game, Lindsey said that the opposition were very good but felt the goals came from moments they could’ve done more to prevent and that they failed to take advantage of their own chances.
He said, “If I’m going to be really honest, which I will be, we came up against a better side today.
“I thought they were excellent. That’s where we need to get to – that level. We’ve got to give the opposition some credit. I felt that we worked really hard to block up. The defensive shape was really good at times and we made it hard for them, but in two moments, we give them far too much respect and room.
“I just said to the players that when you’re up against a good side like that, the minute you give two really good players room, they’ll punish you and we got punished in two moments. I thought the second goal was a bit of erratic play by ourselves. We boot the ball up the pitch when we could probably settle down and be calm in the moment, ball turns over, they attack again, Dan Crowley gets so much room – too much room for me. So we’re disappointed with that.”
Lindsey said he felt his side had their moments in-between the two Notts County goals but said the team were punished for not converting it and for erratic play that lead to the second strike.
He said, “When it was 1-0, I felt we were in a good place. We tested their keeper on a number of occasions in that moment. I felt as if we were the team that looked like we were going to score next. It wasn’t to be but I can’t fault my players’ effort, we’re just not up to that level yet but we will be.
“I said that I felt that at 1-0, we were in a good place and we were the next team to score, but we were erratic with our play, turn the ball over, they go down the other end and we give them far too much respect and room. When the second goal comes in, it’s a real mountain to climb. But we come up against a better team than us today to be really honest about that. Their manager’s had a lot more time than I’ve had with my group.
“We’ll get there but we have to react really positively because we have another game in a couple of days time. It is what it is.”
The Dons’ next contest sees them welcome Crewe as part of the quickfire Christmas rush, and having lost three games in a row, Lindsey briefly reflected that the team want to get back to winning ways as soon as possible.
He said, “The good news is the next game is soon and we can’t wait to get back out there and put it right.”
Luton Town were beaten away from home yet again after a 1-0 defeat by Bristol City at Ashton Gate.
Scott Twine’s goal just after half-time was the difference as the Hatters were beaten by the Robins in their Boxing Day assignment, meaning that Luton have now lost 8 consecutive Championship matches away from home.
Defeat sees Luton drop a few places down the league table, with the Hatters initially falling to 17th position in the Championship, which became 18th after Derby beat West Brom in a late kick-off.
A low quality first half saw neither side create many opportunities. Bristol City started off looking likelier to make a breakthrough but a Fally Mayulu strike denied by Thomas Kaminski was the best opportunity they provided.
Luton had a decent chance in the final minutes of the first half, as Tom Krauß flicked wide from Elijah Adebayo’s low cross.
In the opening minutes of the second half, it was Bristol City that found a way through. Max Bird played a pass through to Twine, who advanced before crashing a fine strike into the back of the net.
Both sides would see penalty appeals declined by the referee as the game continued to be a scrappy affair, while Bristol City saw a second goal disallowed as Sam Bell was ruled to have strayed offside before meeting Yu Hirakawa’s pass and scoring.
Luton had some late opportunities to equalise, with Carlton Morris heading over before Cauley Woodrow was denied by Max O’Leary.
But time ran out for Rob Edwards’ outfit as their away day malaise continued in Bristol.
The Hatters will have one final opportunity to pick up a final win of 2024, when they visit Swansea City on Sunday.
