MK Dons missed out on a point as they were beaten 3-2 at home by Grimsby Town in a game where a comeback attempt came up short.
The hosts had a miserable first half, as Kieran Green, Jaze Kabia and Charles Vernam gave the hosts a 3- lead and the Dons also saw Jon Mellish sent off.
However, a George McEachran own goal and a strike by substitute Conor Lemonheigh-Evans saw the Dons put in a valiant comeback attempt, albeit one that ultimately came up short as the Mariners held on to take the three points.
The result condemned the Dons to back-to-back home defeats, with Paul Warne’s side having lost at home to Walsall in their prior assignment.
Having lost their unbeaten start to the season with their reverse at home to Walsall last time out, the Dons had another big test as they welcomed a Grimsby side still on a high from their recent Carabao Cup victory against Manchester United.
Paul Warne opted to tweak his formation from the game, changing from his 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 hybrid to a 4-4-2, with Scott Hogan getting a first start of the campaign up front. There was also a start for Kane Wilson, who had joined the Dons from Derby the day after the Walsall defeat.
Grimsby had the first chance of note, with Evan Khouri firing wide after being played in by ex-Dons man Darragh Burns, before MK Dons had their first chance of note when Hogan’s header from a Wilson cross was deflected behind.
With nine minutes on the clock, it was Grimsby who scored first. Vernam was given space to charge down the away side’s left flank before his cross found Green, who ghosted in ahead of Jack Sanders to score.
Although MK Dons had a few half-chances in response, the best opportunities for a second came Grimsby’s way.
Home goalkeeper Craig MacGillivray denied an angled strike by Vernam before making a big stop to keep out Kabia when the striker was one-on-one with him after being played in by Burns.
But having been knocking on the door, Grimsby would duly force in a second goal. Vernam was causing trouble for the Dons all afternoon and his shot was spilled by MacGillivray. The ball fell for Kabia, who just got in ahead of teammate Jaydem Sweemey to tape the ball home.
The Dons’ day then got even more painful when they fell 3-0 down 5 minutes later. Vernam picked up the ball again down the left, and this time charged forward before cutting inside when reaching the penalty area and placing a fine strike into the top corner.
Warne duly reshuffled his side, withdrawing the already booked Luke Offord and attempting to reshuffle his side.
But before the changes could take effect, the home side’s mission got even harder when Mellish was deemed to have used a high foot in a dangerous place when making contact with Kabia, earning a straight red card.
A painful first half for home fans nearly got worse, with MacGillivray denying Green, Liam Kelly’s intervention putting off Kabia when well placed and MacGillivray making another stop to deny McEachran.
Another reshuffle was tried with the Dons, with Lemonheigh-Evans introduced to shore up the midfield and strike partner Callum Paterson asked to drop into defence as part of a back 5.
But less than 3 minutes after the break, the hosts did get on the scoreboard. After Grimsby half-cleared a corner, the hosts worked the ball out wide to Marvin Ekpiteta, whose cross struck McEachran and ricocheted in. It made it the second time in 3 seasons that McEachran had scored an own goal at Stadium MK, with the brother of ex-Don Josh having done so while playing for Swindon in 2023.
Despite being a player down, the Dons were causing Grimsby some trouble and the shape was limiting Grimsby’s ability to create more opportunities, with the visitors’ best opportunities for a fourth coming in the form of primarily blocked shots.
As the game wore on, it was seemingly set to peter out, with the Dons unable to create many opportunities for a second and Grimsby opting to take off danger man Vernam.
In the late stages, the Dons’ players felt adamant that Cameron McJannett had handled the ball from a long throw into the box, which was echoed by fans and coaching staff, but the appeals would not be endorsed by the officials.
As it was, however, MK Dons did reduce the deficit in the first minute of stoppage time. A long throw by Paterson ended up with Lemonheigh-Evans, with the substitute duly rifling home.
Time wasn’t on the Dons’ side to mount a comeback, but they nearly stole a point in style when Sanders’ overhead kick narrowly flew over with the final kick of the ball.
But there was no time left for MK Dons to steal a point, with the side entering a big match next week away at Chesterfield on the back of back-to-back defeats.
MK Dons: MacGillivray – Offord (Nemane 35), Ekpiteta, Sanders, Mellish – Wilson (Collar 72), Kelly (Crowley 80), Gilbey, Hepburn-Murphy (Leko 80) – Paterson, Hogan (Lemonheigh-Evans 45)
Subs not used: Trueman, Medwynter
Goal: McEachran (og 47), Lemonheigh-Evans (90+1)
Sent Off: Mellish (36)
Booked: Offord, Kelly
Grimsby: Pym – Rodgers, Warren, McJanett, Sweeney – McEachran – Burns (Eccleston 89), Green, Khouri, Vernam (Soonsup-Bell 72) – Kabia (Rose 84)
Subs not used: Auton, Amaluzor, Brown, Oduor
Goal: Green (9), Kabia (23), Vernam (28)
Booked: McEachran
Luton Town began the EFL Trophy with a 4-1 victory over Barnet at Kenilworth Road.
Lasse Nordas, Jerry Yates, Cohen Bramall and Shayden Morris scored the goals as the Hatters got their first EFL Trophy match since the 2018/19 season by winning in their first assignment of the group stage.
Adam Senior did score a late consolation for the Bees, but it wasn’t enough to prevent Luton from taking the victory.
The Tuesday night contest had seen Luton opt to reshuffle, with Matt Bloomfield making 6 changes from the weekend’s victory over Burton Albion.
One of those who maintained their starting berth was Nordas, who gave Luton an 11th minute lead when he turned in Gideon Kodua’s cross.
Yates would then double Luton’s lead 8 minutes later, scoring his first goal since his summer arrival at Kenilworth Road in the process. The striker received Bramall’s pass before cut inside and firing home.
A third goal came in the second minute of first-half stoppage time, as Bramall saw a crisp free-kick find the back of the net via the crossbar.
Luton would grab a fourth goal late on, as debutant Morris would be fouled in the box and the new arrival from Aberdeen would duly score the penalty.
Barnet would score a consolation late on when Senior headed home from Ryan Glover’s cross in the sixth minute of stoppage time.
Luton’s next assignment in the competition will see them travel to play League 2 side Cambridge United on October 7, with the Hatters hosting the Brighton U21s on October 28 in their final group stage fixture.
Before then, the Hatters face multiple league fixtures, starting off with a home match against Plymouth on September 13.
Former MK Dons midfielder Matt O’Riley has left Brighton after making a deadline day loan move to French side Marseille.
The 24-year-old will join the French side on loan for the rest of the season, in a deal announced the day after the closure of the European football transfer window for another summer.
O’Riley had played in Brighton’s first two Premier League games of the season, including scoring in the Seagulls’ season opener against his former club Fulham.
The Danish international’s loan departure came on a busy transfer deadline day at the AMEX, with Facundo Buonanotte, Igor Julio and Jeremy Sarmiento also departing on loan deals.
Marseille signed O’Riley on a busy deadline day of their own, with the French club also signing former World Cup winning defender Benjamin Pavard and West Ham defender Nayef Aguerd.
The side from the southern French city finished second in Ligue 1 last season, which means they will take part in the Champions League this season. As per last week’s Champions League draw, Marseille will face games against Real Madrid, Ajax, Newcastle and Liverpool among others.
Brighton’s boss Fabian Hurzeler told the club’s official website that he felt the move was the best option for the midfielder.
He said, “Matt has the opportunity to challenge himself at the highest level in France and in the Champions League.
“We have a lot of competition in the midfield positions, and while we see Matt’s long-term future here with us, this gives him the potential of more game time.
“We will monitor his progress throughout the season with Marseille, and we wish him well for the rest of the season.”
O’Riley played for MK Dons for 12 months, signing for the club in January 2021 after being released by Fulham before leaving to join Celtic in January 2022. He scored 10 goals in 54 appearances in his year playing for the Dons under Russell Martin and then Liam Manning.
After winning 3 Scottish Premiership titles with Celtic and winning the club’s Player of the Year, Player’s Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year awards in the 2023/24 season, O’Riley signed for Brighton in August last year for an undisclosed fee reported at around £25million.
O’Riley suffered an injury on debut after a challenge by future Dons midfielder Jay Williams in a Carabao Cup tie between Brighton and Crawley, but would score on his delayed Premier League debut after he scored a late winner to beat Manchester City.
The midfielder struggled for game time, however, playing a full 90 minutes in only one of his 25 appearances for the club.
Fire services were called after lightning struck a plug socket, causing a house fire in Milton Keynes.
Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue confirmed firefighters were called to a three storey semi-detached property on Summerlin Drive in Woburn Sands after an incident at around 2:35pm yesterday (03/09) where lightning had struck via a plug socket on the third floor.
The incident happened during a lightning storm, which struck the local area yesterday with heavy rain, thunder and lightning reported.
The lightning had caused tiles to become loose on the roof and fragments of the chimney breast to fall into the garden area.
One crew from Broughton alongside an Aerial appliance from West Ashland and an officer attended.
Firefighters used the Aerial appliance and small tools to remove the loose tiles. The electrics were isolated and a cordon was put into place.
A thermal imaging camera was used to inpsect the property for signs of heat.
Crews remained on scene for an extended period of time.
A section of the A509 road in Milton Keynes has re-opened after a two year closure.
The long-term closure of the section linking Newport Pagnell with the M1 motorway was announced in August 2023 for work on the MK East Development site, which included the installation of a new roundabout.
The closure had initially been intended to last for 12 months with the closure running through to September 2024, but following delays, the closure would end up lasting through to last week, when the section was re-opened.
Plans for the closure of the affected section between the junction with Newport Road to Cranfield and Tickford Roundabout (A422) were intended to help facilitate a development that, upon completion, is intended to have around 5,000 new houses constructed.
Severe weather was blamed by MK City Council in late 2024 when delays were first announced.
Chris Curtis, Labour MP for Milton Keynes North, told the BBC, “I know this has been incredibly frustrating for residents but I am pleased to see new road infrastructure prioritised ahead of new developments being moved into.
“I’ll be meeting with the developers to discuss how we ensure future stages of the development don’t cause this level of disruption again.”
Liberal Democrat councillor Jane Carr, who represents Newport Pagnell South on MK City Council, said, “It’s taken far too long. Businesses, residents and commuters have all suffered, but I’m grateful it’s finally coming to an end.”
