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FULL-TIME: MK DONS 0 LEEDS UNITED 1
Ten-man MK Dons cruelly denied a point in the most dramatic of circumstances as Robert Snodgrass's header in the second minute of added time steals victory for Leeds.
Paul Ince's Dons looked to have held out bravely after the sending off of Jason Puncheon on the stroke of half-time, defending with incredibly bravery at time to hold a talented Leeds attack.
But Snodgrass pounced right at the death to head home Andy Robinson's free-kick, sending 4,000 travelling fans into raptures and the remainder of the 16,713 home heartbroken.
All the reaction to come.
FULL-TIME: MK DONS 0 LEEDS UNITED 1
90+4mins - Beckford leads a Leeds counter as the home side throw bodies forward to rescue something. He feeds Grella to his right, but Powell denies him a second with a brilliant block-challenge inside the box.
90+2mins - GOAL! MK DONS 0 LEEDS UNITED 1 - ROBERT SNODGRASS
That's absolutely heartbreaking the Dons, who have defended so bravely in this second half but are caught napping from a Leeds free-kick in the dying moments. Robinson swings it over from the left, Snodgrass is unmarked and his header is planted firmly past Gueret from 10 yards.
90mins - Four minutes to be added on.
89mins - Gueret slides out gratefully to beat Grella to Beckford's backheel on the edge of the penalty area. Leeds are rushing around to get this moving, but the Dons are holding firm.
86mins - Brilliant sliding challenge on Gleeson to dispossess Beckford halfway inside the Dons half a few moments ago and the Leeds man felt that. Gleeson has had a terrific second half. Doumbe goes into the book for taking too much time over a Dons free-kick and Darren Powell is completely furious about it. Powell follows him into the notebook.
83mins - Dons still not afraid to get bodies forward as Howell and Ibehre combine well to give Gleeson possession in the Leeds half. Doumbe is making a raid down the flank from right-back, but his near post cross can't be turned goalwards by Ibehre in the middle.
82mins - Jemal Johnson has been shown a yellow card, though nobody can quite see what for. Snodgrass went down after losing possession a few moments ago, but Johnson didn't look anywhere near him.
80mins - Dons want to get another change made as the fourth official goes looking for his board and Paul Ince won't let Leeds have the ball back until they make it. Luke Howell is the man to be introduced, Luke Chadwick the man to make way.
78mins - Dons make a change as Wilbraham is replaced by the fresh legs of Jabo Ibehre. He'll run his heart out up there, Ibehre, but he needs to keep possession when he can as well.
77mins - Andy D'Urso is spared from making a BIG decision as Beckford's short pass somehow finds a way through to Grella and the American is clean through. Leven tackles from behind, perhaps getting something on the ball as Grella tumbles, but the flag is up for offside anyway.
75mins - Terrific effort from the Cowshed in trying to make this extra number up. They have barely stopped singing since the start of the second half and have given their side no end of support. Cross whipped in from the right by Bromby is headed down by Powell, who then completes his own clearance.
71mins - Beckford has the ball in the net, but it's not going to count. Howson drives impressively inside off the right flank, dummying a shot that McCracken races out to block and slides in Beckford. The Leeds front-man is offside though as he rolls it past Gueret.
70mins - Wilbraham wins another free-kick 30 yards out that Leven bends over the wall, but over the bar. Attendance confirmed as 16,713 with 4,119 making the trip south from Leeds.
68mins - Decent little spell in possession for the Dons with Gleeson, Leven and Chadwick getting through plenty of work to support Wilbraham up top. They're working the ball well around the edge of the Leeds box but, with no room for a shot, the move breaks down.
65mins - Brilliant play from Wilbraham down the right, who robs Bradley Johnson before beating the stand-in full-back twice to stand up a cross from the dead-ball line. Johnson is the only Dons shirt in there though and Leeds are able to scramble the ball away.
63mins - Dons try to be clever with the free-kick, Johnson working it to the unmarked Gleeson on the right flank, but his cross is blocked by Robinson and Leeds can clear. The Dons need to make more of opportunities like that - they might not get many.
62mins - Wilbraham wins a free-kick off Kisnorbo halfway inside the Leeds half to give Dons a free-kick, but Leeds are going to need to make a change before that with Higgs down in his six-yard box. No hesitation, Higgs plods off to be replaced by substitute goalkeeper Casper Ankergren.
59mins - Powell thumps consecutive headers out of the Dons box, but the ball keeps coming back and Howson slides a wonderful pass in for Grella in the right side of the box. Gueret races out, Grella just about gets round him, but the American striker can't get his shot on target from a tight angle.
57mins - Simon Grayson is going mad in his technical area over what he felt was a handball by a Dons player to prevent a Leeds counter. Michalik tries to take matters into his own hands with a 35-yard shot that Gueret catches comfortably.
55mins - Leeds going for an attacking change as they try to seize the initiative as Andy Robinson comes on to replace full-back Andy Hughes. Robinson was in the Swansea side that lost in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy area final here during Ince's first spell and is a big handful.
53mins - Leeds corner is headed away by Powell, seized on by Gleeson and switched brilliantly for the onrushing Leven down the left. Leven has Johnson racing up to join in with him to his right, but the Scot goes for an ambitious half-volley from 25 yards that sails wide of Higgs' goal.
51mins - Dons forced to clear consecutive corners and Gleeson, in his determination to win back possession, slides in recklessly on Howson to become the latest name to go into Andy D'Urso's notebook.
50mins - Beckford shows a flash of his undoubted ability, given too much time to turn halfway inside the Dons half, he carries the ball forward onto his left foot before arrowing a 25-yard shot just over the bar.
48mins - Paul Ince has come out of the directors' box and is now directing proceedings from the Dons technical area. You would expect his side to be forced into plenty of defending in this second half and they may be without the ball for long periods.
4.09pm - SECOND HALF KICKS OFF
Leeds get us back underway in the second half, attacking the end housing their supporters in the second half. Dons are playing from left to right as we look at it, attacking the Cowshed and Dons to 10 men.
HALF-TIME: MK DONS 0 LEEDS UNITED 0
Dons will be in for a tough second half as they play the rest of this game with 10 men following the dismissal of midfielder Jason Puncheon.
Puncheon was shown a straight red card for a high challenge on Leeds' anchorman Michael Doyle in an incident that brought winces from the stands, though it's unclear just how much contact was made.
It's been pretty even other than that, Chadwick and Wilbraham both going close for the Dons and Snodgrass and Beckford for Leeds.
The leaders though, have a massive opportunity to seize control after the break.
HALF-TIME: MK DONS 0 LEEDS UNITED 0
45+3mins - Beckford controls a ball over the top into the right side of the penalty area and arrows a brilliant, dipping volley fractionally over the bar from a tight angle. Fantastic effort. Dons really need the break here.
45+2mins - Dons make an immediate change with Peter Leven coming on to replace the sacrificed Gobern. Great sub to be able to call on, but a big ask for the hosts now.
45+1mins - RED CARD - JASON PUNCHEON (MK DONS)
Massive blow for the home side, who don't just lose a man, but one of their biggest creative influences to a straight red card. Just before the break, the ball pops up between Puncheon and Doyle in midfield and the Dons man catches him with a high-ish challenge. Bodies crowd the Dons player and Andy D'Urso has no hesitation in producing a red.
45mins - Best effort of the half from the Dons' point of view as Puncheon sells Howson a trademark dummy before moving in onto his left foot and firing a 22-yard shot that Higgs plunges low to his right to keep out. Well-struck and goalkeeper at full-stretch.
44mins - Free-kick given against Doumbe for a push on Bradley Johnson deep in Dons territory down the Leeds left. Snodgrass swings over the free-kick, but Kisnorbo heads over.
42mins - Brilliant counter-attack from Leeds as a Dons corner from the right is cleared by Snodgrass and Grella controls it brilliantly on his chest to race down the right. Beckford's his only man to aim for, but Grella holds up before finding the arriving Snodgrass on the edge of the box, but the shot is dragged wide.
40mins - Dons enjoying a good spell as Johnson pops up on the right this time, taking on Gleeson's pass and crossing dangerously to the near post. Wilbraham can't convert though as Kisnorbo comes sliding in. Treatment required for Lewis Gobern.
39mins - Promising again from the home team as Lewington feeds Wilbraham inside the box and his clever layoff finds Chadwick in the left side of the box. Bromby's struggling to get goal-side and is grateful to see the flag go up for offside.
36mins - Beckford looks, just for a moment, that he might outpace McCracken as they chase Doyle's long ball down the right. But McCracken gets there first and the linesman raises his flag for handball by the Leeds man anyway.
33mins - Snodgrass's free-kick into the Dons box is headed by by McCracken, headed back in by Michalik and Bradley Johnson's volley dips comfortably over the bar from 20 yards.
32mins - Dons look keen to test Bromby's pace in behind with balls being slid that way for Jemal Johnson to chase. Leeds don't look comfortable out there at present and there could be some joy for Johnson as the game wears on.
29mins - Puncheon comes to life for the first time, driving at the Leeds defence in the inside right channel, but finding no gaps to exploit. Wilbraham cushions a ball forward from McCracken into Chadwick's path, but his shot is always flying off target.
26mins - That battle spills over a little bit as Snodgrass falls on top of the ball under challenge from Lewington before jumping up to confront the Dons skipper. Andy D'Urso pulls out his notebook, books Snodgrass and then, to the Dons skipper's disbelief, books Lewington as well.
24mins - Both sides having their moments, but without truly threatening at present. There's a great little battle going on between Lewington and Snodgrass on this near side as both players battle for supremacy down the flank.
19mins - Doumbe starts an attack with a thumping challenge on Bradley Johnson that squirts Wilbraham's way. It's worked right to Gobern, whose cross is punched to the edge fo the box by Higgs and volleyed wildly over by Chadwick on the edge of the box.
15mins - Snodgrass unhappy as he tries to dart past Lewington down the Leeds right but gets outmuscled by the Dons skipper. Good defending. Leigh Bromby has moved to right-back so that Michalik can play centrally. Leeds have been quick to use Bromby's long throw and that should give them even greater opportunity now.
14mins - Real chance for Wilbraham after some lovely interplay between him and Johnson. Lewington's pass is dummied by Jemal Johnson, who spins in behind to take Wilbraham's lay-off before Michalik makes a fine recovery tackle inside the box. It breaks to Wilbraham bang centre, edge of the box, but his low shot is saved easily by Higgs.
11mins - First test for Powell up against Beckford, who springs the offside trap down the left before raiding towards the box. Powell stands up strong, sees the ball out as Beckford tries to surge past him and referee Andy D'Urso waves his arms as the Leeds hitman tumbles inside the box.
9mins - There's the change and it's Lubomir Michalik coming on to replace Crowe. That's a big loss for Leeds, who are without a big attacking influence down the right as well as a specialist full-back on that flank.
8mins - Great play from Chadwick, who turns into space on halfway and runs right at the heart of the Leeds defence. He works it left to Jemal Johnson, who exposes the injured Crowe before seeing his shot blocked. Lewington reloads the box and Wilbraham shuffles his feet well to see a shot deflected wide.
7mins - Worrying signs for Leeds as Jason Crowe sprints off to overlap Snodgrass down the right and pulls up lame straight away before clutching his hamstring. That'll be a change, you can bet on it.
6mins - Wasted free-kick from Johnson, who is awarded a foul after high feet from Wilbraham a little over 30 yards from the Dons goal. Johnson takes it himself but blasts straight into the feet of the wall.
3mins - Dons have started with Wilbraham leading the attack and Chadwick in the hole behind him - the same position he took up in the first half at Wycombe last weekend. Leeds, as expected, are 4-4-2 with Beckford and Grella leading the line.
1min - Wilbraham tries to set the tempo immediately as the ball comes to him 20 yards out, shifting it out of his feet and hitting a swerving shot that Shane Higgs parries before gathering.
3.02pm - KICK-OFF
We're off and running at stadiummk, the Dons kicking off in all-white with black sleeves. Leeds are in their changed strip of all-yellow and defending the North Stand in the first half, where over 4,000 Leeds fans are gathered.
3.00pm - Yet to get started as we're slightly behind schedule here but the crowd are doing their best to keep things lively before kick-off.
Interesting that Becchio should miss out for Leeds today, we're told his partner is expecting a baby at any time. It was his strike partner Beckford that missed this fixture last season, can the Whites cope without the other half of the duo today>
2.58pm - The teams emerge from the tunnel into a near-full stadiummk on a sunny afternoon in Milton Keynes. Great to see the place housing so many supporters - a sign of things to come in the future surely. Huge cheers greet the announcement of the Dons players and we'll be underway shortly.
2.50pm - TEAM NEWS - One change for the Dons this afternoon as Aaron Wilbraham comes in to make his first start of the season, replacing Jabo Ibehre in attack.
Leeds make two changes from the side that lost to Liverpool in the Carling Cup on Tuesday - Mike Grella and Leigh Bromby coming in for Luciano Becchio and Lubomir Michalik.
MK DONS: Willy Gueret, Dean Lewington (c), Mathias Doumbe, David McCracken, Stephen Gleeson, Aaron Wilbraham, Jemal Johnson, Lewis Gobern, Jason Puncheon, Darren Powell, Luke Chadwick.
SUBS: Mark Carrington, Stuart Searle, Jabo Ibehre, Sol David, Luke Howell, Peter Leven, Danny Swailes.
LEEDS UNITED: Shane Higgs, Jason Crowe, Patrick Kisnorbo, Michael Doyle, Jermaine Beckford, Mike Grella, Jonathan Howson (c), Bradley Johnson, Andy Hughes, Robert Snodgrass, Leigh Bromby.
SUBS: Casper Ankergren, Richard Naylor, David Prutton, Neil Kilkenny, Lubomir Michalik, Andy Robinson.
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Aaron Wilbraham makes his first start of the season against Leeds United. |
2.30pm - The big game buzz swarms undeniably around stadiummk as it has around Milton Keynes all week. Dons Chairman Pete Winkelman describes games like today's as "the reason we're all involved in football". A projected 17,000 in this fantastic arena today will go along with that.
The unrivalled Goliaths against the comparative Davids of League 1, Leeds United find themselves walking into a cup final every time they step foot on the pitch these days. It's credit to their application so far this term that they've only dropped two points and sit proudly on top of the table as favourites for an overdue promotion.
Paul Ince's Dons should have no reason to fear the giants of West Yorkshire today though - Ince's side have won six of their last seven games in all competitions and they won the corresponding fixture here last season by three goals to one. They got a fast start that day, the same would go down a treat this afternoon.
It's the biggest game of the season so far at stadiummk. You can keep up with it right here on Clockwatch or by logging in to MK Dons Player for full match commentary with Paul Dixon and Paul Mitchell.
The action kicks off at 3.00pm.
