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FULL-TIME: LEYTON ORIENT 1 MK DONS 2
MK Dons secure a valueable three points thanks to Luke Chadwick's first half double - despite playing most of the second half with 10 men.
Chadwick scored a quick-fire brace halfway through the first half - first jabbing home after a one-two with Peter Leven and then majestically turning home Mark Wright's cross shot.
It looked like plain sailing for Roberto Di Matteo's side from that point but they were made to work hard when defender Shaun Cummings was sent off early in the second half for bringing down Adam Boyd in the area.
Boyd couldn't convert the penalty though, dragging his shot wide of debutant 'keeper Lewis Price's goal, and Orient never looked truly capable of troubling the Dons' advantage from that point.
Substitute Sam Baldock could have made it three for the visitors in injury time, before Tamika Mkandawire pulled a goal back with the last kick of the game.
90+4mins - GOAL! LEYTON ORIENT 1 MK DONS 2 - TAMIKA MKANDAWIRE
Mkandawire hooks a shot into the Dons net after Demetriou's free-kick from the right is not cleared but it's literally the final kick of the game.
90+3mins - Thelwell sends a horrendously short backpass to his 'keeper and Baldock is onto it but can't convert the chance as Morris blocks with his feet.
90+2mins - Melligan loads the ball into the Dons box again from the right but Jarvis's header, under pressure from O'Hanlon, is wide of the post
90mins - Four minutes of time to be added on at the end of the game as the snow gets heavier. It's hardly a storm of attacks from the home side at the moment, though Jarvis does have half a chance when Melligan's cross comes his way. He controls before shooting on the turn under pressure and it's comfortably over the bar.
88mins - The snow starts to fall, or sleet to be more precise. Orient probe the Dons defensive third again but are short on ideas and Thornton eventually sends a hopeful shot high over the bar from 25 yards.
87mins - Terrific piece of defending by Howell as he steps in to prevent Chambers getting on the end of a Parkin knockdown inside the Dons box. Solid stuff from the substitute.
85mins - Orient know the game is up now you seem to think as Baldock, Leven, Navarro and Chadwick keep possession well down the Dons left. Chadwick wins a corner which is taken short and comes to nothing. The home side have had the ball in Dons territory but have done little with it. Every cross has been headed away or caught by Price.
82mins - Dons come out of defence again with the ball up to Baldock cushioned out ot Howell down the right. The full-back responsibly wants to keep his shape and resists the temptation to carry on into open Orient territory, turning back to find Navarro with a simple pass.
80mins - Dons again look well-organised at the back as Thornton probes from midfield. O'Hanlon cuts out his attempted through-ball and Leven is able to stab it out to Johnson on the left. Johnson's run doesn't come to a great deal but it eats up some time before his cross to the far post nearly find Chadwick.
77mins - Final change of the night sees Gerba replaced by Jemal Johnson. The Canadian has put in another good shift tonight and is replaced by an American. Johnson goes to the left flank, Chadwick to the right and Baldock up front.
76mins - Great hold up play from Gerba as he catches Price's kick on his chest, spins away from Thelwell and is then fouled by Thornton 30 yards out. Leven strikes the free-kick goalwards and whistles it past the left post with a fine effort.
74mins - Leven is down in need of some treatment so Chadwick kicks the ball out of play for him. Attendance confirmed as 3,869 with an excellent away following of 576. On a cold Tuesday night, and Clockwatch means cold, that's a terrific effort from the Dons fans.
72mins - Third change for Orient sees Boyd replaced by Ryan Jarvis.
68mins - Melligan is really stretching the Dons out on this right flank and he works his way cleverly into the box, attracting Dons defenders to him before his cross squirts through the six-yard box unconverted.
67mins - Chambers and Gerba break through an advertising board next to the dugout as they slide to keep the ball in play. Di Matteo is quickly out of his technical area to help both players get their respective legs out safely.
66mins - Purchess finds space to shoot from just over 20 yards out but Price is well behind the ball down to his left. The wind is starting to pick up and the rain is sheeting down out there, not a night for the feint-hearted.
64mins - Gerba does well to hold the ball up down the left and eventually makes space to cross. Baldock's coming in through the centre but Mkandawire sees it behind for a corner. Leven's set-piece comes to nothing.
63mins - Here comes the change and it's Puncheon making way. Chadwick will come to the left flank and Baldock will go out to the right in the same set-up that we saw on Saturday against Cheltenham.
62mins - Dons are preparing Sam Baldock for an introduction, it could be for Gerba or maybe Puncheon.
60mins - Gerba goes into the book for a slightly reckless one on Granville on the right touchline. Some treatment needed for the former Chelsea man but he looks ok to continue.
58mins - Melligan wins a free-kick off Leven down the right flank, Thornton whips it in right-footed and Boyd's glancing header zips well wide of Price's right-hand post.
55mins - Well Dons played for longer than this with 10 men on Saturday - an on that occasion they had to get their lead back. They're still two goals to the good here and look well organised already. There was a double change for Orient at the break with JJ Melligan coming on for Paul Terry and Sean Thornton on for Dean Morgan.
52mins - Dons make a tactical change as Mark Wright is sacrificed for Luke Howell, who will slot in at right-back.
50mins - BOYD MISSES THE PENALTY
The Orient striker pulls his right-footed kick wide of the left-hand post with Price beaten. Dons still two up but a man down.
49mins - PENALTY TO LEYTON ORIENT
Cummings brings down Adam Boyd as he prepared to shoot inside the area. It gets worse for the Dons as Cummings is sent off for a professional foul.
48mins - Sloppy from the Dons as O'Hanlon gives it away to Demetriou in his own half. The Orient winger slides a pass to Adam Chambers inside the area but his right-footed shot across goal is easily saved by Morris.
8.48pm - SECOND HALF KICKS OFF
Dons get us restarted, playing from right to left now as we look at it and it actually seems to be getting colder!
8.45pm - Clockwatch would like to apologise to Luke Chadwick after seeing the video replay of his second goal. It's quite possibly the finest piece of finishing we're likely to see all season - a completely deliberate, dragged backheel from seven yards. That on its own is worth the Dons World subscription fee - see it in tomorrow's highlights package.
HALF-TIME: LEYTON ORIENT 0 MK DONS 2
A pretty comfortable half of football for Di Matteo's Dons as they head for the break with a two-goal lead established in East London.
On-loan Norwich midfielder Luke Chadwick, playing a more central role in a 4-5-1 formation this evening, has got both the goals - the first a neat finish to a neat one-two with Peter Leven on the edge of the box and the second an opportunist finish from Mark Wright's cross-shot.
The Dons have been far and away they better side in the first half - cutting Orient apart frequently with Chadwick and Peter Leven particularly rampant through the centre. Wright has been a constant threat to the home side down the right flank while Jason Puncheon on the other side has had two decent chances himself.
Debutant goalkeeper Lewis Price, signed on loan from Derby County on Monday, has looked extremely assured with the little work he has to do.
Orient did start to mount a bit of pressure towards the end of the half, but the Dons had clearly taken their foot off the gas by that point as they looked to consolidate towards half-time.
The Dons main enemy to to avoid in the second half will surely be complacency and the next goal, if there is one, will be key.
Should the Dons get it, it's game over. Should Orient get it, it's game on.
43mins - Roberto Di Matteo has been calmly giving instructions to his team for most of this first half from his technical area. His team are defending a corner right now but the boss looks far from concerned - you can see why as Price comes to makes a fine catch.
40mins - Good work from Demetriou, who has come across to the left flank from the right. It's worked infield to Boyd, whose delivery into the box is just too high for Parkin in the penalty area.
37mins - Slightly better from the home side as Morgan swings an awkward cross in from the left and O'Hanlon has to stoop to send a diving header over his own crossbar.
36mins - Chadwick slightly guilty of seeing the dollar signs there as Leven's great pullback from the left finds him on the edge of the box. He's got Gerba and Wright to his right but opts to shoot and Mkandawire makes an easy block.
34mins - Half a chance for Puncheon as he runs in behind onto Lewington's ball down the left flank, bringing down a bouncing ball before trying a lob that goes straight into the grateful hands of Morris.
33mins - Rare attack for Orient as Granville tries an ambitious drive from 30 yards that hits Chadwick (as everything seems to at the moment) and goes for a corner. Delivery from the left is headed away at the near post by . . . Luke Chadwick.
31mins - Dons are cutting Orient open at will here and they probably should have made more of their latest chance. Wright springs the offside trap to reach Chadwick's ball into the right channel and delivers a first-time cross to the far post. Puncheon arrives to meet it but the ball bounces awkwardly in front of him and he can't keep his volley down.
29mins - Lewington robs Parkin halfway inside the Dons to start a Dons attack and when Gerba lifts the ball over the top for Chadwick, the Dons fans await the hat-trick chance. Only the offside flag denies him.
27mins - Peter Leven rallies round the side, urging them all to keep up the tempo but he hardly needs to. Wright ghosts away from three players coming in off the right flank before feeding Leven. The return into the box meant for Wright actually arrives at Chadwick's feet and he goes down under Terry's challenge as he prepares to shoot. Nothing doing according to the referee.
23mins - GOAL! LEYTON ORIENT 0 MK DONS 2 - LUKE CHADWICK
The chants break out again as Chadwick doubles the advantage - though Clockwatch is unsure of how much he knew about it. Leven breaks out of defence with open space all around him before feeding Gerba in the inside right channel, the Canadian's shot is blocked as far as Wright, whose angled drive from the right is diverted in by Chadwick 10 yards out. Certainly an element of fortune about it but he'd picked up a great position in the box.
22mins - The chants of sign him up, sign him up, sign him up were not far behind that neatly-worked goal from Chadwick as the Dons supporters again show their appreciation for the former Manchester United man.
19mins - GOAL! LEYTON ORIENT 0 MK DONS 1 - LUKE CHADWICK
Dons take the lead with a superbly-worked opening goal, started and finished by the evasive Chadwick. The on-loan Norwich man works some dangerous space in off the right flank, plays a clever one-two with Leven on the edge of the box and jabs his team-mates lifted through ball delicately past Morris. Fine goal.
16mins - Orient look like a side short on confidence at the moment. They haven't had a great deal of possession in these early stages and, when they have, they've been short on options. Granville hangs a high ball into the Dons area from the left but it's nowhere near Parkin and drifts behind for a goal-kick.
12mins - Good work from Navarro and Chadwick centrally sees Wright scampering in behind down the right flank. His low first-time cross is aimed for Gerba but Morris is out quickly to gather it on the stretch.
10mins - Chadwick makes some space to cross from the Dons right, Puncheon jumps to win a header at the far post but doesn't get sufficient purchase on it to trouble Morris.
9mins - First bit of action for Lewis Price, who comes to his near post to comfortably catch a cross from Granville after an overlap down the Orient left.
6mins - Stirling hits the post! Wright's corner from the right comes back to him and Orient never properly usher the ball away. Wright helps Lewington work some space down the flank, Lewington's low cross goes right through the six-yard box to Stirling beyond the far post but his first-time strike hits the near upright from a tight angle.
6mins - Dons making full use of their width there as Chadwick allows a ball to run on to Leven, who sends Puncheon away down the left. Cross is blocked by Purchess for a corner.
3mins - Dons have actually started with a 4-5-1 formation with Gerba playing the lone striker role. Wright has started wide on the right, Puncheon on the left and there's a three-man midfield of Peter Leven, Alan Navarro and Luke Chadwick. Chadwick should be able to influence the game a great deal from a central position while Puncheon and Wright will no doubt be high up the pitch when the Dons are in possession.
1mins - Decent movement from the Dons out to the right flank with Chadwick finding Wright. Wright's delivery into the penalty area is just taken out of the air by Orient 'keeper Glenn Morris before Ali Gerba can meet it.
7.46pm - KICK OFF
Orient get the game under way playing from right to left as we look at it. Dons are playing towards their own supporters in the first half.
7.45pm - Running slightly behind schedule as the captains go through the pre-match formalities before getting down to business with the coin toss. Dons are in their first choice of all-white this evening with Orient in all-red.
7.43pm - We're awaiting the arrival of the teams here on a bitterly cold night in East London. There will no-doubt be plenty of layers in the crowd and possibly for some on the pitch tonight. There are a very respectable number of travelling Dons fans in the stand opposite us, tucked in towards the corner but adjacent to the pitch. The height of the press gantry makes it difficult to see how far back into that covered stand they go, but they're making plenty of noise as the teams enter the fray.
7.39pm - ORIENT TEAM NEWS - It's as-you-were for Martin Ling's O's as they stick with the side that drew 0-0 at Yeovil on Saturday. Former Hereford powerhouse Tamika Mkandawire will provide strength at the back, Paul Terry - brother of England captain John - will be the holding player in midfield and former Hartlepool hitman Adam Boyd the major goal threat.
LEYTON ORIENT: Glenn Morris, Stephen Purches (c), Danny Granville, Alton Thelwell, Tamika Mkandawire, Adam Chambers, Dean Morgan, Paul Terry, Adam Boyd, Jason Demetriou, Sam Parkin.
Subs: Brian Saah, JJ Melligan, Sean Thornton, Jamie Jones, Ryan Jarvis.
7.37pm - DONS TEAM NEWS - Dons make three changes from the side that started Saturday's win over the Robins, and they come right through the spine of the side.
Goalkeeper Lewis Price, signed on loan from Derby on Monday, goes straight into the side in place of the suspended Willy Gueret for his Dons debut. Further up the pitch, Alan Navarro is restored to central midfield in place of the injured Flavien Belson while nine-goal leading scorer Sam Baldock is given a rest on the bench. Plymouth loanee Jason Puncheon takes his place alongside in-form Ali Gerba up front.
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Alan Navarro is restored to the heart of the Dons midfield. |
MK DONS: Lewis Price, Jude Stirling, Dean Lewington (c), Sean O'Hanlon, Mark Wright, Jason Puncheon, Shaun Cummings, Ali Gerba, Alan Navarro, Peter Leven, Luke Chadwick.
Subs: Nathan Abbey, Miguel Llera, Jemal Johnson, Sam Baldock, Luke Howell.
7.30pm - Welcome to the Matchroom Stadium where, Clockwatch is delighted to report, it is not snowing. Word has reached our ears in London of the wintery conditions in some parts of Milton Keynes and further north, indeed there have been some games in League 1 postponed this evening as a result, but we're still on course for action here at Brisbane Road.
There is some interesting team news to report, which we'll bring you in a minute, as the Dons look to extend Orient's run of eight league games without a win and consolidate their own position in the top five. Saturday's win over Cheltenham put them there, now they'll be looking to build on it against an Orient side struggling in 22nd place.
We'll be keeping you up to date with the action as it happens, as will Mikey Burrows and Lee Scriven for those of you listening on Dons World. The action starts at 7.45pm.
