MK Dons Under-18s are eliminated from the FA Youth Cup within the Second Round of the competition as they suffer a narrow 1-0 defeat away to Barking.
John Bitting’s boys sought to build on their first-round triumph, which saw a three-goal success over Stourbridge within the opening stage of the contest.
A much-changed Dons side took to the filed within the second stage of the tournament as many players who featured in the most-recent tie were unavailable this time around.
FIRST-HALF
The young Dons saw a lively start to the fixture, which was shown through their passion displayed during the opening minutes of the match.
Whilst dominant on the ball, the travelling team were patient in their approach to find an opening within what was a resilient Barking defence. MK Dons Under-18s saw the first corner-kick of the game, which also led to the first chance through Albert Wood, but his effort would fire just shy of the target.
Minutes later, Barking responded with an effort of their own as an attempt on the half-volley curled away from Jesse Bedford’s goalmouth, not troubling the ‘keeper between the sticks.
Just before the 20-minute mark, Chase Medwynter would fashion an acrobatic attempt at goal. An overhead kick attempt was connected with, but the lack of power behind the strike saw a simple claim for the home side’s shot-stopper.
The young Dons then kicked up an extra gear as they applied constant pressure to the Barking back-line throughout a 15-minute period. Although, due to the stubbornness of their defence, the visitors were yet to see the deadlock broken.
After surviving a storm of attacks, the home side then found themselves with an opportunity at goal themselves. Within his first action, Jesse Bedford remained focused and got down low to meet with a powerful effort at goal crafted by Barking’s number ten.
A frantic end to the first 45 minutes of action saw Keon Lewis-Burgess strike the upright. A creative run from the midfielder left him at a tight angle on the left of the goal, but that didn’t tether his confidence to fire goalward just to be denied by the woodwork. The teams were signalled for the break soon after.
SECOND-HALF
Goalless going into the interval, MK Dons continued on their mission to find the back of Barking’s net. However, once the storm of the first half was weathered, the hosts had come out of the blocks sharply to better the efforts of their counterpart.
Finding a foothold in the game, it was now Barking’s turn to apply the pressure as they found themselves with more of the ball to create problems for their opposition.
Five minutes after the restart, the Northeast London based team were presented with a golden opportunity through a one-on-one situation at goal. Once again, Bedford got low to match the effort aimed for the bottom corner, which sustained a goalless score-line for the time being.
Ed Daffern had played a ball through into the path of Chase Medwytner, who looked to breach Barking’s box from the right. Unfortunately, the forward’s touch escaped him, and his marker was quick to react as he put the ball behind for a corner-kick.
From this set-piece, the ball reunited with Medwynter, but the number nine’s blocked strike was cancelled out by the referee’s whistle against MK Dons.
74 minutes on the stopwatch, Daffern was presented with a free-kick opportunity as he looked to replicate his opener from the War Memorial Athletic Ground just weeks prior.
Although struck with power and through bodies (much like Daffern’s dead ball attempt against Stourbridge) the goalkeeper reacted to the deflection and acted accordingly to prevent the chance.
The fixture had entered the final ten minutes as substitute Rian Silver looked certain to be the first to score. Yet, the strong defensive display from The Blues was prominent once again as a vital touch on the ball took it away from the feet of Silver at the final second of his move.
On the 83-minute mark, Barking were the ones to see a late opener and break the hearts of the young Dons with a stunning strike that found the top corner of the net.
From outside of the area, the ball had bounced into the path of Barking’s forward, who on the half-volley saw his shot fly into the back of the net. 1-0
MK Dons Under-18s didn’t let up although mere minutes remained at the time, it seemed as if their efforts would be rewarded with a late leveller, but two successive goal-line clearances ultimately sealed the defeat for the travelling team.
Following a 1-0 defeat away to Barking, MK Dons were eliminated from the FA Youth Cup within the Second Round of the contest.
***
MK Dons: Bedford, Clark-Anderson, Boyce, Stirland (C), Sinclair-Linton, Wood, St.Clair-Burton (Guzynski 86), Lewis-Burgess, Medwynter (Adepoju 72), Daffern, Brammeld (Silver 59)
Subs: Stacey, Nash
