EFL Trophy: Walsall 0 MK Dons 2 - Report
The 4,000 or so Walsall supporters who opted to give this a swerve are unlikely to be regretting it.
Michael Flynn’s team bowed out of the Papa John’s Trophy with a 1-0 defeat to MK Dons in front of a crowd at the Bescot Poundland Stadium in front of a crowd which just about topped four figures.
The Saddlers performance against League One opposition was by no means bad. They were probably worthy of at least a draw. But with their hopes of progression from Southern Group C already slender after two defeats from the first two games – and the result of this match rendered redundant for them by West Ham’s youngsters beating Cheltenham – there felt very little to get genuinely excited about from their perspective.
MK are through, thanks to Henry Lawrence’s 62nd minute strike and substitute Nathan Holland’s free-kick deep in stoppage time.
Having seen Donervan Daniels and Tom Knowles join an increasingly busy treatment room and with fixtures coming thick and fast, Flynn had already admitted he didn’t care much about the latest fixture in a competition long tainted by the inclusion of under-23 teams and which increasingly feels a chore for those clubs with little hope of reaching the latter stages. For Flynn the primary focus was always Saturday’s trip to Sutton in League Two.
While the manager’s comments doubtless didn’t help sell any late tickets, the line-up he named was much stronger than expected, featuring just four changes from the team which started Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at Mansfield with starts for Jacob Maddox, Danny Cashman, Liam Gordon and Andy Williams.
With Peter Clarke among those dropped to the bench, Brandon Comley dropped from midfield to sit in the middle of a back three between Hayden White and captain Manny Monthe.
MK took their first sighter at goal inside the opening 20 seconds, Darragh Burns advancing through the middle and sending a shot fizzing over the bar from 25 yards out.
Liam Bennett had bagged his first professional goal in stunning fashion at Mansfield but when he tried to recreate it here the shot found the chest of former Saddler Zak Jules. Isaac Hutchinson then failed to get sufficient power on his effort after finding space on the edge of the box, visiting goalkeeper Franco Ravizolli making a relatively comfortable save diving to his left.
The shots aimed toward Owen Evans at the other end were more powerful, albeit the Saddlers keeper was not overly tested. Lawrence just failed to keep his shot under the bar after being allowed to cut in from the left, with Evans then staying alert to save a Dawson Devy free-kick the midfielder had tried to send round the side of the Walsall wall.
The hosts were seeing less of the ball but by the 20th minute should have led. Williams arrived to meet Gordon’s corner completely unmarked but sent his header soaring over the bar.
Set pieces were causing a problem for the visitors and when they failed to clear another, Gordon poked the ball toward goal and Ravizolli watched it through a crowd of players before making the save in what felt like slow motion.
Bennett sent another shot just over the bar, before MK’s Matt Dennis was just unable to get on the end of Conor Grant’s cross before the half rather petered out.
Maddox looked to inject some energy into proceedings early in the second period with a driving run but lost control of the ball at the vital moment as he shaped to shoot.
The Saddlers were starting to exert some pressure but despite a series of crosses into the box from Bennett and Gordon, the ball never quite fell for the home team and the game was beginning to drift before the visitors took the lead just past the hour mark with a goal of some quality.
Flynn won’t have been impressed with the amount of space Lawrence was afforded 20 yards out but the shot could not have been struck better, the ball flying into the bottom corner beyond a helpless Evans.
The evening suddenly had life again and the Saddlers carved out a great chance to level, Cashman denied by the legs of Ravizolli when he really shouldn’t have given the keeper a chance.
Flynn made four changes with 17 minutes remaining and one of those introduced, Taylor Allen, would have scored with his first touch were it not for a diving Jules block after the visitors had again struggled to defend a corner. Allen then nearly pulled off the spectacular with a left-footed shot which whistled past the far post.
It was the Saddlers who looked more likely scorers until Holland’s strike, in the fourth of five added minutes, ended their hopes.
Saddlers (3-5-2): Evans, White, Comley, Monthe, Bennett, Cashman (Maher 73), Hutchinson, Maddox, Gordon (Allen 73), James-Taylor (Abraham 73), Williams (Johnson 73) Subs not used: Kinsella, Mukuna, Clarke.
MK (3-4-2-1): Ravizolli, Tucker, O’Hora, Jules, Smith, Devoy, Grant (Holland 58), Lawrence, Burns (Barry 58), Robson, Dennis (Kayode 58) Subs not used: Oyegoke, Kemp, Tripp.
