V Tranmere Rovers (1-0)

Milton Keynes Dons 1-0 Tranmere Rovers
An early strike from Jason Puncheon secured all three points as the Dons recorded their second successive league victory.

Manager Paul Ince made one change to the side beaten by Southampton in midweek with youngster Andros Townsend replacing Luke Chadwick. That looked to be an inspired decision as the on-loan Spurs man skinned two defenders in the opening stages only to overhit his cross. However, his next involvement saw Townsend again use his pace to beat two defenders before cutting the ball back for Puncheon to execute an excellent half volley from 12 yards out that Rovers keeper Luke Daniels had no hope of stopping.

MK were enjoying all the possession and Townsend fired with on 24 minutes as he continued to excite the home fans. Rovers had a rare moment of attacking play shortly when John Welsh tried to catch Willy Gueret out with a 30 yard effort following a short free-kick, the ball flying narrowly past the post. Then in first half stoppage time Zoumana Bakayogo struck a volley that no-one saw coming and Gueret was relieved to hold onto the ball.

Dons emerged for the second-half determined to get the second goal that would make the game safe. That nearly came on 53 minutes but Daniels reacted superbly to keep out an Aaron Wilbraham flick following a Puncheon corner. Dean Lewington nearly got a rare headed goal four minutes later from another Puncheon flag kick with ex-Don Gareth Edds on hand to save the day for Tranmere by blocking the goal bound effort.

Townsend continued to thrill the crowd and another burst forward ended with him curling a 20 yard shot onto the roof of the net with 15 minutes remaining. MK were unable to get the additional goal that their dominance deserved although there were few scares at the other end as the home side closed out a useful victory.

Ratings Gueret-7 Alert when called upon but relatively little to do
Woodards-6 Forced off after 40 minutes, no luck with injuries
Doumbe-6 Pretty solid throughout, let down by wayward distribution
McCracken-7 Seems to have found an extra yard of pace recently. Another good game capped by a late run down the left flank.
Lewington-6 Always in charge down the left flank
Puncheon-7 Great goal should have gone on to dominate the game but didn’t
Gleeson-6 Another no frills performance. Rarely catches the eye but solid throughout
Leven-8 Much maligned in recent weeks, answered the critics with an excellent performance. Made loads of vital interceptions and always available for a pass
Townsend-9 This boy is something special and is a threat every time he gets the ball
Wilbraham-7 Only an excellent save kept his name off the scoresheet
Easter-6 Subdued performance with little sight of goal

Substitutes

Stirling-7 Crowd favourite and lived up to his billing with the usual whole-hearted display
Baldock-6 Got 30 minutes instead of Easter, never really got into his stride
Chadwick-7 Less than ten minutes on the pitch, seemed to cover every blade of grass in that time

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