Leighton finish pre-season on a high against MK Dons

With Leighton losing 4-2 to MK Dons first team last season, this year they were aiming to seal the deal against the MK Dons academy team and win.

MK Dons kicked off and held on to possession for the first couple of minutes, looking good on the ground, easily making passes stick with Leighton just taking a step back to assess how they played.

Waiting paid off because when a mistake was made Danny Watson stepped straight in for the ball and managed to cross it to Phil Draycott, who took a shot but it went high and over the bar. Another chance for Leighton followed soon after but Watson over hit the ball to Mark Bunker and went out for a goal kick.

The tables turned quickly and Kabongo Tashimanaga managed to slip through Leightons' defence and found himself one on one with Dan Child but he had in covered and no harm was done. With Leighton maintaining possession of the ball they had a few more chances at goal but without success.

Constant battling however paid off and in the 17th minute with some great passing from Warren Garcia and Michael Lyon, saw Jamie Nicholls slot the ball home in the bottom left hand corner of the net putting Leighton into an early lead.

Leighton continued to play some great football, breaking away from MK Dons, but just not getting near enough to have a go at goal. In the 34th minute Watson played a fabulous ball through to Michael Lyon but his powerful shot was stopped well by Charlie Burns.

The last minute of the first half saw MK Dons awarded with a free kick near the edge of the box, Harry Hickford was completely unmarked and headed the ball straight into the back of the net, taking it to a 1-1 draw.

With the second half underway a chance at goal for Leighton was immediate, with Charlie Burns spotted lingering out of his goal by Watson, Watson tried to curl the ball past the post into the net but was slightly wide.

Play stopped for a short amount of time while Robbie Goodman regained himself after taking a knock in the box. Leighton’s first substitution took place in the 51st minute when Tyrone Taylor came on in place for Draycott.

Taylor brought some much needed height to the game and straight from the word go he managed to win the ball in the air from a goal kick, to find Garcia who played the play to an offside Watson.

The 55th minute saw Leighton win a throw in, which was launched high and long into the air and managed to find the head of Nicholls and into the net, putting Leighton 2-1 up.

A triple substitution for Leighton saw new signing Rory Prendergast come on to add some experience to the team, original Leighton player Aaron Fitzjon and Alvin Rajaram to boast the morale of the team.

Another chance for Watson to score came in the 60th minute when a brilliant cross from Prendergast found his feet but once again he hit the ball just wide of the post. An injured Gary Ridgway had to come off for Leighton and Ash Farmer took his place.

Some good combination of play was seen by Taylor and Prendergast, they managed to find Watson who crossed the ball into the box but there was no one there to sink the ball into the net.

Ben Tilney for MK Dons made a fantastic run with the ball from one half of the pitch to the other and it looked like he was onto a winner, until he came up against Leightons defence and lost the ball.

A precarious free kick was award just outside the box for MK Dons in the 67th minute but thankfully was blocked by Prendergast in the wall.

A near costly mistake by Harry Hickford saw Charlie Burns have to chase the ball down to stop Leighton being awarded with a corner, but in the end some brilliant tackling from Fitzjon saw Leighton keep the ball with ease as they neared the final whistle.

Another triple substitution for Leighton in the last remaining minutes of the match saw Stefan Kemonga replaced Watson upfront, Garcia off to make way for Danny Mullins and Dave Murphy was replaced by Jerry Lyons, also an original Leighton player.

The final whistle was heard and the final score ended up Leighton Town FC 2-1 MK Dons. Both teams played extremely well, not giving in during any stage of the game.

Leightons' first game of the new season kicks off at 3pm on Saturday 9th August at home against Northwood FC.

MK Dons

Team- Burns, Daffern, Okito, Summerfield, Tingey, Hickford, Logan, Tshimanaga, Rasulo, Tilney

Subs- McCorkell, Vaughan, Weston, Hadden, Owusu, Hunt

Leighton Town FC

Team- Child, Bunker, Ridgway, Goodman, Murphy, P.Lyon, Nicholls, M.Lyon, Garcia, Watson, Draycott

Subs- Halia, Rajaram, Taylor, Farmer, Kemonga, Fitzjon, Prendergast, Mullins, J.Lyons

Attendance- 200

By Hannah Sellman