Far Too Easy for the MK Imposters…
The football authorities in Britain once allowed a brand new club to cannibalise Wimbledon FC, swallow it whole and then move up the M1 motorway almost one hundred miles away. Then they allowed these interlopers to carry on under another identity altogether whilst pretending nothing at all had happened. This shows in one stark example that there is corruption at the heart of the Beautiful Game in this country. But money talks – always has; always will. So the fact that these frauds have ever been in the EFL at all marks a very dark chapter in the history of English football. The further fact that MK Plastic so-called Dons have ever played in a competition once known as the League Cup is therefore – by definition – a scandal in itself. Tonight, though, these interlopers were allowed the privilege of entertaining a club whose EFL membership (in common with all other clubs except themselves) has been earned the hard way – through the Pyramid System of lower league football.
I’m not going to say a lot more about the Buckinghamshire club other than their record against Morecambe has been excellent from their point of view over the years. They’ve only lost one and drawn one of seven previous meetings so far. They have been victorious in all three League One games played so far, most recently last August, when they romped to a 0-4 rout where they looked superior to the Shrimps right across the park in every position. Since then, though, the Cuckoos’ league form has seen the wheels fall off, with three losses and only a single win in their last five games which sees them just one place above Morecambe in the highest League One relegation position: twenty-first in the table. They have a single point more than tonight’s visitors – albeit with a game in hand.
Key players for the Plastic People have been missing during this slump, though: Mo Eisa and Tennai Watson notably. However, they got back to winning ways last Saturday when they walloped National League South club Taunton Town at this venue in the First Round of the FA Cup, 6-0. Respect to Taunton though – at least they have never pretended to be someone else entirely.
MK Manager Liam Manning said about this win – and the goal Eisa scored in it:
“It’s great to have him back. He’s a terrific character and he’s a really big player for us. The goal meant a huge amount to him, and hopefully it gives him a boost going into Tuesday.”
For Morecambe, any high-flying hopes of an extended FA Cup run came crashing down to earth at Hillsborough last Friday night, when Sheffield Wednesday unceremoniously dumped them out of the competition by two goals to nil. Morecambe Manager Derek Adams is on record as saying that the only way to generate cash to buy any new players in the January Transfer Window in order to save the club’s very erratic league campaign is to have a plum draw against one of the Big Boys in a cup competition this season. So – with the tin-pot Pizza Trophy thing more or less an irrelevance – all his eggs have now been put in a basket which required a win against the MK Brand this evening.
Prior to the match, King Derek said:
“MK Dons played very well when we faced them at the Mazuma Stadium earlier this season. They were clinical, particularly in the first half. We grew into the match in the second half, but we can learn a lot from that fixture. We can see the strengths and weaknesses in their side. There are areas we can improve upon, and there are areas that we can focus on to exploit them too.”
Opposite Number Liam Manning’s first team coach Darren Smith added:
“We’ve got a real tough game against Morecambe. Knowing Derek and coaching against his sides, they won’t be any pushover. They certainly won’t come here and roll over. They’ll come here and have a real hard go and we’ve got to be at our best to get a win.”
After a wet and blustery day right across the British Isles, it was at least dry in Milton Keynes as the game kicked-off in front of a disappointingly small crowd. Perhaps 90% of the ground was actually empty. So much for the investment of the local community in this renegade of a club.
As the players could be clearly heard shouting to each other in the eerily empty stadium, not a lot happened in the opening moments of the game. But with five minutes gone, full-back Tennai Watson latched onto Warren O’Hora’s smart pass and weaved his way through the Shrimps’ defence before unleashing a shot which was Connor Ripley did well to push away to his right for a corner. From this, Ethan Robson’s effort was clawed away by Ripley only for Jack Tucker to strike the rebound against the post with the away goalkeeper beaten. The visiting defence then managed to belatedly clear the ball.
Morecambe offered nothing going forward as the home team continued to dominate the play and won another corner after twelve minutes which came to nothing. They won another corner five minutes later and central defender O’Hora smashed the loose ball home after the Morecambe defence had played head tennis in their own area instead of clearing the ball up the field.
Liam Gibson made a poor header after twenty minutes which Darragh Burns walloped only just over the bar as Gibbo tried to atone for his mistake with an attempted block.
Morecambe won their first corner kick of the evening on their right after twenty-four minutes. But this was completely wasted.
Clearly unhappy with the languid performance he had witnessed so far, King Derek made a double substitution after only half an hour. Defenders Ryan Delaney and Anthony O’Connor were withdrawn in favour of forwards Dylan Connolly and Adam Mayor as the Manager clearly wanted his team to go for broke in a match where they had showed no attacking bite whatsoever so far. Mayor – prompted by Caleb Watts with a good pass – immediately made his way into the opposition penalty area and aimed a cross towards Kieran Phillips which home custodian Jamie Cumming plucked out of the air without too much trouble. That was as much as he had to do all night.
In the sterile atmosphere generated by so few fans, the rest of the half basically meandered to an end as neither team showed any real spark or determination to get a proper grip on proceedings. Having said that, the home team always looked the better of the two sides and home custodian Cumming had no difficult shots to save throughout the entire pretty tedious 46 minutes.
Morecambe thus needed to improve markedly in the second half if they were going to stand any chance of turning things around and potentially win the glamour tie which might fill their coffers with filthy lucre from TV deals and whatnot in the next round of the League Cup.
Cole the No Goal So Far Stockton was sent into the fray in the second half as Caleb Watts was withdrawn. Coke hasn’t scored in any competition since Good Friday and his body language and performances so far don’t do him any favours as he doesn’t look properly fit and clearly is not committed to the cause any more. Tonight, he again offered very little.
The game almost immediately went from bad to worse for the visitors as substitute Matthew Dennis increased the Plastic People’s lead with just five minutes of the second period played. It could have been worse – Farrend Rawson tried to pull the forward down as last man Dennis set himself to score and could have faced a red card as a result. Ryan Cooney then deflected another rebound from Dennis just wide of the post after Ripley had saved his initial shot after 53 minutes. It could so easily have been an own goal.
With three forwards on the pitch, Morecambe still failed to make any impact whatsoever on the Milton Keynes defence. They won a corner after 63 minutes but this was booted straight into touch. And this was basically as good as it got all night.
Despite what Derek Adams said after the game, the MK Cuckoos are not a good side – the league table does not lie. But they didn’t have to be to win this evening. Ripley did well to dive on the ball as Dennis chased substitute Matthew Smith’s Route One ball over the top with 76 minutes played. Two minutes later, the big away stopper did well again to save a shot from another MK replacement – Daniel Oyegoke this time. At the other end, though, Cumming was again never tested.
So Morecambe yet again failed to become one of the final sixteen teams in this competition. For the Plastic People, tonight’s win was more like a training match than a proper test against a team in the same Division. The Shrimps were utterly pathetic tonight and gave in with barely a whimper. With the hope of extra funds from Cup runs well and truly evaporated, Derek Adams needs to find a way to galvanise the men he already has into trying to stay in League One. If this performance is any guide, they won’t do so.
King Derek, however, is forever the optimist. After the game, he was brutally honest about what happened earlier:
“We were beaten by a far better team than us. I’d just like to apologise to supporters tonight. We have no complaints. It’s just unfortunate tonight that our players – my players – didn’t make a good account of ourselves. That sometimes happens.”
Plastic Milton Keynes: 1 Jamie Cumming; 2 Tennai Watson (12 Daniel Oyegoke 45’); 4 Jack Tucker; 5 Warren O’Hora; 8 Ethan Robson; 10 Mohamed Eisa (Y) (30 Matthew Dennis 45’); 14 Bradley Johnson (28 Dawson Devoy 65’); 16 Conor Grant; 20 Darragh Burns (7 Matthew Smith 65’); 22 Henry Lawrence; 33 Zak Jules.
Subs not used: 11 Nathan Holland; 17 Daniel Kemp; 19 Louie Barry; 21 Daniel Harvie; 23 Franco Ravizzoli.
Morecambe: 1 Connor Ripley (C); 4 Liam Gibson (Y); 5 Farrend Rawson; 6 Ryan Delaney (11 Dylan Connolly 31’); 15 Jensen Weir; 16 Jacob Bedeau; 17 Caleb Watts (Y) (9 Cole Stockton 45’); 20 Liam Shaw; 21 Ryan Cooney; 22 Anthony O’Connor (25 Adam Mayor 31’); 23 Kieran Phillips (8 Ousmane Fané 61’).
Subs not used: 12 Adam Smith;; 14 Arthur Gnahoua; 19 Jon Obika.
Ref: Ben Toner.
Att: 3,000+ of which about 120 were from Morecambe. Well done to everyone concerned.
