By Simon Wright – Follow
me on Twitter @Siwri88
On Saturday,
I went to my first football match in over six years. That might sound quite
surprising considering my football knowledge and passion for the game but that
has been the case due to the cost of matchday tickets, being away at University
and having a retail job on a Saturday until around 18 months ago.
While
Liverpool FC is my club, getting to Anfield isn’t easy and the ticket price is
too expensive to even consider going. Therefore the alternative is going to
see my local team and that is the League One outfit Milton Keynes Dons.
This weekend,
the Dons played host to Coventry City at Stadium MK, so it was a chance to go
and see a match in the stadium that has hosted England Under-21 games in the
past and will stage group matches at the 2015 Rugby World Cup.
The stadium
is top class and arguably the best in League One. The modern facilities wouldn’t
look out of place in the Premier League if MK Dons got there one day. It always
helps when attending games, to visit grounds that give top treatment,
particularly those who are in the middle tier of the Football League and are
striving to go a step further.
The game
itself was a crucial one for both teams after a tough week for the clubs. Dons
had lost 3-2 at home to Bradford City seven days earlier before a terrible
display at Colchester had ended in a 3-1 defeat last Tuesday. It had been worse
for Coventry, battered 5-1 by Tranmere Rovers and then outplayed by Rotherham
United to lose 3-1 a few nights later.
The first
half never really got going. Both sides seemed to be lacking confidence and it
showed with few clear cut goalscoring opportunities. Right on the stroke of
half-time, the home side won a penalty. Typically, all of the goals were scored
down at the Coventry end of the ground so I couldn’t get the best view from the
other side but it looked like a dubious spot-kick to be honest. Nevertheless,
it was coolly converted by Shaun Williams to give the hosts a narrow advantage
going into the interval.
Whatever Sky
Blues boss Steven Pressley said at half-time, it rallied the visitors who took
complete command of the second half and were only denied in the opening
exchanges by some strong defending from the Dons. Eventually the pressure
toiled as Chris Dagnall scored a slightly fortunate equaliser in the 66th
minute.
A second half
winner looked more and more likely from Coventry and I could tell that the
atmosphere in the ground from the home end was getting more tense and
frustrating, despite the rallying calls of ‘Come on you Dons’ from the
determined faithful.
Coventry’s
reward came four minutes from the end as Chris Maguire; signed on loan in
midweek from Sheffield Wednesday struck a brilliant free-kick that
current Premier League dead ball specialist Yaya Toure would have been proud
of. To show that was no fluke, Maguire produced an even better free-kick in
stoppage time to seal a 3-1 win for Coventry.
By this
stage, the ground was very quiet at my end, with many heading for
the exit gates. On the touchline, Karl Robinson looked crestfallen. With a third
consecutive defeat to ponder, this is his most difficult time at the club since
taking over from Paul Ince three and a half years ago. Closer to relegation
than promotion, the Dons play-off chances already look doomed before Christmas.
There was an
attendance of nearly 15,000 at Stadium MK and I have to say the atmosphere was
brilliant. Coventry’s supporters deserve great credit as they brought a record
crowd for an away team to a League One match. There was barely an empty seat in
their stand and while their fans desert the temporary ‘home’ of Sixfields in
Northamptonshire for understandable reasons, they really get into the spirit at
visiting grounds in League One and make the most of it. There was great banter
between the sets of supporters. Some Dons fans chanting ‘You’re just a small
club playing in Northants’ and ‘AFC Coventry’ in the opening exchanges but by
the end of the 90 minutes, there was only one team in charge on the pitch and
in the stands. When I got up to leave on the full-time whistle, I applauded the
Coventry fans because they made the occasion even better. I can only wish them
well for the rest of the season and hope the issue regarding their ground
situation will be solved because playing at Sixfields is ridiculous.
The final
result for my local side was massively disappointing but it was a great buzz to
be back at a football match this weekend and it is something I will look into
doing later in the season. The atmosphere of a normal League One match is often
tremendous and this fixture beat that. The ‘unofficial’ local derby exceeded
those expectations and well and truly stood up to the Football League’s slogan
which is the ‘league for the fans.’
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