I NEVER WANT TO SPEND ONE MOMENT IN MILTON KEYNES EVER AGAIN, truly it is a horrible place.
It all started so well. Freddie looked as if he was carrying on his great form, then, after good work by Bradbury, Goater scored a comedy goal, scuffing his shot but somehow the ball looped up then down again as it past the Dons keeper somehow ending up in the back of the net.
At that stage with the Dons defence looking all over the place an easy three points looked on the cards.
However, as the wind got stronger and the weather got colder, if that was possible, Dons Gary Smith, only three short minutes later, cut inside 30 meters out and let loose with a terrific swerving shot that gave Darryl no chance.
So one all, but it would only be a matter of time before we took control again.
Sadly, it was never to be as the Dons took to the conditions like, err, Emperor Penguins in the North Pole, or maybe not, but they took to them a damn sight better than us considering the league positions.
Our normal passing game just fell apart as one unforced error followed another. The lose of Maher just before the game was certainly a factor along with the weather, Bentley did not look match fit. Our goal scoring machines known as Che Wilson never got out of his half while the other one, that bloke Freddie, fell away as the game passed him by.
On saying all that a draw still looked likely after a poor second half and would have been a reasonable result on the day until a smart move on the right led to a hard, low cross, impossible to defend against in the conditions, was met at the far post by Scott Taylor and with 10 minutes left the points were MK's. (Offside? Personally, no.)
Gray came on for Goater and huffed and puffed a bit but it was not to be.
A big crowd away from home, it was to become Oxford away all over again but, this time, we have a few more games to go and I have no doubt this team will not let us down, we can afford this, but probably only one more time, Hartlepool has become a bigger game than maybe we thought it would be after the Goats goal.
More than ever, especially with the bloke in front of me in mind, “I didn't come all this way to see this rubbish!!!),
COME ON YOU BLUES!
Chris Daniels
Ratings:
Flahavan 7 – Neither goal his fault and kept well considering the awful conditions.
Jupp 6 – Not a bad game but kept on the back foot by the battling MK forwards
Wilson
Barrett 6 – Not at his best but a tough game for the battling centre half
Sodje 7 – Once again the best Southend player on the pitch, gave everything and, to his great credit in the swirling wind, kept winning the ball in the air
Bradbury 6 – Good first half but, like a lot of his team mates, found the going tough in the second half.
Bentley 5 – Another showing in the reserves would have been good for Mark, a horrible game to come back to after injury.
Guttridge 6 – His usual bustling niggling game but without the high class passing and movement, for once he missed Maher instead of it being the other way round. Did not get a yellow card, I think, so a bonus of sorts!
Gower 5 – Yet another frustrating performance from the former Barnet man, must get into the game more especially when other members of the team are not at their best.
Goater 6 – Another game, another goal and tried his best to get players around him involved but faded in the second half while Gray (6) had a run with 15 minutes left.
Eastwood 5 – Disappointing after his recent run, especially in the second half, but will be back, hopefully on Saturday.