Fleetwood Town suffered their second loss in a row after a disappointing performance against MK Dons...
A hat-trick from Ryan Colclough and a penalty from Dean Bowditch put the away side in a control and even though Bobby Grant pulled one back twenty minutes from time, it was too much for the Cod Army to pull back.
Town made two changes to the side that lost against Rochdale last weekend as Ash Hunter and Jimmy Ryan came in for Devante Cole and Victor Nirennold. MK Dons made one change to their side as Nicky Maynard started ahead of Ben Reeves.
The first chance of the game came from the wing as Hunter crossed the ball in towards David Ball who jumped above the defender but couldn’t guide his header goal bound.
Shortly after the visitors opened the scoring. Colclough cut inside from the left wing and swung a right footed shot into the bottom right corner, picking up a deflection off Nathan Pond on the way in.
The next major chance came in the 25thminute as Amari’i Bell tried his luck from the edge of the box. He struck a left-footed shot well but it flew high over the bar.
player to represent Fleetwood in the Football League.thThere was a stoppage in play just before the half hour mark as Chris Long dropped to the ground, he was eventually replaced by debutant Alex Jakubiak. The on-loan Watford striker became the 100
Town almost equalised two minutes from the half as Pond connected with a Ball corner but his header clipped the top of the bar and left the game at 1-0 to the visitors.
In the 45thminute, Grant had a gilt-edged chance to put the game on even terms as Hunter teed up Grant inside the box but his shot soared just over the bar.
At the start of the second half, Colclough ran to the outside of Conor McLaughlin and struck the ball towards Chris Neal but the ‘keeper couldn’t keep hold of the ball and Pond had to clear.
The Dons pilled on the pressure as Nicky Maynard drove into the Town box but his attempt was saved well by Neal.
In the 60thminute, The Dons were awarded a penalty as Ryan took down Bowditch in the box. He picked himself up and struck the penalty into the bottom right corner of the net to double the away sides lead.
In the 65thminute, Grant lobbed in a free-kick from the left wing which only needed a touch but no-one could get there.
Colclough picked up his second of the afternoon in the 68thminute as he was picked out by David Martin’s long ball from the back. He beat his man on the outside and drilled it into the near post.
Town got a goal back just a minute later as Grant tried his luck from the edge of the box and David Martin pushed it into his own net.
Substitute Cole almost brought the deficit down to one as he paced his way through the MK Dons defence but his shot went just wide of Martin’s goal.
Colclough earned his hat-trick with the last chance of the game after Town gave away their second penalty of the game. Substitute Martyn Woolford took down George Baldock in the box and Colclough tucked the penalty into the bottom right corner of the net.
FTFC:Chris Neal, Conor McLaughlin, Nathan Pond, Ashley Eastham, Amari’i Bell, Kyle Dempsey (Martyn Woolford, 86’), Jimmy Ryan, Bobby Grant, David Ball, Chris Long (Alex Jakubiak, 28’), Ashley Hunter (Devante Cole, 63’).
UNUSED SUBS:Alex Cairns, Michael Duckworth, Cian Bolger, Eggert Jonsson.
CCFC:David Martin. George Baldock, Joe Walsh, Paul Downing, Dean Lewington, Ed Upson, Darren Potter, Dean Bowditch (Samir Carruthers, 73’), Kieran Agard, Nicky Maynard, Ryan Colclough George C. Williams, 91’).
UNUSED SUBS:Lee Nicholls, Ben Reeves, George B Williams, Jack Hendry, Kabongo Tshimanga.
REFEREE:Robert Jones
Ass. REFEREES:).thBilly Khatib, Gary Hilton, Natalie Aspinall (4
Attendance: 2,518