MK Dons were held to a 1-1 draw by Bristol City on Saturday much to the frustration of youth boss Mike Dove.
Charlie Collins’ 33rd-minute opener – his 13th goal of the season – was cancelled out by a Pat Sayce header but, having seen his side miss a host of good chances, Dove felt his men would have been value for a victory.
The home side looked shaky in the opening minutes but recovered well after both Sayce and Joe Lennox had chances to put City ahead.
With Martel Powell and Justin Dowling both heavily influencing the game Tom Bradley in the City goal had to stay alert but in the 33rd minute he was helpless to stop the Don’s going ahead.
After some excellent hold-up play from Powell, Bradley was the equal to George Baldock’s drive but could only parry into the path of Collins who tapped in from close range.
One nil at half time, The Don’s came out for the second half determined to double their advantage and when Powell combined with skipper Adam Chicksen, Collins went close to turning home a searching ball.
Powell and Collins both missed chances to extend the lead before Harrison was drawn into a rare piece of action, denying Lennox with a superb diving save and tipping over from the resulting corner.
But after Powell wasted a glorious opportunity following good work from George Williams down the right, Harrison was helpless to prevent Sayce levelling matters as he thumped home a header from a Lennox corner.
Speaking after the game, Youth Boss, Mike Dove, said:
“It should have been 3-0 by half-time; we should have been out of sight. But we’ll get the boys back onto the training ground on Monday and get on with it, working on the end product a bit more.”
He added:
“We go to Arsenal next but I’m not too worried. We’ve been there before and beaten them so we can do it again. We just have to make sure we work on our end product and take our chances better.”
