MK Dons 2, Crawley Town 0: Reds end year with defeat on the road

Liam Kelly and Ade Adeyemo came into the starting up after the Gillingham win on Boxing Day.

After the 1-0 win over Colchester United on Boxing Day, Mike Williamson made two changes to his side for the final game of 2023 - Dawson Devoy and Conor Grant came in for Cameron Norman and Ethan Robson, while Jonathan Leko kept his place in the side.And they barely could have made a better start when Joe Tomlinson fired home his fifth goal of the season after just two minutes. Put in behind by Max Dean's sensational outside-of-the-boot pass in the centre circle, Tomlinson raced beyond Kellan Gordon to fire under keeper Corey Addai to give Don the lead.The reverse fixture back in August highlighted Crawley's fitness and press, and the game at Stadium MK showed distinct similarities barely had the ball hit the back of the net. The visitors were relentless in closing Dons down whenever they were on the ball, and it saw plenty of individual errors forced by the hosts.MJ Williams, Dawson Devoy and Jack Payne were all guilty of creating chances for Crawley by giving the ball away cheaply. Keeper Craig MacGillivray, who has been something of a spectator for large spells in games of late, needed to be on his mettle though. The stopper denied Danilo Orsi on two occasions, and made a brilliant stop to keep Gordon from firing in an equaliser after he replicated Tomlinson's earlier break in behind.Off-colour though they were, Dons still had a chance to further extend their lead when Conor Grant pulled the trigger from just inside the box, and a deflection threatened to put it beyond Addai again, only for the Crawley keeper to readjust as he was diving to claw the ball clear.Early changes in the second-half for Dons seemed to stem the tide initially, certainly the introduction of Ethan Robson gave them more midfield rigidity and structure, while Ellis Harrison gave them more of a target to aim at further forwards. And with those changes came chances for the home side too, but that second goal evaded them.

SEE ALSO 'Massive' - Crawley Town star highlights key aspect of Gillingham victory on Boxing Day | Crawley Town players praised for their character and desire in Gillingham winGilbey should have hit the target when he was picked out by Tomlinson, but slid wide, while Harrison almost made an immediate impact but shanked his effort well off target. MJ Williams too took aim from range, drawing a save from Addai, while Tomlinson nearly added a second from a tight angle too.Crawley though would ride out the storm and should have drawn with at least one of three great opportunities. Adam Campbell should have done better when he was faced with just MacGillivray to beat but was once more denied by the keeper, while Orsi headed wide from inside six yards and a goal-mouth scramble was somehow kept out by the Dons defence.The final ten minutes though would see everything fall apart for Crawley. With two players down through injury, Dons attacked on the right, with substitute Cameron Norman breaking, pulling back to find Gilbey to take a touch and rifle home the second with eight minutes remaining.The Red Devils would suffer another blow three minutes later when Laurence Maguire, booked in the first-half, picked up his second yellow card to reduce the visitors to ten men for the remainder.Keeper Addai was called into action three times in stoppage time to prevent Dons from further inflating the score, though victory was already secured.Referee: Ross JoyceAttendance: 5,945MK Dons: MacGillivray, Lewington, O'Hora, Williams, Tomlinson, Gilbey, Payne, Devoy (Robson 53), Grant (Harrison 53), Leko (Norman 78), Dean (Eisa 78)Subs not used: Kelly, Smith, TrippCrawley Town: Addai, Gordon (Roles 66), Ransom, Conroy (Mukena 88), Maguire, Adeyemo (Lolos 66), Wright, Darcy, Kelly, Campbell, OrsiSubs not used: Ashby-Hammond, Henry, Swyer, KhaleelBooked: Maguire, Dean, Grant, GilbeySent off: Maguire