Que Sera! Town destroy Dons to break 5 Year Carling Cup Curse

There was surprise optimism amongst the faithful following the sinking of the Swindon ship at the weekend. The sun had finally broken through setting up for a perfect evening of football. And perfect wasn't so far from the truth as it was the West Country buccaneers who would take all of the spoils after 90 minutes.

With the sweet taste of amber nectar still filling my mouth, we bore down on stadium:mk. Far from vast in numbers following our dismal 5-0 defeat, it would take a lot to make ourselves heard tonight, especially if things weren't to go our way. Amidst chants of "they're here, they're there, they're fucking everywhere; empty seats, empty seats!" the game got underway. An army with seemingly renewed vigour were leading by example; amazing what 72 hours can do. With wave upon wave of red shirted attacks raining down for 41 minutes, a sharp eye from Mr. Jon-Paul McGovern spotted the Dons' shot stopper Willy Gueret off his line. A cheekily sublime 40-yard lob would be what separates the two sides as the equally buoyant Robins' team and supporter make their way for half-time refreshments.

The gaffer's half-time team talk must have been a simple one; "More of the same lads". And the team heeded the Messiah's words and for another 8 minutes the ball was locked in Swindon's opposition's half. Frustration amongst the few MK followers was now visible. However, against the run of play a rare MK break led by Lewis Gobern caught Swindon on the back foot and with a rush of blood to the head, Jean-Francois Lescinel hacked down Gobern in the area after being turned inside-out. MK Dons had been gifted a penalty and what would lead from it? A 53rd minute lifeline and route back into the game which had looked more and more impossible. The classy Jermaine Easter stepped up and calmly slotted the ball away.

The Robins' season just passed was plagued with leads being relinquished and on too many occasions the boys were accused of not having the bottle to win games. The people needed someone to stand up, grab the team by its metaphorical balls and carry them through to victory. We needed a hero. I will be the first to admit I didn't think our hero would come in the mould of the lanky, part-Ghanaian defender Kevin Amankwaah. 3 minutes after the Dons' equaliser, Amankwaah dug deep finding a burst of energy and his long legs carried him 60 or so yards down the right side of the pitch. A quick look up and a sly pass from right to left found Swindon's lone striker Billy Paynter, who took one touch before unleashing a shot which made its way past Willy Gueret and catapulted Town back into a well deserved lead.
It had been 5 years since Swindon had won a Carling Cup game, but the breaking of this bane was sealed on the 71st minute when the audacious Anthony McNamee charged down the left wing and tried a cheeky chip towards the danger zone between striker and keeper. Gueret made the early decision to enter no man's land to make what should have been a simple claim and catalyst for a Don's counter attack. Due to some twist of fate Gueret fumbled the catch due to what only could have been a misjudgement of flight, thus allowing Paynter to net his second of the night with a simple tap-in.

A jolly rendition of Que Sera emanated from the away section in between jesting chants of "Dodgy Keeper" and "There's only one Willy Gueret". But the only Jesters tonight seemed to be Gueret and his merry band of men. 3 minutes on from the Dons' keeper's previous gaff, 18 year old Lloyd Macklin floated a ball to the far post. The lad had been bruised and beaten for 73 minutes previous by the Dons' defenders so revenge was extra sweet when his teasing ball caused a mix-up between keeper and defence, and David McCracken's feeble header back to Gueret caught the eccentric Frenchman by surprise and the ball squirmed into the back of his net for the 4th time.

The jubilant Swindon faithful erupted into celebration and applauded what had been a gutsy display from youngster Macklin. Calls of "We want 5!" were nearly granted as Timlin looked to test Gueret's gloves for traces of butter, but his powerful shot snuck just wide of the post.

As the final whistle blew and the white shirted Dons evacuated the stadium, the travelling victors hung back for a joint standing ovation between fan, player and manager whilst bidding farewell to the stadium:mk with a joint chorus of "See you on Saturday!". I think even Sir Timothy Lovejoy would agree with me saying that if bouncebackability was in the dictionary, that was an example of it down to a T.