Brighton’s young players thrash the Dons, knocking them out of the Trophy.

MK Dons were eliminated from the Bristol Street Motors Trophy after being thrashed 4-0 by Brighton & Hove Albion U21s at Stadium MK.

Despite fielding a team heavily influenced by fringe first-teamers, the Dons produced a significantly below-par performance, capitulating in the second half and falling out.

Despite being tied at halftime, the hosts fell apart when Sammy Chouchane opened the scoring from the penalty spot five minutes after the restart, and Joe Knight doubled the lead with 22 minutes remaining.

With 10 minutes remaining, Dawson Devoy was sent off for bringing down Jamie Mullins, sparking two more late goals for Brighton, with Ruairi McConville and Sahil Bashir completing the humiliating night for Dons.

Mike Williamson named an attacking lineup with four recognized strikers to face the young Seagulls. Jonathan Leko would play as a wing-back behind Mo Eisa, Matt Dennis, and Ellis Harrison, who would lead the line. There was still room for youth, with Albert Wood and Keon Lewis-Burgess retained from the previous Trophy game against Northampton Town.

While the game against the Cobblers had an air of excitement due to the youth element, the game against Brighton lacked the same zeal. The Dons team, largely made up of first-team fringe players, did not appear to be on the same page, did not appear to be eager to take on Brighton’s youngsters, and their performance in the first 45 minutes reflected this.

The home side’s passing was poor, possession was easily given away, and while Brighton had by far the better chances in the first half, they were mostly created by Dons’ own hand.

keeper Michael Kelly‘s distribution put his side in danger on multiple occasions, but he had Anthony Stewart to thank twice for letting him off the hook, but he looked on hopeful as Louis Flower‘s strike thumped the bar after 17 minutes.

The young Seagulls, who first put Warren O’Hora on the Dons’ radar in the same competition in 2018, looked far more comfortable on the ball and in their surroundings, were by far the better side, and were perhaps unlucky not to be ahead at the break.

Things did not get much better for the Dons in the second half; in fact, they got much worse after just four minutes when Ellis Harrison was adjudged to have fouled a Brighton player in the penalty area, earning the visitors a spot kick, which Sammy Chouchane dispatched firmly to give them the lead.

Dons continued to cause themselves problems with loose passing and cheaply giving up possession in order to provide Brighton with chances they didn’t have to work for.

That was the case when the Seagulls doubled their lead on 68 minutes, as substitute Joe Knight skipped past two challenges before firing into the bottom corner from the edge of the box.

With so many first-team fringe players failing to make an impact, it would be a humiliating night for Dons, beginning with another sloppy pass from keeper Kelly, finding Jamie Mullins 20 yards from goal, leaving Dawson Devoy with little choice but to bring down the Brighton man on the edge of the box, earning him a red card and an early bath with 10 minutes to go.

From there, the wheels came off completely as Ruairi McConville and Sahil Bashir found the back of the net to further hammer home Brighton’s advantage and heighten the humiliation as Dons were eliminated from the Trophy.

Attendance: 789 (55)

Kelly, Smith (Stirland 83), Stewart, Wood, Leko (Anker 840, Burns, Lewis-Burgess, Devoy, Dennis, Eisa (Scholtz 64), Harrison (Silver 63) for MK Dons.

MacGillivray, Boyce, and Adepoju were not used as substitutes.

McGill, Hinchy (Knight 46), Chouchane Jackson, Nilsson (Tasker 82), Mullins, Duffus (Bashir 90), McConville, Slater, Peart (Ifill 74), Flower (Gorman 74),  for Brighton U21s:

Substitutes not used: Atom Cahill,

Booked: Duffus

Sent off: Devoy