Michael Flynn did his best to keep calm in the wake of one of the most frustrating nights of the season for him as he saw his side fluff their lines in the big dress rehearsal for Saturday’s FA Cup showdown with mighty Manchester City.
“We created enough chances to win five games, but we didn’t win one. That’s why we are a mid-table team,” was Flynn’s honest post-match assessment.
“The effort was fantastic and there were some outstanding bits of play, but it would have been nice to finish them off. When you have that many chances, gilt edged as well, you can see why we don’t kill teams off.
“There have been a number of times this season when I’ve said we haven’t been ruthless enough in both boxes. That was it again tonight, even though we were by far the better team.
“We put in 27 crosses into the box in the first half. On the law of averages you are going to score off one or two of them. It was a frustrating night.”
An 88th minute sucker punch from MK Dons substitute Chuks Aneke allowed the visitors to ride their luck and escape with three points with a 1-0 win at Rodney Parade that lifted them up to fourth place in League Two as they ended County’s six match unbeaten home run.
Four times Newport hit the woodwork and, in the first half alone, they failed to convert any of those 27 crosses pumped into the MK Dons’ box.
Just when they needed a morale booster before taking on one of the best football teams on the planet, they came up short.
But the boss wasn’t bitter. He took it in his stride, knowing full well that his team of Cup fighters will be ready to step up to the mark on Saturday night in front of a sold-out Rodney Parade.
“It is something to look forward to on Saturday, but it is a disappointing way to go into it because we were the better team tonight,” added Flynn.
“We don’t get too carried away when we win or too despondent when we lose. It would have been much better going into the game on Saturday with three points behind us.
“Sometimes it just isn’t your night and it definitely wasn’t tonight. That said, we need to be more ruthless. If we had taken a quarter of our chances we would have been out of sight.”
Jamille Matt was guilty of heading past both posts and then missing a sitter just before the break with the goal at his mercy. Mickey Demetriou headed against the bar and his centre back partner Fraser Franks header over from five yards.
The big danger for the home side was being caught on the break and MK Dons, fighting to get back into the play-off places in League Two, carved out a number of chances that certainly won’t be missed on Saturday when Sergio Aguero, Raheem Sterling and Kevin de Bruyne head to Rodney Parade.
Callum Brittain blasted over from just inside the box shortly before Alex Gilbey forced Day to dive full length to make his first save. David Wheeler then glanced the post with Day beaten and Conor McGrandles had two big chances after the break.
County thought they had taken the lead five minutes after the re-start when Tyreeq Bakinson rattled the cross bar from 30 yards and Franks hit the post from a corner. Then came the sucker punch at the death.
