Charlie fires in last-gasp winner to seal thriller
MK DONS never know when they are beaten according to manager Russell Martin, after Charlie Brown’s 88th-minute goal secured a dramatic comeback win over Northampton Town.
“I am really pleased we won, but there is a lot to learn and we can’t be that poor again,” Martin said.
“We got away with it today, but we would have lost that game a while ago so to comeback and show that character is something we need to keep showing and keep building.
“We have real momentum, which is brilliant. The guys don’t know when they’re beaten, that’s for sure.
“Their mentality and togetherness is growing all the time and their resilience has really improved in the time we’ve been here, which is down to their belief and work they’ve put in.”
Northampton opened the scoring in only the second minute when Mark Marshall’s free-kick was volleyed in by Fraser Horsfall.
The hosts equalised ten minutes later as Andrew Surman struck a fierce first-time volley from the edge of the area past Jonathan Mitchell.
And MK Dons were ahead in the 34th minute when Will Grigg curled a low shot into the bottom right corner.
Ryan Watson levelled the scores for Northampton seconds after halftime as the midfielder dribbled into the area and drilled a low shot into the net.
The topsy-turvy game changed again when Northampton reclaimed the lead 12 minutes from time as Marshall’s free-kick was flicked in by Peter Kioso.
But Cameron Jerome equalised for the Dons with ten minutes left when he raced on to a long ball and fired a firsttime shot home.
And the home side scored the winner with two minutes of normal time left as Brown fired in Daniel Harvie’s cross at the near post.
Northampton caretaker boss Jon Brady believes his side got “carried away” when they took the lead late on, failing to control the end of the game as they continue to search for a first league win of 2021.
“The problem is with us, because we haven’t been in this position for a while, we got carried away and wanted to keep attacking,” he said.
“We should have defended better first and foremost.”