Notts County waited until the first minute of stoppage time to grab a deserved equaliser which ended their unbeaten sequence and broke MK Dons' hearts at the same time.
Like the earlier clash at the National Hockey Stadium, this was a rousing affair which reached a thrilling climax as the game went into four added minutes.
Not only did Notts get their second goal, but Junior Mendes struck a post within moments of it and, even then, the Dons were not finished and Saul Deeney had to save from Aaron Wilbraham.
Justice was done in the finish but such an outcome seemed most unlikely when the Dons went into a two-goal lead with little over half an hour played.
First a Notts attack broke down when Andy Parkinson fed Austin McCann with a poor pass which Izale McLeod took in his stride, raced down the touchline and squared perfectly for Lloyd Dyer to finish with the simplest task.
The Dons struck again six minutes later with a rather more fortunate goal. A free-kick 20 yards out was taken by Dean Lewington and a wicked deflection carried it wide of Deeney.
But, with Notts fearing a two-goal deficit at the break, a penalty hauled them back into the contest. Jason Lee was hauled down by Sean O'Hanlon for what looked like a soft award.
That made no difference to Notts midfielder Jay Smith, who took his first spot-kick since joining from Southend and finished coolly.
With the Dons appearing prepared to settle back in the second-half, Notts became increasingly menacing and first Smith and then Lee wasted equalising opportunities.
Midfielder Ian Ross went closer on 87 minutes by also firing a shot against the frame of the goal.
The biggest disappointment for the Dons was that in a first-half collision, midfielder Paul Mitchell was injured and had to be stretchered off with a suspected broken leg. |
