FA Cup 2nd Round report: MK Dons 3 – 1 Latics

Latics properly lived down to their billing at Stadium MK. I’ve seen Latics at Stadium MK almost every time they have played there. As I said in my preview on Friday, it has never been a pleasant experience. The average score is almost exactly MK Dons 3 – 1 Latics. (That includes four draws, which means I’ve seen Latics take some absolute pastings there over the year

The place was emptier than usual on Saturday. The car parks were busier than they were when the teams met in August because of Christmas shoppers, not football fans. The people of Milton Keynes aren’t put off by the fact that a football fixture is taking place at the local 30,000-seater stadium. The footfall isn’t significantly shifted one way or the other by an MK Dons game. The IKEA would have been Christmas-busy, likewise the other shops within the ground’s massive curtilage.

The side nearest the Latics fans in the north-east corner was totally empty: they might have moved supporters from that stand to somewhere else in the stadium, but it’s equally likely that those people had moved themselves to Primark and/or TGI Friday’s.

The official attendance is another bone of contention that demands further explanation. The announced figure was just north of 3,000 but, looking around at the rows, columns, blocks and entire stands of empty seats, you’d have to conclude that 3,000 looks a lot more like tickets issued as opposed to bums on seats. In any case, the stadium was officially nine tenths empty, like it is at Latics for Vertu trophy matches. Then again, we don’t know how many people were watching from hot tubs behind the darkened glass on the wraparound corporate level.

Because of manager Micky Mellon’s tendency to pick an eccentric line-up every now and then, with almost universally poor results, the announcement of the team an hour or so before the game has become a big focal point for Latics fans. The team and the matchday squad were fairly orthodox on Saturday (no alarm bells among the faithful). The question was whether they’d go for it against the League Two title favourites for a place in the FA Cup 3rd Round.

It's an enduring mystery of modern football – something doesn’t stack up, but everyone muddles along with it. Managers say they want to win every game, but that’s not what we see. It’s also true that some games are more important than others. Latics held MK Dons to a 0-0 draw here on the opening day of the season, which is as good a result as they’ve ever had in this horror ground, and the score in this match tells you everything you need to know about the relative importance of the game.

The scoring went 1-0, 2-0, 2-1, 3-1.

Latics had sold 710 tickets (at only £15 a pop for adults) as of Friday afternoon. The dropouts and the walk-ups probably evened themselves up. Why do they do it, the Latics fans? For me (I was in the stands on Saturday rather than the cossetted media area), it’s because Latics have to win there eventually, and I want to be there when it happens.

This is a false proposition. Latics do not have to win there. They could just as easily take beating after beating after beating off the worst club in football in the worst ground in football.

They might win there one day, but I won’t be there to see it. Never again.