Milton Keynes Dons vs Preston North End. Sky Bet League One.
Stadium:MKAttendance8,009.
Saturday 17 December 2011 19:59, UK
Preston ripped up the form book as Paul Parry's strike earned North End a 1-0 win to end MK Dons' unbeaten home run.
With Graham Alexander and David Unsworth in temporary charge after Phil Brown's departure, North End arrived in Milton Keynes with just one win from their last 11 league matches. But they defended resolutely to protect the seventh-minute lead given to them by Parry to inflict a first defeat on the Dons at stadium:mk since April. Preston took the lead when Danny Mayor's superb cross from the right-hand side picked out Parry at the back post and he guided his header back across goalkeeper David Martin and into the far corner. Paul Coutts then struck the outside of a post for the visitors before Dons defender Mark Beevers did brilliantly to intercept Mayor's ball across goal with Neil Mellor waiting for a tap-in. Early in the second half, Preston keeper Thorsten Stuckmann did well to push away Stephen Gleeson's powerful volley as it looked destined for the bottom corner. The German then denied Luke Chadwick as the Dons desperately searched for an equaliser. But Karl Robinson's side would struggle to create any clear-cut openings after that, with Gleeson coming closest with a shot from the edge of the area that went narrowly wide.
