MK Dons - Home, Falmer Years:
C'ship 15/16, season5 . '17 FA Cup . 17/18 onwards - Prem, no meetings.

ground: Stadium MK 30k . nickname: Dons . shirt: white.

EFL record from 11/12: 5 8 10 2 L1, 23 C, 12 / 23 L1, 3 L2, 18 13 3 21 L1, 4 L2 @ 4/5/24.
recent promo - '15 L1, '19 L2 . rel - '16 C, '18 '23 L1.

Season7 (H) onwards - not Premier League.

Albion v Dons (H) from 11/12 @ C: - < - 2-1 - . . W = 1 D = 0 L = 0
For Away Falmer Years results and reports scroll further below.
memorable match: Season5 (H) - Seagulls were on a historical long unbeaten run.

Season6 (H) 7/1/17 FA Cup r3 - 2-0 ~ Kayal, Hemed.
Dons came out of the hat with Charlton but eventually got past them in round2, when winning the replay, aet at home in mid December. We'd played MKD last season in the Championship, (see below) when their club was struggling to consolidate during that single season in the division. Chris Hughton was now expected to field a team made up of 'second string' players, although mindful of the need to progress into round4 - with perhaps a big club to knockout next time. Of the side that faced Dons previously, only Zamora & Crofts were no longer on the books, although Manu had gone on loan back in his native Holland. The squad was strong, with more or less two able men available for each position. Therefore a quality side was expected to be selected against the lowly L1 outfit. In the even Hughton made 11 changes, completely replacing the 11 that last tuned out in the Championship.
*** match report: Kayal made his first start after coming back from long-term injury and he opened the scoring with a shot from distance inside the first ten minutes as Seagulls made the running (9min). But the home display was far from superior during rest of the half and knew they had to up the ante during the second period. MKD posed a threat at times after the break but depite their forays forward there was no end product to register a goal scored. Kayal again was instrumental in the next goal, when crossing for Hemed to put the tie to beyond visitors with a clinical header (72 min). Hughton withdrew the midfielder with ten minutes left and Albion went thru to the 4th round without too much huff & puff. Hughton said, 'it was an opportunity to use the squad and I'm really delighted to get through a tough game. We got a lift from the early goal whiich settled our nerves and were fortunate to get the second at the right time. The Cup is an opportunity for us and we want to make progress.'
Maenpaa, Hunt, Goldson, Huenemeier, Adekugbe, March, Kayal (Ince), Sidwell, Murphy, Towell, Hemed.
Stats; h-t 1-0, goals 9, 72, poss 53%-47%, on target 6-3, off target 6-7, blocked 1-1, corners 4-5, o/s 2-0, fouls 12-15, yellows 0-2, subs 1-2 . att 11,091.

Season6 - not C'ship.

Season5 (H) Championship 7/11/15 - 2-1 ~ March, Murphy.
Brighton went into this match on verges of creating club history in the modern game. The start to this campaign had been memorable, as Albion took a clear lead in the division and put early points into the bag with every game. To date they had slipped slightly to third place by inferior goal difference but still remained undefeated in the Championship. Prior to kick-off, as part of Remebrance Day commemerations, manager Chris Hughton laid a wreath on the pitch during a period of silence by the assembled 23k crowd. Confidence was high that the unbeaten run would be maintained and become a new record of 16 sequential matches without loss in a season.
*** match report: Albion went two goals up from an intensive opening twenty minutes but conceded quickly afterwards and a possible rout turned into a much closer score. March first fired home from down range after a corner was cleared by Dons hard-pressed defence (5min). Seagulls continued to dominate play and Murphy added a second when picking up Baldock's pass inside the area (19min). But Dons hit back when Dunk could not prevent his man striking a low drive from outside the area to beat Stockdale's dive (23min). From then on, B'ton huffed & puffed, notched up impressive stats but could not score a third and put a one-sided match to bed. Baldock went off injured before the hour and Zamora came on. Ten minutes later Crofts arrived in midfield in lieu of the other wayward striker Hemed. Manu also got a run out for a few moments but none of these changes altered the final result. In truth, Stockdale prevented an equaliser with his foot and Ref turned down what appeared to be a penalty for visitors as they clung on more with hope than ability. Hughton said, 'we haven't swept other teams away and won games very comfortably. We've had to work very hard for every result and that shows a real lot of character in the team. It is a proud achievement and the manner in which we have done it makes them even more proud as a team.' Brighton fans went home happy, although mindful of inevitable defeat in future. And perhaps thinking Tony Bloom might consider another proven striker joining BHA on loan, to strengthern the squad sooner rather than later.
Stats; poss 54%-46%, on target 6-2, off target 12-4, blocks 3-1, corners 6-3, o/s 7-2, fouls 10-12, yellows 2-2.
Stockdale, Bruno, Huenemeier, Dunk, Rosenior, March, Kayal, Stephens, Murphy (Manu), Baldock (Zamora), Hemed (Crofts).
Champ's P16 . W9 D7 L0 . F21 A12 . Pt34 Po2 . W = 56.2% L = 0%

Season1 onwards - not C'ship.
* * * * *

Withdean Era: 12 seasons from 1999 to 2011 -
Seasons 10-12 08/9-10/11 - League One.
Season8 1/11/06 (H) - League Trophy R2.

Withdean era: Albion V Dons 2-4, 0-1, 2-0 . . . W = 1 D = 0 L = 2
4-1 EFL Trophy.
memorable match: Season10 (H) - the goals went in... but they got more.

see: seasons 8, 10-12 for clubs & stadiums info.

MK Dons - Away, Falmer Years:
C'ship 15/16, season5 . 17/18 onwards - Prem, no meetings.

Season7 onwards - not Premier League.

Dons v Albion (A) from 11/12 @ C: - < - 1-2 - . . W = 1 D = 0 L = 0
For Home Falmer Years results & reports scroll further up.
memorable match: Season5 (A) - our only visit to Stadium MK during the Falmer Years.

Season6 - not C'ship.

Season5 (A) Championship 19/3/16 - w 1-2 - Hemed 2.
As the season moved into the run-in and began to reach a climax with Easter approaching, it then suddenly stopped for a couple of weeks due to international football. The build up to this match saw Albion move above a play off place and aiming for a target of around 80 points come May. BHA away form was fairly consistent, being in reverse sequence, dwl dwl ddd ddw ddw dw. What Chris Hughton had to do now was find a forward in form, so tho he kept the same back 5 & m-f mostly, he'd rotated strikers and kept others on the bench ready to come on and do the biz. Seagulls were generally ok at keeping clean sheets but sometimes struggled up the far end. 442 was modus operandi and compared to previous campaigns, BHA was more of a counter attacking side - with pace in the front men and plenty of running. The old days of build slowly from the back with side to side passes was as dead as the brown ball & boots era. An estimated 7k mass of travelling support swelled the crowd to over 21k and enjoyed the afternoon in greater Milton Keynes.
*** match report: They say certain things change games and this contest had a couple or more. Hughton withdrew Baldock a little into the second period (52min) and Hemed made an immediate impact. First he was decked but netted the penalty (56min). Then he rose at Skalak's cross to head home (62min). Seagulls looked in control but Dons pulled one back from a header at a f-k (70min). Within moments a MKD defender got sent off for knocking Hemed about against rules & regs. Very late in the day the home unit missed their own spot kick and thus lost the match. Assistant manager Colin Calderwood said, 'the boys knew they had another level to go into the second half. It's the essence of a growing club when you can take that number of fans and know they will keep turning up in coming weeks.' Lady luck favoured visitors and if Albion were to gain promotion, it would have to play a positive part during April when the Championship resumed final stages.
Stats; poss 45%-55%, on target 4-5, off target 9-6, corners 7-4, fouls 9-15, o/s 1-3, yellow 1-7, red 1-0.
Stockdale, Bruno, Goldson, Dunk, Rosenior, Skalak (Sidwell), Stephens, Kayal, Murphy, Baldock (Hemed), Wilson (LuaLua).
Champ's P38 . W19 D14 L5 . F52 A35 . Pt71 Po2 . W = 50% L = 13.1%

Season1 onwards - not C'ship.
* * * * *

Withdean era: Seasons 10-12 08/9-10/11 - League One.

Withdean era: Dons V Albion 2-0, 0-0, 1-0 . . . W = 0 D = 1 L = 2
memorable match: Season11 (A) - last away game of another disappointing term.

Noughties last there - 26/2/11 (A) League One.
Three visits to Stadium MK at tail end of this extra long decade, while we waited for Falmer to be completed.

see: seasons 10-12 for clubs & stadiums info.