Simon Grayson only made one change to the team that picked up that 2-0 away win against the Dons on Saturday and that was replacing the injured Scott Arfield with Kallum Higginbotham.
MK Dons immediately sought to eradicate the two goal deficit they had incurred from the first leg and within the first two minutes the lively Powell caused a mix up in the Huddersfield defence which Bennett had to clear. The Dons started passing the ball around as expected and it looked like it was going to be a nervy night for Town fans.
However it was the terrier who managed to get the first real chance of the game. Damien Johnson competed for the ball in the MK Dons penalty box and his knock down was found by Lee Novak who fired a shot wide of Martin's goal. The Dons were still looking impressive when they had the ball at their feet and Bennett had to be alert when some clever play saw the ball played behind Sean Morrison for Charlie MacDonald. Benno dived at the feet of the ex-Brentford striker to avert the danger but the signs of an MK Dons goal was starting to show.
With the ball being held well by MK Dons, it was to no surprise that the majority of the play was occurring within the Huddersfield half. Town did look the more threatening when attacking and got that vital first goal against the run of play when First leg goalscorers Hunt & Rhodes combined. Jack Hunt whipped in a freekick which Danny Ward superbly flicked on into the path of Rhodes. He made no mistake by cutely finishing the move with his weak left foot to put the the terriers into a three goal lead in the tie and a 1-0 lead on the night.
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| Jordan Rhodes slots home to give Huddersfield a three goal advantage in the tie |
The Huddersfield Town fans nerves had been settled and so had the players as they started to work much harder, putting pressure on the Dons and starting to play out the game a they wished for it to go on. The Galpharm was rocking with the noise being cranked up and things were looking a lot better now that a three goal lead was in place.
It looked like the tie was beyond MK Dons now but they continued to attack and were focusing the majority of their efforts down the right wing where the pacey Powell was but it was Dean Bowditch who threatened the terrier with a goal bound curling shot that fortunately deflected off Peter Clarke and out for a corner. Nothing came from the corner but moments later Grayson was forced into a change as Ian Bennett stayed down after defending a low cross from Bowditch. Bennett was clutching his hand and after a few minutes he walked off the pitch to be replaced by Towns number one goalkeeper Alex Smithies.
After the majority of possession in the first half, the Dons got their reward when Powell's curling effort swung round a fully stretched Smithies and into the corner of the goal. Powell killed the ball expertly on the edge of the box after an Adam Chicksen pass and his turn an shot was executed perfectly to reduce the terriers lead in the tie to just two.
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| Powell equalizes for MK Dons with a splendid effort |
Powell nearly went from goalscorer to provider just before half time when he burst down the right flank and sent an excellent ball into the box which MacDonald managed to get to but his effort skimmed the post after being made tough by Sean Morrison. The scoreline remained 1-1 at the interval and the Dons went in with new found hope after dominating the majority of the game and getting a deserved goal.
Karl Robinson's men came out for the second half showing bundles of determination which was expected and they managed to get behind the terriers defence when Potter slipped a ball through which MacDonald latched on to. He was one on one with Smithies but drastically failed to hit the target with his effort to the relief of the home crowd. It was a clear cut chance for the Dons to grab another goal and one that should of been taken by MacDonald.
Huddersfield were being pinned back into their own final third but a clever intervention by Jack Hunt and a quick pass to Highinbotham kick started a fast flowing terriers attack. Higginbotham held the ball up well and then released Hunt who latched onto the ball and found himself with a golden opportunity to finish the game off. With just Martin to beat, Hunt attempted to curl the ball around the goalkeeper but although the shot had perfect power, it was straight at Martin and the Dons were kept in the tie.
Huddersfield slowly tried to kill the game off by attempting to keep the ball but it was their final pass that was letting them down And giving possession back to the lively MK Dons. Some great play by Higginbotham saw his wing to wing pass brilliantly brought down by Danny Ward who volleyed the ball across the face of the Dons goal, just inches away from the forward rushing Rhodes.
Karl Robinson then decided it was time to throw on the attacking players he had on the bench in the forms of Luke Chadwick & Jabo Ibehre. It seemed like if Huddersfield could weather this Final storm from MK Dons they could well be getting themselves to Wembley.
MK Dons carried on trying to grab another goal to close the deficit even more and a few minutes later Grayson decided it was time for a substitute of his own. He brought on Anton Robinson for midfielder Tommy Miller who had had a good game for the terriers. With time slowly running out for the Dons, Karl Robinson throw everything at Huddersfield by replacing MacDonald by ex-Leeds and Man Utd midfielder come striker Alan Smith.
Although the Dons were pressing forward, they continued to fail to test Alex Smithies in the goal for the terriers and when the ball dropped to Ibehre on the edge of the box he carried on the theme by smashing it high and wide of the goal. Another substitute quickly followed from Grayson as he replaced Kallum Higginbotham by Tom Clarke.
The Dons finally tested Smithies when Ibehre got up to head at goal and when Smithies saved this, Powell followed it up with second attempt but this was saved on the line by that man Smithies again. Finally the terriers gave way and deep into stoppage time the Dons grabbed a goal from substitute Alan Smith when he headed it into the corner of the goal from a Dons corner.
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| Smithies is helpless as Smith slides in to header home in the dying minutes for the Dons |
However, it was too late for MK Dons and soon after the restart the referee blew for full time. Huddersfield Town fans invaded the pitch and it was the terriers who will be making the trip to Wembley on May 29th !
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