Colchester United slumped to 2-0 defeat at struggling League One side Milton Keynes Dons.

Phil Parkinson's charges were not at the races in the early stages of the game as they slipped to give the home side the advantage.

Both goalkeeper Dean Gerken and defender Sam Stockley were guilty of making mistakes to gift the Dons a lead with not even two minutes on the clock.

Gerken rushed off his line to challenge the on rushing Wade Small and missed out. Small managed to loop the ball over the teenager and it was headed goalwards.

Fortunately Sam Stockley was on hand to clear up, but he failed to do this and Ben Harding stole in to score from close range.

This shocked the U's and they were left further dumbfounded when the Dons struck again on 18 minutes.

This time it was Small who struck when he latched on to a flick on from debutant Clive Platt and broke the offside trap and score a simple side-foot effort.

Colchester had to dig in to try and create chances, but they were few and far between. Their efforts on target failed to trouble their opponents defence and Milton Keynes walked off deserved winners.

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Published Monday, January 17, 2005

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