Watford saw their Carabao Cup adventure come to an abrupt end at Vicarage Road on Tuesday night, falling to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of an impressive MK Dons team.
Watford failed to create any big opportunities in a tightly contested affair, and goals from Matthew Dennis and Darragh Burns saw off their Championship-level hosts in a cool fashion.
Watford were seeking the opportunity to add some consistency to their form, having won just two of their last six games.
They made six changes to the side that drew at to Preston last time out, as Maduke Okoye, Mario Gaspar, William Troost-Ekong, Dan Gosling, Mattie Pollock and Joseph Hungbo entered the side in place of Christian Kabasele, Francisco Sierralta, Hamza Choudhury, Hassane Kamara, Ken Sema and Daniel Bachmann.
The Dons had come away the victor three times in their last six games, and fielded a stronger relative side than The Hornets with seven changes to the team that drew 1-1 with Accrington Stanley, as Daniel Harvie, Will Grigg, Matt Smith, Louie Barry, Darragh Burns, Dawson Devoy and Zak Jules started for the visitors.
Story of the Game
A cagey opening ten minutes saw the visiting side have the majority of the ball, and it was The Dons who fashioned the first half chance of the game when Louie Barry squeezed past Troost-Ekong and forced Okoye into a low save.
They were next to threaten with 18 minutes played, as a loose header from Troost-Ekong released Grigg in behind, but the Nigeria international did enough to spare his own blushes by putting the former Wigan striker off the chance.
In a game of few chances, it took until the half-hour mark for Watford to find their own, as a miscue at the back from The Dons allowed Vakoun Bayo a chance to strike from close range, but for a strong hand from Cumming to leave it dead behind him.
Bayo worked hard in the opening exchanges to make something happen from there as he was hacked down while running in behind, but the referee allowed play to continue.
Will Grigg's race was unfortunately ran soon after an unfortunate collision with a Watford shirt left him unable to continue, with Matthew Dennis coming on to replace him.
It was the visitors who got the goal that their energy warranted, as Dennis made an instant impact down the left wing to feed Barry with a clever pass down the channel, before making room for himself to latch onto his return ball to the back post and slide home, injuring himself off the goalpost in the process.
The second half saw more of the same caginess from the first, with neither side threatening until a dangerous ball from Barry wasn't quite connected with at the far post by Dennis.
They got their second goal not too long after however, as Darragh Burns picked up possession some twenty yards from goal with Henry Lawrence making a dummy run to his right, before lacing home a beauty past Okoye's outstretched glove into the bottom corner.
Watford started to come forward in search of a reply to their noisy guests, as some sharp footwork from Bayo teed him up for a strike from range, but it was comfortably collected by Cumming.
The Dons started to ease off the gas from there and focused more on defending their strong lead with Watford looking bereft of ideas, as Dawson Devoy flashed a ranged effort over the bar with 25 minutes to go.
Another effort came his way ten minutes later, as a headed clearance from Cathcart sat up nicely for a first time strike, but the midfielder couldn't keep it down as it rose into the Family Stand.
MK were nearly made to pay for their calmness with 75 minutes gone, as a sensational cross from substitute Ken Sema made it's way to Rey Manaj who was hauled down in the area, but referee Dean Whitestone waved away a stadiums’ worth of angered claims.
Youngster Joseph Hungbo failed to make much of an impact on his Watford debut, but showed spirit in the closing stages as the hosts threatened to revive themselves as he flashed a dangerous cross across the face of the goal with no takers.
Cumming was called into action with ten minutes left as Watford finally started to heat up, as Manaj forced the Dons stopper into a smart save from a tight angle as The Hornets started to get desperate.
Their desperation nearly resulted in total capitulation, as a neat give-and-go between Dennis and substitute Dan Kemp saw the latter force a stooping save out of Okoye.
The Dons made their way home with an impressive progression into the next round at the expense of higher league opposition and a clean sheet to match it on what turned out to be a memorable day for the visitors.
Player of the Match - Matthew Dennis
He kick-started the contest with a goal he made himself and ended it with being able to look back on a very strong performance off of the bench.
Strong in the air and unfazed on and off the ball, today's VAVEL Man of The Match goes to MK Dons' Matthew Dennis.