AFC Wimbledon 2 Oxford 1 – Ex-Millwall man’s dismissal key as Dons make it four wins on spin for first time since 2016

BY DANIEL MARSH

AFC Wimbledon staged a dramatic second-half fightback to seal a 2-1 victory over Oxford United – continuing their remarkable surge towards League One survival.

A 52nd-minute strike from Josh Ruffels had given the visitors a slender advantage, but that was wiped out in a frantic four-minute spell at Plough Lane. Joe Pigott drew the Dons level with a 62nd-minute penalty after James Henry was dismissed for handball, with Alex Woodyard scoring again just two minutes later to cap the comeback.

It’s now four wins on the spin for Wimbledon – a feat they’ve never managed in League One and last achieved back in their promotion season in April 2016.

The visitors started well, with Henry producing a deft piece of skill to beat his man in the area but Nik Tzanev produced a good stop to deny the ex-Millwall man.

This was a meeting of two sides who topped the League One scoring charts for the month of April so far – with Oxford’s return of 15 goals slightly ahead of the Dons’ 12.

But neither side could find the golden touch in front of goal in the first half.

Unfortunately for Wimbledon, Oxford would only need seven minutes of the second half to add to their tally of goals for the month.

A low strike from the edge of the box by Ruffels seemed to creep beyond Tzanev and into the far corner to leave the Dons with work to do.

It could have been even worse just minutes later – Cameron Brannagan tried to catch Tzanev out with an audacious free-kick from just inside the Wimbledon half, and it needed the New Zealander to make the save.

The game was turned on its head just after the hour mark, when a Dons corner led to a frenzied scramble which saw Henry dismissed for a handball on the goal-line.

Pigott made no mistake, sending Jack Stevens the wrong way from the spot for his 20th goal of the season to draw Wimbledon level with a man advantage for the final half an hour.

Just two minutes later the Dons were ahead – a quick break saw the ball fall to Woodyard at the edge of the box and the skipper made no mistake, lashing the ball home to complete the turnaround.

Substitute Ryan Longman came close to making it three after a super solo run, but his finish just flashed wide of the post.

But a third wasn’t needed, as the Dons saw out five minutes of added time to nudge ever closer to survival.

PICTURE: KEITH GILLARD