Laurence Lowne provides his four takeaways as AFC Wimbledon made hard work of seeing off non-league Guiseley
Wimbledon made heavy work of negotiating the proverbial banana skin of this first round FA Cup tie, when Guiseley AFC from National League North came visiting Plough Lane.
A single goal by a fit again Ollie Palmer settled the tie.
All the good football was played in the first half, and the second half saw neither side attempt to get into third gear.
Wimbledon head Mark Robinson was as disappointed as fans in his post-match interview.
Here are Laurence Lowne’s four takeaways:
WELCOME RELIEF
Palmer was calm and collected after he controlled a bobbling ball, brought it under control, advanced into the penalty box, patiently waited for the Guiseley keeper Brad Wade to go to ground before stepping around him and slotting the ball home.
It was a single bit of quality, and made up for the only other positive play some 37 first-half minutes earlier.
DEFENCES DOMINATE
Anthony Hartigan had a tame shot on target which drew a run-of-the-mill save while Dons defender Ben Heneghan was head and shoulders above everything that came his way. A fine man of the match performance.
Guiseley looked to play football, which rather belied their lowly position in the league table, and their noisy supporters made themselves heard all through the afternoon. It added to the atmosphere.
LITTLE ADVANTAGE PLAYED BY THE REF
A rather over-officious approach from referee Martin Woods continually broke up play, and he attempted to make up for it by adding and playing 12 minutes extra – dishing out a string of yellow cards into the bargain.
Wimbledon’s Ayoub Assal was the target of some robust challenges, as usual, which the referee deemed fair and Guiseley as a result kept him under a tight leash.
A CLEAN SHEET AND INTO THE NEXT ROUND
Wimbledon’s Nik Tzanev had a string of low crosses in the first half to deal with. Guiseley pushed more of their big players forward in the second half and the keeper took many crosses off the heads of strikers.
A welcome clean sheet.
Now the club and supporters await the draw on Monday evening to find out their second round opponents.
PICTURES: ROB AVIS
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