AFC Wimbledon show defensive failings but substitutes help them squeeze past Harrogate to win 3-2
BY LAURENCE LOWNE
With Lee Brown not having recovered from his injury midweek, Alex Woodyard was restored to AFC Wimbledon’s midfield with Alfie Bendle on the bench.
Bendle had a great day, having passed his driving test in the morning and then going on to star in the latter part of the match.
The first half saw a bright start from AFC Wimbledon and Paul Klambayi put the Dons in front from an Ethan Chislett corner with a header in the 39th minute which nutmegged a defender and drifted beyond the reach of unsighted visiting keeper Pete Jameson.
It was the least Wimbledon deserved for a fully dominant first-half display, a 3-0 scoreline would have been more reflective of Harrogate’s inability to threaten at all.
But within three minutes of the second half all the usual failings were there to be seen as the Wimbledon defence failed to clear their lines with three shots on target from Harrogate players, the final one ending up in the net from Matt Daly.
The groans were audible and it got worse when Harrogate took the lead in the 65th minute as again Wimbledon failed to defend their goal, let alone the six-yard box. Rory Mcardle had the simplest of tasks from a corner.
It is a worrying trend.
For the next 20 minutes the team huffed and puffed, to little avail, having already seen Courtney Senior and Kyle Hudlin join the fray as Chislett and Paris Maghoma were replaced in midfield.
Let’s be fair here and offer up an organised Harrogate team who had sniff of a second away win in their sights.
However Bendle had other ideas as he was introduced in place of the tired Woodyard in the 83rd minute.
Bendle had an immediate impact and after receiving the ball from a quick Jack Currie throw in, his angled cross into the penalty box from deep saw a panic-ridden Harrogate defence and keeper really make a hash of things with Hudlin being a complete nuisance, and the ball fell nicely for Senior to control and take one step, steady himself and find the back of the net from 16 yards out.
The winner owed lots to old-school Wimbledon sides as Nik Tzanev collected the ball outside his penalty box and launched forward towards man of the match Josh Davison, who controlled the ball and stroked home from just inside the penalty box.
The atmosphere was now electric.
Harrogate were not out of it and had two more seriously great chances to equalise.
First they hit the crossbar after a fine bit of forward play with a strike from fully 25 yards, then seconds later somehow Tzanev pulled off a brilliant save to deny the visitors a share of the points.
With 10 minutes added time played by the time the referee blew his full-time whistle, much will be remembered of the good goals from Kalambayi, Senior and Davison. But the worry remains in defence, a clean sheet is a rarity and the points were only secured due to excellent Tzanev saves.
Here are Laurence Lownes’ takeaways.
NIK OF TIME
A goalkeeper can both save and win games as Nik Tzanev enabled another assist after his contribution away to Rochdale when Josh Davison scored there from a similar route one goal. If it was good enough for Dave Beasant, then it is good enough for Tzanev and AFC Wimbledon.
A BENDLE OF ENERGY
Alfie Bendle knows which gears to choose in his cameo appearance of almost half an hour. Full of running and eager to play the quick pass to unlock a defence. Also unafraid to put in a crunching tackle.
PHYSICAL PRESENCE
The regularly unused Kyle Hudlin unsettled the opposition simply by his presence and much like Harry Pell adds a height dimension to a team that has often struggled in the air these last two seasons.
PLOUGH LANE SUPPORT GOES HOME HAPPY
Almost 8,000 supporters turned out on a summer like day – there were times of frustration but sheer joy when the team stepped up a pace and changed things with the introduction of substitutes. All three contributed to the second-half goals – well done Hudlin, Senior and Bendle.
PICTURES: LUCY DIXON