Dons chief delighted at contribution from forward duo – as both strike to earn first Plough Lane victory

BY MATT VERRI AT PLOUGH LANE

Glyn Hodges hailed the contributions of his forward duo Joe Pigott and Ryan Longman as AFC Wimbledon got their first win at their new Plough Lane home.

Peterborough would have gone second in the league with a victory and they had the better of the first half, hitting the bar through Ryan Broom. The Dons started the second-half with more intent though and took the lead through Longman, who tapped into an empty net after Jack Rudoni has his effort from range parried out.

Pigott doubled the lead six minutes later on the hour mark, bundling in from a corner for his seventh league goal of the season – only three players have managed more so far in League One.

One of those is Jonson-Clarke Harris, and the Peterborough forward set up a nervy finish when he bent a wonderful free-kick into the bottom corner with 19 minutes of normal time to go.

Pigott and Longman, on loan from Brighton, have scored 11 of Wimbledon’s 18 league goals this season.

“Ryan’s a good player, he’s got a lot of pace and works well with Pigott,” said Hodges. “One’s more or less a target man, and one is quick and doesn’t give you a minute.

“We spoke at half-time that we were getting up into their half but we were being too rash and losing the ball, which led to us then having to defend.

“I wanted us to stay on it and enjoy the ball a bit better. I felt we did that for 15 minutes, and we went 2-0 up.”

The second of those goals came in scrappy fashion as Peterborough failed to clear a corner, which fell at the feet of Pigott.

Hodges revealed his side have been putting extra work into set-pieces.

“The last practice we did here, the set-pieces were horrendous,” he said. “I got the hump a little bit and challenged them – it’s about time we scored one.”

It is just the Dons’ second home victory of the season.

“We said to the boys to get the monkey off our backs, and we’ve managed to do that against one of the best teams in the league so we’re delighted,” said Hodges.

“This is a great environment and the boys enjoy playing here, so hopefully there are more positive results to come. I like it here now we’ve got a win.”

STAR MAN
Ryan Longman. Worked tirelessly pressuring the Peterborough defence and running into the channels to offer an outlet for his side. Got his reward with the simplest of finishes.

BEST MOMENT
The full-time whistle. It got a bit nervy after Clarke-Harris’ brilliant whipped finish.