Four takeaways from AFC Wimbledon’s 2-0 win at Crawley Town – strikeforce look a lethal combination

BY LAURENCE LOWNE

With his red card rescinded, Chris Gunter was able to take his place in the starting 11 as AFC Wimbledon looked to erase the midweek pain of Mansfield at Crawley Town on Saturday.

Manager Johnnie Jackson made one change – bringing in Ethan Chislett for Ayoub Assal, who had picked up a knock in midweek but was deemed fit enough for the bench.

The other welcome news was that Paul Osew had signed his new contract and joined Assal as a substitute. 

The local fixture against Crawley is always a feisty affair and almost 1,400 Wimbledon supporters made the short journey down to West Sussex to cheer their players on.

A confident start saw Wimbledon dominate proceedings and it was no surprise to see Nathan Young-Coombes open the scoring in the 15th minute after some fine passing in midfield and an accurate one-two with strike partner Josh Davison that set him free in the penalty box with just the massive keeper Corey Addai to beat, which he did at the near post to make it 1-0.

Davison was next up to test the keeper after beating the offside trap, but Addai made a fine save.

More chances came and went until the end of the first half as Crawley’s Tony Craig committed a serious foul, which earned a yellow card, some 25 yards from goal.

 Up stepped Chislett, who found the top corner of the goal for a 2-0 half-time lead from the resultant free-kick.

The second half started in much the same way and Young-Coombes was soon set free, but Crawley’s Craig had other ideas as he unceremoniously fouled him to prevent a goalscoring opportunity, which earned a second yellow and a red card.

Crawley had their first shot on target in the 70th minute, and it was well saved by Nik Tzanev.

Just one more shot followed, as Wimbledon comfortably saw out the game, and never looked likely to surrender a 2-0 lead for the third time this season.

Here are Laurence Lowne’s four takeaways:

LETHAL STRIKEFORCE

Josh Davison and Nathan Young-Coombes are turning into a potent strike force. 
Both with bags of skill and an attitude to match. They are a nightmare for any defence.

THEY SHALL NOT PASS, LET ALONE HAVE  A SHOT

Wimbledon heeded the challenge of seeing out a match and secured three well-deserved points to win the game by restricting Crawley Town to just two shots on target. It was disciplined and annoyed the opposing supporters. The sound of boos from home supporters were music to the ears of every Wimbledon supporter.

HAVE WE GOT A NEW SET-PIECE SPECIALIST?

Man of the match Chislett produced a sublime free-kick, which the keeper had no chance with. Why have we not seen this before? More, please, since an accurate free-kick taker around the penalty box has been missing for a while. He also linked up well with Tom Marsh and Jack Currie in midfield.

CONCENTRATING UNTIL THE END

Having lots of possession can mean lapses in concentration are sometimes costly, but all credit to keeper Tzanev who wandered up towards the halfway line to keep himself involved and be the fourth man in defence – a clean sheet is always welcome and this is the third in the league this season.

PICTURES: LUCY DIXON