Four takeaways from AFC Wimbledon’s 2-1 defeat at Doncaster – League Two campaign is crashing to a halt
BY DAVE HUNT-JACKSON
AFC Wimbledon served up a truly abject performance at the Eco Power Stadium on Saturday against a Doncaster side who were far from impressive themselves.
Despite being gifted a fifth consecutive lead, the South Londoners failed to hold on for the fifth game in a row and slumped to a fourth consecutive defeat.
Josh Davison’s shot that squirmed under Jonathan Mitchell in the Rovers’ goal proved the only bright moment for the Dons.
Poor defending from a straightforward cross let Harrison Biggins equalise before non-existent defending from a free-kick saw George Miller fire the home side in front.
With almost an hour still to play, the Dons never looked like getting back into the match. Doncaster ran out easy, if unconvincing, winners, albeit Wimbledon did improve after the half-time interval.
Here are Dave Hunt-Jackson’s four takeaways from the match:
NOT SO MUCH AS PETERING OUT AS CRASHING TO A HALT
After last Saturday’s defeat, Wimbledon manager Jonnie Jackson was adamant that he did not want the season to peter out. On Saturday’s evidence, there is no danger of that – the season has already come to a shuddering halt.
Since throwing away two points against Hartlepool, the Dons are now just one defeat short of their worst run of the season.
Aside from a pre-Christmas purple patch that saw them garner 22 points in 10 games, their season has been incredibly disappointing, with just 20 points from the other 25 fixtures.
Their recent form is the worst in the entire division, taking just one point from the last five games.
Jackson talks about finishing as high as possible in the table. The 469 fans who braved the weather and threat of postponement would probably settle for 22nd and safety if this is the level of performance the South London outfit is now regularly serving up.
DEFENDING IS GETTING WORSE
Jackson reverted to playing three centre-halves but it did nothing to improve the defensive frailties of recent matches.
It was too late when it was thankfully abandoned for the second period after Will Nightingale picked up a knock. Despite three experienced defenders in the heart of the Dons defence, not one of them got near Biggins, who was left entirely unmarked to nod home Miller’s cross.
He was handed so much time that his namesake Christopher would probably have equalised – he would have certainly appreciated the pantomime that was the visitors defence. Not one outfield player picked up Miller five minutes later as he calmly passed the ball into the net following a Rovers free-kick.
HAVE THE DONS IMPROVED FROM LAST SEASON?
While the Dons have nine points more than they did at the same point last season, that was in a higher division. Since the turn of the year, there has been a sense of deja vu about the performances – a lack of firepower, Ali Al-Hamadi aside, and a singular inability to defend set pieces.
In January, Jackson talked about the side being hard to beat and turning draws into wins.
Now they are all too easy to beat and are turning leads into losses. Wimbledon have 42 points and are 14 points below the last play-off place – 21 off the automatic promotion places.
Far more importantly, they are a rapidly diminishing 13 points above the drop zone. They should hopefully already have enough points to avoid the disaster that would be relegation.
On current performances, it is difficult to see any significant improvement from the side that lost their League One place. At least Mark Robinson could point to the sale of his only proven striker in January as the crucial factor in last season’s demise.
With Al-Hamadi and Josh Davison, the Dons do not have that excuse this year.
It may be that the only thing that saves Wimbledon this term is the fact that only two teams go down from League Two.
FAILING TO FIELD SEVEN SUBS IS UNACCEPTABLE
Since Neal Ardley left successive Wimbledon managers have looked to give the academy players every opportunity to develop and Jack Currie, Huseyin Biler (before his injury) and Issac Ogundere (before his inexplicably loan deal) have all broken through this season.
Wally Downes, in particular, would regularly give a taste of the first-team environment to a youngster, having them travel with the team and warm up pre-match.
Fast forward to 2023, and Jackson has failed to field a full bench of substitutes for the last four matches, with just five named on Saturday. It is very hard to understand why he would pass up this development opportunity that injuries to first-teamers have created – especially given recent references to preparing for next season in recent post-match interviews.
In truth, only Biler, Harry Pell and Paul Kalambayi would have been in contention to start had they been fit, so there is hardly an injury crisis.
A threadbare bench may have the effect of implying that injuries are the reason for the slump in form, it sends a message that can only serve as encouragement to the opposition as well as undermining the Dons’ deserved reputation as a club that develops young talent.
Although many of Wimbledon’s youngster are out on loan this is a missed opportunity to expose the next batch of academy products to the match day experience.