‘It couldn’t have got any worse’ – Johnnie Jackson praises AFC Wimbledon’s opening day comeback against Colchester

Johnnie Jackson praised his AFC Wimbledon players their swift response to going 2-0 down to win 4-2 against Colchester at Plough Lane on Saturday.

Colchester raced into a lead after 50 seconds when defender Ben Goodliffe was left unmarked at the back post and headed past former U’s goalkeeper Owen Goodman.

The U’s quickly doubled their lead eight minutes later after Goodliffe was left free again, this time meeting Jack Payne’s free-kick to nod past Crystal Palace loanee Goodman.

Wimbledon quickly got themselves back into shape and halved the deficit when James Ball turned Omar Bugiel’s shot past Matt Macey.

Jake Reeves pulled the game level in the 30th minute with a well-placed first-time hit from the edge of the box. 

And Matty Stevens completed the turnaround and opened his Wimbledon account from the penalty spot eight minutes later.

Omar Bugiel put Wimbledon firmly in the driving seat nine minutes into the start of the second half when he reacted quickest after Alistair Smith crashed an effort off the bar.

It was the first time Wimbledon had scored four goals in a league game in August since beating Salisbury 4-0 in 2009.

“I’ll have a heart attack if I have to do that every Saturday,” said Jackson.

“It was a great game of football and a really good advert for the league.

“It was two teams who wanted to attack and put each other under pressure.

“Loads of goals, which is good for the paying public, but not so good for a coach or manager.

“I was wondering [after nine minutes]: ‘What’s going on lads? How are we going to pull ourselves together?’

“Colchester made a great start. They were full of energy and on the front foot. They put us under pressure with forward balls and runs.

“That was it. It wasn’t a case of playing through us. Their start was brilliant, but from our point of view, we didn’t defend those situations well enough.

“We know what a threat Goodliffe is but we have to do better.

“For the boys to bounce back from, let’s face it, a nightmare start to the season, 2-0 down after 10 minutes couldn’t get any worse.

“To turn it round so quickly – fair play.”

PICTURES: KEITH GILLARD