The lowdown on AFC Wimbledon 1 Fleetwood 0 – Dons pick up important League Two win after EFL Cup midweek heroics

AFC Wimbledon secured their third win of the 2024-25 League Two season following a 1-0 victory over Fleetwood on Saturday afternoon.

Josh Neuville scored the only goal of the game in the 29th minute in an important win after the Dons beat Premier League side Ipswich on penalties during midweek in the EFL Cup.

Here is Edmund Brack’s lowdown on the match from Plough Lane: 

THE LINE-UPS

AFC Wimbledon: Goodman, Neufville, Johnson (Ogundere, 16), Lewis, Harbottle, Furlong, Smith, Reeves, Hippolyte (Maycock, 87), Bugiel, Piggot (Stevens,70).

Subs not used: Ward, O’Toole, Tilley, Ball, Kelly.

Fleetwood: Harrington, Johnston, Wiredu, Bonds, Mayor, Virtue (Harratt, h/t), Helm (Odubeko, 63), Hunt (Bennett, 74) Holgate, Hughes (Patterson, 74), Coughlan (Broom, 63).

Subs not used: Lynch, Bolton.

SNAPSHOT OF THE GAME

Both sides had great chances to score before the half-hour mark. 

Fleetwood went close with a goalmouth scramble that somehow saw the ball end up in the hands of Crystal Palace loanee Owen Goodman.

And minutes later, there was another goalmouth scramble – this time Wimbledon firing several shots towards the Fleetwood goal. But the Dons were unable to squeeze an effort beyond the number of opposition bodies on the line.

Wimbledon eventually took the lead in the 29th minute when the ball fell to Josh Neufville just inside the box, with the former Sutton winger unleashing an effort past David Harrington to open the scoring.

The Dons could have extended their lead with two great chances around the 70th-minute mark – Joe Lewis and Matty Stevens both going close with different chances.  

TACTICAL APPROACH

Johnnie Jackson named an unchanged side from the one that beat Cheltenham 1-0 away last time out in League Two.

James Furlong and Josh Neufville continued their wing-back roles, with a three-man midfield of Jake Reeves, Myles Hippolyte and Alistair Smith.

Joe Pigott and Omar Bugiel were Jackson’s preferred front two for the home outing, with Bugiel lining up with Matty Stevens for the EFL Cup win against Ipswich.

STAR MAN

James Furlong. Was a constant threat going forward and delivered a handful of really dangerous crosses in the first half for Joe Pigott and Omar Bugiel to attack.

He also caused Fleetwood’s attacking right-back Carl Johnstone real problems, both driving towards the opposition’s goal and defending his own. 

The Hull loanee has been incredibly consistent since joining at Plough Lane and delivered his most assured display in the win on Saturday.

BEST MOMENT

Isaac Ogundere bailed out Lewis. Joe Lewis played a dangerous game with Mipo Odubeko in the 76th minute.

The Wimbledon defender took one touch too many inside the Fleetwood half and Odubeko capitalised to race onto the ball and drive towards Owen Goodman’s goal.

Luckily for Lewis, Ogundere used his pace to chase down Oduebko and recover possession.

MOAN OF THE MATCH

Wimbledon started slowly in the second half.

Their sloppy start culminated in two quick yellow cards at the back, with Joe Lewis and Riley Harbottle going into James Durkin’s book.

Ex-Hibs defender Harbottle was issued with a yellow for a poorly timed challenge on Danny Mayor right in front of Fleetwood boss Charlie Adam, who made his thoughts on the foul very clear.

Lewis was booked one minute later following a Fleetwood attack that saw Ronan Coughlan shoot inches wide.

A TALKING POINT DOWN THE PUB

The international break could be a good thing. 

With Ryan Johnson coming off in the 16th minute and slamming the ground as soon as he released his afternoon was over, fingers will be crossed that the key defender will not be sidelined for too long.

The 27-year-old is an integral part of Jackson’s side, so with Furlong, Hippolyte and Bugiel all being called up to their respective national teams, it has meant that next week’s trip to Tranmere has been postponed.

Wimbledon next play in two weeks’ time when Milton Keynes come to Plough Lane – a game everybody associated with the SW19-based side will want Johnson to be ready for.

WHAT THE BOSS HAD TO SAY

“There were some tired boys towards the end. It was so important that we turned up and had that same mindset and mentality after the quick turnaround. 

“The high of that, the elation and also the output of a game such as that can take its toll – and it did.

“But the mentality of the lads was to turn up here, approach it in the same way, and get the job done. We managed to do that.”