The lowdown on AFC Wimbledon 1 Salford 0 – Dons move into automatic promotion spots and Stevens tops goalscoring charts

AFC Wimbledon moved up to second in League Two after a 1-0 win over play-off contenders Salford in the early kick-off on Saturday.

Matty Stevens scored the only goal of the game to secure all three points.

Here is the lowdown on the game:

THE LINE-UPS

Dons: Goodman, Neufville, Ogundere, Lewis, Johnson, Tilley, Reeves, Smith, Browne (Sasu 80), Bugiel, Stevens.

Subs not used: Ward, Furlong, O’Toole, Kelly, Pigott, Hutchinson.

Salford: Jones, Berkoe (Okoronkwo 68), Fornah, Lund, Stockton (Kouassi 68), Taylor, Tilt, Mnoga, Warrington, Garbutt, Adelakun.

Subs not used: Edwards, Watson, Young, Mcaleny, Longelo.

SNAPSHOT OF THE GAME

The Dons had the better chances in the first 25 minutes at Plough Lane – Marcus Browne and Jake Reeves both testing Jamie Jones from the edge of the box.

Josh Neufville went close to opening the scoring in the 29th minute when he curled a left-footed shot from the edge of the box which forced Jones – at full stretch – to tip the effort around the post.

James Tilley had an opportunity at the start of the second half when he drilled a shot low along the face of goal.

Matty Stevens gave Wimbledon the lead in the 65th minute when Browne won possession inside his own half and slotted the striker through. Stevens kept his composure and slotted past Jones to score his 16th League Two goal of the season.

Owen Goodman was called into action seconds after Wimbledon took the lead when Carl Stockton was played through, but the Crystal Palace loanee stopped the effort with his legs.

TACTICAL APPROACH

The two sides matched up across the park in terms of both playing wing-back systems. 

Jon Taylor looked to cause problems for the visitors down the right-hand side, where as a lot of Wimbledon’s best play came on the transition and carrying the ball forward with Browne.

With Wimbledon boasting the best defence in the league, the visitors found it challenging to get past the stubborn Joe Lewis, Ryan Johnson and Isaac Ogundere, with Goodman called into serious action just once.

STAR MAN

Browne. From the first six minutes, you could tell that the former Oxford attacker was going to run the game.

He set up Stevens in the fourth minute with a neat through ball and then minuets later stung the palms of Jones with a shot from distance.

Browne was also the provider for Stevens to open the scoring midway through the second half, winning possession and playing through the striker into clean air.

He was replaced on the 80th minute to a standing ovation.

BEST MOMENT

Full-time. The final whistle signalled the end of a brilliant week for AFC Wimbledon. 

Two back-to-back wins against promotion-chasing rivals was a real statement of intent.

Salford only had one real sight of goal, but in a close battle, the end of the game saw a huge sigh of relief.

MOAN OF THE MATCH

Referee Alan Young. 

Not sure if there is a stat yet for counting how many times a referee blew a whistle across a 90 minutes, but the main official at Plough Lane on Saturday certainly enjoyed hearing the sound of his.

There were other more obvious situations which warranted stopping play, but they were waved on.

A League Two match is tetchy at the best of times, but Young made the contest very stop-start.

A TALKING POINT DOWN THE PUB

League position. The benefit of the early kick-off saw Wimbledon climb up to second in the League Two table.

It is just one defeat in their last 15 League Two games and back-to-back wins against genuine play-off contenders.

There is a genuine belief around Plough Lane that their League One hiatus could be coming to an end.

WHAT THE BOSS HAD TO SAY

“It’s a great win because they’re a good side.

“It was a really tight game. It was very close and I thought it would be – the team maybe stayed a bit more concentrated and didn’t make a mistake that won.

“I wanted my team to stay concentrated – even if we got a 0-0 – because that’s what we needed to do.

“To come out the right side of it in a real tight one is pleasing.”

PICTURE: KEITH GILLARD