What we learned from AFC Wimbledon’s 3-1 defeat at home to Mansfield Town – Fitness levels a worry as Dons suffer three defeats on the bounce

BY LAURENCE LOWNE 

Another fine goal from Ali Al Hamadi was followed by a capitulation.

Wimbledon – a team down to their bare bones – simply could not cope with the pace and off-the-ball running by Mansfield Town, who are chasing down a play-off place for potential promotion to League One.

With Alex Pearce and Jack Currie both restored to the back line after injury, it was telling that post-match, Johnnie Jackson referenced that, generally, Wimbledon players could not compete for more than 70 minutes.

After Hamadi scored his goal in the 25th minute to put the Dons in front, it took five minutes for an equaliser to arrive as an uncontested cross from Chris Gunters’ side of the defence gently rolled along the six-yard box and was swept home by Riley Harbottle.

Five blue shirts were caught flat-footed and were unable to throw their bodies in the way to defend the lead.

Soon afterwards, Mansfield piled players into the box. Their physical approach not only unsettled the defence further but also saw a challenge on Nik Tzanev, which went unpunished at a corner. To be fair to the referee, Ollie Yates, who had a fair game, he did brandish three yellow cards in the direction of the visitors and one more in the second half, but they simply ignored them and continued fouling with impunity.

For longer-standing supporters in the bumper Plough Lane crowd, Mansfield reminded many of the Wimbledon of yore, who dictated how games would be played.

Mansfield’s second and third goals reinforced that.

Some pace, no little skill, but sheer belief enabled the visitors to complete their scoring through Danny Johnson, who outpaced a rapidly tiring Pearce in defence and rolled his shot beyond Tzanev.

The third saw a long ball by keeper Scott Flinders, which defenders failed to clear, and Davis Keillor-Dunn found the corner of the net with zero challenge.

This week, there is much to do as Jackson continues to find a solution in defence, midfield and attack.

The programme carried stories of supporters who started supporting the team many years ago, and most had seen a defeat in the first game attended, but they came back again and again. Hopefully, many first-time visitors in the 7939 crowd will do so later this month and beyond?

What we learned:

• Another bench lacking a full number of players reinforced that AFC Wimbledon are down to the bare bones. Harry Pell was once again absent, and his height was sorely missed together with his tenacity.
• Accuracy over numbers wins out for Mansfield – four shots on target, and they scored three goals. Wimbledon are currently struggling to fashion clear chances for Josh Davison, and a game with a sparse number of crosses is never going to help him thrive. At least Ali Al Hamadi can use his pace to create chances for himself.

• Johnnie Jackson’s admission post-match over fitness levels is a worry since there is no quick solution at this stage of the season. Players are being asked to play more minutes than usual and thus miss out on rest and recuperation time.
• Three defeats on the spin is going to harm confidence levels, so bring back the boring 0-0 draws your writer suggests is the order of the day starting at Doncaster on Saturday.

PICTURES: LUCY DIXON