Match report
Trialist Delano Sam-Yorke and Jon Main notched two goals apiece as the Dons showed their strength in this pre-season work-out, but Wimbledon weren’t quite able to match their goal tally from the last time these two clubs met.
On that occasion, over two years ago at the new Wembley Stadium when the Dons were invited to play as part of Corinthian-Casuals delayed 125th anniversary celebrations, Wimbledon ran out 8-1 winners. There were times in the first half of this encounter when it looked very much like going that way again. The only blot on a good night’s preparation came ten minutes before the break, when left-back Andre Blackman, who had been pencilled in to play the full 90 minutes, limped off and took no further part.
After the previous Friday’s narrow 1-0 defeat to Championship side Millwall, it was all change again in the effort to give all the squad adequate match time in the build-up to the league opener at Southport.
Jack Turner started in goal behind a back four of Ryan Jackson, Fraser Franks, Ed Harris and Blackman; Reece Jones and Rashid Yussuff were either side of Steven Gregory, who took the captain’s armband, in midfield; the front line consisted of Christian Jolley, Sam-Yorke and Javon Molloy. As the humidity decreased under cloudy skies, Wimbledon soon set about terrorising the hosts’ defence with speed and creativity.
Jackson and Jolley’s link-up play down the right quickly became a threat, but it was Sam-Yorke, a Woking product with Conference experience from a young age, who bagged the Dons’ first. He was brought down in the area by Casuals keeper Luke Naughton, and Welshman Reece Jones opened the scoring in the eighth minute from the spot, firing to Naughton’s right.
Two minutes later Jolley got a shot away low and from the right, which Naughton collected. The home side’s first real effort came a minute later when the hard-working Kane Sergeant lobbed wide of Turner. On 13 minutes the visitors doubled their lead after some good build-up play when Gregory side-footed the ball into the net after it was played back from the edge of the area.
A minute later and with quarter of an hour still not up, Wimbledon should have made it three after a great build-up. Jolley on the right delivered the ball to Jones, who set up Sam-Yorke, but he failed to add the required finishing touch. On 15 minutes Jackson delivered a great cross from the right which Molloy didn’t quite pick up on. With the mixture of trialists and those pushing for a start in the coming campaign clearly on top, albeit against Ryman One South opposition, manager Terry Brown’s selection problems were becoming more complex.
Molloy continued to menace Naughton before the inevitable third goal arrived, on 24 minutes. After a mistake by Matt Kidson the ball fell to Jolley on the right, and he set up Sam-Yorke for his first of the evening, which he dispatched with ease. Casuals lost Gavin Cartwright just before the half-hour, and Dons fans had a chance to see a familiar face in the shape of his replacement, Wayne Finnie. Almost immediately, Casuals were forced into a goal-line clearance after Yussuff caused havoc in the defence.
Mu Mann tried a couple of times to test Turner, without much success, before the Dons were reduced to ten men with Blackman’s departure. (The rest of the squad were in a planned training session and no substitutes were made before the interval.) Glenn Boosey sportingly played the ball back to Wimbledon after the stoppage, and Casuals’ generosity almost extended further at the other end when Jason Turley tried to get the ball back to Naughton.
As half-time approached, the home side appeared to settle a little, though the game was already out of sight for them. Jones attempted an effort from 35 yards, and then ten-man Dons became nine as Harris went down, but attention from physio Mike Rayner the former QPR youngster was able to walk off unaided. What followed just before the break was a little bizarre: after a stoppage, Casuals clearly weren’t ready at the restart, and Sam-Yorke took advantage to put away his second and Wimbledon’s fourth. Again sportingly, Mann was allowed to walk the ball in past Turner, leaving Casuals still three behind at the break.
At the start of the second half, in the absence of Blackman, the versatile Jolley switched to left-back. Harris was able to continue while Luke Moore came on. To their credit, Casuals looked much better and were more organised and more of a test for Dons in the second half. After 55 minutes Boosey smacked an effort off the crossbar which left Turner scrambling. When Mann played in Ali Wiltshire, Turner again needed to be alert.
On the hour Wimbledon made eight changes: Jolley, Yussuff and Luke Moore remained, while on came Seb Brown, Brett Johnson, Ismail Yakubu, Sam Hatton, Elliott Frost and Sam Moore plus the familiar strike force of Jon Main and Danny Kedwell. These two combined quickly after play started for Wimbledon’s fifth of the evening: Kedwell hooked the ball to Main, who fired past Naughton.
Sergeant deservedly got his name on the score-sheet when his attempted volley bounced and deceived Brown for Casuals’ second. Boosey had another long-range attempt tipped over by Brown. Main rounded off the scoring two minutes from the end when a mix-up between substitute Darren Chalke and Naughton allowed the Wimbledon hit-man to steal in for an easy sixth.
Wimbledon 1st half: Turner, Jackson, Blackman, Gregory, Franks, Harris, Jones, Yussuff, Jolley, Sam-Yorke, Molloy.
2nd half changes: Brown, Hatton, Jolley, Sammy Moore, Yakubu, Johnson, Yussuff, Luke Moore, Frost, Kedwell, Main |
