Report: AFC Wimbledon Ladies extend fine recent run
A second-half winner from Becky Sargent kept alive a top-3 aim for AFC Wimbledon Ladies as it provided a hard-earned victory against Milton Keynes.
Following on from a 5-1 victory the week before, Wimbledon needed to show plenty of resilience on Sunday to secure a 1-0 league win.
The first half was a stalemate with neither team able to find the back of the net, both sides exerting pressure, but the final touch eluded them.
A half-time team talk from manager Chris Lyons certainly gave Wimbledon the edge they needed as they began to take control of the game, holding the ball well and playing some brilliant football in the midfield.
Wimbledon took the lead on the 62nd minute when a free-kick found Becky Sargent in the middle of the box and she head it over the Milton Keynes keeper and into the back of the net. A well-deserved lead for Wimbledon put them in the diving seat for the remainder of the game. Milton Keynes’ best chance came when a free kick was headed into the goal by the attacking forward, but it was flagged offside.
One was just enough for victory in the end and Chris Lyons was delighted with the performance.
“We had to win in a different way, and from a personal perspective, wins like this mean more than four or five goal victories. When it’s a tight and you’re pushing for a goal, you still have to be safe at the back. But then when you’re a goal up and you want to keep possession, sometimes it can be an extra burden on you. You can’t sit back and invite more pressure, but you can’t go all out for another. You have to be very intelligent in going forward at the right times. I thought we coped with all that very well and once we got in front, I’d say we were the better team.
“Our win has certainly added a bit of spice to the top four and opens up a bit of a gap to the 5th and 6th placed teams. And when you consider only five of today’s starting line-up played this team last time around, it demonstrates our belief of continuous improvement, and shows how competitive the squad is. The win kept us on target to finish our first season at this season strongly, and it meant a lot to everyone at the club.”
Next Up for Wimbledon is an away fixture with Actonians next week and it will be the first time the sides have met this season. Kick-off is 2.00 pm at North Greenford FC.
Starting 11: Tash Salgado, Lotti Klatt, Sahara Osborne-Ricketts, Jess Trimnell, Yasmin Poole, Rebecca Sargent, Jordanne Hoesli-Atkins (Georgie O’Halloran 83), Becky Mclaren-Johnson, Kelly-Kade Whelan (Georgia Heasman 57), Katie Stanley, Laura Low (Caroline Bisson 77).
Subs not used: Sam Chase, Emma Keady.