Young Dons march to emphatic win ahead of FA Youth Cup tie
AFC Wimbledon Under-18s produced an excellent league display on Saturday with a convincing victory at previously unbeaten Leyton Orient.
Goals from Osaze Urhoghide, man of the match Antonio Walker (pictured) and Nick Akoto earned a 3-0 win and ideal preparation for tomorrow night’s FA Youth Cup fourth round tie at home to Hull City (7.00 pm kick-off at the Cherry Red Records Stadium).
The young Dons dominated from the outset on Saturday with Walker rattling the crossbar and Tino Carpene, Callum Phillip and Wood all threatening a goal. However, Ozase Urhoghide made the breakthrough in style when he produced a smart finish after a lovely run and cross by winger Wood, who impressed throughout.
Orient could only muster one shot on goal in a first-half Wimbledon controlled and the second-half continued in the same pattern. It was 2-0 shortly after the break when a fine team move ended with Walker bursting through, before striking a clinical finish from 14 yards. The third goal came soon. A great solo run from Akotu took him past three players and though Orient appeared to get enough bodies back to stop him, the Dons defender regained possession before firing home superbly from 10 yards.
Manager Mark Robinson said "I was looking for an excellent squad performance that would keep us fresh for Tuesday with no injuries. I am happy to say things worked out perfectly. I left Jayden Antwi out to give our other strikers much needed minutes after the Christmas break. When I saw how heavy and uneven the pitch was I thought the game could be a bit of a scrap, but we played some fantastic football throughout the game against a very good side.
“Our technical detail was excellent and the lads brought all the movement patterns we had worked on in training to a match situation when it really mattered. Our second goal pleased me immensely. We decided to try a new shape we had been working on as it may come in useful on Tuesday night. The boys have given me a few selection headaches ahead of Tuesday, which is exactly how it should be. We are now looking forward to taking on our opponents from a Premier League club and we will do our final preparation today.”