Young Dons beaten at Orient
AFC Wimbledon Under-18s manager Mark Robinson questioned the desire of his players after they were well beaten at Leyton Orient on Saturday.
The young Dons were 3-0 down at half-time and that’s the way it stayed, despite an improved second-half display from Wimbledon. It was a performance that was in stark contrast to the previous Saturday when Wimbledon went down fighting at Watford.
Mark Robinson said: “I don’t want to take too much away from Orient because they were very good on the day, but you have to give yourself a chance and we did not even get the basics right. I’m very lucky that I have a first-team manager, who puts me under no pressure in terms of results. Neal Ardley wants us to produce players who are brave on the ball and compete physically. So when I see players shirk the responsibility to want the ball and express themselves, it’s very frustrating.
“On a day when Ben Harrison was trusted by the manager to step-up to the first-team squad, I expected players to be shouting ‘my turn next’, but it was exactly the opposite. I know we have a talented group, but they need to realise very quickly that talent is only a part of what is required to stand a chance of being a professional footballer.”
Orient effectively sealed victory before half-time with a double from the impressive Victor Adeboyejo and captain Sam Ling also on target. Half-time changes for Wimbledon resulted in a second-half improvement with Alfie Egan, Dan Ano and Taylor Roles emerging with credit after replacing Jason Stripp, Dan Agyei and Callum Overton.
However, the Dons failed to take the chances they created and Mark Robinson will be demanding much better from his side when they travel to Southend on Thursday in the Youth Alliance Cup.
Danny Gallagher (pictured) received the Man of the Match award for Wimbledon.