Mark Robinson's pride after superb victory against Milton Keynes
Rising talent George Oakley struck all five goals for AFC Wimbledon Under-18s to earn an emphatic victory at Milton Keynes yesterday, but Mark Robinson hailed a superb overall team performance.
The young Dons marched to a 5-1 victory in Buckinghamshire with Oakley (pictured) highlighting his potential once again after a prolific season so far for the 18-year-old.
Speaking after the victory at Milton Keynes yesterday, Wimbledon’s Academy Head Coach was full of praise for his side’s display.
“I was delighted with our organisation today and some of our counter-attacking football was incredibly effective,” Mark said. “I’ve never seen us create so many clear-cut chances. I still want us to keep the ball better though and when we get that mixture right we will be closer to what I want. George Oakley will obviously take the plaudits and I’m very pleased for him, especially as he was up against players that are on professional contracts at Milton Keynes.
“George knows it was a team performance though and so many players could have got on the score sheet. Until Renato Morais came on as substitute, every player on the pitch for us played for me in our Sunday League days. That’s a statistic that our academy can be very proud of and I think their connection to the club showed in today’s performance. They need to recreate that passion every time they pull-on a Dons shirt.”
There were plenty of fine performances in blue and yellow at Milton Keynes and Callum Wilson was selected as Wimbledon’s man of the match.
The early exchanges indicated that Wimbledon would cause the hosts plenty of problems as Under-16 player Neset Bellikli set-up Oakley, who was denied by the Milton Keynes goalkeeper. However, there was no stopping Oakley after that and he opened the scoring with a fine individual goal. After winning possession himself, Oakley powered through the home defence in the eighth minute and finished clinically from an acute angle.
minute for a second, but it was a goal worth waiting for. Kaja won the ball in midfield and picked out Oakley, who showed all in pursuit a clean pair of heels before finishing brilliantly for his second. It was effectively game over a few minutes later when good work by Dan Pearse and Kaja set-up Oakley and he made no mistake to complete a first-half hat-trick.thWith Egli Kaja and Oakley causing problems up front and Wilson’s range of passing catching the eye in midfield, it appeared to be a matter of time before Wimbledon doubled their advantage. They had to wait until the 40
Though they had to withstand Milton Keynes pressure at the start of the second-half, Wimbledon stayed strong with midfielder Dan Gallagher protecting an excellent defence of Rob Switon, Ryan Sweeney and Ben Harrison. The introduction of Nas Majeed provided a lift for the Dons in an attacking sense and he almost made an instant impression when he was denied a fourth after a fine team move. However, it was 4-0 22 minutes from time when Oakley pounced on a long ball forward and bustled his way through before finishing emphatically. The best was still to come from Wimbledon as Pearse and Morais combined effectively to find Kaja free on the wing and he delivered a wonderful cross that Oakley headed home superbly for his fifth.
Though Milton Keynes struck a late consolation, it failed to take the shine off an excellent display from the young Dons and a personal achievement that Oakley is sure to remember for years to come.