AFC Wimbledon conceded a dramatic late equaliser as we came away with a 2-2 draw at Harrogate Town.

In-keeping with our form in 2023, it was the Dons who started the better of the teams, with Ethan Chislett collecting a well-taken double to put us 2-0 up and seemingly in cruise control.

However, old habits came back to bite us with a vengeance as late goals from Luke Armstrong and Levi Sutton saw Harrogate snatch a point that barely seemed possible in the final knockings of the contest.

In the process it undone all of our hard work and good play, leaving everyone feeling deflated and in shock at how three points had become one.

Johnnie Jackson made four changes to the side which lost out 1-0 to Rochdale, with Lee Brown, Diallang Jaiyesimi, Ali Al-Hamadi and Sam Pearson replacing Jack Currie, George Marsh, Saikou Janneh and Kasey McAteer.

Meanwhile, Chris Gunter was named amongst the substitutes after returning from international duty with Wales.

Jaiyesimi was quickly into his stride on his first start since returning from injury and almost created an early opening as he twisted and turned away from his marker on the left.

Harrogate certainly posed a threat when they went direct and came close to opening the scoring after 20 minutes as Nathan Broome expertly tipped a Levi Sutton effort wide of the upright.

Our number 10 continued to carry the majority of our attacking threat as he saw two shots deflected wide. The pressure was building on the hosts and in the end it told as we took a deserved lead.

Once again, another shot was blocked in the box, and Chislett picked up the loose ball before showing great poise to fire low into the net. The midfielder then bent a free-kick wide as he quickly threatened to double his tally before Pearson also tried his luck from distance.

In the end we took a one-goal lead into the break that was no less than what our play warranted. After withstanding some light pressure from Harrogate we then began to turn the screw again.

First, Pearson almost saw his low effort creep in at the near post. This led almost directly to our second goal of the afternoon. A corner wasn’t properly dealt with by the Sulphurites – leading to the the ball breaking to Chislett on the edge of the area – and his powerful effort spun up off the turf and into the goal brilliantly.

Even when the home side did get a sniff of a chance, the on-form figure of Aaron Pierre was on hand to keep them at bay with some vital blocks. Broome was also in top form, making an important save to deny Armstrong.

Wimbledon’s attitude was typified by a superb sliding challenge by Will Nightingale, who formed a solid partnership with Pierre all afternoon. Al-Hamadi came close to adding a third on the break but couldn’t quite cap off his driving run.

The hosts then set up a grandstand finish as Armstrong netted late into normal time. With six minutes shown on the board, we had to batten down the hatches and stay strong.

However, after another chance went begging for our men, it was the hosts who netted a dramatic equaliser as Sutton fired high into the net from a corner to steal an unlikely point.

AFC Wimbledon: Nathan Broome, Lee Brown, Alex Woodyard, Will Nightingale, Diallang Jaiyesimi (Saikou Janneh), Ethan Chislett (Jack Currie), Ali Al-Hamadi, Aaron Pierre, Armani Little (George Marsh), Sam Pearson (Kasey McAteer), Isaac Ogundere

Attendance: 2,891 (600 away)

PICS: Simon Davies (Pro Sports Images)