AFC Wimbledon suffered a first defeat in 11 league games on Sunday afternoon as Sutton United emerged as 2-1 winners in the local derby.
Previous meetings between the two sides have been largely cagey affairs this season, however today’s game didn’t follow that trend as the hosts largely dominated.
Will Randall opened the scoring for Sutton before Josh Davison hit an equaliser just shy of the end of the first 45 minutes to give us an extra spring in our step.
However any hope of another comeback victory was extinguished in the second-half as Omar Bugiel netted what proved to be the winner.
In the end a third match in seven days proved to be a bridge too far for the Dons, as we put in a lacklustre performance that was below the levels that we have set ourselves.
The challenge now is to regroup quickly, with another away game against Crewe Alexandra coming next.
Johnnie Jackson made two changes to the side which won 2-1 against Colchester, with Nathan Young-Coombes and Kyle Hudlin replacing Ayoub Assal and George Marsh. Meanwhile Alex Pearce and David Fisher were added to the bench.
Sutton had the first chance of the afternoon as Donovan Wilson fired wide following a miscued clearance by Ryley Towler. A cross then cannoned off the top of Nik Tzanev’s crossbar as we started slow by our usual standards. Tzanev was then called into action to deny Craig Eastmond in the area.
We failed to heed the early warning signs, with the U’s taking the lead through Will Randall’s well-stuck effort. Randall then came close to a second as he fired wide when he seemed certain to score.
Bugiel also fired wide as we failed to get into our stride during the opening half an hour. However it would be the Dons who hit back before half-time, with Davison firing home from close range after Young-Coombes directed an Ethan Chislett free-kick into his path.
Lee Brown replaced Young-Coombes at the break, meaning Jack Currie was moved up to left-midfield. Randall forced Tzanev into another save just south of the hour mark, with Sutton still posing a good threat from wide positions.
We were eventually made to pay again by the home side, with Bugiel bundling home from close range after Tzanev palmed Alistair Smith’s effort into the striker’s path. We came back at our hosts quickly, with Currie’s cross seeing Hudlin force Jack Rose into a great save.
Towler’s clearance off the line proved to be the most notable moment of stoppage time as we came away from the VBS Community Stadium with a defeat.
AFC Wimbledon: Nik Tzanev, Alex Woodyard, Nathan Young-Coombes (Lee Brown), Harry Pell, Josh Davison, Ethan Chislett, Ryley Towler, Kyle Hudlin, Huseyin Biler, Jack Currie (David Fisher), Paul Kalambayi
PICS: Simon Roe (Pro Sports Images)
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