Mark Robinson not happy after six-goal thriller
Academy Manager Mark Robinson admitted he was far from happy with the performance of Wimbledon Under-18s after his side bowed out of the Football League Youth Alliance Cup on Saturday.
Though it was not without a fight as the Dons battled to a 3-3 draw at home to Aldershot Town, Mark Robinson admitted that he expected much better, especially with places up for grabs to make the FA Youth Cup team against Cheltenham later this month.
Victory in that tie offers the incentive of a prestigious third round match at home to Tottenham Hotspur and the Dons Academy Manager made nine changes on Saturday to give other players their chance to stake a claim.
The Dons, needing a big win on Saturday to advance to the knockout stages, fell 2-0 down with Bobby Webbe and Kofi Halliday netting for Aldershot.
However, Wimbledon reduced the arrears when Owen Roberts finished emphatically after a good delivery from Charlie Craig and Harlan Basker continued his recent hot streak to make it 2-2 after fine approach play from Sam Whiting. George Oakley (pictured) capped a spirited first-half fightback to secure a 3-2 lead for the Dons after he was set-up by Sam Baffour.
That was as good as it got though for the Dons though and they were made to pay for missed chances in the second-half when Elliott Blair equalised for Aldershot with 10 minutes to play.
Mark Robinson said: “After getting ourselves back into a winning position, the second-half was poor from us. There was no cohesion or tempo in our play. We have played 18 games in total this season and lost just two but when I see performances like this we are still a very long way from the standard I expect. I made nine changes from the team that won on Wednesday, but that is no excuse. This was an opportunity for several players to prove a point before our game versus Cheltenham, but on this occasion that opportunity was not taken.”