Young striker on the mark again in defeat
Promising striker George Oakley enhanced his growing reputation with another fine goal for Wimbledon Under-18s on Saturday.
The Dons youngsters let a 2-0 lead slip to lose 3-2 at Stevenage, but Oakley (pictured above) continued his rich vein of scoring form in the defeat and struck the crossbar with another effort.
“After the game their manager (George O’Keefe) reckoned George was the best striker they had played against all season and he could not believe he is a first year Under-18. George bullied their defenders for the whole game and his goal was almost a replica of the excellent goal he scored against Peterborough last week. Wimbledon Academy Manager, Mark Robinson, said:
“The boys needed to be together more as a collective group to see the game out at 2-0. At that stage it looked like we would score at any time again, but they got a goal out of nothing and that meant there was a big change in the match. It was a good game and there were a lot of positives to take as we created so many chances.”
Mark Robinson decided to rest key players Charlie Fayers, Chace Jacquart and Youssouf Bamba because they will be involved in Thursday night’s first-team fixture when the Dons visit Sutton United in a Surrey Senior Cup semi-final.
However, without that trio, it was all going so well up until the hour mark. Khan Williams-Mitchell notched the opener after good work from Tom Beere, who also provided the assist for Oakley’s goal just before the hour. That signalled a spirited Stevenage fightback though and Wimbledon will be aiming to finish their Football League Youth Alliance campaign on a high with just two matches left this season.