Dons boss is far from happy
said the manner of Wimbledon’s defeat at Hartlepool United left him hugely frustrated after his side paid the price for what he described as “awful” defending at Victoria Park.Neal Ardley
, but all their hard work counted for nothing when they allowed Luke James space to head home Hartlepool’s second, before a killer blow from Matthew Dolan.Harry Pell minute leveller from thThe Dons yet again came from behind with a 66
“It is difficult to take because once we got back to 1-1 I thought that we would go on and win it,” Neal said. “Then we have gone and shot ourselves in the foot. I am quite emotional and gutted about it because we did everything right in our preparations, but we have let ourselves down with silly mistakes. We have lost a game 3-1 when it should never have been that scoreline in my opinion.
“I am really frustrated because we worked so hard to get back into the game. I am furious with what has gone on for their second goal. It was an awful goal to concede in so many ways. It starts with us having the ball at one end and losing it through bad decisions and it ends through poor defending.”
Neal made a point of applauding Wimbledon’s travelling support with 235 of them making the trip on a Tuesday night to Hartlepool. The Wimbledon manager described their backing as “phenomenal” and he added that coming away with no points from such a long trip made it even harder to take.
“We have done an 11 hour round trip and come away with nothing,” he added. “But we have been shipping goals and when you keep doing that, then you are fighting a losing battle. They defended well in and around their box and we didn’t. You cannot defend like we did at any level of football.”
Dons Player subscribers can watch the full video interview with Neal on our premium site later today.