Ladies seek to cement top spot
AFC Wimbledon Ladies this Sunday face an altogether different test of their title credentials after coming through with flying colours against London Corinthians last time out.
The Dons will be aiming to guard against complacency when they visit rock-bottom Bexhill United after Chris Lyons’ side made it 10 wins out of 11 and maintained their unbeaten league record by beating Corinthians 2-1.
Kelly Jade-Whelan and Emma Keady netted the all-important goals and Rebecca Sargent (pictured) was player of the match for Wimbledon.
It was a tight first-half on Sunday with no goals and visitors Corinthian showing exactly why they had a major say in last season’s London & South East Regional Women’s League title race.
The Dons had to show plenty of character to turn it around after falling 1-0 behind on the hour and an instant response was exactly the response manager Chris Lyons wanted. There was an element of controversy about the equaliser as huge protests from Corinthians followed the goal from Whelan with the referee overruling a linesman’s flag.
A winner followed for Wimbledon 10 minutes from time and it was a reward for perseverance with substitutes Caz Bisson and Keady both involved. Bisson was denied by the Corinthians goalkeeper, who also denied Whelan, but Keady followed up to strike the winner.
Chris Lyons said: “Going into this game we knew how difficult this fixture was going to be. Corinthians are a well organised team, but once again our players showed why we hold them in such high regard. It’s an old adage that teams are vulnerable straight after they score, and our first goal showed that perfectly. We responded well to going behind and didn’t let Corinthians rest. We upped our game instantly, and Kelly’s goal came at the right time.
“Emma made a very good impact again and scored an important goal for our plans this season. On the balance of play, I think we deserved the win. We were better in every department, and when we go to them in January we can expect another difficult game.”
AFC Wimbledon: Salgado, Wylie, Houghton-North, Clements, Clarke, Trimnell, Hoesli-Atkins (Bavington 86), Suchley, Sargent (Keady 70), Whelan, Clifford (Bisson 59).