David Fitzpatrick catches the eye in defeat
AFC Wimbledon’s development side had their six-match unbeaten run ended against AFC Bournemouth this afternoon, but coach Alan Reeves refused to be too harsh on his players.
The young Dons were on the receiving end of a 4-1 defeat, but they were without key pair Will Nightingale and George Oakley. A strong Bournemouth side featured players with first-team experience including centre backs Elliott Ward and Miles Addison and Mohamed Coulibaly.
Harry Cornick’s double and a Ben Whitfield strike put the Cherries 3-0 up, but Dan Agyei pulled one back for the Dons, before Josh O’Hanlon completed the scoring in a match played at Fawcetts Field, home of New Milton FC.
Without Will and George today, it was probably the youngest squad that we had fielded this season. Alan Reeves said: “I could not fault the effort and work-rate from our players, but Bournemouth had that bit of extra quality. They are a club flying high in the Championship with a bigger squad and I did think we might struggle at times today.
“Bournemouth kept the ball well, but we caused them problems at times. David Fitzpatrick did very well and he was a threat throughout the game.”
Winger Fitzpatrick (pictured), who made his first-team debut in the 4-1 win against Exeter City, was Wimbledon’s man of the match according to Reeves.
Reeves added that it was the right decision to rest centre-back Will Nightingale, who came on a late substitute to make his debut against Carlisle on Saturday.
“During the last year Will has had a lot of injury problems, but he’s had a run of games recently and we did not want to push him too hard,” said Reeves. “We decided to keep him involved with first-team training after his debut at the weekend.”
AFC Wimbledon: Joe McDonnell, Callum Wilson, George Pilbeam, Ryan Sweeney, Ben Harrison, Chace Jacquart, Dan Gallagher, Tom Beere, David Fitzpatrick, Dan Agyei, Egli Kaja.