Scoring at the stadium will live long in the memory for young striker David Fisher, after his 25 yard effort helped Wimbledon book a place in round two of the FA Youth Cup.
The second year scholar netted from distance for the young Dons in an impressive 5-0 victory over visitors Leyton Orient under the lights at the Cherry Red Records Stadium.
“It was amazing,” said David. ”Out on the pitch was a great feeling. I picked the ball up after Julian (Sarmiento-Ramirez) passed it into me, turned and thought 'why not have a go?' I trusted my left foot and it went in thankfully!
“It’s unreal playing at the stadium. It’s where I want to be in the future. I think that it’s an amazing opportunity to be able to play in stadiums like that. The support from the Dons fans was unreal too! They were quite loud all night and I thank them for it.”
Tuesday night’s five-goal spree was also Rob Tuvey’s first taste of Youth Cup glory as Under-18s Manager, having taken over the role in the summer. He was pleased with how his players responded after the break.
“Second half though I thought we were excellent,” said Rob. “We really showed on the ball what we’re about, especially after the second goal. The most pleasing thing for me though was the clean sheet and the way we were off the ball. I thought we were solid all night and we limited them to hardly any chances.
“That’s really pleasing. It’s on to the next round now, but before that we’ve got league games and our mentality all season is to take one game at a time and that’s how it will remain.
“It’s always good to win games of football and get through the rounds. I thought we were slow to start off with, if I’m honest. They probably over-complicated it a little bit in the first half and took the game plan too literally. I thought we played within ourselves, but going through that experience is great learning for the boys and this competition is so good to play in front of a crowd.”
The young Dons went into the cup tie buoyed by Saturday’s dramatic 2-1 victory over Milton Keynes in the league at the training ground. Defender Huseyin Biler netted from the penalty spot in the 90th minute, after striker Troy Chiabi had an earlier penalty saved.
Left-back Jack Currie had given Wimbledon the lead from a rebound in the 72nd minute, before the visitors levelled 10 minutes before time. However, Biler kept his composure to score Wimbledon's winner from the spot right at the death to earn all three points.
You can see our post-match interview in full with Manager Rob Tuvey and forward David Fisher, after last night’s win in the FA Youth Cup, via the link below to our official YouTube channel.
Pic credits: Stuart Tree, Andy Nunn.