Jack Currie marked his return by helping the young Dons to get back to winning ways at Cambridge United.
Jack, who had been out with a serious injury for 11 months, earned praise from Under-18s manager Rob Tuvey after helping Wimbledon to a 1-0 win.
Rob praised his display as ‘absolutely superb’ and the player himself was delighted to be back out there after so long on the sidelines.
“It’s been 11 months out and that’s my first 90 minutes,” said Jack. “I was buzzing to hear the news that I was starting. Towards the end I cramped up a bit, which was not ideal, but it was great to push through it and I just want to thank all the backroom staff that helped me get to this stage.”
Wimbledon’s victory at Cambridge came after a first-half when the two sides cancelled each other out. The young Dons had dominated possession, without finding the killer touch, and that continued until the second-half, before a key point in the game when Quaine Bartley replaced Kwaku Frimpong. This substitution meant the Dons were able to put balls into the front man and secure the ball higher up the pitch.
The winning for Wimbledon arrived with just two minutes left when a powerful run through the middle from Isaac Olaynian opened up space for Bartley, who picked out Dylan Adjei-Hersey, and he volleyed home emphatically.
Following the victory, Rob Tuvey said: “The turning point came when a Cambridge United player went down injured and our squad, unlike the opposition, who ran over to their manager for advice, got themselves in a huddle and spoke about raising their performance levels for the last five minutes. Something the academy has placed a lot of emphasis on is players being self-managing athletes, so for the coaching staff to see them taking responsibility for their own standards on the pitch was pleasing. It let them see that the work they’ve been doing is having an impact.”
Take a look below at an interview with Rob and Jack.