AFC Wimbledon Under-18s produced an emphatic response to falling behind against Cambridge United with an impressive winner by Troy Chiabi earning victory.
Despite falling behind early on at home to Cambridge, goals by Abdi Ali and Chiabi secured a 2-1 victory for a Wimbledon side that were crowned national champions last year.
The young Dons came close to equalising when Luke Jenkins headed just wide, before Julian Sarmiento-Ramirez caught the keeper off guard with a clever free-kick, but the ball flashed just wide. Just before the half-time break, Wimbledon were awarded a penalty. Abdi Ali was brought down in the box and that allowed an opportunity from 12 yards for Sarmiento-Ramirez. Though his penalty struck a post, Abdi reacted quickest to reach the rebound first and claim an equaliser for the Dons.
Wimbledon came tantalisingly close to earning the lead for the first time shortly into the second-half. A driving run by Ethan Sutcliffe, who was on the bench last week for our first-team, started the move and it ended with Sarmiento-Ramirez finding Dylan Adjei-Hersey, but the Cambridge keeper saved. For 10 minutes, the Dons were put under pressure and Matthew Cox made two saves. While those stops were fairly routine, Cox pulled off a brilliant double save to keep Wimbledon level later in the second-half.
With 15 minutes remaining Wimbledon took the lead with a goal that turned out to be the winner. Sutcliffe and Sarmiento-Ramirez combined to set-up Aron Sasu, who squared the ball to Chiabi, and he produced a smart turn and finish to bag the points for Wimbledon.
AFC Wimbledon: Matthew Cox, Isaac Ogundere, Ethan Sutcliffe, Luke Jenkins, Josh Hallard, Abdi Ali, Kwaku Frimpong, Marcel Campbell, Julian Sarmiento-Ramirez, Dylan Adjei-Hershey, and Troy Chiabi. Subs: Aron Sasu, Paris Lock, Ben Mason, Adejola Lahan and Hugo Few.
Take a look at the highlights from this game by clicking on the link below.