For the second successive season, the Dons were condemned to defeat on home turf by near neighbours Sutton United.
The repeat 1-0 score-line in favour of the men from Gander Green Lane was tougher to take this time around with the Dons coming into this game in seventh place and Sutton currently propping up the League Two table.
However, there was no denying that Sutton deserved this victory, the visitors creating the better chances and showing a steely edge at the back. Though losing a derby match is always a setback, the most disappointing aspect was that Wimbledon just didn’t come close to replicating the superb home form of recent months – perhaps this was one match too far after a very hectic schedule.
The Dons came into this match in flying form – on the back of an impressive win at Crawley that made it five matches unbeaten in all competitions. In contrast, Sutton came here without a win in six league matches and that dismal run of form had resulted in the departure of long-serving manager Matt Gray. That left a familiar face to Wimbledon supporters with the responsibility of revitalising their fortunes – our former defender Jason Goodliffe taking over the reins.
With Johnnie Jackson unable to take up his usual place in the Dons technical area after being sent off at Crawley, our manager watched from the gantry up above and the first-half will not have been to his liking. As so often happens in a derby match, Sutton made light of the form book, certainly having the better of the first-half. The Dons came into this game without the suspended Joe Lewis, who was replaced by Alex Pearce at the heart of Wimbledon’s defence. James Tilley was recalled in place of Connor Lemonheigh-Evans and Josh Neufville was preferred to Josh Davison.
Ben Goodliffe – son of Jason - had the first real chance of the game after 15 minutes when the Dons only half cleared a corner, and his well struck shot resulted in a fine save to his right by Alex Bass. At the other end, James Tilley showed fine skill down the right to get in a cross, but Sutton keeper Dean Bouzanis got there first. That Wimbledon attack was not a sign of things to come though as Sutton continued to have the better of the first 30 minutes.
The visitors came so close to breaking the deadlock midway through the first-half. Lee Angol’s pass put Harry Smith clean through, but Bass did well to deny him and Jack Currie reacted well to clear Omari Patrick’s follow-up, before the ball was scrambled out for a corner.
In response, Tilley – Wimbledon’s brightest spark in the first third of the match – cut inside sharply from the right, but his shot was too close to Bouzanis. Another Sutton attack resulted in Ryan Johnson getting away with a scuffed clearance, as anxiety started to creep in around the stadium.
Johnnie Jackson’s men had their best spell of the match so far in the period leading up to half-time. Armani Little sent over a sublime cross that Ali Al-Hamadi headed over the crossbar and the Dons showed a bit more menace in attack before the break after a largely below-par first-half against resilient opponents.
The Dons knew that more purpose was needed in attack after the break and Tilley attempted to make a difference once again when he struck a fine goal-bound effort that was deflected out for a corner. Al-Hamadi also threatened to change matters when he delivered a fine cross, but no one was able to get on the end of it. Despite those positive signs, Sutton continued to cause problems with Omari Patrick having a shot blocked at the near post. And the Dons failed to heed that warning as the visitors took the lead in the 62nd minute. It was a simple goal in its execution as Sutton took full advantage of Wimbledon being unable to clear a corner and Omar Sowunmi headed home from close-range. That signalled jubilation in the away end as the visitors sensed that a repeat of last season’s result here was on the cards.
Wimbledon struggled to exert sustained pressure in response and it took until the 79th minute for the Dons to create a meaningful chance, Armani Little sending over a delightful cross from the right that Al-Hamadi could only head straight into the hands of Bouzanis. With 10 minutes remaining, there was a last throw of the dice with a double change made – Harry Pell and Paul Kalambayi introduced for Omar Bugiel and Alex Pearce.
The changes failed to spark Wimbledon though as Sutton held firm – even eight minutes of injury-time failed to yield a clear-cut chance. The closest Wimbledon came was when Kalambayi's acrobatic kick bounced just wide after he got on the end of a cross from Armani Little.
Bearing in mind the manner of Wimbledon’s recent performances, we’ll all be hoping this is only a blip and Friday night at home to Colchester United now takes on even greater importance to bounce back immediately from this surprise setback.
AFC Wimbledon: Alex Bass, Huseyin Biler, Jake Reeves, Ryan Johnson, James Tilley (Josh Davison), Ali Al-Hamadi, Josh Neufville (Connor Lemonheigh-Evans), Armani Little, Alex Pearce (Paul Kalambayi), Omar Bugiel (Harry Pell), Jack Currie.
Attendance: 8,575 (1,200 away)
PICS: Nigel Keene (Pro Sports Images)