AFC Wimbledon fell to a loss on Saturday afternoon as Gillingham came from behind to win 2-1 at Priestfield.
Our side came into the game with a depleted squad, as several players missed out through injury. Nevertheless it was the Dons who took the lead on the day, with Ali Al-Hamadi finishing off a well worked team move.
Despite appearing that we would kick-on from that point it was the home side that came roaring back as Max Ehmer prodded home on the goal line following a good initial save by Nik Tzanev.
Things then went from bad to worse as former Wimbledon defender Cheye Alexander scored from distance, which in turn proved decisive as we failed to pose any real threat in the final quarter.
Johnnie Jackson made four changes to the side which drew 2-2 with Hartlepool United, as Will Nightingale coming in for his first league start since September, along with Harry Pell, Kasey McAteer and Jack Currie.
This meant that Paul Kalambayi, Ethan Chislett, Diallang Jaiyesimi and Alex Pearce all dropped out of the starting eleven. These changes also saw us switch to a back three in defence.
McAteer was quick into the action on his first start for the Dons, with the right wing-back for the day seeing a shot deflect wide early on. Josh Davison was also off target as the final knockings of the first-half approached.
Harry Pell then came even closer as his header was tipped over by Glenn Morris. Tzanev then got a slight touch on Alex MacDonald’s strike as he diverted the ball onto the underside of the bar just before the break.
The first period wasn’t much of an event, so things could only improve in the second - and they certainly did as we took an early lead.
Lovely interplay between Davison and Pell saw Al-Hamadi sprint in behind. The Iraq international kept his composure as he checked back onto his left foot and fired home, much to the delight of the travelling Dons.
However the hosts were quickly back level as Ehmer scrambled home from close range after Tzanev had saved an initial header. And they were soon in front as Alexander cracked in from distance.
It proved to be a sucker punch for Wimbledon as we failed to come close to bringing the game back level despite applying pressure in the closing stages.
AFC Wimbledon: Nik Tzanev, Chris Gunter, Lee Brown, Alex Woodyard (Ethan Chislett), Will Nightingale, Harry Pell (George Marsh), Josh Davison (Sam Pearson), Ali Al-Hamadi, Armani Little, Kasey McAteer (Saikou Janneh), Jack Currie
PIC: Simon Traylen (Pro Sports Images)