AFC Wimbledon came away from our clash with Newport County with a 1-1 draw following a real game of two halves.
As has been the pattern in recent times, the Dons failed to build on a largely positive half of the game as Ali Al-Hamadi’s sixth goal in yellow and blue was cancelled out by Harry Charsley’s second-half equaliser.
Newport had the better of the latter stages, however we stood up well to what was thrown at us and came away with a point that stops a run of four defeats.
Johnnie Jackson made multiple changes to the side which lost 2-1 away at Doncaster Rovers, with Chris Gunter, Kasey McAteer and Sam Pearson coming in for George Marsh, Will Nightingale and Josh Davison.
Meanwhile returning loanees Alfie Bendle, Dylan Adjei-Hersey and Luke Jenkins all made the bench.
Lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, there was a chance early for the Dons as Al-Hamadi slid a Jack Currie cross wide of the near post.
Our Iraqi international wouldn’t be denied the next time however as he put us ahead. Gunter flighted in a cross, with the Exiles’ failure to clear their lines allowing our striker to bury his effort past the onrushing Joe Day.
McAteer could’ve doubled our lead, but his shot from a tight angle was high and wide of the goal. Our combinations in wide areas were causing problems for the hosts, whilst the midfield pivot of Alex Woodyard and Armani Little provided a good shield in front of the defence.
Moving into the second-half, the challenge was to not only hold our lead but build on it. Newport had a few set pieces in dangerous positions during the first quarter that our backline dealt with well, however chances were few and far between for the Dons at the other end.
We failed to heed the warning of the deliveries coming into our box and as a result the home side soon equalised. A corner wasn’t properly dealt with, which saw Charsley drill into the back of the net.
The Exiles began to press for another goal soon after, with Nik Tzanev doing well to tip Kavanagh’s shot wide.
Both sides largely cancelled each other out during the final knockings of the game, as we came away with a point after an even contest.
AFC Wimbledon: Nik Tzanev, Chris Gunter, Alex Woodyard, Ethan Chislett, Ali Al-Hamadi, Alex Pearce (Will Nightingale), Aaron Pierre, Armani Little, Kasey McAteer, Jack Currie, Sam Pearson (Saikou Janneh).
Attendance: 4,051 (315 away)
PIC: Wayne Tuckwell (Pro Sports Images)