AFC Wimbledon walked away with two points from our opening EFL Trophy Group C game after getting the better of Stevenage on penalties.
An entertaining midweek encounter under the lights brought about a 1-1 scoreline after 90 minutes, meaning penalties were needed to decide who would take away an extra point.
It was the Dons who prevailed 6-5 on spotkicks thanks to a Nik Tzanev save and Charlie Lakin winner, on a night when Joe Lewis also bagged his first goal for the club with a brilliant header.
We once again put in another convincing performance against a side from a higher division, with our much changed side matching our League One counterparts well.
Johnnie Jackson made numerous changes to the side which drew 2-2 against Newport County, with Tzanev, Harry Pell, Josh Davison, Alex Pearce, Ryan McLean, Lakin, Ethan Sutcliffe and Aron Sasu all coming in.
The other headline change was the return of Jack Currie, who made his first appearance since being sidelined through injury at the back end of pre-season. Meanwhile our substitutes bench also took on a more youthful look, with Paris Lock and Kai Jennings both featuring.
There was an early opening for the Dons within the opening few minutes as Davison fired wide from distance following a nicely cushioned header by Morgan Williams. Up the other end Harvey White saw a free-kick deflected wide for the visitors.
White had another sighter around the half-hour mark as his volley dropped just wide of the far post. It was déjà vu for our side as well as Davison turned sharply before seeing his effort arrow off target. Sutcliffe showed great composure in moments, striding out from the back to link the play when opportunities arose.
Currie was equally impressive in the first-half, showing good awareness at the back post to cushion an incoming cross away to safety before the break. Tzanev was also called into action in added on time as he got a strong hand to a long range effort.
It was Stevenage that took the lead 10 minutes into the second-half, with Jamie Reid dispatching from the penalty spot after Jake Forster-Caskey had been adjudged to have been fouled.
Sasu was playing with plenty of confidence as he continuously got the better of his man down the left hand side. It was one of our defenders who came up with an equaliser however, with Joe Lewis getting his head to Williams’ free-kick to claim his first goal in yellow and blue.
The pressure was on the away side now as we moved into the ascendancy and it was the Dons that almost took the lead as a result with a goal mouth scramble ensuing following another well-delivered set piece.
There was another proud moment for our Academy in the final 10 minutes of the game, with Lock being handed his professional debut off the bench. Both sides pushed hard in the closing stages as eight minutes was shown on the fourth official’s board.
With the scores level after 90 minutes the extra point was decided by the lottery of penalty kicks. Every spotkick was squeaky clean for both sides up until the sixth, with Tzanev making the all-important save to tee up Lakin to fire home the winner as we won the shootout 6-5.
AFC Wimbledon: Nik Tzanev, Harry Pell (James Ball), Josh Davison (Paris Lock), Alex Pearce (Isaac Ogundere), Ryan McLean (James Tilley), Charlie Lakin, Ethan Sutcliffe, Jack Currie (Lee Brown), Morgan Williams, Aron Sasu, Joe Lewis
Attendance: 1,317 (95 away)
PICS: Ian Stephen (Pro Sports Images)