Wimbledon’s impressive recent run was ended today as a goal in each half for Newport condemned Johnnie Jackson’s men to a home defeat.
Though the Dons slipped below the high standard set in the last four unbeaten matches – three of those as victories – a 2-0 loss was harsh on the balance of play.
Wimbledon were on the receiving end of a smash-and-grab raid, as the side from South Wales were clinical with their few chances in front of goal and defended resolutely when required. While this was a tough defeat to take, other results meant that the Dons are still well in the race for a play-off place come 27 April.
Following the impressive midweek win at home to Gillingham, Johnnie Jackson unsurprisingly selected an unchanged starting line-up. His side certainly started on the front foot with Armani Little shooting over and Jake Reeves having a shot saved, but Newport grabbed the lead against the run of play in the 12th minute. It was a cracking opening goal with Bryn Morris striking a fierce drive from outside the box that left Alex Bass with absolutely no chance.
Newport’s tails were up now with their early goal coming after their thrilling 5-3 midweek win at home to Morecambe and the visitors enjoyed a spell of good possession football after taking the lead. That meant the Dons were struggling to impose themselves on this game, in-form striker Omar Bugiel seeing very little of the ball in the first half hour. Wimbledon did put together a fine move to set-up a shooting chance for Little, but his shot from the edge of the area flashed over the crossbar.
Bass was required to be at his best to keep the Dons level when he reacted superbly to get the better of a one-on-one with Offrande Zanzala, who looked certain to score. However, the men in yellow and blue dominated for the rest of the first-half, swarming forward at every opportunity and putting Newport under real pressure. Impressive work down the left by Jack Currie started a move that led to an opening for Jake Reeves, but his goal-bound powerful drive was inadvertently blocked by Ronan Curtis. Reeves was increasingly finding space when joining the attack and shortly afterwards he tried his luck again – this time his shot was deflected just over the crossbar.
As we approached half-time, Newport were finding it tough to contain the Dons and John-Kymani Gordon was taken out by Adam Lewis as he attempted to go clean through and he was subsequently yellow carded. There was no ultimate punishment for Newport from the free-kick that followed through as Curtis struck a shot that was too close to Nick Townsend. A half-time deficit for Wimbledon was perhaps harsh considering the balance of play, but Johnnie Jackson’s men had to keep going in pursuit of a play-off place.
Wimbledon fashioned what appeared to be a great opportunity early in the second-half when Curtis sent over a lovely cross from the right that picked out Gordon, but he was penalised for handball before he could get a shot off. The Dons had a mountain to climb in the 55th minute when Newport doubled their advantage. A free-kick was swung in from the left that Kofi Balmer could only divert into the path of Kyle Jameson and he was left with a simple task to steer home.
With an hour on the clock and Wimbledon still 2-0 down, Johnnie Jackson decided to make a double change with Josh Kelly and Aron Sasu introduced for Gordon and Lee Brown. There was almost an instant response as Kelly was straight into the thick of the action, firstly trying a lob that beat the keeper, but bounced off the crossbar. Kelly then turned smartly on the edge of the area before striking a shot that was just off target. However, Bass had to make a fine save to stop Will Evans from adding a third goal.
The Dons had plenty of threat on the left now with Sasu backed up well by Currie as Wimbledon went all out for a path back into this match. Curtis came close to halving the deficit with a shot from close-range that was charged down, Newport again getting in a last-ditch block to stop the Dons, which had become a recurring theme throughout.
In the latter stages, home pressure subsided with Newport holding on fairly comfortably, and Wimbledon will need to show what they are made of next week with a tough task at automatic promotion contenders Crewe coming up.
AFC Wimbledon: Alex Bass, Lee Brown (Aron Sasu), Jake Reeves, Kofi Balmer, Josh Neufville, Armani Little (James Ball), Omar Bugiel, John-Joe O’Toole, Ronan Curtis, Jack Currie, John-Kymani Gordon (Josh Kelly).
