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The Dons clung on for a point in a lack-lustre performance against a sprightly St Albans team. The goalless draw was the second in two games, following along run when goals had seemed to come easily for the Dons.
The returning former Don, Jay Conroy, made his first start at right back with Ben Judge moving back into the middle to make room for him; Jason Goodliffe was unavailable through injury. In midfield, Jake Leberl and Tony Finn came in for Dwane Lee and Elliott Godfrey.
The action started with local boy Sam Hatton hitting a shot well over the bar but then the pattern of the game started to emerge, with St Albans working the ball quickly through midfield and creating the few chances that arose during the game. Early in the game, James Fisher hit a strong shot which James Pullen stopped with his chest, the ball bouncing out for a corner.
Shortly afterwards, Hassan Sulaiman was slipped through by Paul Hakim and his shot hit the post before going off for a goal kick; he had looked certain to score and it was a let off for the Dons. Hector Mackie was also causing problems with snaking runs, but like most of the St Albans attacks he was stopped on the rock of the Dons defence, where Alan Inns was particularly strong and solid.
As the game wore on, St Albans looked less and less likely to break through but, even then, the Dons struggled to create chances. Wimbledon fans looked for an improvement in the second half, following what must have been a strong half time talk by Terry Brown, but whatever he said didn’t have much effect. In fact, the only bright spots were a dipping shot from Danny Kedwell which went into the top of the net and a last minute header from the same player which went wide. It was a golden opportunity missed.
While Terry Brown must have been pleased with the contribution of substitute Kennedy Adjei, there can’t have been many other positive things to take from the game. Perhaps it was enough to reflect that it was a point gained despite one of the season’s poorer performances.
90) James Fisher