Match report
At half time the crowd of close to two thousand at Staines Town stood in amazement watching a display of bewildering close control and ball juggling, there was little doubt that at that point of the afternoon ?Jake, the Footballing Dog?, a border terrier, was the highlight of the afternoon.
The first half of this game between two teams with aspirations of a top five finish had been a nondescript affair, with few chances, indeed in the first 45 minutes yellow cards outnumbered shots on target.
Whatever Dons boss Dave Anderson and his Staines counterpart Steve Cordery said at half time, the second forty-five minutes were full of incident and controversy. As ?the performing dog? left the field, the PA announced that the home side had never lost at a game where Jake had performed, and this trend seemed predestined to continue in the 47th minute when a lack of conviction in the Dons defence led to Staines lacking the lead.
Andre Scarlett, attacked down their left, he advanced from the half way line to inside the Dons box, as stand in right back, Wayne Finnie, chose to back off rather than make a challenge. Once inside the box Scarlett unleashed a shot that was easily blocked by the Dons defence however the ball was not cleared and fell to Staines, Ali Chaaban, who fired past Andy Little in the Dons goal from six yards.
AFC Wimbledon responded and they were soon putting the Staines goal under pressure. Two corners in quick succession ended with the Dons equalising. As the ball was swung over from the Dons right, Antony Howard was perfectly placed at the back post and headed home.
Either side of the hour mark both teams spurned good chances to go ahead. A through ball found Mark Nwokeji one on one with Andy Little, but the Dons keeper saved a fierce shot pushing the ball to safety. Minutes later the Dons, Chris Gell, hit the post with a long range effort, Wes Daly responded quickest but his shot hit, while off balance, cleared the crossbar.
The Dons were gradually beginning to dominate and Finnie had a fine shot from over 20 yards tipped over by Staines keeper, Courtnage. From the resulting corner Howard met the ball at the far post and headed back across goal, but sadly for the Dons the strikers failed to apply the final touch.
Minutes later the Dons broke quickly out of defence and Roscoe DSane, although fouled managed to find Scott Fitzgerald with a finely weighted pass. As Fitzgerald brought the ball under control he was bundled over, to the amazement of the majority of the crowd the referee turned aside penalty appeals from the irate Dons players.
The Dons chances of finding a late winner were dealt a severe blow when Wes Daly was sent off in the 84th minute, having been booked in the first half, with six minutes remaining the midfielder went down on the edge of the Staines box. While most players readied themselves for a Dons free kick, the referee showed Daly another yellow card, presumably for diving and the Dons would have to play out the remaining minutes with ten men.
At the death Staines might have taken all three points when Chaaban contrived to hit the Dons cross bar from five yards, when the net presented itself as an easier target, however the Dons hung on to claim a valuable point
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