Dons Win 'Kingsmeadow Derby'
Wimbledon 2 v Kingstonian 0
Wimbledon kept their good pre-season going on Tuesday (July 27) with a 2-0 win against tenants Kingstonian but it needed the arrival of most of the Dons' first-team regulars to spark this game into life.
The Dons started with a host of trialists and reserve teamers, with only Rashid Yussuff of the starting XI likely to be a first-team regular come the season proper. Possibly as a result, the Dons started on the back foot and Jack Turner twice had to be alert in the early stages, first to turn over one point-blank effort and then to do the same with a looping header that seemed destined for the back of the net.
The closest that the Dons came in the first half was a surging Delano Sam-Yorke run that finished tamely as the ball ran through for visiting keeper Rob Tolfrey to gather.
The tempo started picking up as the Dons made the first of their changes at half-time. First Sam-Yorke latched on to a weak backpass only to see Tolfrey deflect his shot behind (although no corner was given), and then the trialist played in sub Jon Main whose shot went narrowly wide.
Ricky Wellard then saw his stinging drive turned over before Main unselfishly set up Sam-Yorke, but with the goal at his mercy the ex-Woking man screwed his effort wide.
The breakthrough finally came when Main latched on to a delightfully weighed Yussuff throughball and lifted the ball over the keeper.
And Lee Minshull doubled the lead when he scrambled the ball home at the near post following a Danny Kedwell knock down.
This was a disappointing performance from the Dons compared with previous pre-season games, but they were made to work hard by their Ryman League neighbours.
The Dons now travel to Devon to play Tiverton Town (Friday July 30) and Exeter City (Saturday July 31).
Wimbledon: Turner; Jackson (Hatton), Franks (Johnson), Harris (Yakubu), J.Brown (Blackman); Jones (Minshull), Yussuff, Knock (Wellard); Smith (Jolley), Sam-Yorke (Kedwell), Duglin (Main).
Attendance: 785
Rob Crane
July 28, 2010
