Dismal Dons Dumped Out Of Cup

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Bradford City 3 v Wimbledon 1

Another dismal defensive display saw the Dons dumped out of the FA Cup on Saturday (3 December) as they lost their second round tie 3-1 at Bradford City.

Dons boss Terry Brown admitted to the Hounslow Chronicle afterwards: "We were a shambles at the back. The [first] two goals we gave away were punts up the park that we didn't deal with.

"I don't need to look any further than my back four, who need to defend better than they did."

But for some excellent saves by goalkeeper Seb Brown, the margin of defeat could have been even wider against a Bradford side battling to avoid relegation to the Conference.

The Dons got off to a nightmare start, finding themselves 0-2 down after just quarter of an hour.

First the unmarked Ross Hannah, who looked suspiciously offside, bundled the ball home from close-range following a Craig Fagan cross.

And then, four minutes later, Chris Bush scored a disasterous own-goal. Ricky Ravenhill burst between Sammy Moore and Jamie Stuart and although his effort beat Seb Brown it appeared to be going wide before Bush made a hash of his attempted clearance.

Luke Moore almost immediately missed a chance to pull the Dons back into it, shooting wide from six yards after good approach play by Jack Midson, but that was a rare Wimbledon attempt on the Bradford goal.

The Dons threatened to get back into the game after the half-time break, with Christian Jolley in particular causing the home defence problems.

And after 50 minutes the Dons had a goal, Ricky Wellard threading in Midson who finished with the outside of his boot to put the Dons back into the tie.

But any prospect of a comeback was scuppered with 15 minutes remaining when Stuart inexplicably wrestled Hannah to the floor, Fagan calmly converting the resultant penalty to restore the Bantams' two goal advantage.

With confidence at a low ebb, the Dons will be hoping for a morale-boosting performance when they host Accrington Stanley next weekend.

Attendance: 3,432

Bradford: McLaughlin, Ramsden, Flynn, Oliver, Hanson, Hannah (Wells 60), Ravenhill, Reid (Compton 78), Seip (Dean 90), Davies, Fagan. Subs not used: Duke, O'Brien, Liam Moore, Devitt.

Goalscorers: Hannah 10, Bush (o.g.) 14, Fagan 70 (pen).

Booked: Flynn 86, Ravenhill 90.

Wimbledon: Brown, Stuart, Johnson, Hatton (Minshull 77), Wellard, Midson, Luke Moore (Kiernan 83), Jolley (Ademeno 64), Bush, S. Moore, Mulley. Subs not used: Turner, Gwillim, Porter, Yussuff.

Goalscorer: Midson  50.

Booked: Mulley 33.

By Rob Crane

www.wimbledonsw19.com are the proud sponsors of Marcus Gayle's away kit

December 5, 2011