Solid Dons Hold Cheltenham To Draw

---

Cheltenham 0 v Wimbledon 0

Wimbledon held high-flying Cheltenham to a creditable 0-0 draw on Tuesday (21 February) to record their first clean sheet in four months of football.

The Dons hadn't kept a clean sheet in the league since their 0-0 draw at Shrewsbury Town at the end of October, a grand total of 1,260 minutes.

And few would have predicted them altering that run during a visit to Cheltenham, strong contenders for automatic promotion to League 1.

But a solid display from the increasingly confident Dons saw them take home a valuable point as they seek to avoid being dragged towards the relegation scrap.

Afterwards Dons boss Terry Brown told the club's website: "We needed to batten down the hatches, scrap and make ourselves difficult to beat.

"We came and defended brilliantly and Seb Brown did not have a lot to do. He organised the defence well and they played very well in front of him."

Cheltenham started strongly with ex-Wimbledon man Kaid Mohamed causing problems with his pace and direct running. It was Mohamed who set up the first chance of the game but Jeff Goulding shot into the side netting.

And Wimbledon remained content to soak up the pressure with Alan Bennett heading over from a corner.

Jack Midson narrowly failed to get on the end of a Rashid Yussuff through ball before the Dons started to come slightly more into it just before the half-time break, with a Sam Hatton free-kick narrowly evading Jamie Stuart.

But the hosts really piled on the pressure after the break without fashioning too many clear-cut chances. When a chance did come, Russell Penn’s shot was straight at Seb Brown.

Midson saw a shot deflected wide before substitute Billy Knott had an ambitious effort curl narrowly wide, but the last word fell to the hosts.

First Brown had to be alert to tip over a header from Jimmy Spencer, and then Mohamed drove just wide from a narrow angle.

The Dons will try to take increased confidence from this defensive display with two more away trips to Crewe Alexandra (Saturday 25 February) and Hereford United (Saturday 3 March).

Attendance: 2,603

Cheltenham: Butland, Elliott, Bennett, Garbutt, Jombati, Pack, Low (Spencer 72), Penn (Lowe 81), Summerfield, Goulding (Duffy 72), Mohamed. Subs not used: Smikle, McGlashan.

Booked: Bennett 42.

Wimbledon: Brown, Hatton, Bush, S. Moore, Mitchel-King, Stuart, Yussuff, Moncus, Midson, Jolley (Harrison 74), Euell (Knott 66). Subs not used: McNaughton, Turner, Hoyte.

Booked: Midson 47, Bush 87.

By Rob Crane

What do you think of Wimbledon's recent performances? Why not comment on our forum?

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

February 22, 2012