Dons All At Sea As Plymouth Sail On

---

Wimbledon 1 v Plymouth 2

Terry Brown’s Wimbledon slumped to another disappointing defeat against lowly opposition as they lost 2-1 at home against Plymouth Argyle on Tuesday night (6 March).

Hot on the heels of the defeat at Hereford on Saturday, the Dons found themselves a goal behind after just 11 seconds and never quite recovered.

It was a well-worked goal by the visitors, who lined up as if they were going to charge down the left-hand flank straight from the kick-off. Instead, Durrell Berry received a short pass and ran down the right channel, exploiting the Dons’ surprise, and crossed to the far post where Onismor Bhasera rose above Mat Mitchel-King to head home.

And the Dons' disarray failed to improve as minutes later Nick Chadwick should have doubled the visitors’ advantage but he headed wide when it seemed easier to score.

Chadwick set up a chance for Luke Young which went narrowly wide, and it wasn’t until Jason Euell’s shot was deflected wide that the Dons offered anything in attack.

After that the Dons did slowly come back into the game, and it was following a period of improvement that they pulled level. Euell’s quickly-taken short corner was crossed to the far post where Jack Midson’s header just crossed the line before Darren Purse could clear it.

But any hopes that that might spark a Wimbledon revival evaporated moments into the second-half when a sloppy Rashid Yussuff pass conceded possession. With Mitchel-King over-committing, Bhasera's pass found Chadwick with plenty of time and space and he drove home to make it 2-1.

Young should have made it 3-1 and ended the contest but his 20-yard drive rebound back off the woodwork. The closest that the Dons came was when Billy Knott - on as a substitute and one of just a few Wimbledon players to offer any glimpse of hope - produced a low cross from the goalline that narrowly evaded Yussuff’s charge into the box.

At the final whistle, Wimbledon were booed off by a portion of the crowd whose side had produced a display that contrasted starkly with the enthusiastic running and tackling of the visitors. The Dons have now won just three league games since mid-October and sit just seven points off a relegation place.

Afterwards, Brown refused to accept blame for the defeat, telling the club's official website that the Dons players were poor on the night. "They are on the floor at the moment. We will have to patch them up mentally because that is more important than anything else."

The Dons' run of critical games against fellow strugglers continues with home games against Dagenham & Redbridge on Saturday and Bradford City on Tuesday. Failure to win six points from those games will surely lead to more speculation about Brown’s position at the club.

Attendance: 4,578

Wimbledon: Brown, Hatton (L. Moore 70), Bush, S. Moore, Mitchel-King, McNaughton, Yussuff, Moncur, Midson, Jolley (Harrison 82), Euell (Knott 57). Subs not used: B. Johnson, Turner.

Goalscorer: Midson 41.

Booked: Euell 20, Midson 89.

Plymouth: Cole, Purse, Blanchard, Berry, Wotton, Walton, Young, Bhasera (Hourihane 89), Williams, Chadwick, MacDonald (Feeney 82). Subs not used: Lennox, Larrieu, Hammings.

Goalscorers: Bhasera 1, Chadwick 49.

Booked: Wotton 23, Berry 45, Feeney 90.

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

March 7, 2012