AFC Wimbledon 2-4 Bristol Rovers, League One: report, ratings and verdict

VS.

AFC Wimbledon 3-5-2

2

4

Bristol Rovers 4-3-1-2

Half Time: 2 - 3 Kingsmeadow ( Attendance: NA )
1 min

AFC Wimbledon suffered a 4-2 defeat at the hands of out-of-form Bristol Rovers at Plough Lane.

The Dons looked favourites early on when Joe Pigott was brought down in the box after five minutes with the striker having no trouble finding the bottom right corner from the resultant penalty.

But Rovers responded in the 14th minute with Sam Nicholson accelerating through the Don’s defence to fire low past keeper Connal Trueman. 

The visitors then took the lead 11 minutes later as Brandon Hanlan confidently nodded home before Wimbledon mirrored the goal on the half-hour mark through Ben Henegan’s head.

Luke Leahy then forced Trueman into a diving save before Hanlan smashed the ball past the keeper’s hands in first-half stoppage time to make it 3-2.

A triple substitution for the Dons just past the hour mark failed to make a difference as they chased the game with Nicholson heading home Rovers’ fourth two minutes later.

Wimbledon had a chance to halve the difference in the 90th minute when a Pigott header forced a diving save from Anssi Jaakkola but by that point Wimbledon were well and truly beaten.

Key Points

Check out all the key talking points and reaction from London Football Scene below…

Key Moment

Joe Pigott’s early penalty set the tempo for the game with the excitement and intensity continuing throughout.

Moan of the Match

Bristol Rovers had only found the net 11 times before the encounter – letting them score four today will have infuriated Wimbledon boss Glyn Hodges.

Talking Point

Could AFC Wimbledon have done with an extra man at the back to shore up a leaky defence?

Man of the Match

Brandon Hanlan – the Bristol Rovers’ striker was too fast and powerful for the Dons to contend with.

Tweet of the Match

Referee Watch

Ben Speedie (Merseyside) – the man in the middle awarded a soft penalty to Wimbledon in the opening minutes but recovered well.

Atmosphere

With fans still unable to enjoy Plough Lane, the Wimbledon directors more than made up for their absence as Bristol Rovers constantly pressed forward.

Verdict

The Dons looked jaded and poor off the ball and were outplayed by two excellent Bristol Rovers strikers.

Line Ups

AFC Wimbledon 3-5-2

Trueman; Nightingale, Henegan, Csoka (Chislett, 62); Alexander (McLoughlin, 62), Woodyard, Hartigan (Reilly, 81), Rudoni (Palmer, 81), Guinness-Walker (Seddon, 62); Longman, Pigott

Subs not used:

Tzanev, Thomas

Booked

Nightingale, Guinness-Walker

Bristol Rovers 4-3-1-2

Jaakkola; Ehmer, Kilgour, Baldwin, Leahy; Westbrooke, Upson, Grant; Oztumer; Hanlan, Nicholson

Subs not used:

van Stappershoef, Hargreaves, Hare, Harries, Walker, Barrett, Koiki

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