AFC Wimbledon 2-1 Notts County
Neal Ardley didn’t think AFC Wimbledon looked like breaking down Notts County, before two late goals secured all three points.
The visitors took the lead on 16 minutes when a Graham Burke free-kick was met by the head of Haydn Hollis.
Despite domination, the Dons found it hard to break a stubborn County defence until Dannie Bulman’s strike drew them level with just five minutes left.
Wimbledon continued to press and were rewarded as Adebayo Akinfenwa’s last-minute header completed the dramatic turnaround and made it five games unbeaten in League Two.
“We were on our feet, but we kept going forward,” Ardley told Dons Player.
“With seven or eight minutes to play I was thinking about what I would say to the players because it looked like it was slipping away from us.
“It never looked like it was going to happen.
“All we can do is keep working hard, there is no magic formula expect for hard work.”
Ardley felt the Dons were the better team throughout, despite trailing for most of the match.
“It was hard because I don’t remember them being in our half,” he said.
“It was all us and I can’t remember them opening us up.
“Although we looked tired, I still thought we looked stronger than them and it was a performance of real character, if not quality.”
Ardley was also delighted for Akinfenwa to get his third goal of the campaign and showed great character to keep on preserving after a tough first half.
“In the first half I thought they mastered Bayo well,” Ardley added.
“But I had a chat with him and in the second half he was much better.
“With the forwards we have got if you keep putting quality balls in there you will get your just rewards and we got that.”
The late win lifts the Dons up to 12th after eight matches and just a point off the play-offs, with an away trip to Luton up next Saturday.
Feature image courtesy of AFC Wimbledon TV, via Youtube, with thanks
