AFC Wimbledon 0 Shrewsbury 2
Neal Ardley focusing on the positives after AFC Wimbledon’s unbeaten run ended by League Two leaders Shrewsbury
The Dons were forced to replace injured goalkeeper James Shea after 23 minutes with 20-year-old debutant Joe McDonnell.
Goals from Liam Lawrence and Scott Vernon beat McDonnell and came unanswered, but Ardley was still positive about his side’s performance.
“We should not be too downhearted because we played good stuff at times, but lacked that bit of quality,” he said.
“We did not start particularly well, but then I thought we grew into the game and had some good moments.
“We got balls behind their midfield and got bodies forward, but we just chose the wrong options in promising positions.”
The defeat ended a 4-game unbeaten streak for Wimbledon, while maintaining Shrewsbury’s unbeaten run at home and keeping them top of the table.
Ardley admitted there may have been a gulf in class, but was pleased with Wimbledon’s effort despite coming up short at key points in the game.
“They are a very good team with a lot of quality players,” he said.
“We played with two forwards and one in behind so we did go for it, unfortunately, a few key moments lost it for us.
“In the first 15 minutes we didn’t pass it well enough and didn’t have enough quality about us, but we grew into the game.
“In the second half we started bright and then you concede from a set-piece which we haven’t done lately. That’s hard to take.”
Meanwhile, Shrewsbury boss Micky Mellon was delighted with three points against what he felt was a difficult opponent.
“I am very pleased, as it’s another hard-fought game against a team who came here with a very clear game plan,” he said.
“They tried to frustrate us and they did that at times.
“I am very pleased with our professionalism, as there was a lot of hard work from the players – so you have to be pleased with the win, but we want more.”
