Neal Ardley hailed a second ‘outstanding’ away performance in five days as AFC Wimbledon beat York City 3-1 at Bootham Crescent.
Five minutes after Adebayo Azeez’s opener had been cancelled out by the hosts, fellow frontmen Lyle Taylor and Tom Elliott struck to hand the Dons all three points.
It was a largely comfortable victory, sharply in contrast with the white-knuckle ride against Accrington earlier in the week that ended 4-3 in Wimbledon’s favour.
Ardley saw his players’ ability to haul themselves back into the game as further evidence of the club’s innate resilience.
Ardley said: “I think Wimbledon through the years has been built on character. We’ve gone to Accrington, gone two behind, and today we were in so much control of the game only for one error to get them back into it.
“We got a kick in the proverbials at Morecambe, they took us apart and it hurt us all” he added. “To go and kick on again was outstanding of the boys- we’re delighted.”
The Dons’ forward momentum came to the fore in the early stages when, in the second minute, George Francomb’s inswing corner was met by Jon Meades, whose powerful downward header bounced just over the crossbar.
Lyle Taylor, who will recur in John McCombe’s nightmares for weeks to come, nipped in front of his marker to control, and fired his ambitious effort onto the roof of the home stand. This would not be the first time that Taylor’s movement would prove too hot for the experienced defender to handle.
It was the in-form striker’s industry that made a profound impression on his manager: “We singled Lyle out on Tuesday for two great goals and we’ll single him out today for a great goal.
“But his work rate epitomises everything that we’re trying to be.” Ardley asserted. “That’s the bit that sticks out.”
Fifteen minutes in, Taylor was given time to turn towards goal, and slipped a slide-rule pass into the path of Adebayo Azeez. The 21 year old showed pluck to stick out a leg, and he was rewarded when the ball deflected back onto him and past Scott Flinders. It was a well-deserved advantage.
Sean Rigg, who had relished the freedom of the left flank, picked up a bad dead leg and was replaced by Callum Kennedy. Kennedy, naturally a left-back, proved an able deputy.
Once more, Taylor peeled off McCombe and nodded down for Azeez, who forced Flinders into action with a long-range effort that was straight down the home keeper’s throat.
The Minstermen looked shell-shocked, in a first-half display that manager Russ Wilcox went on to describe as ‘shambolic’, without exaggeration. It took them until the 40th minute to threaten, when former Dons loanee Michael Collins curled an effort wide of the far post from 20 yards.
The hosts came out after the interval with some intent. Anthony Straker couldn’t get over Rhys Turner’s accurate cross, which he nodded over. The introduction of Ben Godfrey at half-time gave them some much-needed brio in midfield.
No-one could foresee, though, the manner of their equaliser. Femi Ilesanmi’s steepling centre seemed to hang too long for Ben Wilson in the Wimbledon goal. Wilson was unable to set himself, and spilled the ball into the path of Vadaine Oliver. The striker executed an acrobatic scissor-kick, albeit into a vacant net, to level terms.
Ardley leapt to the defence of the 23 year old, brought in only this week on an emergency loan from Cardiff City: “It happens, he’s a young goalkeeper. He’s gone into League Two, which is as intense as it’s going to get, balls get slung into the box.
“I’ve watched him in training and the boy is super talented. Listen, I’m very sure that this guy is going to play well for us.”
The Dons boss acted at once after conceding, introducing Tom Elliott at the expense of Azeez.
Elliott’s impact was instantaneous. Four minutes after the goal he won a flick-on, which forced a throw in. York’s slow reaction allowed Lyle Taylor to latch onto a through-ball, and the striker found himself bearing down on goal, having evaded McCombe. Taylor shifted the ball onto his right and applied a calm finish to make it 2-1.
The home side’s response was muted. Godfrey sent a shot well over, while Oliver’s header deflected wide of Wilson’s goal.
It was Wimbledon with the urgency in the closing moments. Francomb floated a cross in from the right, which Elliott, without a marker within ten yards of him, stooped to head into the near corner. Although Elliott’s finish was unerring, this was Francomb’s sixth assist of the campaign; a testament to the unerring quality of his delivery.
Tom Elliott’s introduction was designed to present the home rearguard with a different challenge, according to Ardley.
He reasoned: “I felt Tom gives us a slightly different option to Ade. Ade is more about in behind with pace, but Tom can be a target man and is very hard to beat in the air.
“The ball was coming back at us a bit, we just thought that they would struggle to handle Tom in the air. He’s assisted and scored within 15 minutes, so he’s played his part.”
The Dons could have had more, in truth. Substitute Christian Toonga forced Flinders into a low save down to his right with a wicket snapshot from range. Jon Meades’ nearly snatched a deserved goal with a header corner late on.
The 3-1 victory made it the first time in 2015 that Wimbledon have stitched together two consecutive wins.
“It’s always nice, it takes the pressure off and gets a good feeling around the place.” Ardley commented.
“We believe that certain things have cost us being further up the table, we know what they are, and we’re working really hard to rectify them.”
Ardley, now over three years into the job at Kingsmeadow, has spoken of his desire to see real progress with the team, or he would consider stepping aside. Yet, he sees no upper limit to this group’s potential if they continue to plug the gaps.
“I believe we’ve got a very good team capable of good things, we’re just trying to find the key to one or two things that we’re not quite doing right.” He said.
“If we can make them better, anything can happen. We need to be judged at the end of the season, but by then I expect us to be in that top half challenging.”
