AFC Wimbledon 0-1 Southend United
George Francomb was sent off and Dons were hit with a cruel sucker punch on Boxing Day.
Referee Graham Scott was seen as something of a turkey when he forced AFC to play 50 minutes with just 10 men.
But the game was a bit like the leftover champagne on the sideboard – all promise and no fizz.
But barely a minute in, Francomb’s centre put Southend in disarray, and a wild slice from Mark Phillips could have gone anywhere. Luckily for the visitors it flew wide of their right-hand post.
Only a great one-handed save stopped the crosser from scoring himself 10 minutes later. His right-foot curler from 15 yards after a rebound fell kindly needed keeper Dan Bentley to fling himself full length and divert the shot around the post.
Southend should have scored themselves when Will Atkinson went the length of the pitch and did the hard part by rounding two defenders only to screw a tame shot wide of Ross Worner’s left-hand post.
Two back-to-back cautions for Sammy Moore and Charlie Sheringham deprived what sting there was in Dons thrust, and when John White took aim from 20 yards it needed Worner to dive left to save.
But if the yellows were deserved, George Francomb’s dismissal was shrouded in mystery as he rolled on the ground for what seemed an eternity after a tangle with Rob Kiernan.
As Southend fans, less than a yard away, bayed for blood, referee Graham Scott took just as long before pulling the dreaded red out of his pocket and demanding Dons backs to the wall for the entire second period.
All the same, Michael Smith was out of the traps to fire a deflected shot just over on 47 minutes.
But even though visitors had the lions’ share of the ball, the brave rearguard stood tall until sub Cauley Woodrow was given the only free header from the hundredth cross of the game to score 15 minutes from the end.
Dons: Worner, Fenlon, Fuller, Francomb, Kennedy (Sainte-Luce 78); Francomb Sammy Moore, Sweeney, Luke Moore (Arthur 85); (Midson 45), Michael Smith; subs not used: Antwi, Midson, Fayers, Jacquart
