AFC Wimbledon 0-0 Mansfield Town
Luke Moore wasted the best chance of the game – but Ross Worner earned his wages in the second half.
Even so, this was a turkey of a game.
The scramble in the Christmas shops for this year’s must-haves saw more action than a dull first half at Kingsmeadow.
After 15 minutes, Callum Kennedy free-kick a foot over from distance, along with wild swings from Michael Smith and Charlie Sheringham were balanced by a bouncing ball that dropped to Ross Dyer and demanded Andy Frampton put his body on the line to block the Mansfield striker’s low drive.
The Stags had a second go when Sam Clucas took aim from the left and this time Worner got a finger-tip to make sure it went round the post.
Moore had the best chance of the game right at the end of the first half when Darryl Westlake’s air shot fell kindly to the winger, but one-on-one with the keeper from 10 yards, he tamely fired against Alan Marriott’s legs.
A busy spell 10 minutes into the second period brought back-to-back corners for Dons.
On the end of the second was Barry Fuller with a hook on the half volley tipped over by the keeper but missed by the ref.
The wicked deflection from Smith’s shot was more clear cut and would have beaten Marriott by a margin, but arced over the bar.
Worner switched from spectator to spectacular when he got down smartly to snuff out a low header from sub Matt Rhead.
The Dons shot-stopper did even better on 83 minutes when Rhead’s header across goal was met by Clukas at the back post and brought an instinctive right-hand save.
Worner might have been a bystander for much of the game, but he then did better still to tip a crashing header from the onrushing Dyer up and over.
Jim Fenlon obliged the 3,700 home fans beseeching him to shoot from distance in the last minute, and his swerver needed Marriott to fist away – but goalless as it finished the four changes to the Dons line-up was a whole heap better than the 3-0 debacle at Bristol Rover last time out.
Dons, 4-4-2: Worner; Fenlon, Fuller, Frampton, Kennedy; Mohamed Sweeney, Francomb, Moore (Porter 68); Sheringham (Midson 75), Smith; subs not used: Saint-Luce, Brown, Antwi
