Exeter City 3-2 AFC Wimbledon

Dannie Bulman's costly red card proved the turning point as AFC Wimbledon were beaten at Exeter City.

The Dons midfielder was given his marching orders for the first time this season after Bayo Akinfenwa had spectacularly fired the away side in front.

City made them pay as two-goal Tom Nichols and former Staines Town man David Wheeler saw the Grecians come from behind to claim all three points.

Neal Ardley made two changes to the side that won dramatically as home to York as Dave Winfield and Craig Tanner came in for Ade Azeez and Mark Phillips.

Azeez, in particular, will perhaps have felt slightly hard done by to drop down to the bench after a solid performance last week that only really lacked a goal.

Akinfenwa has also found those hard to come by in recent weeks but it took the Beast just three minutes to find one at St James Park.

It was worth the wait for the big man as it sat up nicely for him and he caught the Grecians goalkeeper off his line with a delicious strike to break the deadlock.

Ardley had kept faith with young Joe McDonnell between the sticks despite having been given a hard time by the Minstermenan and the Shrimpers in his first two starts.

He took another knock early on in this one and had to receive lengthy treatment from the physio but shook it off and carried on as Ross Worner remained confined to the bench.

And he was called into action by Nichols after 15 minutes as he stretched to palm away a decent effort from the Exeter man and the home side couldn't force home the rebound.

Wimbledon were firmly in the driving seat but the Grecians were thrown a lifeline midway through the first half when Bulman was shown a straight red for a two-footed challenge.

The referee had no hesitation in brandishing the card and it was all the more frustrating for the Dons given Bulman didn't need to make the tackle on Connor Riley-Lowe.

Christian Ribeiro forced McDonnell into another good save, this time tipping a header onto the crossbar, but City couldn't find a way through.

In fact, the Dons who should have taken in a two goal lead but former Norwich City winger George Francomb was unfortunate to see his effort come back off the post.

Exeter had been knocking on the door and they made their numerical advantage count shortly after the restart as the influential Nichols drilled one low into the bottom corner to level the score.

It sparked Ardley into wholesale changes on the hour as Aze, Callum Kennedy and Sammy Moore were all thrust into the fray in a triple switch by the Dons boss.

But the changes didn't have the desired effect and six minutes later Nichols grabbed his second from the penalty spot after Winfield had brought down Clinton Morrison.

And the misery was compounded when Riley-Lowe's ball into the channel found Ryan Harley's and his left-footed cross, cushioned by Nichols, was finished by coolly by Wheeler.

The Dons threatened a late push for a share of the spoils as Deji Oshilaja's header was turned into his own net by the City keeper but it was too little too late.

AFC Wimbledon: McDonnell, Fuller, Smith, Bulman, Francomb, Akinfenwa (Azeez, 60), Reeves, Tanner (Kennedy, 60), Potter (Moore, 60), Winfield, Oshilaja.

Subs (not used): Worner, Rigg, Phillips, Fitzpatrick.