Ardley bemoans two points dropped against Wycombe

AFC Wimbledon boss Neal Ardley is worried his side could look back on yesterday's draw with Wycombe Wanderers as two points dropped come the end of the season.

The Dons had put back-to-back wins on the board since the turn of the year but let a 2-1 lead slip in the second-half against the Blues to see them settle for a point at Kingsmeadow.

Jo Kuffour gave Wycombe the lead before on-loan West Ham striker Paul McCallum bagged two to put the Dons in front and Wanderers substitute Matt McClure snatched a point after the interval.

Ardley said: “It is mixed emotions really. I am angry and frustrated that we dropped two points in a match when we should not have done so.

On the other hand, the performance was really good. We started poorly during the first 15 minutes, but then we got to grips with what we should have been doing in the first place.

“I thought for the first 20 minutes in the second-half we were excellent. I turned to ‘Bass’ during that spell and said that we need to make sure that we get a third. That would have been the killer.

"I said to the boys at half-time that if they scored then it would be that sort of goal with us switching off. That’s the way it happened, a poor clearance from us and everything we had talked about happened. It is very frustrating, but at the same time I am very pleased with the way that the boys went about their work.”

Ardley made one change to the side which upset the odds at Rochdale last Saturday as Peter Sweeney went straight into the starting line-up following his move from Bury.

Fresh from bagging his first of the season seven days earlier, diminutive Blues frontman Kuffour wriggled free from his marker and found the far corner with a deflected shot to put the visitors in front early on.

The lead lasted less than 10 minutes as the hosts levelled things up through McCallum as the young striker found himself in the right place at the right time to stab home from a Sweeney corner.

McCallum was showing real confidence in front of goal and was desperately unlucky not to claim his second as the half-hour approached, denied by the underside of the bar as he prodded Luke Moore's cross goalwards with a deft touch.

The Wanderers defence could not deal with the on-loan Hammers forward and he went close again just before the interval as Kortney Hause and Blues keeper Jordan Archer failed to communicate, letting in the striker who could only find the side netting from a tight angle.

But he was not to be denied and added a second moments later as Stacy Long played a ball into feet and McCallum spun away from his marker on the edge of the area before firing a low drive into the bottom corner with his weaker left foot.

Wimbledon made a change at half-time as Chris Hussey, who returned to the club this week following a three-year spell at Coventry City, came on to replace Curtis Osano in the Dons defence.

And there was no let up after the interval as the home side put their foot right back on the gas pedal and on-loan Spurs stopper Archer was forced into a superb reflex save to deny McCallum his third with a bullet header.

With the lead at only a single goal there was always hope for Wycombe and Gareth Ainsworth's men grabbed an equaliser as the match hit the 70 minute mark. Will Atwi's clearance was charged down by substitute McClure the ball found its way into the back of the net.

Wanderers breathed a sigh of relief when McCallum was replaced by Byron Harrison as Wimbledon swapped things round up front in an attempt to find the winner, Jason Prior later joining the attack in place of Jack Midson.

But it was not to be and Wimbledon were left disappointed at two points dropped and Ainsworth's boys left Kingsmeadow content with a share of the spoils.

DONS: Sullivan, Osano (Hussey), Meades, Sweeney, Antwi, Mitchel-King, Ajala, Long McCallum (Harrison), L Moore, Midson (Prior).

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