Flitcroft plots his smash and grab
BURY manager David Flitcroft claimed he’d outfoxed the opposition with his tactical changes before Danny Mayor’s stoppage-time strike earned a dramatic win over AFC Wimbledon.
The Dons had all the chances up until JeanLouis Akpa Akpro struck the crossbar and Mayor crashed in the winner soon after but failed to take any of them.
Danny Hylton could have had a hat-trick but spurned numerous chances as veteran Bury goalkeeper Brian Jensen rolled back the years.
And after making all three substitutions in the second half to swing the contest his way, Flitcroft insisted it was always the plan.
“I said to the players before that game, and I keep saying to them, that the way I operate is to use 14 players to win a football match,” he said.
“I thought the subs that came on, such as JeanLouis Akpa Akpro, stretched them with their pace, which forced them to drop and gave us space.
“They became disorganised when Jean-Louis came on and I think Clive Platt won every ball that went into him.
“Chris Sedgwick sat with a calm head and cool head and dominated the centre of the pitch.We had three or four chances late on but you work for that during the 82 minutes that you have to graft.”
Hylton had an excellent chance to open the scor- ing in the first minute but his header from a George Francomb cross was saved well by Jensen.
As the half progressed, Bury’s influence on the game grew and they came close on 36 minutes when Daniel Nardiello saw his effort deflected wide for a corner.
Hylton headed wide early in the second half and wasted another chance when clean through before Bury substitute Akpa Akpro lobbed Worner only to see his strike come back off the bar.
However, Mayor pounced at the death to slot the ball home and condemn AFC Wimbledon to a fourth straight defeat.
And Dons boss Neal Ardley said:“I don’t think there’s anything tactically that we’re doing wrong at the moment. It’s individual errors and people switching off that is killing us.
“It’s not as if we’re not creating chances it’s just a lack of quality in there. As a manager all you can do is get your head down and keep working.
“I’d be stunned if anyone thought that was a fair result. I felt like that was a smash and grab.
“Most of their shots came in the last 15 minutes when we lost our way but other than that I thought we were the better team.”