Reeves to the rescue as Dons march on
AFC Wimbledon boss Neal Ardley was left thankful for a 93rd-minute stunner from Jake Reeves that kept his side’s promotion hopes alive.
The visitors broke the deadlock against the run of play on 37 minutes, when skipper Russell Penn rolled the ball into the bottom corner beyond a despairing Kelle Roos.
Wimbledon equalised when Rhys Murphy bundled the ball home 25 minutes from time, but the game seemed destined to end level until Reeves’ unleashed a magnificent 30-yard volley with the last kick of the game.
“Jake’s a player who can dominate a game,” Ardley said. “Every opposition manager, when we sit in their office after, says they like Reeves.
“He’s trying to join in and do the ugly side of the game and he’s done everything right for the goal. They’re moments that can change a season. Let’s hope they do.”
Despite dominating the first half, Wimbledon came in at the break a goal down, when Vadaine Oliver’s shot was blocked and sat up for Penn.
“It was harsh on us to come in 1-0 down,” Ardley said.“They very rarely threatened us, we were solid, we had a good shape about us.
“They’re those moments when you think, maybe the luck’s going against us, but you have to make your own luck.”
York City boss Jackie McNamara, meanwhile, was left to rue his side’s inability to close out the game. Their chances of staying in the Football League are now hanging by a thread following Stevenage’s 2-2 draw with table-toppers Northampton Town, leaving York seven points adrift of safety.
“I thought it wasn’t a pretty game by any means,” McNamara said. “The pitch dictated that, there were a lot of second balls. To lose a goal at the end, it could’ve gone anywhere, but unfortunately for us it’s gone in the top corner.
“I do feel the result was harsh.We knew coming in at the start of the second half that it was going to be ugly. I thought in the first half we caused them problems by turning them and I don’t think we did enough of that.”
Vadaine Oliver put the ball out of play in the final minute of added time, which ultimately gave Reeves the opportunity to clinch all three points and McNamara was critical of his player.
He added: “Vadaine’s had a good opportunity to move forward and was quite wasteful with that.
“As a result, the ball’s ended up in the back of the net from a great strike from Reeves.
“Things can go wrong in a game, you make mistakes, but it’s how you respond to that that separates you from the teams at the top.”