ROBINSON ROCKED BY LATE RALLY
ANGRY Mark Robinson hit out at AFC Wimbledon’s ‘unacceptable’ second-half display after they threw away a two-goal lead against Doncaster.
Headers from Jack Rudoni and Luke McCormick put the hosts two goals clear, only for Rovers’ match captain Tommy Rowe to level things.
Doncaster are still four points off AFC Wimbledon, who are 20th and just above the relegation zone, but Robinson says he is going to stop making excuses for his team.
“Leading up to their goal, we had four players around one player and they came away with the ball, crossed it and got a goal,” he said.
“Then our confidence drained away from us and they got the equaliser. We’ve got to find a ruthless streak. To be 2-0 up in the manner it was, it wasn’t good enough. It’s not acceptable.
“They put effort in, but they haven’t given everything. Giving everything is about body language, how you talk to your teammates and how you drive each other on.
“I’ve got to stop saying they have given everything. I’ve protected them too much. They put effort in, but giving everything looks different.”
In a feisty relegation clash, the breakthrough came in the 23rd minute, McCormick’s wide free-kick crossed in for Rudoni’s eighth goal of the season.
McCormick scored in the reverse fixture back in August, and he got on the scoresheet again in the 49th minute. Lee Brown’s cross was nodded home by McCormick past Doncaster’s Johnny Mitchell.
The visitors responded when Rowe’s 63rd-minute run into the box was shot low from a tight angle past the keeper.
Rowe then added a perfect header three minutes later to equalise.
Doncaster’s Ben Jackson could have got the winner with 10 minutes to play, but for Brown’s critical goal line clearance.
Wimbledon could have sealed the points themselves in stoppage time had it not been for Mitchell’s reaction stop from a header made in a scramble from Brown’s free kick.
In contrast to Robinson, Rovers boss Gary McSheffrey was delighted with his side’s comeback.
“If you’d offered me a point at 60 minutes, I’d have snapped your hands off at 2-0 down,” he said.
“I said to the lads, you can’t afford to go 2-0 down. We have to organise a bit quicker and make better decisions out there.