Robinson’s perplexed at his Dons’ capitulation
MARK Robinson was left dumbfounded as his struggling AFC Wimbledon side collapsed late on to turn a lead into a defeat that saw them plunge into the drop zone.
Goals in the last ten minutes from Callum Wright, George Lloyd and Alfie May saw the Robins storm back from 1-0 down at the Jonny-Rocks Stadium, leaving the Dons without a win in 19, after they had gone ahead through Jack Rudoni.
Robinson admitted the result hurt, saying: “I am devastated and we have to find out why this keeps happening.
“Their crowd were booing and I thought we were more comfortable in the second half. We rectified a couple of things at halftime, but they scored and then got a second really quickly after that.
“It’s hard to have any answers until I’ve watched the game back, but I felt confident we’d go on and get a second to put it to bed.”
The Dons led for nearly an hour after Rudoni’s first-half strike as they attempted to end a run of 18 league games without a victory.
Rudoni found the net in the 26th minute, seconds after Will Boyle saw a header bounce back off the bar. Nesta Guinness-Walker played in Rudoni, who fired left-footed past Owen Evans.
Earlier, Ayoub Assal should have scored when he raced through on goal, but with only Evans to beat he scuffed wide.
Cheltenham dominated after the break, but they struggled to find a way past a well-organised Dons side, with Nik Tzanev untroubled until the 81st minute.
Aaron Ramsey saw a shot blocked and it fell for Wright to tap in.
Less than two minutes later, Matty Blair’s cross was nodded in by Lloyd from close range and May added the third in the second minute of time added on, turning in Blair’s headed pass and complete the turnaround.
Michael Duff wants his Robins team to drive on after they reached the magic 50-point mark.
“Fifty points is the golden mark when in the league,” Duff said. “We are probably safe now. But there are still things to fight for and the players have challenges they want to do, so it’s just the first marker.”