Dons Sniff Play-Off Spot After Dagenham Win

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Dagenham & Redbridge 0 v Wimbledon 2

Lyle Taylor’s brace earned Wimbledon a comfortable 2-0 win at already-relegated Dagenham & Redbridge on Tuesday (19 April) as they strengthened their tenuous finger hold on the play-off positions.

This win combined with an almost perfect set of results elsewhere to leave the Dons still sitting in seventh place but now four points clear of closest challengers Wycombe and with a game in hand.

The Dons nearly got this match off to a perfect start as Taylor was presented with a goalscoring opportunity within seconds of the start following Clevid Dikamona’s slip, but he dragged his effort wide of Mark Cousins’ goal.

And soon afterwards strike partner Tom Elliott also blasted wide when well placed as the Dons enjoyed the early possession.

But after losing left-back Jonathan Meades to injury in the 14th minute, the Dons took a while to readjust and the home side nearly capitalised.

First Paul Robinson was forced to hurl his body into the path of Jamie Cureton’s fierce drive to deny what seemed a certain goal, and then Barry Fuller was perfectly placed on the line to clear another Cureton effort as the Dons defence wobbled.

But Taylor’s first goal after 33 minutes settled the nerves. Receiving the ball with his back to goal, he played a neat one-two with Sean Rigg down the right flank, pouncing onto the return pass to shoot home via a deflection.

Taylor could have doubled his tally when fed by George Francomb – playing in a central role in the continued absence of Jake Reeves – only to screw his shot horribly wide, but it was a deserved half-time lead for the Dons.

Dagenham nearly equalised soon after the restart, surviving a scramble during which Christian Doidge’s effort was cleared, but they faded from the contest as the match continued, with Cousins forced into regular action at the other end to keep the score down.

Taylor had already curled an effort wide of the target before getting his reward for a tireless performance shortly after the hour. Set free by Francomb in the inside left channel, he threatened to go down the outside of his marker before cutting inside and blasting home to double his and the Dons’ advantage.

Substitute Adebayo Azeez was among the Wimbledon players who continued to force saves from Cousins as the Dons pressed, but in truth they never really needed to get out of third gear for what turned out to be a comfortable win.

Neal Ardley told the club’s website: ‘I thought the flow of our football was excellent and once you get your noses in front it’s all about being professional. It takes an awful lot of work and we worked incredibly hard to get something out of the game.’

The Dons could theoretically clinch a play-off place on Saturday (23 April) if they beat Leyton Orient at Kingsmeadow and results go their way elsewhere. After that they entertain Portsmouth (26 April) before travelling to Stevenage and hosting Newport.

Sky Bet League Two table
Pos	Team	P	GD	Pts
5	Bristol Rovers	43	+25	76
6	Portsmouth	42	+28	69
7	Wimbledon	42	+13	68
8	Wycombe	43	+6	64
9	Cambridge Utd.	43	+10	63
10	Exeter City	43	+3	63
11	Leyton Orient	43	–2	63

Remaining Wimbledon fixtures:

23 Apr     v Leyton Orient (h)

26 Apr     v Portsmouth (h)

30 Apr     v Stevenage (a)

7 May      v Newport County (h)

Dagenham: Cousins, Taylor, Dikamona, Pennell, Widdowson, Cash, Labadie (Raymond 45), Richards (Boucaud 19), Hemmings, Doidge (Hawkins 75), Cureton. Subs not used: McClure, Chambers, Shephard, Moore.

Booked: Labadie 36, Cash 82

Wimbledon: Roos, Fuller, Charles, Robinson, Meades (Kennedy 14), Barcham, Bulman, Francomb (Smith 74), Rigg, Elliott (Azeez 70), Taylor. Subs not used: Shea, Akinfenwa, Sweeney, Murphy.

Goalscorer: Taylor 33, 61.

Att: 2,027

By Rob Crane

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April 20, 2016