AFC Wimbledon 2-2 Ipswich Town (4-2 on pens) - Match Report Wednesday, 28th Aug 2024 21:59 Town’s Carabao Cup run ended at the first hurdle after an embarrassing 4-2 on-penalties defeat to League Two AFC Wimbledon after a 2-2 draw. Ali Al-Hamadi gave the Blues the lead against his old club in the third minute but Omar Bugiel levelled just before half-time. The Dons went in front via Mat Stevens and the home side looked on their way to victory until Conor Chaplin scored four minutes from the end but that proved only a stay of execution. Six new signings were handed their Blues debuts, Dara O’Shea, Conor Townsend, Kalvin Phillips, Jens Cajuste, Chiedozie Ogbene and Jack Clarke, while Ben Johnson was the only player remaining from the side which started at Manchester City on Saturday. Wimbledon made six changes from the team which won 1-0 away at Cheltenham on Saturday. Former Blues striker Joe Pigott was on the bench. Town almost went ahead in the third minute. Chaplin fed in Ogbene on the right, the Irish international cut across but it wouldn’t fall for Al-Hamadi, one of six full internationals in the Blues XI. However, Chaplin seized on it but his effort deflected wide. But the travelling Town support didn’t have to wait too much longer for a goal. Townsend sent over the corner from the right and Al-Hamadi lost his man and powered in a header. The Iraqi international made it very obvious he wasn’t celebrating the goal and, unusually given they had just conceded, was warmly applauded by his old supporters. Having gone in front, the Blues dominated and on 14 Ogbene cut the ball back to Cajuste on the edge of the box but the Swedish international’s shot was blocked. On 19, Town claimed a penalty when Phillips was felled by Bugiel as he was taking the ball into the box but referee James Linington waved the protests away, while Wimbledon claimed a free-kick for handball by the on-loan Manchester City man as he fell, similarly without success. Five minutes later, Bugiel felt he should have been awarded a penalty at the other end having been challenged by Phillips, however, it appeared the ball had been won cleanly. Other than that incident, it had been all Town with the Blues dominating and passing the ball around confidently, despite having so many new faces in the line-up. On 26 Johnson shot well over from distance. A minute later, Bugiel had the ball in the net for the Dons but with the linesman’s flag having been raised as the cross from the right had been whipped in, incorrectly replays suggested. Town continued to see all the ball and look very comfortable and on 35 the lively Clarke cut in from the left and struck a low shot which Wombles keeper Owen Goodman saved low at his near post. Having been harshly denied his earlier goal, Bugiel eventually levelled in the 41st minute. Dons’ captain Jake Reeves’s free-kick, awarded for a Townsend foul on Huseyin Biler, was sent over from the right and the Lebanese international found space between Town defenders to nod past Walton. That was the last action of a half in which the Blues had been very comfortable for the most part having gone in front so early, perhaps too much so with the Dons more involved towards the break. Town hadn’t really threatened again, aside from Clarke’s shot at Goodman’s near post, before Bugiel’s disallowed goal, the linesman too hastily flagging a player who played no part in the creating or scoring the goal, which should have served as a warning. But the Blues were subsequently unable to deal with Bugiel, who seemed to get away from Burgess with the Australian international appearing to claim he’d been fouled, as Reeves’s pacy free-kick was whipped in. However, for the most part, it was a positive first-half display from the somewhat scratch Town XI - albeit without creating enough - with Clarke direct on the left, Ogbene showing his pace down the right and Cajuste and Phillips looking assured in the middle. Ahead of the second half, Town swapped Ogbene, who had been quieter towards the end of the first period and may have picked up a knock, for Marcus Harness. The Blues began the second half brightly and on 49 Clarke played in Townsend on the left and his low cross was cleared. Moments later, Al-Hamadi sent a shot well over the stand housing the Town support. But in the 56th minute, the Dons took the lead. Once again it came from a free-kick out on the right, this time conceded by Cajuste. Reeves’s high ball curled into the box and Mat Steves rose high to nod past Walton to his right. Town set about getting themselves back into a game which they had been dominating. On the hour, Joe Lewis was booked for tripping Al-Hamadi as he chased a threaded ball just outside the area, although the former Don seemed unlikely to reach it in any case. Townsend’s free-kick flew well over. Four minutes later, Clarke brought the ball through the middle and tried to feed Al-Hamadi on his left in the area but it was taken away from the Iraqi. The ball ran loose to Townsend on the edge of the box, but again the left-back’s strike was very much too high. On 66 Town swapped Cajuste and Phillips for Jack Taylor and Massimo Luongo with the duo short on recent match action. Both showed glimpses of what Blues fans can expect from them in the season to come once they’re up to speed. Four minutes later, a Townsend corner from the right reached Luongo at the far post with his back to goal. The Australian tried to backheel it goalwards but it was forced away and beyond the lurking Al-Hamadi for a flag-kick on the opposite side. The Wombles made their first changes moments later, Alistair Smith replacing James Ball and ex-Blues frontman Pigott coming on for Bugiel. On 75 O’Shea headed powerfully but into a crowd of players from a deep corner from the left. Town made a double change with 12 minutes left as they sought to avoid an embarrassing cup exit at the hands of League Two opposition, Liam Delap and Omari Hutchinson replacing Al-Hamadi, who was again given an ovation by the Dons support, and Clarke, who did much to suggest he will become a fans’ favourite in his time at the club. It had been a scrappy second half from the Blues with few chances being created, with many of the new signings tiring with many of them short on game time. However, the Dons hadn’t threatened to add to their goals until the 81st minute, when Stevens made the most of a Burgess slip just inside the Town half but was felled by the Australian international as he was about to break away towards goal. Referee James Linington decided a yellow card would suffice, much to the annoyance of the home support. Town had been huffing and puffing but without looking like scoring, but on 86 they equalised. After a Taylor ball in from the left had been nodded out, O’Shea looped a cross back in from the other flank. Burgess mistimed his header well away from goal but inadvertently found Chaplin, the shortest man on the pitch, who somehow beat Goodman in the air and headed into the net, much to the relief of the Town support behind the goal. As the game moved into its penultimate scheduled minute, Hutchinson appeared to be hauled over on the right of the area but referee Linington showed no interest. Town attacks were by now coming in waves as the Blues went looking for a late winner. Wimbledon swapped James Tilley for James Furling for the final seconds of normal time and four additional minutes. Seconds before the whistle, Delap made a powerful run forward with the ball before losing his feet and showing his frustration by catching a Wimbledon player with an arm. The striker was fortunate only to see a yellow card. The referee’s whistle blew moments later to signal a penalty shoot-out. Former Blues striker Pigott sent Walton to his left and the ball to his right with the first kick before Delap smashed his powerfully to Goodman’s right and into the net to make it 1-1. Stevens also sent Walton the wrong way, although in the opposite direction, before Burgess belted his to Goodman’s left and into the net. Up to then, the penalties had all been excellent but Dons skipper Reeves put his over the bar to give the advantage to the Blues. However, Town failed to take it with Taylor stuttering as he ran up before hitting a low shot to Goodman’s right, which the keeper saved. Biler made it 3-2 to the home side with his kick hit low to Walton’s right with the keeper getting a hand to it. Hutchinson shot straight down the middle but Goodman saved with his feet to give Isaac Ogundere the chance to confirm the Dons’ victory, which he did with a spot-kick hit high into the right top corner of Walton’s net. An embarrassing cup exit for the Blues, who had been well in control in the first half but without creating enough chances having gone in front via Al-Hamadi’s early goal. They allowed the Dons back in the game towards half-time before a scrappier second-half display in which they conceded their second set-piece goal of the game with their defensive organisation presumably impacted by the number of new signings in the side. Chaplin took the game to penalties with his determined goal but the Blues, as so often over the course of their history, were second best in the shoot-out. While the Carabao Cup is far from the priority this season, a win would have been a boost of confidence after defeats in the very tough opening Premier League games, while a run would have given the players on the fringes opportunities to play regularly in the opening months of the season. Town: Walton, Johnson, O’Shea, Burgess, Townsend, Phillips (Luongo 66), Cajuste (Taylor 66), Ogbene (Harness 46), Chaplin (c), J Clarke (Hutchinson 78), Al-Hamadi (Delap 78). Unused: Slicker, Tuanzebe, Woolfenden, Davis. AFC Wimbledon: Goodman, Johnson, Lewis, Ogundere, Tilley (Furling 90), Ball (Smith 72), Reeves (c), Maycock, Biler, Bugiel (Pigott 72), Stevens. Unused: Ward, O’Toole, Kelly, Neufville, Hippolyte, Williams. Referee: James Linington (Newport, Isle of Wight). Att: 7,934 (Town: 1,834).
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