AFC Wimbledon assistant boss Terry Skiverton was delighted to see another positive start being rewarded in last night’s 2-1 victory at Crawley Town.
The Dons were in front on 13 minutes through Josh Davison’s header, a lead doubled just five minutes later by Ali Al-Hamadi.
Top scorer Al-Hamadi thought he had made it 3-0 on the stroke of half-time with a header, only to controversially see his effort ruled out because of an earlier foul by Davison.
That decision enraged Johnnie Jackson on the touchline, with the boss red carded and sent to the stands for the remainder of the game.
He wasn’t the only Don to get his marching orders, as Joe Lewis was dismissed on 65 minutes after collecting a second yellow.
The travelling contingent endured a nervy finish when Crawley halved the deficit in the 83rd minute courtesy of Will Wright.
But Wimbledon held on for a deserved three points, leaving Jackson’s right-hand man to reflect on the importance of beginning the game in attacking mode.
Skiverton told afcwimbledon.co.uk: “The gaffer instils it in them. We tell them to come out and be on the front foot, defend high, put balls forwards, put teams under pressure.
“You can play off of that. Rather than practicing short goal kicks and it being a bit slower, we’re all about high energy and tempo.”
He added:
“We’re traditionally fast starters and we like that tag. We’re going to keep doing all of the stuff we work on in training to ensure that we’re on the front foot.
“We’re great in transition and in this past month we’ve been very clinical.”
Meanwhile, defender Ryan Johnson hailed the display of Alex Bass after the keeper made some vital saves.
He said: “There are so many different ways to win a football match and sometimes you just have to grit your teeth, get together and grind them out and we did that tonight.
“The boys have got the ability to do that, and you saw that in abundance.
“In these kind of games you graft together and pull off moments of brilliance and Alex Bass has been doing that all season.
“It’s no surprise when he puts one over the bar and catches one, just to calm us all down. He’s vital to what we do.”
