JOHNNIE Jackson said AFC Wimbledon conceded a “ridiculous” second goal as eighteen-year-old Wigan Athletic substitute Harrison Bettoni scored a late brace to hand the Dons a third consecutive defeat in League One.
Alistair Smith put the hosts ahead in the 70th minute.
Bettoni came on and seven minutes after Smith’s goal he scored with a free-kick, his first touch in the EFL.
Bettoni grabbed the winner in the 87th minute after receiving Paul Mullin’s pass and firing beyond goalkeeper Nathan Bishop.
If Wimbledon had held on to their lead they would be fifth in the table instead of eighth.
“It hurts because we worked so hard to get into the game,” Jackson said on the Dons’ official website. “We had to weather a bit of a storm early in the game that caused us a few problems but we made some adjustments and I thought we really grew into the game.
We were probably the better team in the second half, we got ourselves in front. So to lose the game from that position is frustrating. Somehow we managed to do that.
“To be honest I thought they were slightly better. We changed our shape a little bit, we’ve had a week to work on it and there was some stuff that was really good in that but obviously there was a few little teething problems, there was a little bit of a problem with forward runs, late runs from midfield and stuff like that.
“We sort of tweaked it at half-time, just made some adjustments and tried to get more pressure on the ball higher up as well and I think that definitely helped us get a foothold in the game. I’d say that they were probably on top in that first-half, certainly had the better moments anyway but then I thought it sort of swung our way.
“The first goal, whether it’s a foul or not, I’m not sure. That bit I’m not sure, I haven’t seen it but the kid’s come on and he scored a worldie, you have to give him credit for that – and that can happen in a game of football. If I’m walking in and the score has been 1-1 and they’ve got back in it with a strike like that, you have to go, ‘fair play’.
“But the second goal is ridiculous, the second goal is ridiculous to concede. We’ve got the ball and then five seconds later it’s in our net. It’s not good enough – unforgivable, really.
“I’m not going to talk through that, I’ve spoken about it in the changing room and the lads know what I think about that. They’ll know what we’ve done wrong and we’ll talk about that but it’s such a poor goal from our point of view. That stage of the game when we’ve got the ball, it just can’t lead to that sort of situation.
The Dons travel to seventh-place Huddersfield Town on Saturday (3pm).
