DEBUTANT Ronan Curtis scored a 97th-minute winner against Mansfield Town in a chaotic game at Plough Lane on Saturday.
Mansfield’s Jordan Bowery was sent off in the 20th minute before Omar Bugiel made an instant impact after his return from Asian Cup duty with Lebanon when he opened the scoring two minutes into first-half added-time.
The ten men levelled through Will Swan in the 62nd minute before the away side were penalised with another red card, this time for Stephen Quinn who had been taken off six minutes from time. Quinn was given a second yellow card for dissent in the 93rd minute after Mansfield felt they should have been awarded a penalty.
Curtis, who had come on in the 67th minute, tapped in to send the majority of the 8,114 attendance wild.
Johnnie Jackson’s Dons moved back up to eighth in League Two, two points off the play-offs after their win against third-place Mansfield.
“I’ve seen the quality that he’s got,” Jackson said on Wimbledon’s media when asked about Curtis. “I’ve seen it when I’ve come up against him before – he has top quality that is a level above. It was nice to get him on tonight first and foremost, it’s been a year without playing for him. If you give him a moment he can be a match-winner. I’m delighted for him.
“He’s brilliant around the place, even before he signed he was well into what we’re trying to do here. He wanted to be a part of things here. That gave us the confidence to get the deal done for him.”
Jackson was pleased with his side’s response after their 3-1 defeat to MK Dons.
He said: “I don’t know how to put it into words to be honest. I think you saw in how I celebrated that winning goal, how much it meant to me, the players and the supporters.
“To have that moment after such a low feeling on Tuesday, it was a tough week for everyone involved with the club, none more so than for our supporters. I asked for a reaction from my players and I think we saw that even if we didn’t play brilliantly.
“We were good in the first half but we probably played worse when they had ten men. To have that moment together at the end with the fans is great and it was exactly what we needed.”
