Injury-time penalty miss costs Seagulls victory

WESTON-S-MARE 1AFC WIMBLEDON 1A MISSED penalty deep into stoppage time cost Weston the chance of inflicting a defeat to the Blue Square South leaders, watched by a record league attendance at the Woodspring Stadium of 1,238.This was possibly one of the most exciting games played at the Stadium, with the home side just a kick away from winning despite the visitors dominating for lengthy periods.From the side successful at Fisher, Ryan Northmore was back in goal, but Mike Green, after serving a one-match suspension, was on the bench, Ben Willshire keeping his place.The visitors had the best possible start, scoring in the second minute when a long clearance by skipper Jason Goodlife was chased by Sam Hatton and when Charlie Comyn-Platt failed to clear, Hatton squared the ball for the division's leading scorer Jon Main to drill it past Northmore from 15 yards.With their tails up, Wimbledon began to dominate playing fast flowing football, and forcing several corners. Main was again through on 15 minutes, but Northmore was quickly off his line to clear and the keeper pulled off a full-length diving save to again stop a Main effort, this time at the expense of another corner on 23 minutes.Little was seen of the home attack in the first half with Marc McGregor having an effort blocked by the defence and Jack Compton firing wide from a good position. There was a rather unusual incident on 34 minutes when Green, although still on the bench, was shown a yellow card by Waterlooville referee Barry Knight and later as the teams came off at half time, Weston manager Andy Gurney was shown a red card by the official for an exchange of views and did not appear for the second half, Chris Smith taking over the managerial role.In the second half Weston were much more aggressive, forcing a couple of early corners and Ben Wells was just over with a free kick on 57 minutes. From Scott Bartlett's cross, McGregor had a downward header only half cleared and in the ensuing scramble, Manny Williams was bundled over. He picked himself up and beat keeper James Pullen from the spot.Wimbledon's Danny Kedwell had the miss of the match on 75 minutes when put through, but he fired wildly acoss goal with Northmore. Minutes later, the same thing happened at the other end, when McGregor burst through on the right and his effort just shaved the wrong side of a post with Pullen out of position.Into stoppage time there was another contentious incident when Willshire went down injured in the home penalty area and the referee stopped the game. Several Wimbledon players objected to this as it was not a head injury, but the official gave a dropped ball, which was cleared down the field by Green and in a chase for possession Williams was brought down from behind for another penalty to Weston and a red card for Wimbledon's Ben Judge, but this time Pullen guessed correctly to Williams' kick and the game ended all square.WESTON STATSGoals: Weston, Williams (67 penalty). Wimledon, Main (2).Shots on target: Weston 3, Wimbledon 5.Shots off target: Weston 5, Wimbledon 4.Corners: Weston 4, Wimbledon 8.Offsides: Weston 3, Wimbledon 7.Free kicks conceded: Weston 14, Wimbledon 13.Referee: Barry Knight (Waterlooville). Made some puzzling decisions, but did well in difficult conditions.Bookings: Weston, Harris, Green, Bartlett, Comyn-Platt, Gurney (red). Wimbledon, Judge (red).Attendance: 1,238.Weston squad: Northmore, Willshire (Kite 90), Parrinello, Harris, Rand (Green 84), Comyn-Platt, Bartlett, Wells, Williams, McGregor, Compton (Brown 59). Subs (not used): Dean Grubb, Purnell (goal).ON SATURDAY, Weston face a tricky away fixture against third-placed Eastleigh and on Tuesday next travel to Twerton Park to face the university side Team Bath in a game postponed from New Year's Day.