Wimbledon Ties Bristol Rovers at Home

The Dons nearing the end of the season are trying to scrape together as may points as they can in an attempt to stay up in League One. This means that getting a draw as a result leaves the team with mixed feelings. Earning one point from the draw is good, it keeps the dons a single point away from safety, but three points would have been better. The Dons led early in the game after Joel Piggott scored a beautiful right footed chip inside the left half of the box, sailing the ball to the far-right side of the goal. The rovers picked up the intensity with several attempted that tested the Dons young keeper, Aaron Ramsdale. He made several sensational stops to keep the dons in the lead, however he could not stop a lazer from Bristol Rover’s Ollie Clarke. Clarke’s shot from outside the box in the 78th minute was the culmination of a series of attacks from the rovers to tie that game at one. And that is how it remained. The Dons seemed content leaving Friday with a tie and held their line for the remainder of the game. This leaves the Dons in 21st place, 4th last place (20th /5th last is the safety threshold) with Scunthorpe a single point ahead of them.

Notably, in the event of a tie in points the goal differential is the tie breaker. As the Dons has a horrendous start to the year their goal differential is better than very few in League One at -22. But, it is better than Scunthorpe -24.

The next match is against League One’s top ranked team, Luton Town. Away. It will be tough. A win seems unlikely, as Luton Town has only lost 5 times this season. Getting some points would be nice so if the Dons can squeeze out a draw that would be great. Most likely, fans need to hope that the Dons don’t lose too badly in order to keep their goal differential relatively competitive.

I realize I am being a bit pessimistic, so here’s my positivity for the day: The dons have recently faced better competition and won. In this year’s FA Cup the Dons bested the currently eleventh best team in England, West Ham United. When you look at it through that perspective it gives you some hope. Also – I guess I’m feeling extra hopeful today – Luton Town will play Stanley on Saturday. There is a chance that better parts of the Luton Town’s team will play against Stanley and rest when playing the Dons on Tuesday.

Lots of things are still undecided, and only the future weeks will make that clearer. Here’s hoping for a good result in Luton Town.