Accrington hold on to beat AFC Wimbledon after Joe Pritchard red card

Posted Sunday, February 02, 2020 by PA

Ten-man Accrington secured a vital 2-1 win over League One relegation rivals AFC Wimbledon.

Stanley saw Joe Pritchard receive his marching orders just after the interval when they were 2-0 ahead following goals from Jordan Clark and Dion Charles.

But despite a late Wimbledon fightback, the hosts held on to go 11 points clear of the bottom three.

Stanley opened the scoring after 13 minutes when Clark side-footed home from inside the box after Pritchard’s centre.

They doubled their lead after 21 minutes as Charles acrobatically volleyed home a speculative effort.

Despite their dominance, Stanley suffered a setback in the 55th minute when the lively Pritchard was sent off despite appearing to go down under a challenge in the box from a Wimbledon defender.

Referee James Oldham deemed that Pritchard had dived and handed him a second yellow card.

The visitors halved the deficit through a Joe Pigott header after 73 minutes but despite their man advantage they could not force an equaliser.

Before the game Stanley’s former striker Billy Kee was paraded on the pitch for the first time since his decision to retire due to personal issues.