Bobby Wilkinson proud of Weymouth despite FA Cup knockout at AFC Wimbledon

Posted Wednesday, November 16, 2022 by PA

Bobby Wilkinson was beaming with pride despite seeing his Weymouth side lose 3-1 to AFC Wimbledon in their FA Cup first-round replay at the Cherry Red Records Stadium.

There were 561 Terras fans that travelled to South London to support their National League South team and they were by far the better side during a goalless first half.

However, Ayoub Assal found the back of the net and Ethan Chislett scored twice to put the League Two side into a comfortable lead before Bradley Ash’s late consolation.

Wilkinson was delighted with his team’s tenacity during the first half and with the support from Weymouth’s travelling fans.

“We dominated the first half,” he said. “It is all about my players tonight, our fans and the management team.

“I am just so, so, so proud, that is a big word, but I am the proudest man ever because of what has happened.

“(To take) 561 fans, come on, that is unbelievable on a Tuesday night in Wimbledon – it is just phenomenal.

“I go home tonight and I am quite emotional about it because I have enjoyed this journey in the FA Cup.

“But I have also enjoyed how the boys are now turning up every single week.

“When we came in six weeks ago they were sinking and now they are rising to the challenge.

“We put Wimbledon on the back foot and we passed the ball fantastically well with slick movement.

“We should have scored twice and could have definitely had a penalty, but that is what happens and I am not going to make any excuses.”

Weymouth could have equalised at 1-0 down when Ahkeem Rose had a shot cleared off the line.

However, Chislett’s double put the Dons in complete control and manager Johnnie Jackson felt like the forward could have scored more.

He added: “I was really pleased for him.

“I actually just said to him that I would have liked him to have scored a hat-trick.

“When you are making changes, you obviously want your substitutes to come on and change the game and they did that today.

“I was not impressed with anybody during the first half, I thought we were poor.

“But we had a chat about that at half-time and made big improvements in the second half, but it was not the way we wanted to start the game.

“We wanted to start fast and get the job done early.

“We didn’t do that, but we managed to do it in the second half, the response was good but in the first half, not so much.

“If we want to beat Chesterfield and get into the third round, we will need to be better than we were tonight because they are a good side, so it will be a hard game.”