Harrogate produce dramatic late comeback to earn point against AFC Wimbledon

Posted Saturday, April 08, 2023 by PA

Levi Sutton scored in the seventh minute of stoppage time to earn relegation-threatened Harrogate an unlikely 2-2 home draw against AFC Wimbledon.

Harrogate had been trailing to a goal in each half from Ethan Chislett before Luke Armstrong’s 89th-minute reply set up the grandstand finish that saw Sutton net his first goal for the club since his January move from Bradford.

Earlier, Dons top scorer Chislett had ended his 17-game barren run by taking his tally to 11 for the season.

The 24-year-old midfielder’s first came just after the half-hour mark when he was first to the loose ball after Tom Eastman had initially blocked an edge-of-the-box Sam Pearson drive and stabbed in from 10 yards.

His second came just before the hour mark when home goalkeeper Mark Oxley conceded a corner after scrambling Pearson’s right-wing cross around his near post.

Oxley could only then punch Lee Brown’s corner as far as Chislett who found the ex-Southend goalkeeper’s bottom-right corner with a controlled volley.

Harrogate assistant manager Paul Thirlwell was later sent off for dissent directed at the fourth official before the hosts gave themselves a lifeline when Kazeem Olaigbe teed up Armstrong for an eight-yard opportunity that he side-footed emphatically past Nathan Broome.

As the clock ticked down, Wimbledon sub Jack Currie failed to beat Oxley in a one-on-one chance and the Harrogate goalkeeper was then thrown forward for the Matty Foulds corner which, after being swung in from the right, was only cleared as far as Sutton who took one touch, eight yards from goal, before slamming into the roof of the net.

It meant Wimbledon have now thrown away 30 points from games in which they have scored the first goal.