Johnnie Jackson stunned as Salford strike late to beat AFC Wimbledon
Posted Tuesday, April 11, 2023 by PA
Johnnie Jackson was left stunned after two Callum Hendry goals in stoppage time saw AFC Wimbledon slip to a 3-2 defeat to Salford at Plough Lane.
Trailing 2-1 heading into five minutes of stoppage time, Hendry quickly went from zero to hero for the Ammies, seeing his penalty saved in the 92nd minute before equalising three minutes later and sealing a stunning comeback in the 96th minute.
The Dons led for almost the entire game after Kasey McAteer’s first-half strike and Ali Al Hamdi’s powerful volley, which came just moments after Conor McAleny capitalised on calamitous defending from the home side to stroke the ball into an empty net.
But, after conceding in the 97th minute to draw 2-2 with Harrogate on Friday, Jackson was bewildered at history repeating itself just three days later.
He said: “I don’t know how we have not won the game, let alone lost, but just a crazy 90 seconds at the end there has cost us and it is hard to put into words to be honest.
“The players have got to take responsibility, you have got to keep doing the things that have brought you success. We did it for 93 minutes of that game but the moment you don’t do it, you come unstuck.
“Again, we should be further in front but the missed chances obviously gave them a sniff, so it is a mentality thing and it is about taking responsibility on the pitch.
“It is not the first time I have been standing in front of them after that has happened, the players have said they need to do better.
“It is frustrating because everything was working, the way we were playing, the shape and the way we stifled them, but there were just lapses of concentration and when that happens you get done.”
Jackson’s counterpart Neil Wood also found it tough to put the game into words, as his side snatched a memorable victory from the jaws of defeat to move into the play-offs.
Wood said: “The last five or six minutes are difficult to sum up. It was a strange game, we went 1-0 behind from basically the first shot, but I thought up to that point we had started quite well.
“We changed a bit at half-time and got back into the game but then gave a really poor goal away and made it a bit of a mountain to climb.
“Then we get a penalty in the 92nd minute and I am thinking, ‘we will take the point here’, but the keeper makes a great save.
“Credit to the lads, they kept going and had the bit between their teeth – they knew the importance of the game and they just went for it.
“You see these things happen in games don’t you, but it is a nice feeling to be on the right side of it.”
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