Josh Davison and Ali Al-Hamadi hand 10-man Wimbledon victory at Crawley

Posted Saturday, December 23, 2023 by PA

Early goals from Josh Davison and Ali Al-Hamadi gave 10-man Wimbledon their first League Two away win since early October as they recorded a 2-1 success at Crawley.

The Dons, who had manager Johnnie Jackson red carded just before the interval, also had defender Joe Lewis sent off but held off a late Crawley fight back after Will Wright’s strike for the Reds.

Crawley – going into the clash beaten only five times at home in the league since last Boxing Day – came close to taking the lead inside the first 50 seconds.

Nick Tsaroulla’s strong run took him into the area and top scorer Danilo Orsi just failed to connect as he stretched at the far post.

But the Dons broke the deadlock after 13 minutes when goalkeeper Luca Ashby Hammond allowed a header from Davison to slip through his hands after an assist by Huseyin Biler.

Leading marksman Al-Hamadi doubled the advantage for his 14th goal of the season five minutes later by finding the bottom corner with a low left-footed shot from just inside the area.

The Dons had the ball in the net again a minute before the interval when Al-Hamadi headed in, but referee Matt Corlett ruled that Davison had fouled Ashby Hammond and manager Jackson received a red card for protesting about the decision.

The visitors started the second half on the front foot and Al-Hamadi, fed by skipper Jake Reeves, put an angled shot over from a good position.

Crawley threatened when Dons goalkeeper Alex Bass parried a drive from substitute Klaidi Lolos and later denied Orsi from close range.

At the other end, the Red Devils had a let off when Ryan Johnson’s header came back off the post before Dons were reduced to 10 men when defender Lewis received a second yellow card.

Crawley set up a frantic finish when defender Wright reduced the deficit from inside the area – seven minutes from time – but Wimbledon withstood late pressure for maximum points.