Johnnie Jackson: AFC Wimbledon’s last-gasp win is up there with my best moments

Posted Sunday, March 03, 2024 by PA

Johnnie Jackson hailed AFC Wimbledon’s sensational stoppage-time winner against bitter rivals MK Dons as one of his finest moments as a manager.

The match appeared to be heading towards a 0-0 draw after Jack Currie’s delightful looping header hit the woodwork and Stephen Wearne missed an open goal.

However, Ronan Curtis gave the home fans a moment to remember as he finished off a delightful move in the dying seconds to secure all three points.

The defeat is a major blow to MK Dons’ automatic promotion push, leaving them fifth, but Jackson believes the last-minute win can inspire his side as they push to make the play-offs.

“Honestly, it is the highest I have been as a manager and up there with my best moments in football,” he said.

“It is up there. I was a player for a long time and I had some really good moments, but it is up there with anything.

“You’ve got a personal pride when you are a player, but as a manager you can become a bit of a slave to the result.

“To see my team play the way they played and perform the way they did on an occasion like this and get the win makes it really special.

“We were disappointed with the result in January. You can lose a game of football but we realise the importance of it as a football club.

“We just got the away game wrong on a lot of levels, so we were keen to put that right.

“That is the beauty of football in a league season, we were all sat in that changing room after that game wishing that we could have it back.

“Well here was our chance to get it back and we took it.”

MK Dons manager Mike Williamson believes his side need to be humble in defeat.

“I am gutted for the boys and gutted for the fans,” he said.

“I’m not going to be critical of the players, our in-possession stuff was not as good as it could have been but they had to stand up to a lot of balls into the box so we had to defend with strength and depth.

“We needed to put our bodies on the line and we did that, but football can come down to moments.

“We missed a chance and they went up the other end and scored, that’s how brutal the game can be.

“I feel as though dusting ourselves down and removing the emotion, we’ve got to soak it all in.

“It’s hard to be humble in defeat but that’s what we are going to be, we accept it and the fact that we weren’t good enough to come here on the day and convincingly feel that we should have won the game.”