Newport praised for fightback against AFC Wimbledon

Newport Assistant manager Joe Dunne praised his players for fighting back to earn a point at home to AFC Wimbledon.

The hosts were unable to get going during the first hour but a triple substitution midway through the second half helped them back into the contest.

But the Dons, who are now winless in nine games, were pegged back after Ali Al-Hamadi had given them a fifth-minute lead at Rodney Parade.

The Iraqi front man was allowed far too much time to control Chris Gunter’s cross from the right and slot past Joe Day.

The changes paid off in the 69th minute for County as Wimbledon failed to clear an Aaron Lewis corner and Harry Charsley slammed it home from 15 yards out.

“We tweaked it a little bit at half time and spoke to them about a little bit more desire,” said Dunne, Graham Coughlan’s number two.

“We were off it quite badly in the first half, we couldn’t get anything going.

“Great credit to the team coming back again, but we don’t like to be in that situation too often.

“It’s another set play, which is part and parcel of the game, and we were much better in the second half,” added Dunne.

“But, based on our first-half performance, I believe it’s a point gained tonight.

“There were a few tired bodies and the game just passed us by in the first half.”

Hard-earned

AFC Wimbledon manager Johnnie Jackson said: “It was a hard-earned point.”

“I thought we were outstanding in the first half. We scored a really good goal, it was really well worked and Ali took it extremely well.

“We knew they’d come out in the second half and they made four or five changes, which gave them a bit of momentum in the game.

“They’ve got long throw-ins and corners that piled a little bit of pressure on.

“We dealt with 95 per cent of those brilliantly but, the one that we didn’t deal with we got punished and we have to settle for a point. That’s the least we deserved.”

Wimbledon drop to 16th in the League Two table. County remain 18th but they are now 11 points clear of the bottom two after coming from behind to draw 1-1 for the third successive match.