Saturday 20 December 2014 18:25, UK
Vadaine Oliver's second-half strike helped 10-man Mansfield to a hard-fought 1-0 win at AFC Wimbledon on Saturday.
Robert Taylor saw red for the visitors before the interval but Crewe Alexandra loanee Oliver raced onto a long ball early in the second half to score and the Stags held on late on. An early injury to Adebayo Akinfenwa sustained in the fifth minute typified what would be a scrappy, slow and ill-tempered first half. The first chance of the game fell to Mansfield in the 14th minute when Matt Rhead hit the post following a quickly-taken free-kick as Wimbledon's defence was half-asleep. However, midway through the first half, the visitors were reduced to 10 men as Taylor lunged at Sammy Moore with a dangerous two-footed tackle. But it was Mansfield who broke the parity two minutes after the interval, with Oliver racing on to a hopeful direct ball out of the defence before rolling the ball past Dons goalkeeper James Shea. The home side found their rhythm after conceding and attacked with greatly fluidity. and Dannie Bulman had three great chances but was denied by Dimitar Evtimov or the post as Mansfield clung on.
