Josh Davison and in-form Ali Al-Hamadi goals gave 10-man Wimbledon their first League Two away win since early October as they recorded success at Crawley Town.

The Dons, who had manager Johnnie Jackson sent to the stands 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 match 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 and his 11th in 10 games 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.

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

It was the hosts turn to threaten 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.

Defender Wright reduced the deficit for Crawley from inside the area - seven minutes from time - but the Dons withstood late pressure for maximum points.

https://www.afcwimbledon.co.uk/news/2023/december/10-man-dons-triumph-against-the-odds/
https://www.crawleytownfc.com/news/2023/december/22/report-crawley-town-1-2-afc-wimbledon

[ --- www.bbc.co.uk]