Cambridge United 3-8 AFC Wimbledon
by Sophia Axelsson – AFC Wimbledon (25/9/23)
Above: Ashlee Hincks (9) jumps for joy at The Abbey Stadium yesterday after scoring for AFC Wimbledon with Impetus sponsored Emma Plewa (7) rushing in to join the party. Photo: Emily Topping.
Ashlee Hincks struck four goals to take her tally to 84 for AFC Wimbledon, as the Dons swept aside Cambridge United at the Abbey Stadium.
Wimbledon certainly had their scoring boots on as they marched to an 8-3 away win with Player of the Match Hincks leading the charge.
Manager Kevin Foster made one change to the line-up from last weekend’s win over Chesham United, with Molly Childerhouse coming in for Nicola Gibson.
The Dons started the game strongly with lots of energy, immediately finding space behind Cambridge’s defensive line. It would only take nine minutes for Wimbledon to take the lead, Hincks netting after getting on the end of a long ball from Billie Brooks.
However, the lead didn’t last long. A Cambridge United corner caused confusion in the box, and Stojko-Down managed to find the back of the net.
In response, Wimbledon made the most of their own corner at the other end when Hincks was given a second chance to send over a telling cross, and captain Hannah Billingham met the delivery with a fine half-volley that looped over the keeper.
With just over half an hour on the clock, Impetus sponsored Emma Plewa sent through a long ball from close to the halfway line a cross that Ashleigh Goddard headed home for her third goal of the season.
Number four followed for the Dons after Emily Donovan had been brought down in the box. Following a delay after a Cambridge player had to be taken off on a stretcher, Hincks made no mistake with the penalty to make it 4-1, before Stojko-Down reduced the arrears.
A goal by Emily Donovan made it 5-2 at the break, and the Dons went into the second half after making one change with Nicola Gibson coming on for Rosie Russell at right-back.
Hincks helped herself to another two early in the second half, one of those after impressively rounding the keeper, and with the victory effectively assured a raft of changes followed.
Ellie Dorey, Sandra Soares Martins, Steph Mann, and Amy Taylor came on for Childerhouse, Plewa, Fran Ali, and Donovan respectively.
The Dons kept pushing to the very end, and just as we hit the 90-minute mark, Soares Martins found Dorey in the box, and she easily slotted in Wimbledon’s eighth of the game.
Cambridge had the last say when Fox found herself with plenty of space in the box to unleash a shot that beat Baker, but that failed to take the shine off a dominant Dons display.
Teams: CAMBRIDGE UNITED: Webb, Seymour, Rouse, Stojko-Down, Fox, Edgar, Morley, Steele, Cheal-Ferris, Wood, Simmons. Substitutes: Otten, Kosky, Marden, Collins, Day.
Scorers: Stojko-Down 15′, 45+5′. Fox 90+1.
AFC WIMBLEDON: Baker, Russell, Brooks, Highman, Plewa, Ali, Hincks, Childerhouse, Donovan, Billingham, Goddard. Substitutes: Mann, Taylor, Gibson, Soares Martins, Dorey.
Scorers: Hincks 9′, 45, 48′, 51′. Billingham 24′, Goddard 32′, Donovan 45+8′, Dorey 90′.
Attendance: 450.
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