[Phil Whalley]

Not a vintage footballing performance from the Reds today, but one of real industry and character.

MOM for me was Joyce, countless interceptions in front of the back four; Molyneaux excellent at left-back; Atkinson towering at centre-half; Rommy box-to-box; Paddy as pugnacious as ever; Bavs once more solid and calm.

The game was fairly even. I want Wimbledon to survive and thrive after all they've done to defy that awful history-theft, but they looked bereft of confidence whilst Stanley worked tremendously hard when they didn't have the ball. The Dons did a lot of probing but made little impression.

Stanley's first was a neat, lobbed finish from Paddy, but Wimbledon came back and forced a fine save from Bavs, who got down low to his left, before they had a goal disallowed for offside.

The second-half saw Stanley soak up quite a bit of pressure, it helped that Wimbledon's delivery of set-pieces was poor, but not to take any credit away from the way that Stanley kept their shape and their nerve when under pressure. No one was diving into tackles, just working hard to close down space.

And then came Murph's goal. Soon after, the Ultras were declaring: "Where were you when Murphy scored?" Well, he's been bafflingly prolific recently, but nothing prepared us for this - a shot on the turn from the edge of the box that screamed into the top corner. It's worth staying up to watch on the BBC tonight - promise. After a moment like that, it was difficult to believe that it wasn't going to be Stanley's day.

That said, we conceded a soft goal with three minutes remaining and then survived a penalty appeal when one of theirs went down in the box chasing a through ball. On the away end, we were all holding our collective breath. We've seen them given often enough, but the ref held his nerve.

This wasn't a performance that will have the home fans drooling about our forward play like they did at Chesterfield. But this win was hard-fought and showed that Leam and Cooky have been drilling the lads on some fundamentals: keeping shape, closing down, working hard off the ball to provide an outlet for the man in possession. We have every reason to be modestly hopeful about what might emerge as the season progresses.

Have a good evening everyone

Phil