Cheltenham Town manager Michael Flynn was pleased with the way his side “hung in and dug in” as they picked up three big points away from home, defeating AFC Wimbledon 2-1 at Plough Lane.
Goals from Ashley Hay and Matty Taylor on either side of a James Tilley leveller were enough to seal the victory for The Robins, who now sit seven points outside the playoffs.
“We dug in, we battled, we played the game the right way away from home. So that was a big, big win,” he said.
“I’m still disappointed with the goal we gave away, but our second half was some performance.”
It was the substitute Taylor who scored the winning goal with just over 10 minutes to play, and he made exactly the impact that Flynn was hoping for.
“If there’s anybody you want in that position, it would be Matty.
79' AHEAD AGAIN đź‘Ś
— Cheltenham Town (@CTFCofficial) March 11, 2025
Hay brings it down and feeds Tayls who rockets the ball across Goodman and into the bottom corner!
1-2 | #ctfc♦️ https://t.co/ZQi16Jf1RY
“He’s come on with 30 minutes, the pitch was zippy, and he’s put himself about. It was a good all-round team performance.”
Wimbledon has the best defensive record in League Two by some margin, and Flynn was pleased with this and the defensive showing.
“I’m confident we create chances. There’s the odd game where we haven’t away from home, Fleetwood being one off the top of my head,” he admitted.
“I thought we did at Port Vale on New Year’s Day, but we just didn’t take them. But we do usually create chances.
“I was just more impressed with the way we dug in and hung in. I’m not saying it was backs against the wall, but we defended properly second half and that was a pleasing thing.”
Flynn knew that his side would need to immediately bounce back after Saturday’s 1-0 defeat to Colchester if they wanted to remain in the playoff chase, and despite conceding a poor goal, he re-emphasised his delight with the second-half showing.
“They had it on half-time, but they gave me the right response and they deserved that tonight. People like Timothy Dieng, he played the whole game and hasn’t played much this season.
“(Liam) Kinsella was really good, Ethan Archer was good, Val (Adedekun), when he came on, was good.
Ash Hay and George Miller emptied the tanks and they were a handful, and then replaced by Matty (Taylor).
Iba (Bakare) was solid tonight, there was a little bit of confusion with their goal, where he kind of left it. If in doubt, you’ve got to head that. But, look, we’ve won the game. Let’s concentrate on the positives and we’ll go to Swindon now for another tough game.”
