Shipperley sentences Wolves to first defeat

Wimbledon 3 Wolverhampton

With his team unbeaten before this trip to an almost-empty Selhurst Park, the Wolves manager, Dave Jones, left south London in a rage at his promotion-chasing side's dismal display after a double from Wimbledon captain Neil Shipperley condemned Wolves to their first defeat of the season.

Wimbledon were pegged back twice by the visitors before target-man Shipperley netted a 78th-minute winner, and Jones was angered by the dour performance of his Wolves side and promised to make a host of changes in the hope of finally landing a place in the Premiership.

"We were awful – full stop," was Jones' honest and frank verdict on the defeat, which was played in front of just 3,223 fans – 2,391 of whom travelled from the Midlands. "If you don't do your jobs properly then people will get goals against you.

"Wimbledon deserved to win. We didn't perform today and we were nowhere near the level we expect to be playing at. It's a big wake-up call for us. From front to back we were awful and I'll have to look at making a couple of changes if it means we get things right."

It took only five minutes for Shipperley to give the home side an unexpected lead. The striker won a corner, which Jobi McAnuff floated in to the near post for Mark Williams to flick on, and Shipperley headed home past goalkeeper Matthew Murray, in for the injured Michael Oakes, with the Wolves defence stationary.

Wolves produced an equaliser when Lee Naylor, the full-back, crossed to the penalty spot, where Icelandic international Ivar Ingimarsson rose high above the home defence to power a downward header past Kelvin Davis in the Dons' goal.

Dean Sturridge came within inches of putting Wolves in front on the half-hour mark, when he latched on to a glorious 40-yard through-ball from Ingimarsson which tempted Davis out of his goal, but the diminutive forward saw his header strike the right-hand post before being cleared to safety.

Wolves looked likely to overrun the home side after the break, but Wimbledon hit the visitors on the break to regain the lead and give their 832 home fans something to cheer.

Jermaine Darlington found the lively McAnuff on the right and he delivered a perfectly flighted ball to the far post. With the Wolves defenders struggling to get back, Wayne Gray hung out a foot to touch in for his first of the campaign.

But parity was again restored after 70 minutes when Alex Rae forged into the penalty area and drilled a cross into the six-yard area that Rob Gier appeared to touch into his own goal, with Sturridge in close attendance.

As had been the case for much of the game, however, Wimbledon refused to lie down, and only eight minutes after Wolves' leveller, the Dons took the lead for a third time. The ball fell to Gray on the right and he powered into the Wolves area behind full-back Peter Hawkins. Feigning to shoot, Gray squared to Shipperley, who side-footed his third of the season past the stranded Murray from 12 yards.

With the clock running down, Wolves threw everything at Wimbledon in a bid to preserve their undefeated record this season but, with home manager Stuart Murdoch urging his side on from the touchline, the visitors were condemned to taste defeat for the first time since their play-off semi-final against Norwich last season.

Wimbledon's manager, Stuart Murdoch said: "It's a great win for us, but we deserved it. We've got decent players here and hopefully we can carry on playing with that sort of determination. We got our reward today. That win will do the players a power of good.

"It shows the fighting spirit of my team; just when you think, 'Here we go' when they equalise, we dust ourselves down and get on with it. They stuck to the task very well.

"I hope a victory like this will bring the fans back."

Wimbledon 3
Shipperley 4, 77, Gray 54

Wolverhampton 2
Ingimarsson 15, Sturridge 70

Half-time 1-1 Attendance: 3,223