Peter White's match report

THE problem of conceding late goals is like a time bomb, ticking away in the background and undermining Blackburn Rovers' hopes of soothing their nerves in the Premiership relegation battle.

Yet, for 85 minutes, all the anxiety in Selhurst's top v bottom clash had been in the home camp.

Wimbledon boss Joe Kinnear, who had seen his team go 18 games unbeaten, spent much of the afternoon visibly trying to tell his team to raise their game.

Then he spent a large part of the post-match Press conference berating his absent skipper Vinnie Jones - on intenational duty - for an article he had put his name to in a newspaper that very morning.

With the chilled-to-the-bone home fans not exactly warming to a game which didn't really get off the ground, Kinnear had reason to feel a not very happy chap until around 20 minutes to five.

Then, a bad day at the office was suddenly transformed for the Dons by sub Dean Holdsworth's late winner which was blatantly undeserved.

The visiting Danish football dignitaries, who had travelled to Selhurst to discover Wimbledon's "secret", could have saved some money. They wouldn't have learned anything new from a game dominated by the four central defenders.

Nor did Tony Parkes who has been in this position before, looking ruefully at his watch as more points slipped through the grasp.

And it was even more hurtful, because Rovers got their tactics spot on.

What they didn't get right was their lack of firepower and that, in the end, cost them a first defeat in six games.

Parkes knew that Wimbledon hadn't really changed their basic instincts.

True, the present Dons do mix it up a little these days, instead of just mixing it, but they still want to hit and hope rather more often than most teams.

And the caretaker-boss cancelled the order for tin hats by instilling in his team the need to get the ball down and pass it.

They did just that, dominating possession, especially in the first half.

The statistics, particularly goal attempts, reflect it. What they cannot illustrate is that most of those efforts were really only half chances.

Wimbledon had far fewer but they were more clear-cut and the one lashed away by Holdsworth typified that.

As Parkes pointed out afterwards, Rovers simply didn't create enough good chances for all the possession they enjoyed.

That - apart from the result - was the one disappointment about the performance.

The final pass or cross lacked the real quality to enable them to take what would have been a deserved lead on the balance of general play.

Not that Wimbledon were a great deal better in that respect.

Of the two genuine chances they had in the first half, one came from an incredible scramble and even the winner itself was what Parkes described as a "typical Wimbledon goal."

The moment of the match was delayed until stoppage time when debutant Shay Given - Tim Flowers suffering a thigh injury and not dropped as widely reported - made a supreme save to prevent Marcus Gayle giving the scoreline a very flattering look. By then, however, the points were already destined for the home team to extend their unbeaten run to 19 games - a remarkable effort during which they must have played better than on Saturday.

Rovers were by far the dominant team in a forgettable first half, unfortunately there was a lack of real threat or cutting edge in front of goal. Chris Perry made a superb block tackle to stop Chris Sutton in his tracks, Graeme Le Saux, Tim Sherwood and Bohinen all had moments when it looked as though they might be able to snatch the lead.

But the breakthrough didn't materialise and, with hindsight, it was perhaps a warning that both Efan Ekoku and Neil Ardley had chances which could have put the Dons in front totally against the run of play.

Those chances came, despite a most untypical Wimbledon display.

Where was the sort of pressure for which they were once notorious? The hump from back to front was still existent but it petered out against two excellent central defenders in Colin Hendry and Henning Berg.

The first half, as a spectacle, had been forgotten almost before the interval tea was downed and the second half wasn't much more attractive. Rovers had to ride a minor storm soon after the restart but did so quite comfortably before Sutton took a pass from Bohinen in his stride and hit their best effort of the game.

It brought an equally good save from Neil Sullivan and, for all the play they had, Rovers didn't threaten as much again.

You would have put your money on a stalemate but then Holdsworth's introduction proved a timely change.

With just five minutes remaining, Rovers twice struggled to clear and, with the ball pinging around the penalty area, Neil Ardley's header fell for Holdsworth who showed genuine quality, slamming it past Given on the half volley.

With the 90 minutes up, Gayle had two more opportunities but it would really have twisted the knife if Rovers had lost by a bigger margin.

They might not have deserved to win but they certainly didn't deserve to lose a game from which the abiding memory was an outstanding refereeing display by Alan Wilkie.

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