AFC Wimbledon 1
Stevenage 1 (6-5 on pens)
Football League Trophy (Southern Group C)

Match report written by Neil Metcalfe, The Comet

Stevenage opened their EFL Trophy campaign with a dull draw away at AFC Wimbledon.

A second-half penalty from Jamie Reid was cancelled out by Joe Lewis to leave it 1-1 after 90 minutes.

The penalty shoot-out for a second point went to the Dons, 6-5, Nick Freeman's effort saved by Nik Tzanev.

Many changes were expected and there were eight of them in the end together with three youngsters on the bench.

There were debuts for deadline day signings Harvey White and Kane Hemmings while Harry Anderson and Reece Hannam got first starts.

Jake Forster-Caskey was able to play despite being in the middle of a three-match League One ban, the EFL Trophy not counting for that suspension.

Alex MacDonald, Elliott List and Harrison Neal were the others who started.

The men dropping out of the starting line-up from Saturday were Luther James-Wildin, Dan Butler, Dan Sweeney, Nick Freeman, Jordan Roberts, Finley Burns, Jamie Reid and Charlie McNeill were the men coming out.

Theo Alexandrou and David Hicks and goalkeeper Rylee Mitchell were the youngsters on the bench, Krisztian Hegyi missing out as he is on international duty with Hungary U21s.

This competition is wildly put down by clubs and supporters alike and the first half brought little to say these two thought differently.

The home fans seemed happy at the break though and the Dons did have arguably the better of the chances from open play.

Josh Davison was the man responsible for not testing Taye Ashby-Hammond though, hooking a volley from 25 yards wide of the target before putting a header in the closing stages past the other upright.

Aron Sasu went on another run that had the home fans on their feet but that too didn't bring a save out of the Boro keeper.

His opposite number, Nik Tzanev did have to make one stop, pushing a White free-kick round his left-hand post.

The former Tottenham man also had another chance as he received a knockdown from Hemmings.

That though was shovelled wide.

Steve Evans had been out a couple of times in the first period to cajole his troops into more, or at least get them doing what he had asked of them.

It probably wasn't a planned change though to bring Reid on for Anderson at the break. The winger had given his knee a bang when trying to tackle Sasu in the first half.

It didn't get any better four minutes later when Hannam had to limp off, replaced by Burns.

However, happiness did arrive just six minutes after that.

A foul handed Reid the opportunity from 12 yards and although Tzanev got a big hand on it, diving to his right, the ball crept in.

The goal didn't exactly kick-start Boro's performance, neither did it quell any resistance from the home side.

Sasu often managed to wriggle out of contact, more through luck then judgement at times, but with flicks and tricks coming off too, the Wimbledon fans were in wonderland.

And they got themselves level when a free-kick from the left was delivered perfectly by Morgan Williams to give Lewis the chance to head home.

Stevenage didn't help matters with some shaky defending at times, one corner needlessly conceded and deceiving Ashby-Hammond twice before he finally caught it, but there wasn't much in the way of clear-cut chances.

Eight minutes of stoppage time was not what anyone wanted to see and bar a couple of crosses that flashed through the six-yard box, there were no further chances.