AFC Wimbledon well beaten after being caught in eye of the Tigers storm

AFC Wimbledon (0) 0

Hull City (2) 3 Magennis pen 24, Burke 42, Wilks pen 64,

The Dons slipped back into the relegation zone as the promotion-seeking Tigers dominated at Plough Lane.

Two wins in three games, including the midweek success over Gillingham, had provided a timely boost for the struggling south Londoners, but a gulf in class told.

They are still finding it hard to make a fortress of their new home, and have now lost six of the eight league matches they have played since returning to their spiritual home.

It was always likely that the Dons would have their defensive shape and resolve put to the test by the ambitious Tigers – one of a handful of big predators in League One who do not see the division as their natural habitat.

The hosts had to cope with a flurry of corners and testing crosses, with Mallik Wilks – one of the league’s top scorers – prominent in the early attacks.

And although they did well in the opening exchanges, they fell behind midway through the first half, when Darnell Johnson felled Keane Lewis-Potter in the area and Josh Magennis slammed home the resulting penalty.

It should have been 2-0 when Magennis worked his way powerfully through the middle on halfway and released Lewis-Potter with a perfect pass. But after rounding keeper Sam Walker, the Hull striker’s attempt from an angle flew wide of the far post.

The reprieve was short-lived. Just before the break, defender Reece Burke profited from some criminal dithering in the home defence after a long ball was played in from the left.

More punishment almost came the Dons' way at the start of the second half, with Walker forced into a sharp save from George Honeyman after a slip from Nesta Guinness-walker had exposed the Wimbledon goal and Magennis fired inches wide from just outside the box.

Alex Woodyard gave away a second penalty on 63 minutes after a foul on Wilks, who converted the kick himself – though not before an unseemly squabble with Magennis, who eventually deferred to the insistent Wilks.

The goalscorer had shoved his skipper Lewis Coyle at one stage during the argument about who should take the penalty, such was his conviction that he should be the man. It was lucky for him that Magennis graciously yielded.

Wimbledon did not pose much of a threat, with Joe Pigott getting few real opportunities to get the hosts into the game and boss Mark Robinson tried in vain to get his side into the contest with a quadruple substitution 20 minutes from time.

A late shot from substitute Jaakko Oksanen being tipped over in injury time was maybe as close as the Dons came.

Dons: Walker – Johnson (O’Neill 69), Heneghan, Nightingale, Guinness-Walker (Alexander 69) – Woodyard, Dobson (Oksanen 69) – Rudoni, Chislett (McLoughlin 58), Longman (Osew 69) – Pigott. Subs not used: Csoka, Tzanev

Tigers: Ingram – Coyle, Burke, Greaves, Elder – Honeyman (Slater 81), Jones (McLoughlin 90), Docherty – Wilks (Crowley 75), Magennis (Eaves 75), Lewis-Potter (Whyte 75). Subs not used: Long, Emmanuel