Wanderers loanee Nelson Khumbeni scored his first goal for Accrington Stanley at Wimbledon – and it was rather special.
Khumbeni broke the deadlock with a superb strike from the edge of the box that flew into the top corner and gave Owen Goodman absolutely no chance.
The 22-year-old midfielder has made 15 appearances for the Reds since heading on loan to the Wham Stadium in the summer.
Stanley went 2-0 up on the night when Burnley loanee Dara Costelloe netted, but the hosts left it late to rescue a point.
Alistair Smith pulled one back in the 89th minute and James Tilley got the equaliser in the eighth minute of stoppage time with a thumping strike from 25 yards.
The result leaves Stanley 16th in the table with a six-point cushion above the relegation zone. John Doolan’s side are unbeaten in their last six matches in all competitions after recovering from a poor start to the campaign.
“They have been telling me to shoot,” Khumbeni told the club channels. “I had a chance in the first half where I should have shot.
“But I think it is just about being confident to hit it, which I am. It is trying to see that opportunity and making the right decision at the right time.
“When it came off my foot, it was quite sweet and went in the top corner. I am delighted, it is my first goal in Accrington Stanley colours.
“I have been talking with the gaffer and Ged (Brannan) about getting my numbers up and being able to contribute on that front for the team.
“Obviously, doing the defensive work, getting on the ball and on top of that, making runs in the box and adding goals and assists. I want to be more creative in the top end of the pitch.”
The Reds are back in action this weekend when they host Bradford, who currently sit in ninth place and only a couple of points outside the play-off places.
“I thought for large parts of the game we were very good, Khumbeni added. “We came with a gameplan and did the job well.
“Conceding goals in the last minutes of games again, we know the mistakes that were made and we need to see it out. But we take a point away from home and move on from there.
“Performances have been good. We are doing our jobs in terms of tactics, we set out to play in ways that can exploit teams but we need to see out games.
“We have got a point in the last two games so we want to keep our unbeaten run going and move on to the next game.
“Looking at the lads in the changing room, we are disappointed that we drew. It feels like we lost, but we set up to play.
“We did what we needed to do and it is just the final margins. We can look back at the drawing board and go again against Bradford.”
