Neal Ardley hails his players after Northampton are held to a point (From Richmond and Twickenham Times)

AFC Wimbledon make their point, but it should have been three says Ardley

5:58am Wednesday 20th February 2013 in Sport By Tim Ashton

AFC Wimbledon manager Neal Ardley called it two points dropped after watching his team hold League Two promotion hopefuls Northampton Town to a 1-1 draw at Kingsmeadow.

The Dons took a first half lead through Alan Bennett’s header, only for Neil Sullivan to bring down Roy O’Donovan and Adebayo Akinfenwa to convert the spot kick.

A single point keeps the Dons rooted to the foot of the table, although the bottom three – including Accrington Stanley and Plymouth Argyle – are separated only by goal difference.

Ardley said: “We deserved to win that, we played with energy and had some good chances. The whole performance was excellent from start to finish.

“Whether it was a penalty or not was difficult to tell from where we were on the far side, but either way, it is two points dropped.”

Toby Ajala, playing his last game in a Dons shirt before his return to Bristol City, said: “It was not a penalty in my view because Sully got a touch on the ball first.

“But we’re guilty of not holding on to leads and we’ve done that again tonight.”

He added: “I would have liked to finish on a win, but I want to thank the fans for all their support since I’ve been here.”

The Dons go to Dagenham & Redbridge this weekend, before a huge clash against Plymouth at Kingsmeadow on Tuesday.