Ardley fuming after Dons defeat

Wimbledon boss Neal Ardley was furious with his side following their 3-1 loss at Hartlepool.

He blasted defender Alan Bennett for conceding a penalty and then being beaten by Luke James for the home side's key second goal on 72 minutes. Simon Walton had put Pools ahead from the spot before Harry Pell equalised in the same manner, only for James to edge the hosts in front again and Matty Dolan to wrap up the victory. "I'm really frustrated," reflected Ardley. "We went behind to a goal that shouldn't have happened - if there's contact and Benno has brought him down in the box then it's absolute madness. "He is going away from goal, going nowhere, it's a soft penalty. I wasn't happy with the referee and it sums it up that he's evened it up in the second half to get us back in the game. "I'm furious with what's gone on for their second goal. A terrible goal to concede. We have done an 11 hour round-trip and go home with nothing. We worked ever so hard and at 1-1 there was only one team ever going to win it. "But you ship goals at one end and you are fighting losing battles. "Goals make the difference - simple isn't it. They defended their box, in and around it well, we didn't. "It's an awful goal to give away their second. We gave the ball away and then showed poor, poor defending. The third goal - we are ending up chasing the game and they nick a third. "We changed shaped to get back into it and the third is a killer, but it's poor defending that leads to it. "We got back to 1-1 and I thought we would win it and then shot ourselves in the foot. I'm quite emotional and gutted about it. We did everything right leading up to it and threw it away with silly mistakes and lose 3-1 when it's never really a 3-1 if I'm honest."