Walton Casuals 2-2 AFC Wimbledon

Following an afternoon from hell, Terry Brown perhaps needed a sign from somewhere that his luck was on the turn.

The day was shaping up to be one to forget, as the manager took the call to discover Lewis Taylor - the box-to-box midfielder he so wanted this summer - was now likely to not just miss the start of the campaign, but to sit out the entire season.

The cry from the Wimbledon supporters at Ryman South Walton Casuals as the news filtered through probably went something along the lines of Evans help us. And maybe someone was listening.

Trialist Evans Kouassi, the midfield dynamo released by Peterborough United in May, inspired the Dons in a classy hour of football that went some way to lift the gloom.

True, of course, Wimbledon are still winless in pre-season and were haphazard as they threw away the most comfortable of advantages.

Their defending, against a team two leagues lower, was at times terrible but there were grounds for optimism by the Thames that things, at the other end at least, are coming together.

And in Kouassi they had the star of the show. The Romford-based starlet scored and set one up - a wildcard for Wimbledon's Blue Square South adventure no doubt, but impressively eye-catching none the less.

Brown said: "The boy did very well tonight. The question is, as a winger, can he fit in. 4-4-2 would suit him more but if he can adapt to our formation then Evans has a chance. I'd like to see more of him."

But pleased with the team's performance the manager was not. He accused his defence of schoolboy errors to allow Walton back into the contest, while slating the side for their lack of togetherness on set pieces.

Wimbledon began so well with Kouassi at the heart of the action, picking out Jon Main who managed a third-minute goal at the second attempt, knocking into the top corner after picking himself off the floor.

Four minutes after, Tony Finn's persistence paid off after some woeful Walton defending. The Dons winger threaded a perfect ball to Kouassi who did the rest.

At 2-0 it already looked over, but Sonny Farr - a Wimbledon player in their Ryman South days - hit a purler from the edge of the box to start the comeback. Dons wasted umpteen chances, through Tom Davis, Elliott Godfrey and Kouassi again and couldn't add a third.

The paid the price for that 20 minutes from time when 21-year-old forward Matt Weston came off the bench to stab home from close range.

Brown added: "To be honest, I'm annoyed more than anything tonight. We defended so poorly and we were shocking at set pieces. If we do that against Salisbury on Saturday we're in big trouble - we'll work on this in training.

"We're going to miss Lewis Taylor's power and his drive but I think tonight at least showed we do have cover in place."