This was not the end to the season that Wimbledon captain Ben Nightingale would have wanted to mark his retirement from first-team rugby.
The result might have been different had he been on the field rather the touchline, as it could if Dave Rees had not had to play scrum-half instead of the 10 spot he has commanded all season. Losing centre Chris Lewis then no 8 Julian Callanan didn’t help either.
That said, those on the field were more than capable of beating Chobham, but for the second match in succession they lacked the composure and discipline they ha shown since the long list of injured returned to the squad for the back half of the season.
It started well enough, with fullback Dave Charles almost making the try line after five minutes and flanker Steve May appearing to score minutes later, only for the referee to disagree. But very soon after, centre Andy Barton did score, thanks to slick passing from Rees and fly half Mike Norton.
Centre Ed Smith pulled back three points for the visitors during a scrappy period of play and then their no.10 Harry Guy caught Wimbledon napping to score a simple try round the blind side of a scrum.
Ten minutes into the second half Wimbledon wing Jonny Rawlinson brought the score to 8-8, but good tactical kicking by Chobham took the game back into Don’s half and they manufactured a good try for their wing, Pete Rock.
Despite a flow of good lineout ball courtesy of the Graeme Symons/Mal English combination, Dons didn’t really look like scoring again and when Cobham’s Smith landed a simple penalty with just minutes remaining, the game was all over.
Wimbledon should probably have finished two or three places higher in the league, but given they were newly promoted this season and had to contend with a long injury list, they won’t be too downhearted.
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