Chelmsford's players celebrated with their banana-toting fans as City ended a run of six successive away defeats to complete a League double over Wimbledon. Adrian Allen's 59th-minute winner left the Dons still searching for a first home win in 2006 and undid great work on the road in recent weeks.

A game between sides that had kept clean sheets in their last three outings was always likely to be tight and for the first twenty minutes the Clarets seemed reluctant to venture outside their own half. A good through ball on six minutes nearly caught their packed defence on the hop as Smeltz burst into the area.Seconds later a great Ursell cross from the right went begging as the Dons attacked the Tempest End. More pressure followed without result before City finally remembered that Andy Little might need warming up, Jamie Richards' hard shot from the edge of the area well-taken by the Dons' keeper. Despite a magical Ursell lob after he shrugged-off three defenders to narrowly miss the far post on 27 minutes the game went flat and scrappy. Wes Daly's shot that missed the goal - and the corner flag - was the sum of the excitement until the game burst into life in injury-time before the break. Unfortunately it was Chelmsford providing the action as Little saved three times in two minutes to deny the boys from Essex. The Dons were lucky to be 0-0 as they headed for a half-time cuppa.

It got worse. If DA was expecting a nice birthday present after his cosy half-time chat it was Chelmsford who came out looking the more purposeful side. With 52 minutes gone , pressure told as Howard conceded a penalty on the edge of the area. Despite a fine save from Tony Boot's penalty, Andy Little could do nothing about Adrian Allen's low shot seven minutes later. It eluded his full-stretch dive to find the right-hand corner of the net. The Clarets' fans burst into song with a Dambusters chorus.

And that was pretty much that. Dave Anderson had said before the game that Chelmsford would prove difficult to break down and so it proved. Despite a last-gasp flurry the Dons seemed short on ideas. DA was left to reflect on his ruined birthday. The rest of us are looking forward to Sunday lunch.

MOM. Andy Little.