WHEN the boys at Wimbledon are not trawling the depths to find a ridiculous analogy with which to lampoon Gary Lineker they are rather good at their trade. Last night they demolished a pitiful Southampton side to record their fifth successive win and confirm their ride to sixth in the Premiership.
Matthew Oakley's late goal was about the only good thing that happened for Graeme Souness's side on a night summed up by Le Tissier's casual back pass which gave Ekoku his second of the game shortly before.
It might put Southampton in a class of one but they could claim with some justification beforehand that a visit to the Dons holds no fear for them. On their last five excursions to play them at Selhurst Park they have returned home victorious four times.
The Coca Cola Cup had reminded Southampton of what it takes to win games and for the first time this season Souness felt sufficiently ambitious to pair both his main strikers, Shipperley and Watson. Watson went close with the first attempt on goal but Wimbledon were not long in making their attacking threat known.
Dean Holdsworth, eager to impress after a transfer demand and a highly publicised fall out with Joe Kinnear, drew a low save from Dave Beasant with a strongly directed header. After 12 minutes another cross from the right was struck deep and gave Slater problems in deciding how to clear at the back post.
In the event he succeeded only in sending the ball looping into the air once more, where Beasant's attempts to effect a clean catch appeared to have been impeded by the muscular presence of Ekoku. Marcus Gayle lashed the loose ball home and the referee, after consulting with his assistant, confirmed the goal.
Southampton's employment of a three man defence looked decidedly hazardous and there were spaces galore as soon as one of the three was dragged wide. Beasant halted one Ekoku charge but his return to old haunts was about to turn into a haunting experience.
Holdsworth's neat control by the left touchline encouraged Ekoku to slip into the central acres exposed. Ekoku held off Dryden and unleashed a skidding shot that Beasant would have expected to save. Instead the bald squirmed under his body and over the line.
Between these two blow Southampton were not without chances of their own. Shipperley kept Neil Sullivan on his toes with two shots and Slater might have made amends for his earlier error with a heading opportunity.
It all served to indicate why Souness has made himself busy in the transfer market in the last few days. Earlier yesterday Paold Albes flew in from Portugal in an attempt to resurrect this £1.5 million transfer from Sporting Lisbon.
The Dons have now won four Premiership matches in succession after losing their opening three, and manager Joe Kinnear said: "It would be great to see the Crazy Gang in Europe.
"We'd like to do really well in the cups and we know that's our best realistic chance of winning something. But we're up there in the league and we're on fire at the moment."
Kinnear, speaking on Sky Sports, added: "I'm delighted that we've kept our recent run going. It could probably have been 6-1 tonight, which would have been a true reflection. We created a lot of opportunities tonight and came out worthy winners."
Man of the match Efan Ekoku who scored two of the goals, said: "We've managed to get things back on line after three defeats so we are very pleased.
"Southampton started brightly but once our second goal went in, as long as we kept our concentration we weren't going to lose."
Southampton boss Souness was unhappy that the first two Wimbledon goals were allowed to stand and explained: "At halftime I asked the referee why he had overruled the linesman on both occasions.
"For the first goal the linesman saw a push on our goalkeeper but he was overruled. And just before their second goal the linesman flagged for a throw in in our favour and the referee overruled him again."
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