The collector's item, the manager's ire and the recurring theme ... the story of AFC Wimbledon 2 Rotherham United 1

Autumn is upon us and, amid the rain and murkiness in West London, all four corners of the Cherry Red Records Stadium hit full beam for the second half.

The Millers were leading 1-0 and looking good for their first away victory of the League One season.

Fifty minutes later, the cloud-filled sky was no match for the darkness of manager Matt Hamshaw's mood after his side had yet again turned a positive start into a painful conclusion on their travels.

He was angry, he was holding it in, he was barely able to.

“It's really hard to do this interview because I'm boiling underneath” he said through tight lips. “We had no aggression, we didn't win the 50-50 battles. They're fundamental parts of games.”

He took the blame off his players, although most of them didn't deserve such a gesture: “That falls on me. I'll look back at it, see where we can improve and go from there.”

Rotherham are a mix of raw, hungry young new boys and older pros inherited from a previous management regime. That mix has yet to become a blend and the boss will be a much happier man when injured men return.

“I'm trying to be as honest and as up front as I can be,” he said. “These poor periods, we need to eliminate them. I'll be turning every stone to find a way to do that.”

The ‘poor period’ he was referring to saw the visitors fall badly away at the start of Saturday's second half to undo all the encouraging work of the first one. In that time, two goals were conceded and three points lost

The 18th-placed Millers' travails on the road are in stark contrast to their unbeaten fortunes on their own turf. After Barnsley and Doncaster Rovers, the same thing was happening against the Dons.

Wimbledon had come into the clash on the back of four straight defeats but were allowed to step forward and dominate after the break as Rotherham shed their direction and desire.

“We can't just keep having a good resilience at home and then coming away and throwing games away in 20-25 minutes,” Hamshaw said. “It hurts, but it's not all right it just hurting, we've got to do something about it.”

THE MATCH

The manager sucked from a water bottle in his technical area. If only his team could have shown such thirst.

Rotherham were in front but shrinking away from the challenge as the Dons regrouped and gained the upper hand.

In the 50th minute, Wimbledon were allowed to make ground too easily and Jake Reeves was able to prod a low 20-yarder into the far corner to restore parity.

Seventeen minutes later, at a Dons corner, the grappling Jordan Hugill lost his head, made sure Ryan Johnson lost his footing, then held said head as the referee pointed to the spot.

Cameron Dawson has as good a record on penalties as any goalkeeper in the EFL but, even though he went the right way, he could do nothing to keep out Matt Stevens' unerring strike from 12 yards.

Ar'Jany Martha fired wastefully wide as the Millers tried to respond, but Dawson was the only keeper called into action again, foiling clean-through Antwoine Hackford in a one-v-one confrontation.

It was all a far cry from the first half when the Millers took a grip on proceedings and deservedly led through the collector’s item of Hugill's first goal in 11 months.

“We had two or three other good opportunities and we didn't take them,” Hamshaw said. “I said to the players at half-time: ‘I don't want to give you too much praise because Wimbledon are not going to be as bad in the second half as they were in the first.’

“I thought they were as bad as they were because of us. Then, second half ... I'll be brutally honest, I didn't think they were much better, we just made them better.”

Cheered on by 500-plus travelling supporters, Rotherham sparked into life midway through the opening period.

Shaun McWilliams had already mistimed a header when the goal was gaping, but there was no such profligacy from Hugill when Dan Gore's quick feet and Marvin Kaleta's low right-wing delivery set him up for a turn and eight-yard finish in the 38th minute.

Soon afterwards, Kian Spence made a clever, unseen dash to meet McWilliams' cut-back only to be denied by Isaac Ogundere's body-on-line block. Another goal then might have changed the outcome.

“For the first 20 minutes, I thought we lacked confidence, which drives me crackers,” Hamshaw said. “Then, suddenly, the players buy into the game-plan, and you see how easy it is.

“Shaun has his header at a corner, Jordan obviously gets his goal, Kian breaks and could score. Wimbledon didn't have a shot on our goal in the first half, and we're away from home. We should be winning this game.

“In the first half, we looked a very, very good team, like we have done at home. It's frustrating because I know how much it means to the fans and how much it will have cost them to get down here. I know what an away win would mean to them.”

THE FIRST START

He made one light-footed raid after another down the left flank. Spence didn't always have the ball at his feet but the runs he was making were stretching the Dons defence.

It was a heartening first start for the summer signing who, after his recovery from a hamstring-tendon issue picked up in pre-season, was backing up his manager's assertion that he is the fittest player in the squad.

If only he'd taken that chance …

“I thought he had a really good full debut with a lot of energy,” Hamshaw said. “He broke lines and got forward.”

The boss's focus turned back to the difference between first and second half on this particular afternoon, the contrast between being at home and not being at home this season in general.

“I just want the players to have the confidence in themselves that I have in them,” he said. “When they have that, it looks exceptional at times. When they don't have it, things crumble a little bit.”

His grim countenance during his post-match press conference on the Cherry Red touchline was picked out by the floodlights.

No matter how brightly they shone, they could do nothing to alleviate another day of away gloom.

Wimbledon (3-4-1-2): Nathan Bishop; Isaac Ogundere, Patrick Bauer (Riley Harbottle 63), Ryan Johnson; Nathan Asiimwe, Alistair Smith, Jake Reeves, Steve Seddon; Myles Hippolyte (Callum Maycock 80); Matty Stevens (Danilo Orsi 88), Omar Bugiel (Antwoine Hackford 80). Subs not used: Joe McDonnell, Delano McCoy-Splatt, Osman Foyo.

Rotherham (3-4-3): Cameron Dawson; Joe Rafferty, Jamal Baptiste, Zak Jules (Josh Kayode 83); Marvin Kaleta, Dan Gore, Joe Powell (Josh Benson 83), Reece James; Shaun McWilliams (Dru Yearwood 63), Jordan Hugill, Kian Spence (Ar'Jany Martha 57). Subs not used: Ted Cann, Liam Kelly, Hamish Douglas.

Goals: Hugill 38 (Rotherham); Reeves 50, Stevens pen 67 (Wimbledon).

Referee: Lee Swabey (Devon)

Attendance: 8,056 (546)