Leicester 4 Wimbledon 0
penalty king
By Matt Lond & J Bateman
February 23 2003
The Paul Dickov show against The Dons today kept Leicester on track for Premiership football next season ,two of Dickov's goals came from the spot.
4-0 Att: Leicester City continued their march to
promotion and the Premiership with a four-goal demolition of Wimbledon at the
Walkers Stadium. Two first-half penalties dispatched by Paul Dickov, a Trevor
Benjamin strike shortly after the restart and then Dickov's 89th-minute
hat-trick goal earned the Foxes an easy victory. The hosts had survived an early
scare when a mix-up between goalkeeper Ian Walker and defender Gerry Taggart
almost gifted the Dons a shock opener from a seemingly innocuous Gareth
Ainsworth cross. Walker was called into action on two more occasions before
half-time, first to deny Neil Shipperley's close-range header and then to
frustrate Wayne Gray, but other then that City looked in little danger of
conceding. Wimbledon keeper Kelvin Davis was at full stretch to deny Dickov on
10 minutes, the Scotsman's snap shot from a Jamie Scowcroft centre being parried
goalwards but Trond Andersen cleared off the line. Dickov was to have his
revenge in the 33rd minute when referee Eddie Evans ruled the back-tracking
Jermaine Darlington had hauled back Frank Sinclair off the ball but inside the
penalty area, Dickov then made no mistake from 12 yards as he placed the ball to
Davies' left with the keeper diving to his right. The Foxes got another penalty
when Rob Gier handled a right-wing cross from Jamie Scowcroft. Once again
Dickov had no problems in dispatching the ball away. It didn't take long in the
second half to confirm the home sides win when Benjamin slotted the ball home
from a miscued shot which arrived at his feet, and from this the home side
weren't finished when Scowcroft hit the bar but it was left for Dickov to ensure
he would go home with the match ball as hit his third in the 89th minute, Davis
having spilled Stewart's initial shot into the striker's path.
Reports Courtesy Of Matt Lond
Leicester
Wimbledon
Dickov 33, 40, 89
Benjamin 48
