Albion boss Martin Hinshelwood is in plaster and on a crutch after rupturing his left Achilles in a freak training ground accident.

But that is nothing compared to the pain he felt watching his side's meek surrender of their 100 per cent away record.

Hinshelwood is normally mild-mannered and good humoured, but it was plain to see (and hear) after the match that he was not a happy man.

That other crutch is probably still embedded in a dressing room wall at Selhurst Park!

"We had a few words," he admitted. "What disappointed me was that we became lively once we were 1-0 down."

What hurt was the way Albion lost. They only woke up after Neil Shipperley secured beleaguered Wimbledon's first victory with a penalty 17 minutes from the end, which crept in off a post.

Drawing against ten-man Coventry and losing to Norwich at Withdean is one thing. They will both be up there.

Wimbledon won't, yet with more accurate finishing the ordinary Dons would have won more decisively.

The story of the match revolved around two strikers, one who has just joined Albion and another who left not long ago.

Paul Kitson spurned a chance to be the Seagulls' pointsaver with eight minutes left when he headed straight at Kelvin Davis from a Paul Watson cross which bounced invitingly into his path at the far post.

It was the kind of opportunity Kitson, playing his first 90 minutes for nine months, will no doubt gobble up once he is match fit.

You felt some sympathy for the former West Ham marksman, his hard-working young partner Shaun Wilkinson and, for that matter, Hinshelwood.

The front pair were starved of decent service and Hinshelwood must be reflecting with a certain sense of irony that after gaining four points playing 4-3-3 Albion have been beaten twice since switching to his favoured, more attack-minded 4-4-2.

It does not matter what system you employ though if the patience to retain possession and then find a killer final ball is lacking as much as it was on Saturday.

Kitson's miss and a powerful drive from an acute angle a minute earlier by lively second half sub Daniel Marney, which Davis diverted for a corner, were Albion's only worthwhile efforts on goal.

It is three blank sheets in a row now since the relative goal feast at Burnley on the opening day and the Seagulls have a tendency to look toothless without you know who.

Speaking of teeth, Wayne Gray spent part of last week in hospital undergoing wisdom surgery.

Giving Gray, Bobby Zamora's temporary replacement a few months ago, his first start of the campaign was certainly a wise move by Wimbledon's Sompting-based boss Stuart Murdoch.

He explained: "Wayne has been chomping at the bit and having been at Brighton last season this was a good opportunity for him to show his worth."

Gray began inauspiciously, collecting a third minute caution for diving when challenged by Danny Cullip inside the area.

The battle between Albion's combative captain and his persistent ex-colleague was one of the few highlights and Cullip held the upper hand until the decisive moment of the contest.

The outstanding Jobi McAnuff, who gave Kerry Mayo a torrid time, cut infield from the right flank to slide a pass into Gray.

He got a touch to the ball just before Cullip made contact and, as they both fell, ref Steve Bennett pointed to the spot without flinching.

Shipperley's penalty was due reward for the domination the Dons had enjoyed after half time.

McAnuff, recalled Swedish midfielder Par Karlsson and Gray all missed the target when they should have scored.

Murdoch admitted: "You get to the stage where you are thinking perhaps it's not going to be your day.

"We had a lot of chances and a lot of the play, so we were desperate for the goal to go in."

Hinshelwood was just desperately disappointed. "We brought a big crowd up, as we always do away from home, and they haven't see us fulfill our capabilities," he said.

"We let ourselves down and we let our supporters down."

A small minority of Albion's travelling army let the club down again as well.

Stewards and police had to move in to deal with disturbances shortly after Shipperley's winner.

Albion had nearly 1,900 fans out of a total crowd of 2,522. Selhurst Park felt practically empty as the fallout from Wimbledon's forthcoming move to Milton Keynes continues.

Hinshelwood's old stomping ground will be bursting when his team return to face arch rivals Crystal Palace in a couple of months and he will certainly be looking for a less lethargic performance then.

  • Albion team (4-4-2): Kuipers (gk) 7; Watson (rb) 7, Mayo (lb) 6, Cullip (cd) 7, Hart (rw) 6, Oatway (cm) 6, Brooker (lw) 6, Carpenter (cm) 6, Pethick (cd) 8, Wilkinson (f) 7, Kitson (f) 6. Subs: Rogers, Marney 7 for Hart (injured 46), Melton for Carpenter (withdrawn 92), A. Hinshelwood for Mayo (withdrawn 92), Petterson.
  • Bookings: Oatway (64) foul, Carpenter (85) unsporting behaviour.
  • Half-Time: Wimbledon 0 Albion 0
  • Fans' View: Mark James (Broadwater) We will never know how the players would have performed had it not been for the boycott of the nerds but however many Albion fans turned up this was a poor showing from a number of very ordinary players at this level.

The team let the fans down as well as themselves. I don't like to question Dick Knight's judgment but how can certain individuals be awarded contract extensions when its not even sure they can consistently perform at this level?

One question, if Saturday had been the last game of the season and we needed the points how many of Liz Costa's anoraks would have shown solidarity with Wimbledon?