Neal Ardley bemoaned another case of deja vu after his Dons side failed to make the most of a good start, and fell to sloppy mistakes.

The Dons went down 3-0 to Morecambe United at home on Saturday as two goals in a minute before the break, and an injury time penalty, ended a run of four games without defeat.

Ardley had asked his players to end their League Two home campaign by going out on a high, however, come the final whistle on a disappointing display, he and his players were giving a lap of honour to a rapidly emptying Cherry Red Records stadium.

Ardley said: “I thought we started the game well.

“My team talk was about ending on a high, and if we’d scored in the first 15 minutes when we were very good, we would go on and win.

“But we didn’t, and it’s the story of our season, and the two goals we conceded before half time were unbelievably sloppy.

“Second half I wouldn’t say there was a lack of energy, but we lost our discipline, we lost our quality just because we were so desperate to make it one more fightback to end the season, and we probably tried too hard to do it.

“It’s a poor end to the season and it sums up our home form this year.”

While Morecambe’s win secured another season in League Two, the Dons had already confirmed their own safety with a win on Easter Monday at Plymouth Argyle.

However, they were then hit with the deduction of three points following a charge of fielding an ineligible player (see left).

Although the points deduction does not put Dons in danger of relegation ahead of the final outing at Accrington Stanley this weekend, it has taken the wind out of the sails.

Ardley said: “It really has been a tough week and maybe I underestimated the effect it’s had on the players.

“Me and my staff are drained from what we’ve had to go through.

“Maybe Morecambe was just a game too much, and not scoring then conceding two just before half-time knocked the stuffing out of everyone.”