Connolly rewards loyal few

Wimbledon 4 Norwich City

Much more of this excitement and Wimbledon might start drawing a decent crowd again. While never the classic the scoreline suggests, three goals just before the end and a hat-trick by the home side's David Connolly could just entice a few curious neutrals to wander into Selhurst Park.

All this against a team which started the day in the top three. The attendance, up by almost 400 per cent on last Tuesday's, suddenly seems less of a problem.

The Norwich manager, Nigel Worthington, criticised his team for "not turning up" for the first hour, which explained why Wimbledon had it so easy for the majority of the game. From the moment the Dons deservedly took the lead after 24 minutes through Neil Shipperley's excellently taken volley – his 11th goal in all competitions this season – they were able almost to stroll towards their second consecutive victory, extending their unbeaten run to five matches in the process.

Norwich initially responded in the right way and, five minutes after going behind, forced Kelvin Davis into a sharp save when he kept out Malky MacKay's header from Nicky Southall's cross – but their goals, when they came, arrived far too late.

The crowd had become an issue once more after dipping to a miserable 849 against Rotherham in midweek, but the combination of it being a Saturday and Norwich's boisterous support meant Wimbledon were never going to trouble their all-time low. And those who had travelled felt even worse when Wimbledon doubled their lead four minutes before the interval. Again Shipperley was involved as he flicked on for Connolly to find the net with a fine cross-shot.

With Shipperley making an early dash for man of the match, Connolly quickly made up ground on his team-mate with the third goal just before half-time. From a free-kick 25 yards out, he curled his shot around the wall and in, before Norwich walked off to a chorus of boos.

Worthington was given hope when his side clawed goals back in the 70th and 79th minutes, through substitute Ian Henderson and David Nielsen respectively, but Connolly's penalty, which completed his treble eight minutes from the end, confirmed the Dons' victory.

Wimbledon's manager, Stuart Murdoch, had nothing but praise for Connolly, who has scored five goals in as many games since coming back from a pre-season knee-ligament injury. He called the Republic of Ireland international "the ultimate pro" and added: "He worked very hard to get fit. He has had a positive influence on us."

Worthington, who could not hide his disgust at his team's performance, threatened the Norwich players with overtime this week.

Wimbledon 4
Shipperley 24, Connolly 42, 45, pen 83

Norwich City 2
Henderson 71, Nielsen 79

Half-time: 3-0 Attendance: 3,908