SOUTHAMPTON coach Dennis Rofe took his defence to task after two lapses of concentration inside 75 seconds condemned the reserves to a 2-0 defeat by Wimbledon last night.

An experienced Saints side lost the plot midway through the first half, first when striker Par Karlsson prised open a gap between central defenders Chris Baird and Steven Gray after 18 minutes.

Karlsson latched onto a flick-on from a free-kick, found the space and rifled in a left-foot shot off the far post and past goalkeeper Alan Blayney.

Seventy-five seconds later Blayney was again picking the ball out of the net. This time Paul Robinson lost his marker, burst through into the Saints box and his crisp right foot finish found its target.

"I am not happy," admitted Rofe afterwards. "We were poor defensively and we gave them the goals. They didn't have to work hard for either of the goals.

"We failed to pick up the runners. These were elementary errors."

Up until then, Saints had looked in control, with Australian Adrian Caceres stinging the palms of Dons' keeper Shane Gore, and Paul Murray just failing to get his toe to a neat far-post cross from Matthew Le Tissier.

But, once Wimbledon had got their noses in front, it was they who looked the more impressive and could have easily left Staplewood four or five goals to the good.

Blayney was twice called on to block efforts from striker Wayne Gray. Then, in the second half, substitute Adam Nowland should have helped himself to a hat-trick, missing one gilt-edged chance in front of goal six minutes from time.

Defender Des Byrne also let fly with a 35-yard effort which dipped and smashed against the Saints' crossbar after 72 minutes.

Saints showed plenty of neat movement but their passing was poor and the final delivery woeful.

Dani Rodrigues should have done better when he side-footed over from six yards out Caceres' in-swinging cross after 36 minutes. The Portuguese youngster also had a chance in the second half but, as he lifted the ball over the Wimbledon goalkeeper, his effort bobbled the wrong side of the post.

Substitute Scott McDonald let fly with an 83rd-minute shot which keeper Gore parried and Rodrigues just failed to reach the rebound.

Le Tissier, enjoying a rare 90-minute outing, almost scored with one of his trademark tricks - flicking the ball over the defender with his right foot followed by a left-foot volley, but he failed to connect cleanly with this 71st-minute effort and goalkeeper Gore collected safely.

"We simply gave the ball away too many times," reflected Rofe, who was pleased to see Le Tissier come through the 90 minutes unscathed, but admitted: "He still needs a few more games under his belt".

Francis Benali was substituted at half-time with a tight calf.