The youth team laid down the gauntlet to the senior side by reaching the Second Round of the FA Youth Cup, extending their record of reaching the competition proper for the first time this season. It took a lot of guts to make it through against a strong Sutton team who pushed them all the way, and will certainly be feeling sorry for themselves this morning having had a number of chances to win the game at the end of normal time.

As it was the young Dons did enough in extra time to win the game, a victory they just about deserved. The Dons looked like they would romp to victory following a dominant first half performance. As early as five minutes into the game a free kick out wide on the left was delivered in by skipper Harry Knock towards the far post. Sutton keeper Bettinson looked favourite but flapped at the ball, getting nothing on it to change its trajectory, and Dons forward Matt Harmsworth was perhaps taken by surprise that the ball reached him as he charged in behind the keeper, seeing his header smash against the Sutton bar from only yards out.

On twenty minutes, this time from a free kick wide on the left, and much deeper than the handball offence that it was originally given for occurred, was floated in to find Jordaan Browne with a free header ten yards from goal that he could unfortunately only guide over the bar.

Wimbledon were almost made to pay for a rare lapse in defensive concentration, as a Sutton player made an unopposed run down the left channel. Jack Turner was tempted to his near post only to see him square for the Sutton number nine James Page who had an open net to aim for. He went safety first and perhaps hit it a little too close to the centre of goal, but it would have beaten most young keepers. Turner however was like a man against boys, almost like an extra man advantage, and covered the ground to pull off an amazing save.

Every time I see Jack Turner he gets better and better. Plus its amazing that he still qualifies for this tournament, we forget that despite his contracted status he is still so young. If the club manages to hold onto his services we can expect big things from this boy, and should he decide to go on to bigger and better things (bear in mind he turned down a chance to join Readings youth academy during the summer) the fact he is under contract should see the club rewarded with a Hussey-like fee.

Wimbledon snatched the lead they had threatened on 38 minutes. A corner from the right curled in by Jordan Bird wasn’t cleared, a bit of pinball in the six yard box saw the ball find its way to Matt Harmsworth who guided the ball home. Some of the interplay between Harmsworth and his strike partner James Cottee had really impressed me over the course of the half, and Matt himself is another who has come on over the last six months even since seeing him play in the Suburban Cup Final. He had a run out for the first team in pre-season against Wycombe and should take heart from the impact his strike partner that night at Imber Court, Peter Rapson, has had on the first team (injuries notwithstanding).

Sutton came out the stronger sie in the second half, an early attack down the left seeing the ball bounce away from Turners near post. On the hour mark from a ree kick on the left a Sutton player headed over the bar when completely free, before seconds later Turner was forced to make a brave save with feet. From the corner Turner again made a stunning block, albeit the linesman’s flag had already be raised for a Dons free kick.

Sutton were coming into the game more and more, maybe due to their physical presence - they pretty much towered over the Dons boys from 1-11. Yet you still sensed the Dons would have enough to see the game through, and were desperately unlucky not to make the game safe with a quarter of an hour left. A corner was met by Callum Dunne, whose firm downward header bounced up off the bar.

Of course, as is the nature of  cup ties, the home side were made to rue this missed effort with ten minutes remaining. What looked a fair challenge was punished with a Sutton free kick on the edge of the area, from which Sutton fullback Robbie Drewett’s effort just beat Jack Turner and sneaked in under the bar. Extra time loomed, but it was the visitors who almost stole the tie with five minutes to go, a number of Dons fans somehow keeping the ball from crossing the line, their bench already celebrating as all eyes turned to the linesman on the far side, crouched ready to make a call that never came.

With Cottee replaced by Joe Jackson, Wimbledon were more direct towards the end which can only be put down to tiredness. The fresh Jackson was chasing down every ball, giving Sutton something to think about themselves. Yet it was Dunne who snatched what turned out to be the winner five minutes into extra time, a deep cross from the right saw him sneak in at the far post, his header squirming under Bettinson and into the net.

Later in the period, Jackson played in Harmsworth after a strong run down the left, his shot saved by Bettinson with his leg. Moments later a wonderful piece of close control saw Harmsworth dance round two Sutton players before getting his shot all wrong and slicing over the bar. Sutton appeared to be beaten and failed to test Wimbledon during the remainder of the game, with the Dons looking the more likely to extend their lead before the final whistle brought huge celebrations from the team.

A much tougher task awaits them in the Second Round, with Bournemouth travelling to Kingsmeadow after seeing off Bristol Rovers in their First Round tie. The youngsters are now only one win away from a potential tie on a Premier League or Championship ground, although Bournemouth are a huge test it’s not outside the realm of possibility that they can edge past them. With just over two hundred in attendance we can only hope that a really decent crowd with turn out for their next game in the competition – lets give our young players what they really deserve and show them the support we give to the first team.

So Terry Browns idea of reinforcements after a 3-1 defeat at the bottom club in which we saw a disjointed midfield and makeshift back line is to sign a striker? Ah, but this is by no means an ordinary striker… this is Luis Cumbers. The man who changed the course of Womble history by nodding into an open net and level the Ryman Playoff final at Staines, less than two years ago… In fact, I say man, but Luis is still just a boy, albeit a much stronger and physical looking boy than he was when here previously.

Perhaps he will write himself into the history books again at the New Den on Monday night? Indeed, Gillingham have allowed him to feature in the FA Cup this season, meaning the possibility has opened up that the Gills may allow his loan to extend beyond the one month initial period, maybe to the end of the season? Could there really be a possibility he may turn the loan move into a permanent deal? Well, lets not get carried away, Luis has to prove himself again to the Dons fans despite his goal against us in the draw at Ebbsfleet. Plus I’m sure if he impresses it may encorage the Gills to have another close look at him.

It’s likely that if Keds and Main are fit he will start on the bench, but is more likely to get the nod to come on than Monague, who will have to find some form after a promising start at the club and now finds himself slipping down the pecking order. Remember we still have an unfortunately injury hit kid in the reserves that wants to prove himself, and may get that chance at Monty’s expense…

I haven’t talked about Millwall yet, partly through cautiousness really. The news that we have already passed the 2500 mark has stung me into action now we find that there is a cap on ticket sales at 3400. Which seems frustrating with Millwall ensuring the two stands next to it are devoid of Millwall fans in their lower tiers… surely there isnt a safety implication in housing Dons fans there? I would imagine we should be mighty annoyed if the remaining tickets go by the weekend then arrive to see hundreds of empty seats in the visiting section…

There is more to this cup game than I care to write at the moment, in truth I’m saving a lot back for the main preview on Saturday (a bumper Anonymous Don special!) but wanted to have a moan about ticket sales in the mean time. In reality we should be lucky we have got over 3000 tickets, that certainly wouldn’t have been the case if we had visited Barnet or Dagenham, perhaps even somewhere like Brentford too?

Plus there is an important cup tie taking place at Kingsmeadow tonight, as the U18’s play their first ever game in the FA Youth Cup proper, having seen off Kentish Town, Hayes, Thamesmead and Tilford on their passage through the qualifying competition. A fixture at home to Sutton United, fellow Ryman Youth Leaguers, gives them a fantastic chance of progressing to a home Second Round game against Bournemouth. Without wanting to put pressure on the youngsters, it seems they have a better chance of moving to the third round and taking on Premiership Acadamy sides than our First team has! Win, lose or draw this evening, the lads have got further than any Dons side has in the competition so far, and I for one will certainly be hanging around after I collect my tickets for Monday in hope that they can go one step further…

After the drama of the FA Cup it was back to League action on Saturday, and a fantastic away following of around seven-hundred saw the Dons turn in one of their weaker performances of the season. Not that the turnout should make any difference (they should be performing at least at 100% every week – or even those mythical performance figures bandied about in post match interviews… 110%, 150%, 200%, 1000% seems to be the scale that most managers work on depending upon circumstance).

I mean, you follow the Dons on the road and you at least expect them not to lose. Not after our first trip down to the coast, anyway. Even if we don’t win, you expect an epic fight back to steal a point. With our away record standing at won five, drawn two, lost one plus our record of being the divisions highest scorers away from home, our hosts must have at least worried they might be on the wrong end of a thrashing, particularly after their four goal home drubbing by Barrow the previous Tuesday.

Yet this Wimbledon side is full of young players, the inexperience of youth that can lead to inconsistency, as harsh but invaluable lessons are learnt usually in return for a heavy cost in terms of dropped points. But this was what we signed up for, wasn’t it?

What a bad day to turn in that kind of performance, what with the Millwall game looming large. It was almost as if no Dons player dared to make a mistake, which of course led to dozens, all over the pitch. No change there of course, but we want to see possession being given up in the right areas of the pitch, if it has to happen at all. For example, we can play twenty passes around midfield including a couple of cross field balls, and that’s great football. But certain players need to know when the right time to play the incisive ball is, rather than passing the responsibility over to a colleague in a worse position or playing it back and forth amongst themselves until the opposition has packed out their defence and eventually we play one pass too many and find ourselves on the back foot.

But back to the ‘experience’ of the day. Chester’s ground initially looks like a larger version of Kingsmeadow, a typical first generation ‘new’ style non-league ground. Then you remember that this was meant as a replacement for their former ground Sealand Road back in the late eighties, and you wonder how this could ever have been planned as a League ground? Its looking a bit frayed around the edges these days, especially the running track behind the goals and the worn down safety markings on the concrete.

With your average Chester supporter reluctant to enter the ground these days, and even those who do are on the whole openly showing their dissatisfaction with the clubs ownership (with the obvious exception of those that sat in the stand bearing the owner’s name – be that himself, his son, his dog, you never can tell judging by his previous form…). Despite the large away following, and the PA guy openly admitting they had given away 200 tickets to a local youth club, the crowd was announced at under 1700. Perhaps this shows the success of any unofficial boycott, or the damage caused by negative publicity and the effect that had on the towns occasional supporters.

This meant the thousand or so home supporters found themselves stretched around two and a half sides of the ground, creating very little in terms of atmosphere. The Dons fans could almost turn it into a home game (bearing in mind at home they are used to one end giving them full support with the three remaining sides moaning at them…). So it was ironic that Chester managed to ground out what was probably their biggest result of the season.

Straight from the kickoff, Chester showed they were going to be no pushover. As early as the first minute Adam Kay blasted over Pullen’s crossbar when well placed, and moments later Nick Chadwick flicked a free header over the bar as the statuesque Dons defence watched on. Wimbledon tried to battle back, forcing a few corners, generally giving the visiting supporters the feeling the worst of the opening Chester onslaught had been dealt with. Don’t you just hate it when you get it all wrong like that? The next ten minutes were extremely depressing…

First on eleven minutes Micheal Coulson surged down the right channel into the box, as Jamie Pullen came to close down the angle he struck it past him into the six yard box, where Chadwick was on hand to tap home. It wasn’t the cleanest strike in the world, but to be fair all the hard work had been done by Coulson and he probably could have let it hit him and it would have bounced in.

A big shock but nowhere near as bad as what was to follow four minutes later, this time Mark Beesley smashing in a low cross. Unfortunately it was Paul Lorraine who managed to turn the ball home, I had to check that myself as the same ‘it all happened so fast…’ explanation that Lorraine probably trotted out to his team mates referred to me as well, which probably goes a long way towards describing just how unfortunate the goal actually was.

With the lead doubled, it was the Dons turn to go forward, after some good work from Kedwell released Nathan Ashton in space. The Dons debutant full-backs cross deflected off a Chester man, sitting up nicely for Steven Gregory who seemed to slightly miss hit his shot towards Chester keeper John Denby who gathered easily.

Wimbledon failed to turn the screw during the first half, the many forced changes seemed to have a great effect on the side. Especially unfortunate was the debut of Nathan Ashton. He looks a decent player who is suffering from a serious confidence crisis at the moment, which perhaps is to be expected from a player who made an appearance in the Premier League relatively recently and now seems to have plunged five levels and joined a team that is technically part-time. Not only that, but news of his signing didn’t exactly have the fans laying out the red carpet for him. 

It was late into the second half until he realised if he actually knocked the ball past his man he would win a foot race every time. He seemed more surprised than our opponents as the movement and pattern of play of the Dons side seemed to catch him off guard regularly. But if Ashton is going to come good at this level, he could have done no better than join the Dons. He seems to have the building blocks required to fit into the side, given training and match time I’m sure he will fit in just fine.

The Dons took another ten minutes to create another chance, Wellard chipping behind the Chester defence for Main to run onto. Denby managed to close him right down, leaving Main to wave a foot at the ball, only succeeding in lobbing it into the keepers hands. Like clockwork, another Dons chance came on forty minutes, Ashton swinging a high cross in from the left that was knocked down by somebody (don’t blame me, the Chester pitch is huuuuuge and the action was taking place at the opposite end…) for Main on the edge of the six yard box to scuff towards goal, Denby once more easily collecting.

It was only three minutes later when the Dons, gradually edging closer to goal, had a Wellard effort kicked off the line. As the half edged into stoppage time, Wimbledon finally struck to put themselves back in the game. A twice taken Wellard free kick (the first one was on its way to being wasted) was deflected into the path of Paul Lorraine, who partially made up for his o.g. by flicking the ball into the path of Jon Main. This time, last seasons top scorer, who has now truly recovered his goalscoring touch, guided the ball past Denby.

The happy half time Dons fans seemed to sense the goal had turned the game, even in the smokers section (i.e. the car park) where an impromptu game of keepie-ups began involving dozens of Dons thanks to a conveniently liberated football. Of course the Anonymous Don doesn’t get involved in such horseplay, preferring instead to smoke my cigarette and make calls to those fortunate enough not to be there. For some reason I took a few photos (there should be one used in this very article showing the man they call Tintin performing an excellently executed ‘eyes shut’ header…), before I noticed the ball coming my way dropping at head height.

At the last minute I realised I couldn’t simply nut it back, so using the sort of calmness you only really get when you have no time to think, I leant forward, allowed the ball to drop behind me, and flicked it back over my head with my right heel. A couple of Dons fans made the moment complete by chanting ’sign him up’ – thus the Anonymous Don managed to tick off an unexpected ambition on the ‘Things I Must Do Before I Die’ list. Next up – steal a policeman’s helmet…

Those who merely ‘thought’ that Wimbledon might come back and gain points before half time were presumably trying to get their bookie on the phone ten minutes in, trying to put their house on it. Two minutes in, Chester failed to clear their lines as three players showed how little they wanted the ball before some great hustling by Luke Moore won the ball back for the Dons. Main and Wellard had efforts blocked before a Gregory effort deflected safely back to Denby.

Five minutes into the half, a good Dons break culminated in Main smashing an effort towards the top left corner that produced an improbable looking save from Denby (at least improbable from where I was sitting…). The Chester keeper stretched to his right and just got enough on the ball to divert it over the bar. Looking back, this was probably the moment that won the game for Chester. If Wimbledon had scored at this point, they would undoubtedly gone on to claim the game, perhaps even racking up a Forest Green-esque away scoreline in the process. Denby’s save just cranked the pressure up on the Dons, another good chance passing by.

From the corner conceded, Steven Gregory had another pot shot that was (surprise, surprise) deflected wide for another corner and from this one, the referee gave a Chester man the benefit of the doubt as Lorraine climbed above him to head home. To be fair this was not as game turning as it sounds, as although it was one of those 50/50 Lorraine had his hands on him/their guy was backing in-type incidents, how often do you see the referee give them in the attacking teams favour?

Ten minutes into the half, Danny Kedwell picked up the ball in the right channel and surged into the box. Reaching the bye-line he smashed it across goal, in almost a carbon copy of Chester’s first goal, however this time Luke Moore could not apply the finish. Moments later a Kedwell cross from the left was met in the air by Jon Main (strange things were happening…) who nodded down for Luke Moore to strike over. Still Wimbledon couldn’t find the equalizer.

To cap a crazy five minutes, Kedwell had a shot well saved to Denby’s right, and to prove the world really had gone mad Alan Inns popped up on the left-wing to send over a delightful deep cross that Kedwell met on the volley, his effort smashed towards goal from a tight angle only to shave the top of the bar on its way to the Dons hordes behind the goal. The power of hindsight allows me to reveal now that Wimbledon ran out of steam slightly after this, but at the time the Dons domination showed no signs of slowing.

But slow it did, and perhaps buoyed by reaching this stage of the game and still leading, Chester started to pick the visitors of on the break. With twenty minutes to go, an unidentified Chester player (again – large pitch!) smashed a speculative effort from the left edge of the box across Pullen, who was grateful to see it hit bar then right post before bouncing clear. A minute later Beesley raced clear after an absolutely dire attempt at a back header. Fortunately, Lorraine raced back to hold him up, only to pass to another unidentified colleague, this time said player is probably grateful to me as he dragged a woeful effort past the left post.

Two huge wake up calls for the Dons, who just couldn’t get the momentum to swing back in their favour. And on 77 minutes, substitute Gregg Blundell shot into the bottom right hand corner of the Dons goal, which eventually won the game for Chester. I say eventually, as even then I still held out hope the lads would dig deep for one last onslaught, but it wasn’t to be. A last chance in injury time saw a frustrated Lewis Taylor slip when in a good position to shoot, consigning Wimbledon to their heaviest defeat of the season – the bottom club becoming the first to defeat the Dons by two clear goals this term.

So in the end, can we blame it all on bad luck? Well the side took a while to get going, and we can blame nothing else for Sam Hatton’s illness that prevented him starting. Yet it was still a strong lineup that the Dons named, and lets not forget that they created enough chances to win two games. Not all of those failed to hit the back of the net thanks to misfortune. Ultimately a sorry defeat as it was, what a great time to lose – our last game before Millwall. Win, lose or draw there (and I think we know which is more likely), how many of us will remember Chester come next April?

And lest we forget, our hosts are still in all sorts of problems financially, and this coupled with what seems like criminal mismanagement could cost them their place in the Conference sooner than any of us would like to see. The bitter pill for diehard Chester fans will be a shot in the arm to the Dons playoff hopes, with the likes of Luton and York losing points gained. Although it seems a bit cynical to be talking of it now, perhaps news of Chester’s demise will be keener sought by Dons fans than any of us choose to admit.

Luis Cumbers is back on loan at the Dons. The Ryman playoff hero is back at his spiritual home and can play in the FA Cup. Apart from that, I don’t really have much to say. I’m actually STILL trying to finish the Chester report… I tried to add a bit of urgency by telling myself I couldn’t watch this weeks episode of Flash Forward until I finished, but as I taped it, I’m all like, meh…

Lets face it, who deserves to go to Wembley more? Harry Arter? I think he may have been suspended from the voting due to certain ‘irregularities’ spotted late last week. Some bloke from Paulton Rovers? They’re on the telly, thats prize enough. The other two? One plays for Bromley (enough said) and the other one played in the Grimsby side that beat us 6-2…

So what are you waiting for? The deadline is tomorrow at midday, as you can see the voting as of 2300 Monday is tight…

To be honest, there isn’t going to be a Chester preview. Its midnight, I have to get  train to the north from Kings Cross at the ridiculously early hour of 11:10 AM, so have little time to write one before than. All I want to say is…

Chester City FC are being raped by their owner Stephen Vaughan, (ee their forum Deva Chat for more details… http://www.devachat.com/index.php?showforum=2) and what seems like the majority of Chester fans are planning a demonstration on Saturday. I would just like to remind all of you that in the past we were aided by the football community, and at times like these it’s payback time. Chants against Vaughan in solidarity will be a must, but on the day we should aim to assist the Chester fans in any practical way.

We failed to defeat the bastard owners we inherited, but for Chester the battle for the club is still raging. It may be that a from-the -ashes replacement team may have to be formed at some point in the future, but until then they havent lost their fight just yet…

The usually janky AD service will be in place this weekend, I don’t think you will be seeing a match report from me until Monday evening at the earliest. Until then…

Are you in the mood for a laugh? Check out Steve Evans comments below (taken from the Surrey Comet match report).

If you want an even bigger laugh, then I suggest you take a quick look at this webpage… http://crawleytownfc.com/newsdetails.php?ID=1320

But if you want the last laugh, this is taken from the front page from the O/S…

Well I have to say after all that, I’m glad I’m not part of the mainstream media, if I was I’d probably still be in hospital having my sides stitched. Either Evans was on the biggest wind-up ever, or he really is that bad a loser! My money is very firmly on the latter. But I can hear one of you piping up at the back… ‘Why are Evans comments so comical, Anonymous Don?’… ‘Why did Crawley Town feel the need, at their managers suggestion, to put up pictures of what looks like Callum Willock backing into Jamie Pullen?’… Well rest assured, both those answers and more feature in the famous AD match report, which follows after this series of dots!……….

The game started in similar manner to the first game at Broadfield Stadium, in that Crawley started fast and Wimbledon didn’t start at all. Less that two minutes were on the clock before a left-wing cross caused the Dons defence a few problems, Brett Johnson’s header clearance only bounced up invitingly for Jefferson Louis. Fortunately the big hitman got it all wrong, hitting his volley into the ground then seeing it bounce wide of the left post.

At least it didn’t take the home side forty-three minutes to get an effort on goal, in fact Saturdays goalscoring hero Sam Hatton lined up a free kick from all of thirty yards that the Dons midfielder/fullback drilled low but straight at Rayner, the ball skipping up kindly off the turf and into the keepers grateful arms. However Crawley still looked the side most likely, and the nervousness in the stands was in danger of spilling onto the pitch to further hinder the home side.

Around the quarter hour the Dons launched a couple of attacking moves that broke down, but the visitors couldn’t clear beyond their half. Eventually Derek Duncan picked up the ball and threaded a lovely pass through to Jon Main, the hitman breaking clear of the back four down the left channel before striking beautifully past Rayner with his left foot, the ball entering the net via the base of the right post.

The visitors came back, and then some. Five minutes later a Crawley attack seemed to have been thwarted after Johnson’s excellent challenge, only for Sam Hatton to flick a clearance only as far as Louis. The Crawley hitman hit a superb effort that made Pullen work to the point he was unable to gather the ball, instead parrying into no-mans land. Danny Forrest was clear favourite to beat two onrushing Dons men to the ball ten yards out, but panicked and could only stab his effort wide of the right hand post.

The visitors eventually managed to equalise thanks to a questionable call as Louis raced after a ball knocked forward. He appeared to have started his run slightly ahead of the last man, but it all happened so quickly it was tough to tell. Louis had such a head start on any Wimbledon player he had time to slow down and pick his spot, sending Jamie Pullen the wrong way by rolling the ball in the bottom let hand corner.

As I said, I didn’t really see enough of where Louis was in relation to the last man in a blue shirt when the ball was played, but the Dons bench including the normally calm Terry Brown were furious the officials allowed the game to continue. Brown was to effectively win the cup tie for Wimbledon thanks to his decision-making later in the game, but I can’t be sure even he saw it properly. As a fan you want to see the benefit of any doubt go to the attacking side, and as Dons fans we will see those sort of calls go our way more often than not, but at this particular moment it was tought to take.

The Dons fought back. Ricky Wellard slammed a shot wide of the left post from the edge of the box after good work by Kedwell, but Crawley immediately went up the other end and almost scored. A hopeful punt into the Dons box was beautifully lobbed over Pullen by Ben Smith, volleying the dropping ball sidefooted just wide of the left post.

Then just before half time Danny Kedwell flicked a left-wing cross wide , Lewis Taylor kept the ball in on the right feeding the ball back to Hatton, whose beautiful ball only needed a touch from Kedwell to take it in. Raynor knew he was about to be beaten and almost tried to shy away from the effort only yards in front of him, but the ball somehow bounced off part of his body and stayed out.

As if to rub in the general feeling that this wasn’t going to be Wimbledon’s day, Duncan then overran the ball, diving into a Crawley player and seeing a second yellow card for his trouble. It was hard not to imagine that the way Crawley had played with equal numbers they would go on to take the game with a mans advantage. Wimbledon were lacking all over the pitch. It needed positive action from Brown and the Dons fans got it.

The supporters around me seemed to be united that Ricky Wellard needed to be replaced, with Paul Lorraine preparing to come on. However Jon Main was the unlucky man, in retrospect a sensible decision. Keeping two up front would have meant the remaining three midfielders would have to stay deep, effectively meaning we would spend the rest of the game pumping long hopeful balls to Kedwell and Main. Instead the move to bring off Main effectively released Moore and Taylor to use their pace to get forward and support Kedwell, knowing six players would be behind the ball most of the time.

The fact that Wellard stayed on the field, seemingly at Mains expense, angered a small minority of the crowd. Wellard had a dire game in the original tie, and hadn’t exactly stood out during the first half, but with Adjei injured and Godfrey coming back from injury and probably only having a half hour run-out left in him, Brown had to stick with his man, especially considering the possibility of extra time…

I think the problem is, a lot of our supporters see the likes of Wellard, Hatton, even Gregory who has been a revelation this season in my opinion, giving the ball away. What they don’t realise is our opponents are giving it back to us just as quickly on most occasions. We probably use the ball better than any team in our division, I would imagine if there was a statistics service for the Conference our pass completion rate would prove that. The problem being, if you like to pass the ball around, you are playing a lot more passes. It’s only natural that the number of errors would rise too, and I’m sure Terry and the players themselves are making the effort to cut them out. It will be the difference between a team of play-off contenders and a team that’s looking for automatic promotion.  

And Wellard was straight into the action in the second half, lining a free-kick up wide left. Sam Hatton was lurking next to him, but jogged away, for Wellard to knock a short ball to him. Hatton allowed the ball to run across his body before striking fiercely with the outside of his right boot. Rayner was just a spectator as the ball curled away just past the top right corner.

The Dons were working hard to make up for their lack of numbers, but you got the impression that Crawley could cause problems catching the Dons up field and using their man advantage. You just wondered how much they wanted it. The initial answer was, not much. They didn’t seem like they were that bothered about winning the game. Did Evans tell them to sit back and bide their time? If so, against ten men and in a game they had the upper hand in even when it was eleven against eleven, this was a critical error.

Evans was in the stand for this one thanks to his touch-line ban, apparently communicating with his bulldog assistant via mobile phone. According to a local Crawley paper this was an inconsistent method, as the bench repeatedly failed to hear the phone ringing. Could a lack of communication have been the answer, leaving confused players to go through the motions? Either way, perhaps if Mr Evans had been on the bench to start with, his team wouldn’t have ended up losing this game. But saying that, am I not giving Terry Brown, and the Wimbledon players, enough credit?

The Dons defence were alert throughout the second half, well marshalled by the returning Lorraine. While Inns and Johnson had been a more than competent partnership, Lorraine stopped Jefferson Louis being the dominant aerial force in the Dons half of the field. The whole back four seemed to take strength from his arrival, which perhaps eased the pressure on the midfield, allowing them to break forward more and more often in the half.

Crawley’s best chance of the half occurred without any of their forwards realising about it until it was too late. A deep cross from the right searched out Louis lurking at the far post. Under pressure from Lorraine, he seemed to take his eye off the ball which ended up bouncing off his shoulder. A couple of lurking Crawley players didn’t spot the ball until it was too late, a desperate challenge sending the ball out of the danger zone.

With just over twenty minutes to go, Wimbledon grew enough confidence to create a clear opportunity once more. A long ball aimed wide right was just kept in by Kedwell, who played a ball into the advancing Taylor. Probably the unsung hero of the night, Taylor allowed the ball to run on to Luke Moore, twenty yards out. Moore guided a shot towards the bottom right hand corner, that Raynor didn’t sem to pick up until it was too late, the ball squirming into the corner sending the Dons fans into raptures.

The Crawley fans had other ideas however. Probably imagining their side was going to go on and win, it must have been frustrating to find themselves now a goal behind. Yet perhaps a few of them remembered how the battle of items thrown at goalkeepers ended level, the Dons cup of baked beans being levelled up in the last-minute by what looked like half a toilet pan spilling over the barrier towards Jamie Pullen.

In no mood to lose another contest to the Dons on the night, Crawley fans gained a huge advantage by aiming a good half a dozen plastic bottles, a number of coins and various other items at Jamie Pullen, causing the game to be held up for several minutes while stewards cleared the objects from the field and the referee handed a number of them to his assessor in the stand. Well done, Crawley fans! You murdered us in that particular contest! Now, lets remind everyone who IS playing Millwall a week on Monday?

Crawley hit straight back. A cross hoisted in from the right saw Louis get up unchallenged, only to plant his header straight into Pullen’s arms. Then with fifteen minutes to go, Louis was at it again, barging Hatton away before cutting inside and slamming a right foot effort just wide of the left post with Pullen rooted. In fact Jefferson Louis seemed to be the only Crawley player on the field capable of causing the home team problems. Sadly he was getting little support from Willock, who so nearly became a Dons player back in the summer. For those of you worried that Ross Montague might not be up to our high standards, hey, it could have been worse!

I believe it was around this point that those photos shown on the Crawley website as ‘conclusive proof’ they should have had a penalty were taken. I failed to even make a note of the incident, it didn’t seem relevant at the time. In fact it still doesnt seem relevant. In my mind I can see it though, I believe it was Willock who picked the ball up in the Dons box with his back to goal, chosing to lean back into Pullen eventually giving the ball away. Many have mentioned the lack of class involved in putting this on your official website, especially when it mentions they have seen the DVD, and to return to the website later for more details… now I’m guessing by the lack of updates that someone at Crawley has had the chance to view the DVD and found, erm, nothing. Secretly, I’m hoping it shows Pullen bodyslamming several red shirted players, as this will more than make up for the Main penalty incident…

With around ten minutes to go the Dons had four quick-fire chances to put the game beyond the visitors reach. Firstly some good work involving the much castigated Wellard and Taylor set Moore free in the box, but the ball seemed to take an age to come down by which point a Crawley player was able to stick a foot in to deflect it away for a corner. Then Inns beat Raynor to a free kick from the right guided in by Wellard, only to get too much of a connection on it sending the ball flying into the Tempest.

Sam Hatton then played in a ball for Kedwell to attack from an angle to the right of goal. Rayner did well on this occasion to close the angle, the ball bouncing off him for a corner from Kedwell’s shot. With the Crawley players now visibly tiring a long corner from the left was nodded down by Lorraine into the path of legendary goalscorer Alan Inns (in that when he scores everyone remembers, so rare an occasion it is…), only for the Dons most improved player to lean back and strike over the bar.

Crawley’s final big chance fell to Louis with four minutes on the clock. A long cross from the left saw Pullen back pedalling, only for Louis to head onto the top of the bar under pressure from Johnson and his own team-mate Willock. Of course, the referee decided to give a corner…

Not that it came to anything. Dons fans were starting to relax, as were the players, as on ninety minutes Lewis Taylor found space down the right, beating his man before firing a cross over that seemed too close to Rayner. The Crawley keeper only succeeded in tipping the ball into the air, for the man of the moment Danny Kedwell to tap in at the far post from a narrow angle. It was no more than Keds, and the team deserved. The vast majority of the 2467 crowd erupted minutes later at the final whistle, as Brown pointed his men towards to Tempest. However he pushed a tracksuited Jon Main to the front to receive the acclaim, the huge smile on his face revealed his personal delight at the teams victory despite his personal disappointment. What a great display of team spirit to cap a fantastic performance.

How the players will get their feet on the ground before an important league game at Chester I don’t know, and at this point I don’t care. The Chester game should take care of itself. For all the hot air coming from the Crawley camp, lets remind ourselves once more – which of our clubs is going to Millwall?

AFC Wimbledon    (1) 3    Main (15), Moore (66), Kedwell (90)

Crawley Town    (1) 1    Louis (27)

The Dons finally progressed to a tie at The New Den after a tense night at Kingsmeadow. Jon Mains goal gave Wimbledon an early advantage before Crawley came back strongly for the remainder of the half, Jefferson Louis grabbing an equalizer after breaking the offside trap. Derek Duncan’s second yellow card saw the home side reduced to ten men on the stroke of half time, and the visitors looked favourites at that point. An exemplary second half game plan from Terry Brown saw the visitors picked off on the break by Luke Moore, before Kedwell settled the game late on following an awful error by Crawley keeper Rayner.

The big news in the rest of tonights replays saw Tooting & Mitcham overcome Eastbourne Borough on the Conference clubs ground (meaning at least one Merton club has won there this season…). Two penalties from ex-Dons flop Matt York in extra time saw our former rivals through to the first round for the first time since 1977, where they travel to Stockport.

Elsewhere the Dons league opponents on Saturday Chester City crashed 0-4 at home to fellow Conference strugglers Barrow, further adding to the Cheshire clubs financial woes. Kettering overcame a trip to Redditch thanks to a goal in the last-minute of extra time, however Kidderminster weren’t so lucky crashing 3-1 at Fleetwood. Salisbury came back from 1-2 down at home to ambitious Southern Premier club Farnborough, eventually winning through 4-2.

Match report to follow…

Our 1-1 draw on Saturday has brought the teams together to settle the tie once and for all, this time the Dons have the dubious advantage of home turf, and we all know the reward for winning through (but none of us are talking about it, right?). Actually I haven’t been able to check whether Crawley internet chat has balanced out some loose tongues amongst the Dons fans regarding the possibility of playing Millwall, in the eyes of the Football Gods this could have cancelled their ire towards us… I have registered for their forum, but can’t remember my login details, or be bothered to look them up. I’ve always thought having a closed forum was a sign of a very self-important football club – like the majority of people really need to be kept from such top-secret information.

Anyway, time constraints mean a full preview is impossible, the game kicks off tonight at 7.45, get yourself down to the Meadow and cheer the lads over the line.

Away at Millwall.

 

No further comment is required on this draw unless we overcome Crawley on Tuesday.