The General Specific (Wednesday 21st October ’09)

First off, a great big MASSIVE congratulations to Chris Hussey, who last night made his debut for Coventry City in their 2-0 defeat at Cardiff. Hussey came on as a substitute midway through the second half and has apparently been given the number 14 shirt, which suggests Coleman sees him as a relatively important squad member.

The bad news is that this proves my theory that the Universe that we live in is nothing other than the physical manifestation of a dream the twelve year old Hussey is currently having. His alarm is going to go off shortly, and we shall all explode into nothingness, as young Hussey sits up and rubs his eyes, his only memory being a seven-foot tall furry creature with an oversized ball on a football field, and several hundred Cardiff fans ‘doing the Hussey’ (http://www.cardiffcity-mad.co.uk/news/loadrprt.asp?cid=MTCH&id=468916).

Hopefully our existence will last long enough for us to find out our FA Cup fate on Saturday. Now the Admission War with Crawley has been won (or did we lose?) and the FA has set the price (£14 terrace, £17 seat), we can focus on the football. I hope those whose self-righteous reluctance to travel over an amount of money so trivial it wouldn’t even buy you half a pint in most town centre pubs are going to make the journey, the underlying rumble of dissatisfaction actually helps the atmosphere thanks to encouraging long-retired singers like myself to make a comeback if only to drown them out.

Our visitors are obviously looking to coin it in, and if you feel your being ripped off by them, reclaim the money by keeping it in your pocket when you pass the guy selling programmes or the burger van. More on the game itself in an FA Cup preview special I am planning on writing (but don’t hold your breath after recent form…).

The reserves played Metropolitan Police last night, Terry allowing Brown, Adjei, Judge, Wellard and Montague some game time. All got a full ninety minutes under their belts except Adjei, who was subbed just after the hour. Wellard even managed to score to give the Ressies an eleventh minute lead, but was overshadowed by our second string goal machine Elton Gjoni. Gjoni himself found that, for once, he didn’t have the funniest name on the pitch; the Met goalscorer Dave Banjo hoping to strum up some interest in his form with their consolation – perhaps hoping to be plucked by their first team soon?

The U18s are involved in FA Youth Cup action away to Tilbury as I write… the winners face a home tie against Sutton or Margate (who play tomorrow) – expect an update later tonight featuring the result of that one. The ladies crashed out of their FA competition with a 0-5 thumping at Aldershot. Lets hope then that the first team can continue their adventure… actually I think I’m coming down with something. I’m feeling anxious, nervy, sweating slightly and have the shakes… could this be… Cup fever I’m coming down with???

NB – The Anonymous Don would like to apologise for the lame ‘cup fever’ joke. I had no idea how to end the piece, and in my defense all I can say is I was tired and emotional when I wrote it (just two minutes ago…). Rest assured, I will work tirelessly to avoid such errors of judgement in future, which has soiled my good reputation, and I hope my actions have not damaged the reputation of the wider fanbase.

AFC Wimbledon 1 Kettering Town 2 – A Match Report

If you were frustrated about the Kidderminster game, you would have been pulling your hair out over this one. However thinking back (not that far) to the reverse fixture, despite the euphoria over a memorable performance we were quite lucky to get away with the points in the end… and this game was a mirror of it. Perhaps in my mind, being as it is drenched in blue and yellow blood, we made a better fist of our attempted comeback than they did in the corresponding fixture? Either way, a win and a loss is better than two draws in terms of points gained…

That doesn’t mean I’ve come to terms with this defeat. Hell, I haven’t got round Eastbourne beating us in our second game. Thankfully defeats have been as rare this season as they were last, yet despite the end-to-end excitement and proper sense that any game we play could go either way I still find myself begrudging our victors. Especially as their goalkeeper was a former franchise cuntbag. I don’t think I even mentioned it the first time around, yet yesterday it seemed to rub salt into the wound.

Those that bleat on about how we should have ‘got over it’ by now clearly have no idea what its like to be a Wimbledon supporter. No matter how good things are going at Kingsmeadow (or fingers crossed any future Dons stadium…) we are always going to be reminded of that betrayal. Presumably those big brave Kettering supporters who were chanting ‘MK Dons’ at us after the final whistle where aware of this, as they went strangely quiet when forced to mix with 3500 Dons fans in Jack Goodchild Way.

The match sponsors were Kick It Out, a worthy organisation, and you wonder whether they actually paid for the privilege or we gave it up for free. I would hope the latter, as it is their One Game, One Community initiative I gather they are sponsoring a number of games over two weekends. After the ‘misunderstanding’ against Lincoln in the cup last season I would have thought the message would have been better aimed at the visitors, but that would be to ignore the fact the Dons named a side whiter than a BNP wives coffee morning thanks to the absence of Derek Duncan (missing-presumed-injured) and Kennedy Adjei (unused substitute despite his flag flying in the Tempest).

Chris Hussey took the field before the game to a warm applause to thank us all following his move to Coventry. Think we might have laid it on a little thick with all the future England international talk, but the good news is the fee appears to justify his potential. Numbers in the high five figures have been bandied about by those who would know better than exaggerate, with the potential fee possibly worth six figures to the club. This is good news when it has been reported that Sven Goran Eriksson is lining up a move for Danny Kedwell… I have to say I haven’t seen Sven at the Meadow this season (not our Meadow anyway) although needless to say we would require six figures up front from that particular club for that particular player…

But back to Hussey. He must have noticed, as presumably we all did, how much he is going to be missed on the field. As Duncan was absent, Johnson took over at left back with Inns filling in at centre half. Brett Johnson is more of an out and out defender however, and a lack of support on the left side was obvious from the start. Luke more frequently found himself short of options when attacking that flank, almost as if he was still expecting Hussey to come bombing past him to send over that killer ball. I think it mattered enough that we would have won this game had we still had Hussey, so getting Duncan playing regularly and/or having a decent backup on the left side of midfield must be a priority.

Did Hussey’s absence have an impact on the result? At first you may think thats clutching at straws, but as a Don’s blogger I have to at least examine the claims… The start of the match certainly showed we weren’t creating as many chances as the visitors despite having the same amount of territory and possession, yet when the ball found its way to Luke Moore on the left he looked short of options, almost as if he was waiting for a blue shirted number 3 to bomb past him (if not to pass the ball to then at least to create some space for himself).

Big Exodus Geoghaghon was playing just in front of the Kettering back four allowing him the freedom to roam the midfield and pick up the aerial balls dropping in the midfield area, and he created the games first chance. His header was picked up by Francis Green who struck a woeful effort well wide from 25 yards. Moments later it was Moses Ashekodis turn, finding space while running at Inns to screw wide of the left post. Neither chance threatened the Don’s goal, but it was a sign of the dangers to come for Wimbledon.

Ashekodis came a lot closer moments later, his fierce effort palmed upwards by Pullen who then collected the loose ball. Hopes were briefly raised when Wimbledon put together a decent move at last, and it was no surprise that it came down the right (which looks as though it could be the new left since Hussey’s departure…). Kedwell and Taylor combined well on the flank, the ball being fed through to Hatton, who could have shot but obviously didn’t trust his left foot enough and instead rolled in Luke Moore. The angle was against Moore, who tried to pull the ball back only to see it bounce off a defender and land fortunately in the Kettering goalkeepers arms.

Sadly this didn’t start a new wave of Dons pressure, Kettering instead winning a throw on the left. Geoghaghon launched a huge throw towards the six yard box which led to a mass outbreak of sheer panic among the Wimbledon men, the ball eventually being tucked into the bottom left corner past a helpless Pullen and gift the visitors the lead. The home fans barely had time to take this in before Danny Thomas picked up the ball twenty five yards out. Boosted by the confidence of having just taken the lead he smashed a superb dipping effort over the helpless Pullen, the Don’s net bulging for the second time in ninety seconds and the Wimbledon fans facing up to the fact the game could already have slipped away as those occupying the away section erupted.

Just moments after that Wimbledon won a corner. Played short to Hatton, the Don’s midfielder hit a deep cross that confused Harper into believing the ball was about to safely drift out for a goal kick. He didn’t realise Kedwell had other ideas, floating a header back over the keeper who had wandered out of position, for Jon Main to have the easiest job of grabbing his third goal from open play in two games, and his sixth overall this season.

With three quarters of the game still to play, Wimbledon fans could have been forgiven for thinking their side would come back to claim a point, maybe all three. They could have been right in doing so as their side blew a fantastic chance to level the scores on the half hour. Kedwell picked up the ball on the left side of goal and attacked the penalty area with wonderful directness, dancing round a defender before squaring for Main at the near post. The man of the moment seemed certain to score with any kind of contact, yet his stabbed effort just floated into the air before caressing the crossbar on the opposite side of goal and being thumped clear by a grateful Kettering man.

The Dons looked fired up, but they had to ride out the rest of the half, Kettering forcing a number of throws and corners. Their best chance to extend the lead came just before half time, Askekodis combining with Thomas for the latter to drag a shot across the face of goal. Half time came, and a familiar face appeared next to me having experienced the Tempest End for the first time. While he enjoyed the experience, he moved partly down to the unnecessary swearing all around him – yet perhaps standing next to me was a mistake, as the Anonymous Don spent much of the half having a Tourettes-like fit due to shear frustration.

It all started well enough, a Hatton corner on the right drilled low towards Alan Inns, who managed to get under the ball and float it well over the bar. The visitors held out well for the next ten minutes or so, in fact creating a chance themselves for Thomas who got free in the right side of the area only for Pullen to make a solid upright save. The hour mark saw the now traditional Terry Brown substitution – you wonder whether Brown is actually being controlled by a bored fourteen year old in another dimension who always makes his first sub at this point… This time around the fourteen year old must have been drunk, as I’m not sure why anyone would choose to remove the solid Conroy for Ricky Wellard, seeing the youngster fit into midfield and the veteran (by comparison) Hatton drop back to Conroy’s position.

Actually, thats unfair. I knew what Brown was trying to do, he wanted a more attacking fullback to pick up the pace down the right, with someone hungry to liven the midfield up Wellard moved to the left yet even without the wonderful power of hindsight you maybe would have expected the more confident Kennedy Adjei would have been more at home in this position. Wellard needed a chance in the first team however, and very nearly found an equalizer with virtually his first touch. Hatton got forward down the right as expected and stood a wonderful ball just begging to be buried by Wellard, whose downward header gave Harper no chance but somehow sneaked past the right post (well, there was a little licence used there. I was right behind the header so sadly knew it was destined to drift wide as soon as it left his head… there was no ‘somehow’ about it!).

A minute or so later Hatton created another chance, this time sliding the ball behind the back four for Jon Main to use his pace and get clear. Last seasons top scorer hit a fierce shot that was too close to the keeper, who touched it over for a corner. Then it was Luke Moore’s chance to shine. Receiving the ball with time about twenty yards out, Moore could have picked either side to place his effort but managed to guide his effort towards the portly Kettering custodian. Harper, perhaps down to the level of abuse he was receiving from the Tempest, still managed not to gather it cleanly and for a split second it looked as though he was going to fall over and allow it to trickle over the line. Yet, and further proof if it was required that billions of Christians are wasting their lives and there is no God, he actually managed to gather it quite easily in the end.

While it looked like any shot on target that wasn’t a yard either side of Harper might find the net, the Dons chances were becoming more and more rare – hence my frustration, triggered by a number of free kicks given the visitor’s way with little contact being made by the likes of renowned football hard men such as Wellard and Moore. Don’t I remember this happened a couple of weeks ago? Is it only when we are chasing the game that referees turn against us? I know, I’ve been watching the game way too long to pretend I don’t know the answer to that…

With twenty minutes of the game to play, Kedwell picked up the ball in the box on the right, outmuscled his marker despite being pulled all over the place (and perhaps would have been better off letting himself be tugged to the ground) and smashed an effort across the face of goal and wide. I found my anger rising as the final whistle approached, and the time flew by. The home sides last chance came with two minutes remaining, and just about summed up the day. A Moore cross was just missed by Lewis Taylor, striking the unfortunate Wellard before bouncing wide of the right post, away for a goal kick.

The frustration was caused mostly by the knowledge that we could and should have taken at least a point from a side that are up there in the table, yet didn’t look as though they were any better than us. Two months into the season we are still losing games thanks to the experience of our opponents. Kettering had a years head start on us – it didn’t show in August, but it has now.

Heading into a big FA Cup game this coming Saturday, that is a lesson we could do well to learn, and fast. If we are to do well in the Cups this year (and bear in mind there are only two of them this season) we obviously cannot let Crawley take the sort of advantage they did at Kingsmeadow last month. Don’t get me wrong, Crawley are an inferior side to Kettering, and it may be easy to imagine that they have had their chance against us for the season. That old cliche of the Cup being a great leveller only applies if the superior side allows complacency to get in the way…

The Dog Ate It…

As some of you may have noticed, the blog hasn’t been updated recently… and what can I say about the Forest Green report? Well, it was about 2000 words long, full of pictures, and ready to publish. Then it disappeared. Seriously, its gone. It was a good one too (for those of you out of the loop, we won 5-2 and some guy called Main scored a couple…).

Naturally this left me a little down, so I decided to avoid the blog for a few days to ‘recharge my batteries’… I got a last minute call up to Wembley on Wednesday when it turned out the FA were giving out free tickets to fill the seats for the cameras, and as I know a guy who knows a guy… Then tonight I had to take Mrs AD to the cinema to make up for blowing her out of going to the cinema on Wednesday. Thus we missed a trip to the theatre that was supposed to have been taking place tonight, and, well you get the picture….

Having said that, I will be taking a step back from the blog over the next few months while I get to work on what I’m sure will be my breakthrough sci-fi horror novel, Alien Dog Zombies From Hell. No, seriously. So the blog will be match reports and the odd piece here and there until further notice. Some of you may have heard malicious gossip that Mrs AD was getting annoyed with my constant dedication to it, this of course is rubbish…

Thats the important stuff out of the way, only the small matter of recent news. Well, it turns out Chris Hussey has been sent to Coventry. Sorry that should have been… Chris Hussey has been signed byCoventry. Well that was a bit unexpected, all the more so given THE TRANSFER WINDOW IS SUPPOSED TO BE CLOSED. The problems this causes lower league bloggers like myself… Anyway, good luck to Hussey, I for one never doubted him, especially in the summer when I said ‘He will learn a few lessons against more experienced players…’. I had preempted his move to the Championship, so once again I’m right. And as Hussey never claimed to be a Don’s fan unlike some other people, you know who I’m talking about…

Anyway, more about that soon. No promises, though…

Second Thoughts… Crawley Town

As I mentioned in the main match report, I had two special visitors with me for this game – my dad and my cousin. So what did they think of it all? Well these two veterans of well over a thousand games each really enjoyed themselves. The speed of the game certainly surprised them, although that may have been down to the bench-side position they chose to stand. Normally their trips to Football League games see them situated well away from the playing surface, so ground level must have made a change.

And their thoughts on Wimbledon specifically? Well, of course they had nothing to measure us against (except for Crawley…) yet they were very impressed by the style that Terry has the team playing. I think we have to be realistic that our players cant always get the ball down and play it – there is a time and a place for desperate clearances or measured balls over the top – but the fact that two Dons novices turned up and immediately noticed it says quite a lot about our style. I wonder whether it was more noticable because of previous Dons teams having earned a reputation for direct football, or just because Crawley took every opportunity to knock the ball up field as quick as possible.

So have we found a couple of new supporters? Well, probably not. My cousin will attend a few games but has to juggle being a new dad with following his team, Ipswich Town. My dad is based in Doncaster these days, and will accompany me to a few northern away games, and spoke of perhaps alternating trips to see Rovers play with adopting a Non-League side closer to home, either Brian Little’s Gainsborough or Retford. Neither of whom play the ball about like the Dons do, I would imagine…

More to the point, both will be telling people about their visit on Tuesday night. About how Wimbledon play fast, exciting football, and how good it is for the money. Which perhaps shows the importance of bringing other football fans to our games. It’s not just them, it’s the good reports they will spread after their visit. Let’s remember that this wasn’t exactly a vintage Dons performance either… perhaps the club should introduce a ‘Bring a Mate’ night for an evening game in the future… Grays possibly?

Ultimately, those floaters not impressed by just the football are motivated by results. Which was why we had an impressive attendance (hopefully a benchmark for evening games…), as we have only lost two so far this campaign. However I would imagine Terry would take the view that we should have taken more than four points from these four games.

My view is, although I’m satisfied with the results, I can’t help but think that on the whole we have come closer to losing these games than winning them. Is our league form, specifically the small number in the ‘loss’ column, disguising something? Especially as it would have been more valuable to us to have won two and lost two… Well, again this is my personal opinion, but I find the never-say-die attitude the team showed against Tamworth and Ebbsfleet as a fantastic positive to have. These were two points that had gone at half time and on 90 minutes of the respective games. Yes, they couldn’t use it to turn Tuesday nights game into a win, but it certainly wasn’t for a lack of trying.

So… the players. Well my first reaction to watching the highlights after writing my match report was – ‘Actually that challenge on Chris Hussey really darn looked like a stonewall penalty’. When I first started writing The Anonymous Don it was my intention to describe the games as accurately as possible to those who cannot make it. Now I can imagine some far flung Dons sitting there reading, then watching the highlights and thinking ‘Frickin’ Hull Anony Don, that was a nailed on spotter and make no mistake…’ All I can say is I say it like I see it. If you watch the incident again you can see the exaggeration in his fall, and even if you aren’t buying that I was describing what I saw from my angle, which was not a great deal of contact.

Now I’m a little pissed that I made a big deal of it, yet barely mentioned the two penalties we could have had. Big Fat Tug on Taylor in the box, and Great Big Shove on Gregory. I was half joking when I mentioned a conspiracy as the reason we weren’t awarded those two, which of course means I was half serious as well… I cannot believe we won’t get a penalty for the remainder of the season with the tricky forwards we have, but then again every referee should be aware of the amount of penalties we have received so far. And rightly or wrongly he will consider this when he makes his decision. Not consciously. For all but the strongest willed referee though it will play a part in their thought process.

I haven’t spoken about Sam Hatton’s performance yet. I did mention his switch to right back, and this got me thinking. My theory is this. Playing any other position apart from the centre of the park, you have points of reference. A touch-line to the side of you, a bye-line in front or behind. Strikers can look behind them aware they only need to know where the defender behind them and the goal is. Defenders look forward and see the game play out ahead of them. In theory full-back is one of the simplest positions on the park. You can see everything ahead of you and you always have a touch-line to the side of you to get your bearings.

So of course Sam Hatton is going to find it easy dropping to right back. He isn’t a natural, Conroy is far superior in terms of tackling and using his natural defensive mind to fill gaps in the middle, but Hatton can do a job. He can pass better than Garrard, and he looks much better going forwards (I love Luke Garrard, but I think his days at the club may be numbered… I dearly hope he can prove me wrong…). Compare this with the difficult job a midfielder has.

Even the most perceptive midfielder gets caught in possession occasionally. So a young midfielder will find himself getting robbed more often, right? But Adjei and Gregory don’t get dispossessed that often, and there is a reason for this too, they tend to sit off and pick up loose balls. Put them further upfield, as Stephen Gregory did on many occasion on Tuesday, and all of a sudden they don’t look so impressive.

Not satisfied with that answer? Ok, think about the performance of the Crawley central midfielders on Tuesday (or even better, watch the Histon midfielders tomorrow…). How many times did they receive the ball from a team mate behind them? Most of the time the ball bypassed them on the way forward, they only really got involved trying to win the ball back, or if the ball was won in the middle of the park.

Now think how many central midfielders have gone on to be crowd favourite at AFC Wimbledon. Bolger? A cake walk in a division he was way too good for. Gell? A combative midfielder who won the ball deep, passed easily, and got forward when it suited him. Now think about the likes of Rob Quinn… Jon-Barrie Bates…… Barry Moore……… Nick Roddis…………

All players who came to us with a huge reputation. All played under a manager who liked to see the ball knocked forward quickly (like just about every other sub Conference club), so should have been able to fit in well. Sam Hatton has earned his place in the Wimbledon midfield for over two years now. It would be a disgrace if as just a young player he found himself hounded out of the club by those too ignorant to remember their own playing days… if they actually bothered to step out for a club at all… So imagine how I would feel if that happened and I stood by and said nothing? The kid is only twenty-one years old. Midfielders should start playing their best football between 25-30 years old as an approximation. Hatton has improved year-on-year. There will be a few people eating their words in a couple of years time…

Yet Hatton had a poor game on Tuesday. I was disappointed with him. But thats going to happen, not just with him, but with all our young players. I get back from a game and read some Dons fans opinions, and quite frankly laugh at them. I hear people begging for a ‘big tall centre forward’ when its obvious we just aren’t going to play that way. We have our ball winning forward, and its Kedwell. Then you get so-called experts, people who actually get paid to translate what is going on on the pitch for the layman, claiming that we needed an experienced midfielder. Ignoring the lessons of the past, thats just damned ignorant. If we were looking to win the League this season, perhaps. But if you think this side has no chance of progressing into a title-winning side, after the start they have made…

Yes, one or two of the current side aren’t going to make it. Sam Hatton could be one of them. But he has shown enough promise to deserve to be given a chance. I’m glad we have a strong-willed manager who knows that success this season will be measured on a top half finish. Who will ignore the mindless minority. Terry Brown has a plan, and the vision to make it become a reality.

In reality, I’m less of a Hatton fan than a Terry Brown fan. I trust Brown is right about Sam because all of my instincts tell me he is. I sense that Browns success or failure rides on Hatton more than any other player. I have faith in our manager, perhaps for the first time in the AFC era. Eames sucked up to the right people but was never the right man for the job (and would have won us promotion first time out if he was…). Nicky Whatshisface was in the right place at the right time. I thought DA was great, but only as a figurehead, as a personality, he was right for AFC Wimbledon in all aspects except management of the club. But Brown? He’s a proper manager.

Pullen    6

Garrard    5

Hussey    8

Adjei    6

Lorraine    6

Johnson    7

Hatton    5

Taylor    5

Kedwell    8

Gregory    5

Moore    6

SUBS

Duncan    6

Montague    7

NB – For the two people who used these questions in a search engine to find their way to my blog;

Why Did Danny Kedwell Throw His Boots In The Crowd?

Kedwell has arranged a transfer to Oxford in January, but its a secret for now, don’t tell anyone! Or… maybe his boots had just split.

Why Won’t Terry Brown Pick Jon Main?

(Cough). No goals from open play despite being given plenty of chances…

AFC Wimbledon 1 Crawley Town 1 – A Match Report

At last a ‘normal’ Conference home game… Under the lights, in front of a decent crowd who generated a good atmosphere, which was good, as it was my Dads first visit to an AFC Wimbledon game. His, along with my cousins attendance meant I could get a neutral’s perspective of the game (well, my cousin bought a pair of white Dons shorts, so I’m not sure whether they could really have watched the game without bias… plus the chips on offer in the bar beforehand might have swayed them further…).

More on them in my Second Thoughts article later in the week. This is all about the game. Maybe because it was dark when I entered the ground (hasn’t done that for a while), but Kingsmeadow looked stunning under lights. The glow of the pitch, which looked as though it had been painted so luminous was it, with fans all round the pitch in a crowd that would have been pretty impressive last season for a Saturday game.

After drawing our last three games I think most fans harboured realistic expectations of grabbing a win. Yet it was Crawley who created the first half chance after two minutes. Jefferson Louis, who blew hot and cold throughout the game but looked impressive on occasions, picked up the ball on the left. He tried to cut inside and power a shot across Pullen into the top right corner, but got body shape all wrong and struck high and wide.

Two minutes later it was Danny Kedwell’s turn to lay down a marker. Picking up the ball on the right, he powered into the box and from a tight angle tried to blast the ball in at the near post. Crawley keeper Simon Rayner was alive to the threat, quickly getting down and diverting the effort away for a corner. Kedwell seemed to be involved in everything going forward for Wimbledon, moments later striking over from 25 yards.

Next it was Kedwell the creator, winning the ball on the edge of the Crawley box when it seemed certain to be pumped upfield, allowing Steven Gregory to slam wide of the left post. Then he set up Lewis Taylor, the next to fail to find the target from around twenty yards, after ten minutes. It would be another ten minutes or so before another chance came Wimbledon’s way (a Kedwell swivel shot from distance flying over), in that time the game settled down, with the Dons trying to play their crisp passing football – yet largely failing, Kedwell having to do too much work in his own half meaning clearances had no outlet. Crawley on the other hand seemed happy to try and hit the home team on the break.

Just after the half hour Wimbledon finally managed another shot on target. Garrard made a rare forage forward down the right, finding the bye-line and standing up a cross which in itself caused Crawley few problems. At least it should have done. A couple of half-hearted swats at the ball saw it fall to Luke Moore on the edge of the area, he hit his effort firmly but straight at Rayner who held easily.

The next chance, well I can’t really describe it as a chance… perhaps three weeks ago when we seemed to win a penalty every time we entered the opposition area. Hussey burst through on the left and seemed able to catch the ball before it crossed the line. Yet a Crawley defender made half a move towards him, he felt the contact and felt the need to go to ground. This was neither a ‘pulled down like Main at Grays’ penalty, or a ‘hauled back like Kedwell at Grays’ penalty… in fact to be honest – it wasn’t a penalty.

Which made me think about Erik Samuelson’s programme notes concerning ethics. As I saw Hussey’s fall to ground (I wouldn’t call it a dive – there is a difference, yet neither could it be described as a slip… perhaps the best definition was he was ‘baulked’), it could have been given as a penalty, we have seen them given, and yet… Don’t get me wrong, I’m not accusing Hussey of cheating, it’s just that he is one of a few of our players who are strong in the challenge anywhere else on the pitch, and yet wilt under any threat of physical contact in the box.

Drawing a foul is a genuine art, in other words using skill and pace to cause a defender to foul, yet we seem to have a few who are stretching this definition to the limit. We have been awarded more than our fair share so far this season, and any referee allocated to us will be more than aware of this. We are pushing our luck at the moment – we have already seen a yellow card dished out to Mr Luckless aka Elliott Godfrey when he was genuinely hacked down at Tamworth. Does this fall into the win-at-all-costs bracket we are seeking to avoid?

If you were looking for an idea of how a manager with a less than perfect definition of what is ethical would behave, you only had to keep one eye on Steve Evans in the visitors dugout. Constantly prowling around his technical area, the fiery Scottish fraudster looked capable of murder any moment. The linesman on his side seemed happy to take his word for a quiet life, and his assault of the poor fourth officials eardrums probably merited a trip to the stands, yet didn’t draw the expected words of disapproval from the referee after his attention had been drawn to it.

Evans was a happy man moments after Hussey’s tumble though, as Jefferson Louis crumbled under a Paul Lorraine challenge that looked nothing but fair. Louis picked himself up to line up the free-kick himself, twenty yards out and central. The Dons wall looked solid and difficult to beat, Louis struck a firm low effort straight at them, and the inevitable happened. The ball hit a Dons boot and rather than bounce clear it screwed into the back of the net, poor Jamie Pullen left with his weight on the wrong foot and rooted.

I have admired the Dons response to adversity so far this campaign, and while eventually Wimbledon came good, certain players showed an over-eagerness in the five minutes after the goal. Kennedy Adjei, who put another superb shift in, chose this five minute period to concentrate on giving the ball away. At least Adjei had a decent game on the whole, there were one or two midfielders (Gregory and Hatton) who didn’t seem to be at the races by their own high standards.

While the Dons didn’t look like scoring at the end of the first half, they wasted no time getting in to the Crawley box at the beginning of the second. Lewis Taylor burst into the area before being dragged back, then Steven Gregory was clearly pushed. Neither was given of course, we probably won’t get another penalty again… Have we seen the beginning of an anti-Dons conspiracy by Conference referees?!

This all happened within the first five minutes of the half, as did a Kennedy Adjei shot from distance that flew wide and high from 30 yards. The reason I keep mentioning these efforts, most of which didn’t threaten the Crawley goal, was to highlight the lack of composure our midfielders showed when in shooting positions. In most cases they seemed to have time yet still snapped a shot off way too quickly. I can’t be sure we will see a repeat of some of the goals we scored from distance last season. Or even another Luke Moore special…

Moore did manage to hit the target with a scorching right foot shot from the left edge of the area that curled towards the top right corner, unfortunately Rayner saw it all the way and pushed it round the post. Then Chris Hussey found Sam Hatton in space on the right, who tried an effort with his left foot that fizzed across the face of goal and just wide of the left post.

Ex-Dons trialist Callum Willock had started for Crawley supporting Louis up front, and had shown little of the form that had earned him a contract offer. In fact it looked as though things had turned out well for Wimbledon, as Willock spent most of the game falling over before being hauled off later in the half. Yet he did have one chance, a strike from the edge of the box that flew at Pullen but wobbled about in the air until the Dons keeper grabbed it.

Shortly after that Crawley wasted another chance as Thomas Pinault led a three on three break, only to tamely shoot wide when he had much better options available to him. The Dons then crafted a fantastic opportunity for an equalizer when Kedwell carried the ball forwards through the centre, and as Crawley men backed off slid an intelligent ball to Hatton on the right. The Dons midfielder got his head down and struck past the keeper, only to see the ball bounce off the bar and over.

Hatton had a poor game, but Brown managed to get at least twenty minutes of a performance out of him after a double substitution led to a reshuffle. The ineffective Garrard and tiring Taylor were withdrawn, replaced with Derek Duncan and Ross Montague. Hatton switched to right back, with Hussey moving to the right side of midfield and Moore dropping back to behind the front two of Montague and Kedwell. Derek Duncan moved to the space on the left vacated by Hussey.

The move paid off straight away. Chris Hussey’s move to the right allowed him to cut inside and deliver a deep cross to the far post. Kedwell shrugged off his man to get a head on the ball, which bounced up and over Rayner before dropping into the far corner of the net. Finally Wimbledon had some reward.

The Dons got their heads down in search of a winner. Derek Duncan charged into space on the left and floated a ball over that Kedwell relished attacking at the far stick. He managed to divert his effort over Rayner, but with no-one on hand to turn it in a Crawley defender had the easy job of heading it off the line. Montgomery was causing all sorts of problems and looks the ideal partner for Kedwell, managing to set up Adjei to once again strike off target.

That for all their effort was the last chance Wimbledon created, in act it was Crawley who almost nicked it late on following a huge long throw, flicked on at the near post that was somehow not turned in by an unidentified Crawley man at the far post.

This would have been harsh on the Dons, who perhaps should have won on weight of pressure alone, but have hopefully learned their lesson as far as taking their chances go. Kedwell produced once more, but until a midfielder notches I would imagine they will find themselves getting a bit of finishing practice in training this week…

Second Thoughts… Tamworth 5.9.09

First off, my all encompassing match report managed to leave out one minor detail, that being Tamworth’s second goal. Thanks to Anonymous (no relation by the way) for pointing that out. So, here we go…

‘Tamworth doubled their lead, slightly against the run of play, as Chris Hussey failed to cut out a cross from the right. This is a problem I have highlighted before concerning Chris, but he does have a habit of showing his man to the byline without any kind of challenge. He has to be a lot tighter in future, and I hope it proves to be a lesson learned for him, as on this occasion it proved costly. The ball found Nick Wright all alone to thump a header past Pullen from close range, as the Dons backline seemed to take a laissez faire attitude towards marking.’

Of the eight games we have played so far Jay Conroy has only featured in four of them. Now I know this is down to the injury he picked up on the eve of the season, and due to Terry’s insistence on rotating for certain games, but I doubt he will miss another four games all season if he continues to show the sort of form he has recently.

Despite Kedwell’s two goals, Conroy just shaded him to my man of the match award. In fact it was probably the most complete performance we have seen from a Dons player this season, with the possible exception of Luke Moore against Salisbury. Conroy found himself shunted around the pitch, actually looking better playing out of position at centre half as he did at right back. Plus he possesses qualities we probably haven’t seen in the AFC era from a fullback.

For example, Luke Garrard was a gifted ball playing midfielder before Terry settled him into the right back slot. Yet now he reverts to the standard non-league fullbacks image of launching hopeful balls over the top and occasionally backing up the right winger by offering an outlet behind only to then dump the ball into the box with as much care and attention as an NHS nurse (not been to hospital recently?…).

Conroy however, has the ability to put his foot on the ball and pick a pass, whether forwards, sideways or to a midfielder, rarely looking like gifting possession away or panicking and hoofing one over the top. As well as this, like Hussey on the other side, he looks not just to get up in support of attacks, but even get past his colleagues on the right and provide a creative outlet. And for an added bonus, how good is he in the air?

Looking forward to next Saturday, we have run into a centre back crisis at precisely the wrong time. Cambridge hit seven against what admittedly sounded a pretty awful Forest Green side, but facing a strike force with the scent of goals in their nostrils is not for the Conference rookie. Having said that I would have no problem with Jay playing centre half on Saturday if required. He can do the job, of that I have no doubt.

Undoubtedly he would have played in that position had we been playing Wrexham tomorrow, but who would have played at right back? Sam Hatton has proved to be immense in that role, but would you pick him over Luke Garrard? Luke is such a likeable footballer but seems to be stuck in a rut after recovering from injury. He is solid enough, but just seems to be lacking something that Jay has at the moment.

Plus, assuming Conroy isn’t available at some point in the future and you go for Sam Hatton to fill in at right back, would it be possible to use Luke in midfield? It has been some time since he played there, and he wouldn’t immediately spring to mind ahead of the likes of Taylor or even Adjei. In fact it seems like a waste of Hatton’s talent even considering it. But could it actually work?

Moving down the opposite end of the pitch, Jon Main continued his miserable spell in front of goal once more on Saturday. In fact he contributed little to the game, seemed to be brushed off the ball all too easily and posed very little threat to the opposition goal. Some have mentioned how tired he looked towards the end, yet I would argue it is his lack of strength that really worried. At one stage he seemed to give up on a ball long before his chance of winning had gone, allowing his man to block him off and the ball to run out of play. He turned to me wth a look of agony and seemed to stare straight into my eyes (so maybe not the best time for me to cry ‘Oh come on Mainy!’ at him).

So what’s up with Jon Main? At the start of the season he was creating opportunities for himself with some intelligent running, but on Saturday at times he looked like a passenger. He gave the sort of performance you would have expected from someone suffering from a virus of some kind. I would imagine if Terry had a substitution left in him during the second half he would have hauled Main off, either for Godfrey or Wellard (with Moore supporting Kedwell up front).

With Ross Montague regaining fitness we could in theory see him set for a place on the bench come Saturday. In fact, could Terry even start with him? If Montague is good for an hour it would be good to see what he can do, with Main knowing he has the chance to be the impact sub many supporters believe it would be better to use him as. No player wants to earn a reputation as a supersub, and it would just be a short term thing providing a fresh Jon Main uses the opportunity to face tiring defences and turn opportunities into goals. It wouldn’t just be good for the team, it would be good for him personally.

Finally (before we get to the good bit), Chris Hussey didn’t look as dangerous as he has done of late, and defensively he was guilty of an error of sorts, but the boy can deliver an awesome dead ball when he puts his mind to it. His wonderful corner created the equaliser for Danny K, and his continued form has resulted in a standby spot for England C. Now I was speaking to a Manchester United fan last week moaning that our players seem to be overlooked for the squad, yet he seemed to believe this was a good thing for our young players. I can understand people perhaps feeling that it is a worthless exercise that could only result in a possible injury.

However, the ‘C’ squad don’t have twelve games a season for us to worry about. I can think of no better experience for a player such as Hussey (or Taylor, Gregory, Conroy, Hatton or Moore for that matter) to gain the sort of experience you just can’t buy. I for one would be proud of any Dons player called up to represent his country, and the fact we have half a dozen or so players who will still be under 23 in two years time (the duration of the forthcoming International Challenge Trophy that England ‘C’ compete for against a variety of representative sides across Europe).

So well done for receiving a place as standby for the squad Chris, but make sure you go on to show Fairclough just what a good player you can be. He certainly has the potential to prove himself the best under-23 leftback the Conference has to offer… and yes I appreciate the irony that I spent the first part of this article highlighting his mistake on Saturday before calling for him to be added to the England squad…

So, on to the ratings;

Pullen    5

Conroy    8

Hussey    6

Gregory    6

Inns    6

Johnson    6

Hatton    7

Adjei    6

Kedwell    8

Main    5

Moore    6

SUBS

Godfrey    6

Brown    6

Taylor    6

Explanation? Pullen looked poor even taking his injury into account, and no-one else really deserved more than a six with the exception of Conroy (for reasons listed above), Hatton (who really did well when asked to fill in at fullback, and still managed to get forwards to contribute a great ball for the first goal), plus of course Kedwell, our two goal hero.

After a free week, the Dons return next Saturday against Cambridge. Tune in for all the buildup – and I know some of my previews have been a bit lame of late, but I shall try my hardest to redress this balance – plus hopefully a couple of other pieces here and there…

Grays Athletic 2 AFC Wimbledon 4 – A Match Report

We all have our reasons for hating the bloke who compiles the fixtures. As a club, we could have been given the August Bank Holiday Monday fixture anywhere. The Cathedral city of Salisbury, for example. Down the seaside at Eastbourne. Even the University towns of Oxford or Cambridge.

But no. On one of the only days in the year when you can guarantee good weather (along with Cup Final day), we ended up in Grays. In Essex. Ugh…

What a scorcher it was too. I made the mistake of wearing my five year old Dons tracksuit top, the reason being it has enough pockets to hold my camera, notebook, phone, and the like. I originally bought it because it looked like the kind of top that might be cool in the summer yet keep me warm in the winter. In reality it does neither. Thanks Tempest.

Sunny Grays...

After wandering around the away section of The Rec, I noticed the stewards had opened up more seating. So I went and got myself a seat. Not only did I have a great view, but it was cool, much better than standing on what must have been hellish conditions on the terraces!

What a game it turned out to be. Right from the kick off both teams went for each other. Wimbledon created the first chance, the ball bouncing nicely for Wellard to deftly side-foot a volley towards Kedwell on the right side of the area, who beat two men in the air and nodded towards Jon Main, all alone in the centre. Mains diving header was too close to Grays keeper Preston Edwards who did well to push it round the post.

A couple of minutes later Grays created a really good chance of their own. George Beavan powered a header towards goal from a corner than Jamie Pullen somehow kept out. Straight up the other end, and Ricky Wellard was enjoying getting involved in a game from the start, striking a fierce effort that would have caused Edwards problems had it been a yard either side of him.

After some uncertain Wimbledon defending, the lively Daniel Charge found himself tight on the Dons touchline to the left of goal, cutting inside and blasting from an acute angle that Pullen once again did brilliantly to keep out of the net. The game was only nine minutes old, yet with better finishing it could have been 2-2.

Dons fans file in before the game

It only took a minute for the deadlock to be broken. A Chris Hussey free kick from the right was curled in towards the near post, where Brett Johnson made no mistake from a header that beat Edwards for pace. Johnson this became the first Dons player to score who didn’t happen to be Main, Kedwell or Moore (i.e., a recognised striker…).

It was all about Husseys delivery, and he appears to be full of confidence right now. I’m not sure what he needs to do to work his way into Paul Fairclough’s England squad after missing out for the forthcoming Hungary game, although if he keeps up his current form I’m sure he will get the call sooner rather than later. It was Hussey who had the Dons next chance on 17 minutes, firing a low effort across goal and wide, just ahead of a number of forwards looking to divert it into the net.

A much better Dons chance came along a minute later. Luke Moore slipped in Jon Main who rounded Edwards, over running the ball to the left touchline. Managing to keep the ball in play he squared it across the face of goal to the only Dons player currently suffering worse luck than him, Elliott Godfrey, who somehow managed to squirm the ball wide of the far post.

Wimbledon stepped up the pressure, with another effort seconds later. A Hussey free kick bobbled around the area, and with Edwards looking lost, Main tried to head the ball over him. Unfortunately he beat not only the keeper but the bar as well. But Main wouldn’t have to wait long for a much better chance to fall his way.

The lads line up

Main once again rounded Edwards following an impressive through ball from Wellard, yet this time the goalkeeper pulled him down. Edwards received a yellow card for his trouble, and Jon Main received the ball on the spot twelve yards out for his. If Jon Main is having trouble putting the ball away in open play, he still looks extremely confident given the ball from the spot. His firmly struck effort to the right sent Edwards the wrong way, giving Wimbledon a two goal cushion.

Despite the game being only twenty minutes old, it was hard to imagine Grays finding a way back into the game. Surely the Dons defence would tighten up, allowing our attacking options to pick Grays off. Another Hussey free kick kept the pressure on, this time central and curled around the wall, sadly not having enough to take it inside the left hand post.

Yet apart from looking woeful defensively, I always felt they had a lot going for them when attacking. They really unsettled the Dons back line, and I can’t work out why. It could have been down to Adjei replacing Gregory in the holding midfield position – while Kennedy had a good game individually he did find himself getting caught out of position now and then, perhaps inviting pressure onto the back four.

Paul Lorraine is beaten in the air

It lead to Grays best chance of the game on 26 minutes, as Dons players backed away, Kenny Davis strode on, belting a 20 yard effort that beat Pullen. Fortunately for the Dons it slammed against the inside of the post, as the Grays fans celebrated it bounced along the line and away. The Grays supporters wouldn’t have to wait long to celebrate…

When Glenn Poole picked up the ball wide left, cut inside and drilled a low shot wide of Pullens near post, it looked as if the danger had passed. Unfortunately the referee noticed the ball had clipped a non existent Dons heel and awarded a corner. When this was not properly cleared the ball found its way back in to the box, where Sam Gaughran was on hand to firmly head past Pullen.

Two-one now, and time for Wimbledon to worry. Just moments later Poole was given too much time to shoot wide of the near post on the right side of the box. Plus all of a sudden Wimbledon were making all the wrong choices offensively, summed up by a lame Kenny Adjei effort that dribbled wide of the near post when he should have picked out a team mate in a better position. And giving away possession meant Grays could come again…

Wimbledon didn’t just see out the half, they created a couple of chances of their own, Kedwell knock down for Wellard to release a thunderous half volley that Edwards did well to take without causing himself an injury, and an Elliott Godfrey volley that was lifted over.

Derek Duncan looks to intercept

Terry Brown was obviously eager to get his side in at the break and give them a talking to, however if he thought it would tighten up the leaky defence he wouldn’t be proved right immediately. When a Grays cross wasn’t properly cleared, the ball was played in again for Danny Charge to lash into the roof of the net. Poor defending again by Wimbledon, unusually so for this season as Grays became the first team to score more than one in a game against the Dons.

Although Grays would remain a threat to Wimbledon’s goal, they didn’t create another chance as good as their earlier efforts, and slowly but surely the Dons took control. A Moore ball to Kedwell gave the big forward too much to do, only able to head over. Then Hussey wasted a free kick in a good position before Jon Main found himself in the clear only to arrow an effort from twenty yards just over and wide.

On any normal day those chances would be worthy of describing in greater detail, but the sheer volume of chances Wimbledon were creating made it difficult to even make a note of them all. On fifty-seven minutes Godfrey found Ricky Wellard on the left side of the Grays area, the midfielder turned his man and struck a shot that would probably gone wide, only for Kedwell to get a toe-end to it that just diverted it over the bar.

Danny Kedwell points the way

Wimbledon just didn’t stop, Hussey found room on the left, cut inside and drilled a shot that Edwards did well to get down to low to his right. Then finally on the hour came the moment that not only gave the Dons the lead, but probably won the game once and for all.

A huge ball over the top was misjudged by Grays defender Cameron Mawer, allowing Danny Kedwell to get goalside of him and gain control of the ball. Entering the area, and with Kedwell about to pull the trigger, Mawer seemed uncertain exactly what to do next. With no way of winning the ball cleanly, he panicked and settled on taking a chunk of Kedwell’s shirt. Kedwell could only stretch and prod the ball into Edwards arms, the referee didn’t look that interested until the linesman flagged, and after a little chat sent Mawer from the field.

Nothing controversial there, although anyone missing the incident itself may have wondered as several Grays players chose to question the decision. None of this was putting off Jon Main, who replicated his first half penalty to give the Dons the advantage. So despite not finding the net from open play all season, Main now found himself on a hat trick and with three goals to his name. Looking at the numbers, Mains one-in-two strike rate is good enough, but how desperately he wanted to score during his remaining time on the field…

Shortly after Wellard and Godfrey were replaced by Gregory and Hatton. With Adjei moving up the pitch the midfield looked a lot more solid once more. Stephen Gregory is the sort of player you can tell is quality when he is on the pitch, yet for some reason you only realise how much he contributes when he isn’t there. While I think that Kennedy Adjei is a hugely talented player, its fair to say we missed Gregorys positional sense, the way he picks up loose balls in our own half. I don’t think Adjei or Dwayne Lee quite managed that last season and we found ourselves under a lot of unnecessary pressure because of this.

A huge Pullen clearance reaches his opposite number

Wimbledon continued their siege of the Grays goal on sixty-four minutes. Jon Main’s hat trick quest proved fruitless once more as he tried to turn and shoot. His effort was absolutely hopeless and looked as though it would pose more danger to the residents of the flats next to the pitch, until a Grays defender needlessly stuck out a leg, diverting it over the bar for a corner.

On the subject of those residents, I always wonder whether they send someone round to see if they want a programme? I always pondered that about Leyton Orient when they built flats in the corner of their ground. Plus I noticed only three of the balconies were in use, do those residents who don’t watch go round saying ‘Grays Athletic do play outside my back window, and I do close the curtains…’ Plus did we have a Searchlight intrusion of our own at Oxford? I heard a few chants from the Tempest about ‘Pikeys on the roof…’? I couldn’t see, I was in the John Smiths…

Anyway, back to the corner. It was played short to Hatton who hit a great cross towards the back stick, headed wide by Kedwell (or it could have been Johnson…). A minute later Mainy got a bit overexcited once more, firing in a shot shortly after being called for offside. He might have got away without a yellow card if the ball hadn’t ended up in the car park…

I always wonder what goes through referees minds when they have already given a couple of clear cut penalties to a side, how do they cope with further appeals? I think this guy made up his mind he wasn’t going to give Wimbledon another no matter what happened… and what happened was Luke Moore broke into the box, and a Grays player swept his legs from under him. The referee realised his linesman wasn’t going to help him out this time so waved away Wimbledon appeals.

Elliott Godfrey looks to break down the defence

He didn’t book Moore, but the Dons striker clearly took this as some kind of insult, as if the referee had made a statement about his honesty, as he was still discussing the intricacies with the official a good two minutes later. By the way, for the bloke sitting behind me in the stands benefit, it is ok for players to talk to the referee! He wasn’t swearing at him, he was talking in a reasonable manner to the official, who had absolutely no problem answering him. Lets calm down shall we?

That was perhaps the only down point to sitting in the stand (as well as loss of atmosphere… but I’m used to that… I have a John Smiths season ticket…). A couple of Dons fans reacted to any loss of possession, indeed any pass that went anywhere except forward, in the same manner I would if I walked into my living room one morning and found a bear, a shark and a crocodile waiting for me. Wimbledon were pretty comfortable at this stage, and I know anything can happen in a game of football, but I didn’t really need a high pitched commentary consisting of advice such as ‘Get rid of it!’, Pass it forwards!’, and the all time classic ‘I wish they wouldn’t doooo that!’.

Seriously, it was like sitting in front of a group of people who had never seen a game of football before but were warned they would be kneecapped after the match if Wimbledon didn’t win… Its almost enough to put me off ever sitting to watch a game again! Strank Standers, are you all like this? I don’t know how some of them get through a game, never mind a season without heart failure, or having to call the nurse to give them their bedtime medicine and tuck them up in their special jacket…

Sam Hatton in action

Hmmm. Jon Main found himself dragged off once more, replaced by Derek Duncan, yet this seventy-first minute substitution was bookended by a couple of Sam Hatton chances. Firstly, he drilled a strike from twenty yards into the keepers arms (have our midfielders been practicing shooting by aiming at a cone placed in the middle of a goal I wonder?), before finding himself scuffing across goal with his left foot when through on goal wide right.

Wimbledon’s most fluent move of the game came with fifteen minutes to play. Hussey and Duncan combined down the left to find Luke Moore in space in the middle, who played a quick give-and-go with Sam Hatton. Unfortunately his shot was deflected wide, but the Dons were bringing some of their best football to the table. Another chance went by the wayside, as Hussey decided to ignore Kedwell in the middle after another run down the left, poking across goal and just wide with the outside of his left foot.

That’s not to say Grays had given up on an equaliser. Despite being down to ten men, one of the reasons Wimbledon had so much to operate in the Grays half of the field is Grays were still going for it at the other end. They hadn’t created anything worthy of note (otherwise I would have noted it…) but the danger was any slip by a Dons defender could be catastrophic, and every Wimbledon chance that went begging seemed to emphasise this a little more.

It was at this stage that Brett Johnson decided to drop a short back-pass to Jamie Pullen. While the worriers behind me shrieked in a frequency thankfully only audible to dogs, and presumably wet their man nappies, Pullen didn’t panic. In fact he didn’t even clear it, he took it round his man and calmly passed it away… although I have to say even my heart jumped just a little when he did that!

After netting the winner, Danny K heads for the toilets...

It was almost comical heading into the last five minutes, as Wimbledon missed more really decent chances than some sides get in an entire game. Moore broke down the right, and picked out Kennedy Adjei. Adjei fluffed his big chance by trying to allow the ball to cross his body and side-foot in with his left, only for the last Grays defender to get a challenge in that made Kennedy trip over the ball, lying prostrate as Edwards picked up the pieces.

Finally Kedwell, had a couple of chances from a tight angle right of goal, both teed up by Steven Gregory. The first slid just wide of the left post, whereas finally, finally, the second effort nestled in the bottom corner. No more than Kedwell deserved for his performance, no more than the Dons deserved, but maybe a little earlier next time please Dons?

For those of you keeping count of all the Dons chances, well done. And for those who didn’t, it was twenty-eight chances (eleven on target, seventeen off target, stat fans…), so congratulations for getting this far and reliving those twenty-four missed opportunities. Its definitely no exaggeration to say it could have finished 9-3…

So the Dons move on to a tricky but winnable trip to Tamworth. Its not within the realms of impossibility that we could take seven points from the next three fixtures, and if we do that… we have twenty points from our opening ten games. A target a well known football manager said last season was a good springboard for a promotion push…

(For more photos, see http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=100914&id=73526524635&l=7ffb260ff1)

AFC Wimbledon 1 Luton Town 1 – A Match Report

I woke up on Saturday morning in a pessimistic state of mind. I really had the impression that we would suffer in the manner Norwich eventually did, with season-ticket assaults on Terry Brown and everything… (while I’m on the subject, I bet those Norwich fans who ran on the pitch regretted it five seconds after they had done it, especially when they found that not only were they not getting their season tickets back, they wouldn’t be watching football for three years minimum…).

We have history of blowing big games. Remember Wycombe last year? Torquay? Even going back to St Albans in the Trophy and Thurrock in the FA Cup, whenever we had come across a side that represented a huge step up in quality we had fluffed our lines. The difference was, those games had been cup ties… however as this game was our first in the Conference and we had nothing to measure it against, it did have more of the one-off feeling of a cup game.

Fortunately I wasn’t the only one suffering from a case of the pre-game jitters. After taking my non-attending wife for lunch at the Slug and Lettuce in Kingston to make up for not getting her a ticket, I bumped into an agreeable bunch of Luton fans who weren’t entirely sure of my gut feeling we would be annihilated. This led to me delivering them to the Peel via the 131, obtaining other Luton fans on the way – I felt like the Pied Piper, perhaps I should have led them into the river?!

Kingsmeadow was at its glorious sweaty best as I arrived, coincidentally at the same time as Sam Hatton, who almost became the first person to fatally mow down a blogger in Jack Goodchild Way. I bought a WUP, amazed to find an article I wrote at the end of last season had been included… in fact I had forgotten I had submitted it, which meant there was at least one decent article for me to read in there! The ground looked in great condition. There were even a few new advertising hoardings this year dotted around. Oh, and of course, this – http://fleydon-flags.blogspot.com/2009/08/these-boots.html

Once again I’m in the John Smiths again this year although with no access to the KRE (at least this week) it was entirely forced on me… on Saturday I found myself behind the home dugout. However I must say the vast majority the support was superb, barring one or two who felt the need to slag of a certain midfielder of ours. I’ve gone on and on about it elsewhere, and its something that annoys me, I’m glad it seems to annoy the majority of Dons fans as well. But if the elimination of this kind of negativity is perhaps a step too far for us at the moment, the majority did a fantastic job of drowning them out. Even the John Smiths, which seems to be a better place to stand thanks to the addition of some singers who presumably found themselves edged out of the Tempest this year.

The lineup was pretty similar to as I expected, with a couple of exceptions. Firstly, we went 4-5-1, no Jon Main as I exclusively revealed on this very blog. But no Luke Moore either, the extra place in midfield going to crowd favourite Sam Hatton. Finally, Luke Garrard got the nod at right back over Jay Conroy, presumably it came down to Luke’s experience.

There were a lot of nerves kicking around, and that seemed to transfer itself to the pitch. The opening few minutes were low key, the referee setting his stall out by awarding a couple of baffling freekicks. Wimbledon’s first chance came during this period, a corner on the left found its way over to Lorraine, who guided his effort up and over, finding himself called for pushing at the same time.

Lets get this straight, Luton looked faster, more composed and basically in control in every department, but they hadn’t managed to fashion a chance of any sort. While Wimbledon were giving away possession left, right and centre, caught by the speed in which they were closed down by Luton men, it hadn’t led to any problems. This was until the thirteenth minute, when a Luton corner delivered in at pace amid a lot of pushing and shoving in the box. Lorraine and Shane Blackett crashed to the floor, with the referee electing to make a decision against the Dons man.

Luton’s impressive forward Tom Craddock slotted home from the spot powerfully striking into the right corner, despite Jamie Pullen reading his intentions the penalty was just too good for him to get anywhere near. The visitors almost doubled their lead only minutes later, the impressive Adam Newton racing clear down the right, picking out Craddock (one of two Luton players completely free at the far post) whose firm header was brilliantly saved by James Pullen. The ball bobbled about in the six-yard box for a moment before being cleared to safety by Paul Lorraine.

Now Luton had the lead, Wimbledon’s five man midfield worked in their favour. Godfrey and Hatton were working overtime in the midfield, but were well off the pace. Neither were helped by some poor balls into them requiring them to release the ball a lot quicker than either of them had experienced before. This was a real baptism of fire for certain Dons players, with the two midfielders and Chris Hussey desperately trying to keep their heads above water.

I mentioned in pre-season how Husseys decision making seems to let him down in defensive situations. On many occasions Hussey had the chance to knock a 60/40 challenge in his favour to safety before the ball had even got to Newton, but his cautiousness in keeping his feet let the tricky winger beat him time and again simply but knocking the ball past him and beating him in a leg race.

However he persisted, going on to enjoy a much better second half which led to Newton being removed from the game, and while Hatton and Godfrey were substituted in the second as well, they at least left the field having worked so hard to keep Wimbledon within touching distance of our illustrious visitors. Even before the safety of half time, the Dons had to defend for their lives on a couple of occasions.

On twenty minutes, another cross from the right was flicked on dangerously, Wimbledon perhaps fortunate that it was too far from a dozing Kevin Gallen. Portly ex-franchise hitman Gallen looked out of place among this talented Luton team, employed seemingly only to shout at the referee and fall over when appropriate. He picked up a yellow card during the first half, perhaps he receives a bonus for this as any reliance on a goal bonus this season could see the mercenary forward well out of pocket come April.

The Hatters were confounded again on twenty five minutes, the visitors breaking quickly to create a two on two led by Newton. While the nippy winger seemed too good for Wimbledon down the right, when approaching goal through the centre he seemed overwhelmed by the options available to him. Eventually he decided to ignore his teammate and go it alone, being brilliantly held up by Luke Garrard before Chris Hussey finished the job, clearing to safety.

Garrard had an interesting afternoon. While looking comfortable on the right side of defense he had an annoying habit of playing colleagues into danger. While Luke needs time to adapt to the speed of the game, both in terms of overcoming rustiness following his injury and getting used to the pace of a higher level once more, he was inconsistant rather than poor.

While Wimbledon were losing the ball in midfield on a regular basis,the sheer number of players on hand mean the opposition themselves suffer the same problems. While Luton looked comfortable, they weren’t creating as much as the would have wished, and did not dominate as much as their manager suggested after the game. While it would serve a purpose for him to suggest they were unlucky on this occasion, they are going to face teams who flood the midfield week in, week out. Most probably won’t be able to work as hard as we did, in fact we must be the fittest ‘part time’ club in the country, but those that do will frustrate Luton, especially away from home.

Danny Kedwell cut a lonely figure all alone up front. When the ball found its way to him and he managed to win it, he either flicked the ball on to no-one or got it under control and fed a midfielder to knock it long into space or find themselves closed down before they even got a chance to do that. Consequently Wimbledon created nothing until just before half time.

Sammy Hatton found himself in an advanced position to flick on to Kedwell. However Danny was still far from goal with defenders in his way. He improvised well, juggling the ball around a defender which sadly left him off balance, his stabbed volley rolling harmlessly wide. With Wimbledon on the front foot, Lewis Taylor and Derek Duncan managed to get forward, the former almost providing an assist or the latter with a superb drilled ball that Duncan stabbed just wide.

Just a quick word about the Luton fans in the first half. As I said before the majority were a decent bunch, although they did seem to have a minority of braindead scum, one of which who made a name for himself by breaking through the segregation and removing Haydons head, before throwing it on the pitch. Now this incident has been covered extensively elsewhere, but you have to wonder what was going on with the security. Now I’m not one of those willing to slag off the stewards, they are just volunteers and they do a great job. Wherever possible they should be able to watch the game, thats a given – it’s not as if they earn money or anything.

And they shouldn’t be expected to put their own personal safety on the line when someone misbehaves in a violent manner. In that particular corner there was a group of half a dozen police officers. These gentlemen certainly were being paid for their afternoon at the game, primarily to prevent what happened from happening. It seems it’s not only the team who need to sharpen up to Conference Premier standard…

The second half started late (somehow that Tempest End goal became unfastened again…) yet this time Wimbledon were starting to give as good as they got. A strong run by Lewis Taylor down the right, powerfully holding off a Luton man before feeding Luke Garrard, whose delicate chip found Kedwell who found no pace on the ball, his header dropping into keeper Tyler’s arms. Still, it was promising. Duncan and Taylor were more advanced however that inevitably gave Luton more space to build for themselves. Pullen had to save smartly from Cradock, before the same player again found space in the left side of the penalty area, hitting across goal agonisingly wide of the right post.

Wimbledon were still having trouble creating chances, and it took until the hour mark for them to produce their best moment of the match so far. Great play down the left between Duncan and Hussey saw a deep cross evade everybody apart from Lewis Taylor at the far post. It took him some time to get it under control, but when he did he had a couple of lashes at it- the second of these excellently parried wide by Tyler.

At last the Luton keeper merits a mention in this report, and this was good enough to persuade Terry Brown it was time to unleash our not-so-secret weapon. Jon Main and Luke Moore replaced the exhausted Derek Duncan and Sam Hatton, with Godfrey following shortly after for Ricky Wellard. This shot in the arm was enough for Wimbledon to take the front foot. Main’s pace scared the life out of the Luton defense, resulting in the penalty award with just ten minutes to go.

Last night in the Score! update I mentioned the to penalties were ‘dubious’ after I saw it described as such elsewhere. However – after seeing a shaky video of it, I’m now prepared to believe what my own eyes saw at the time, that while Blackettgot the ball he did so by scything down Main as he was about to shoot. Blackett had to go for that, and the penalty itself was despatched by Main, sending Tyler the wrong way rolling the ball into the right corner.

From here on in, it looked as though it was only going to be Wimbledon who would win. Another dangerous ball into the box fell to Taylor who struck firmly at goal from eight yards only to see it deflected wide for a corner. Luton weren’t helping themselves, or to be more accurate their manager wasn’t anyway, bringing on Basham and a midfielder in exchange for their best players on the day, Adam Newton and Tom Craddock… which meant while the Hatters now had two big men up front they had no-one to service them.

Of course, Wimbledon were on hand to provide that last chance. Garrard collided with Johnson to gift posession to Luton by way of a freekick given when Garrards attempt to recover the situation only led to him chopping down a Luton man who appeared from nowhere. Fortunately, the freekick was delivered straight at the wall (ironically enough charged down by Chris Hussey…).

It was down to Hussey to deliver a great, great chance for Paul Lorraine, unmarked coming round the back from a corner, to head into the ground and wide, the Dons improbable chance to win the game having gone begging. Despite this Wimbledon fans celebrated at the final whistle, a point gained following a tough first half. 

Perhaps we could have faced easier opposition on the first day of the season, but Luton have lifted the bar high enough for us to prepare ourselves for lesser opposition as well as the likes of Oxford and Wrexham looming on the horizon. Make no mistake, watching Wimbledon defend for their lives in the first half was no fun, but had we started with an orthodox 4-4-2 we would have been taken apart by a much better side than we are. Had we player the diamond we would vitually have sacrificed the midfield, again leading to us losing the match before we had even got into our stride.

The formations we played in pre-season will come in handy later in the year, but the fact we had to start with a containing tactic, and at home as well, should give everyone an idea of how tough it’s going to be to eventually win this league. It worked for us today, on the hour we were still in the game, and that was good enough for us to go for broke and swap things around a bit. Some young players learned some harsh lessons out there, yet we survived, we took something from the game, we almost snatched an amazing win. I guarantee when we look back at this game at the end of the season we will see it as a point gained.

Now on to Eastbourne for a more ‘usual’ Conference game… and whisper it, but a great chance for our first three points?

NOTE – Unfortunately I was unable to take any pictures this week. Apologies to those of you who look forward to them, normal service will hopefully be resumed on Tuesday, although I took a couple on my mobile, so a couple may appear on the report later…

The General Specific (Thursday 6th August ’09)

Less than two days now…

In fact as I write this particular sentence it is 43 hours, 28 minutes until the big kick-off. In my role of Anonymous Don I have to know this information… it’s my job. Well actually it’s not. My job is giving technical support to customers of a certain German shower manufacturer who I cannot name, mainly because they haven’t paid for an advert so aren’t going to get one for free…

It’s been long overdue, but a roundup of this weeks news, with some opinion from myself just to stop those who get a bit bored reading about stuff they already know from getting bored. First things first. The BBC seem to have caught on to this new AFC Wimbledon team that have appeared in the Conference.

 

 

 

 

The BBC AFCW page has been updated several times this week, the latest news being we have signed down Chris Hussey and comedian Mickey Hutton to new contracts. I knew the comedy nights were getting big but I didn’t realise exclusive contracts were….. hang on…. no, apparently they don’t mean Mickey Hutton, they mean Sam Hatton. Oh! Silly Me! 

Well it’s great to know that two days after the news was all over the local and regional papers, the BBC are out like lightening to make sure the news is correctly reported to the nation. It’s great to know that our best source of publicity on the web is being written by someone who doesn’t have a clue. Plus, have you tried the player selector yet? Not giving too much away, but it looks like Andy Sambrook and Dwayne Lee are in for a surprise return…

Brett Johnson signed this week. I will admit I was wrong when I said I thought it was all too good to be true. Brett, welcome to the club. For what it’s worth I really rate him. He’s solid. I would be amazed if the Luton game comes around and he isn’t in the starting lineup. Although I have a feeling one big name will miss out – so seeing as though just about everybody else has named their lineup on Old Centrals, and Paul Raymond has systematically polled the fanbase to work out what your average AFCW fan thinks the lineup should be… so, at long last I am prepared to reveal the side I think Terry will pick…

(It’s 442 Diamond for you formation fans…)

GK – Pullen

RB – Conroy

LB – Duncan

CB – Lorraine

CB – Johnson

DMF – Gregory

RM – Taylor

LM – Hussey

MF – Godfrey

ST – Kedwell

ST – Moore

SUB 1 – Judge

SUB 2 – Hatton

SUB 3 – Main

SUB 4 – Wellard

SUB 5 – Garrard

So why have I gone with this lineup? Trying to second guess Terry Brown is no easy task, especially with an embarrassment of riches (or at very least a number of decent footballers who appear to be of similar ability) at his disposal.

What I was thinking was…

• Terry doesn’t pick a goalkeeper on the bench if that goalkeeper is Jack Turner…
• When he picks five outfield players one of them is always a random fullback (plus Garrard can fill a number of positions).
• Luton will be well used to that small nippy/big skillful strike partnership, so pairing Keds with Luke Moore and Godfrey just behind will give them enough creativity to keep them busy for most of the afternoon.
• When the Luton back line show signs of weariness, bring on Main and let him at ’em.
• Duncan and Hussey are virtually interchangeable, expect them to swap positions more often than a porn star on her wedding night.

I’ve probably over thought this. Perhaps Terry will come back with something amazingly simple? Who knows?

One option he won’t have is an out-and-out target man. Calvin McMorriston has been dispatched back to ‘a club close to the Isle Of Man’ with a glowing reference, so Peter Rapson will be an important figure in the first team squad, possibly until the end of August (when all those guys holding out for big money now will be happy to accept a short term contract just to keep their name on managers lips).

Actually what Terry said to the BBC was reported by them as ‘…Brown is still hoping to sign another striker, but admits he may not be able to bring the player to the club before Saturday’s season opener at home to Luton Town…’ Of course, this being the BBC what he could have said to them was equally likely to be ‘I’m just off home to get a bit of gardening done…’

Finally, there will be a bit of reading for you tomorrow as I will publish a ‘new-style’ Match Preview for the Luton game. Plus if you haven’t read it, read my last post, especially if you happen to be either Moaning Old Git, Mr Spits When He Shouts, or Mr Angry… if you stand near me in the JSS, you’ll know who these people are…

Get those vocal chords warmed up…

AFC Wimbledon 0 Brighton & Hove Albion 2 – A Match Report

Another League One club down at Kingsmeadow last night, and if the games are this good I think we will easily get used to this Wimbledon side. Unfortunate if anything to lose last night, despite playing a side that were superior to them, the Dons looked dangerous every time they ventured forward, and only some harsh luck (or poor finishing, depending on whether your glass is half full or half empty) prevented Wimbledon troubling the scorers… nah, that doesn’t really work in a football context does it. It’s still early in pre-season, give me time!

Unfortunate then that both Brighton goals came from Dons mistakes… although you could say Wimbledon rode there luck as far as the frame of the goal went; including one mighty punt from Albions second half keeper Michael Kuipers that caught out Paul Lorraine and triallist David Wilkinson in goal before bouncing off the top of the cross bar. Of course I didn’t see the ball leave his foot, being preoccupied with tweeting my opinions to the world (perhaps I’ve bitten off more than I can chew? Perhaps… but once again, its still my pre-season).

To bring it back to the beginning for fear of making more excuses for my own poor pre-season reporting, the day didn’t start off well for me – in fact I missed the kickoff. This was due to an early running K1 driver, and a long wait for a 131 in Kingston town centre. I only missed it by a few minutes, this was enough to be late for the team lineups, so for the second home game running I spent most of the game with no idea who was playing for the opposition, at least until one of them scored. So apologies to any Albion fans passing, yet in my defence this is a Wimbledon blog, and (cough) it is very early in the season…

Wimbledon started off brightly, with the first half chance falling to them around five minutes into the game. A ball knocked into the box was half cleared to Luke Garrard on the edge of the area who fired just over. How great it was to see Luke in a Dons shirt again, although he did seem half a step off the pace, very unlike him and probably down to being a week or so behind the rest of the squad as far as game time went, and seeing a though his primary competition for his place Jay Conroy has twice as many minutes under his belt you would have to consider him in prime position for the number two shirt by the time Luton come to town.

Brighton surged back a few minutes later when their 11 found himself in space down the right channel and smashed the ball against the centre of Wimbledon’s crossbar, the ball bouncing down and away while Wilkinson was still grasping air. Brighton didn’t quite take hold of the game though despite having the best of the possession, and it was the Dons who came closest. Derek Duncan lined up a freekick right of centre, curled it round the wall only to see the Albion keeper scramble it wide low to his left with a little help from the upright.

Later in the half a Dons foray forward seemed to be about to come to an abrupt end as the ball ran away from Elliott Godfrey, but this wasn’t picked up by any of the Brighton players nearby, and Godfrey was able to catch up with the ball and smash it right footed just wide of the right post. Despite this Albion always seemed more likely to break the deadlock, and it finally came in frustrating style on 38 minutes as Wimbledon contrived to give the ball away in their own half, the ball was fed out to the left side of the field for Kevin McLeod to drive into the box and drill beyond Wilkinson and into the bottom right corner of the net.

The second half began with eight substitutions for the visitors, and perhaps they weren’t as switched on mentally as they could have been as Wimbledon took it to the visitor shortly after the break. An excellently timed challenge from Duncan saw him carry the ball at speed down the left flank, releasing Luke Moore. In fact the speed of the attack had left Wimbledon’s strikers flagging behind, so Moore cut inside, and seeing no-one had made it forward beat his man and sent a low strike bobbling across goal and wide of Brighton’s left post.

Derek Duncan was making the left back position his own. Strong in the challenge (although not always perfectly timed… he sent a couple of Albion players flying with desperate challenges), with the engine to get himself up and down the field with pace. I’ll talk about the differences between Hussey and Duncan a little later, but it may only be Duncan’s versatility that would allow Hussey game time at all next season.

Wimbledon turned the crew as time ticked away for the starting XI to make their mark. Hatton found space wide right, and teased a dangerous ball into the box, hacked clear by a Brighton man under great pressure from Kedwell just over his own crossbar. Kedwell didn’t make a huge impact on the game but worked hard all the same, his runs sometimes going unnoticed, sometimes creating space for colleagues behind him.

His strike partner tonight, the previously mentioned Moore, found the ball at his feet much more often and clearly knows what to do with it. Very offensively minded, Moore impressed in the hole against Wycombe and showed he is equally effective playing alongside a strike partner. Perhaps the most impressive of all is his willingness to defend high up the pitch a la Kedwell, despite his lack of inches compared to towering centre halves he never gives a ball up as lost, his ability to launch himself into the air and challenge the bigger men lead to a number of balls finding touch for a Wimbledon throw when perhaps a Jon Main challenge might have seen the ball flying back towards the Wimbledon half.

As the hour mark approached it was time for the aforementioned Main to make his mark on the game and show qualities of his own. It might sound stupid compared to his goalscoring exploits of last season, but a front three of Kedwell and Moore, with Godfrey just behind, will be enough to scare the life out of the best defences we come across next term. If we then bring on Jon Main with half an hour to go, against tiring defences, it could be enough to destroy the best of them. Injuries will play a part, as will the unknown fourth striker. Bossman didn’t appear last night but I’m sure I read somewhere that he was unavailable and was due to appear against FCUM on Saturday, however any thoughts that he might come good for us eventually have been slapped back into reality by recent news reports reminding us there are dozens of strikers out there who could do the business for us straight away. How long until we see random postings on Old Centrals asking ‘…ave we singed monagew yet…?’.

So Wimbledon’s mass cull of players certainly gave the linesman some counting practice, with only Duncan, Ricky Wellard (who was quiet last night) and Bret Johnson (who reminds me of Andy Thorn for some reason) surviving. A few minutes beforehand a much more significant substitution took place, with Mark Wright taking the field. I took a deep breath as a football mercenary with Them only last season was announced… to no audible reception whatsoever.

Once we ended up with a full complement of players back on the pitch, the game resumed. And miraculously it eventually regained the same flow it had in the first, making it hugely watchable for the last twenty-five minutes or so. In fact, on 68 minutes the Tempest End broke into its first prolonged chant of the season, which spurred the game back into action. Derek Duncan was first to try his luck, now playing further up the field, when he saw his long range effort handled in the box. Referee Jamail Singh, perhaps thinking back to a first half decision when he failed to give Brighton what would have been a soft penalty following a clumsy push in the box, waved play on.

But Wimbledon were just getting started. A few minutes later a strong Hussey run down the left touchline saw him flash a shot from a tight angle just over. I remember him doing this a few times when he could have pulled the ball back for a team mate, although in those cases he did enough to force a corner. If he concentrates on getting those on target he might score that way soon. Considering my previous opinion of Duncan, I have to say if there was only one place available I would give it to Duncan. However if possible, and when the circumstances call for it, we could do a lot worse than play both of them, as they seem to complement each other pretty well.

Another strong Hussey run saw him play a decent percentage ball low and curling back towards the onrushing forwards, missed by Main and Peter Rapson (who I will imagine will go on loan to a Ryman/CS side as soon as a fourth striker is brought in, but is an exciting forward in his own right and may deserve a chance himself in the first team before the season is out). Terry Brown then bawled out Lewis Taylor for not getting himself in the box, and this advice almost paid dividends minutes later.

Before that Taylor sent Main away down the right channel, but the striker hesitated momentarily, but for long enough to allow a Brighton man time to get back and block his effort. It wasn’t long before his pace took him free of the Brighton defence in the same position once more, this time sent away by a good ball from Wellard. This time he elected to drive the ball across goal, the ball again being deflected and dribbling wide of the far post. Taylor had taken his managers advice however and just failed to reach the ball in time, stabbing wide with the goal at his mercy.

Wimbledon fashioned an equally good chance moments later when Hussey again found room on the left. Spotting Duncan pointing for where he wanted the ball, he tried to sly it in only to see it half blocked and fall behind Duncan, sitting up beautifully for Jon Main to head home, and send the Tempest End into raptures. Unusual that, for a pre-season game, and entirely unnecessary as the dust settled and a second look revealed the ball wasn’t nestling in the corner,and had in fact flown wide.

While an equaliser now seemed a certainty, time had caught up with us, and a blocked Taylor effort moments later was the last Dons chance. Frustratingly Brighton took the ball down the other end, almost killing the game but for a brave save at feet by Sebb Brown. It was only a short respite or Wimbledon, a corner in injury time that seemed certain to be cleared was in fact chested across goal by a (fortunately for him) unidentified Don, Adam Virgo making no mistake and drilling under Brown to give Brighton the win.

Still, the majority of the 1167 crowd wenthome happy after seeing a very decent Wimbledon performance against a Brighton team who I’m sure will cause a lot of problems of most teams in League Two next year. The Dons need to get down to business and score a few goals, hold on to the ball in midfield but perhaps most importantly keep the tempo high in the remaining two games, against Fulham’s non-European squad XI, and first up FCUM or the SD Cup, appropriately sponsored by Co-Op this time around. If that game is even half as good as this one, we are in for a treat. And my dislike of pre-season friendlies has been cured.