The Anonymous Don’s Summer Squad Review Part III – Midfield

Part three of the summer squad review focuses on the midfield, where Brown has assembled a core of talented young footballers…

REECE JONES

Reece Joined the club last summer, and looked impressive during preseason, prompting this blogger to comment that on technical ability alone he looked as good as any midfielder we had at the club. Reece was probably quite unfortunate to have made his debut in a tough away fixture at Rushden, thrown on when Brown had limited options, and seeing the ball consistently thumped over his head, the game passing him by.

The next time we saw Reece in first team action, he was once again called upon in the midst of an injury crisis against Eastbourne, and really impressed most Dons regulars with a proactive display in which he was unlucky not to get himself on the score sheet. Reece was rewarded for his patience with a start against Mansfield, although he saw plenty of action in the county cups, and had a short spell on loan at Kingstonian.

You would expect Reece to be shipped out again this season, maybe to a BSS club, or once again back up the first team, but I expect in a forty-six game season with associated cup games there would be scope for Reece to gain more first team experience before the end of the season.

BRENDAN KIERNAN

Brendan stepped up to the first team from Marcus Gayle’s reserve/development squad, and quickly earned a debut in the televised game at Crawley, a rare positive on a disappointing night for the Dons. Brendan possesses quick feet and plenty of pace, and has shown the potential to develop into a first team player. You would expect Brendan to make a few substitute appearances next term, as an impact players his contributions are more noticeable than Reece Jones, for example.

Yet Brendan’s performances during preseason have shown, as you would expect of a young player, he still has a lot to learn. It sometimes takes a while for a football brain to develop alongside the talent, and Brendan was found guilty of trying to make too much of an impression, overplaying, taking that one too many touches when releasing the ball quicker would have benefited the team. Yet this is something he’ll learn given more and more game time, and we look forward to seeing more of this exciting prospect over the coming twelve months.

LEE MINSHULL

Lee is a different sort of midfielder compared to some of the other players we have in our squad, but one most supporters would like to see more of. Lee brings a considerable physical presence to the team – the positives and negatives were shown early in his Dons career, with his unfortunate sending off on his debut quickly followed by a powerful header against Eastbourne and his first goal for the club.

Yet physical presence is not a property that will allow you to walk into this Dons side, and ignoring his physical presence reveals a midfielder similar to more diminutive colleagues in terms of technical ability. While Lee might not be an automatic first pick, his general flexibility (particularly his ability to fill in defensively) means he will see plenty of action from the bench.

SAMMY MOORE

Terry Brown has regularly moaned about the lack of goals he gets from midfield, yet he can have no such complaints with Sammy Moore’s contribution last term… seven goals from thirty starts, pretty much one in four, and would have certainly got himself into double figures had he not suffered a serious injury.

The injury itself demonstrated the other side of Moore’s game, one that the Dons missed in his absence despite promotion form in the Conference, and will be invaluable in the Football League. Moore threw himself into a 40-60 challenge, the force of which dislocated his knee. Sammy has made an impressive recovery to take part in preseason, but will still have to wait for a chance to return as an automatic starter.

JAMES MULLEY

James Mulley’s arrival took us all by surprise, I don’t think any of us were expecting him to make the impact he did given his background, the fact he had been at Hayes but hadn’t played much. Yet once over an unconvincing half game at right back, Mulley really started to shine… immediately in the case of his twenty-five yard effort in the second half of that Hayes game.

Mulley probably would have continued to have played a key role in our promotion campaign, had he not been unfortunately sent off at Crawley… unfortunate because the challenge just didn’t need to be made in stoppage time, and because it reduced the input he had in our run-in. Still, Mulley rounded off the destruction of Fleetwood with a tidy finish to cap off the goal of the night, and looked the best player on the pitch when coming on at Eastlands (although tiring opponents may have helped).

Yet Mulley funds himself starting the season behind Yussuff and Wellard in the pecking order, and competing with Sammy Moore when fully fit. A sign of our strength in depth maybe, but frustrating for the individuals not able to play an immediate role in our return to the league.

MAX PORTER

I suppose the easiest way of replacing Steven Gregory was to simply sign his England C team-mate from last season… although its unfair to label Porter as a replacement for Gregory, particularly as Porter was signed a month before there was any suggestion Gregory might leave. But having filled Gregory’s old position in midfield, comparisons are going to be made…

While Porter might not have the same range of passing his predecessor had, he adds to the team in different ways. He is certainly much stronger in the challenge, and added bonus in a position where helping out defensively when things go wrong is an important secondary requirement. I suppose the big question we have now is who will play that role if Porter is ever unavailable?

RICKY WELLARD

This time twelve months ago, Ricky faced perhaps the most important season in his career, facing up to the prospect of forcing his way into the Dons Conference side. It’s fair to say around Christmas time that things weren’t entirely going to plan, despite playing well on occasion, Ricky just wasn’t consistent enough, and found himself out of the side as a result.

Yet Terry Brown decided what Ricky needed was a change of scenery, and shipped him off on loan to Cambridge for a month. Not only did Ricky get to start regularly, he was rated very highly by the Cambridge fans and staff alike. Ricky returned a much more confident player, a changed man almost, putting in a number of outstanding displays including running the game on his return with the Dons to the Abbey Stadium, a performance that earned him a standing ovation from the home fans.

That Ricky started against Crawley on Friday night says he is the man right now as far as Brown is concerned, the shirt is his to lose. Yet like last season the Dons faithful may need some convincing that Ricky is good enough for the division he is playing in, having finally convinced doubters he was good enough for the Conference, he needs to repeat the trick in League Two.

RASHID YUSSEFF

Toks was the perfect example of the sort of professional TB is looking to recruit last term. Coming down from Gillingham, he didn’t immediately command a place in the starting lineup, yet there was no fuss from Yusseff, despite the fact he seemed destined to be a perennial substitute (Toks early performances from the bench were superb, his first few starts unconvincing).

Eventually winning his starting role towards the end of the season, Toks looks set to be a key player for the Dons next term. A technically brilliant left footed midfielder with an eye for goal, having scored six league goals in twenty-one starts last term, that will come in more than handy if he can reproduce that scoring rate in the Dons return to league football.

Big Three Points (AFC Wimbledon 1 Gateshead 0)

I’ve just finished the Minithon… well, I finished about three hours ago, but I’ve finally regained enough mobility to pick up the laptop in order to write this. Congratulations to everybody else who ran, as well as all those helpers who ensured the event was a success. Although none of them went to the lengths of massaging my aching feet, or indeed aching ego, as the majority of the field finished several minutes before me…

The Dons victory the day before probably helped too, in its own small way. The Gateshead game was the epitome of hard-fought, determined opponents who pretty much ran themselves into the ground and very nearly succeeded in dragging ourselves down with them. The situation wasn’t helped by Wellard and Kedwell just not being in the game for long periods; Wellard was hindered by an injury, did his best, but ultimately probably only remained on the pitch thanks to a more serious knock picked up by Steven Gregory… which actually turned out to be quite fortunate for the Dons.

When I say Kedwell wasn’t in the game, I don’t mean he had a bad game as such, although he did frustrate on a couple of occasions by dropping deep to pick the ball up then promptly losing it. Further down the pitch the Gateshead back line were doing a pretty decent job of nullifying his impact… Just a bad day at the office, though it wasn’t for lack of effort. On his day no side in this division could stop him, and he’s had enough of those type of games for us to forgive a months worth of quiet games.

Ricky Wellard on the other hand, hasn’t exactly reached that level of untouchability yet, which you would expect as he is a young player. Wellard normally contributes way more positives than negatives, yet as we now know he was carrying a knock at the time. Even a minor niggle would be enough to play on his mind, which might explain away his distracted performance. On a couple of occasions he frustrated when finding in space to fire a shot in from the edge of the box but instead passing the opportunity to a team-mate leading to the move breaking down, especially discouraging as time began to run out. Yet he almost gave the Dons the lead, ghosting into the box to get on the end of a perfect Hatton cross only to see his header bounce off the post with the Gateshead keeper well beaten (ironically this came seconds after Gateshead also struck the woodwork from a diving header…)

Yet it was to be Wellard who delivered the ball that finally unlocked the Gateshead back line, and they hadn’t learnt to pick players up. Yakubu’s well-timed run was picked out by Ricky, and made it look easy guiding the ball into the right corner. This proved enough to see off an impressive Gateshead team, I have no doubt they will make things as hard for our promotion rivals as they have already proven by being a minute or so from taking a point from Crawley. Hell, they could even find themselves an outside bet for the playoffs if they keep up that kind of performance level…

Elsewhere, the loss of Gregory could have been more serious had the fixtures given us Tuesday/Saturday for the next couple of weeks. Sammy Moore did a great job of filling in, but we missed his darting little runs in and around the oppositions box, and he did get caught out a couple of times, Terry screaming at him to hold his position after the Dons were almost caught by a three on three break. I rate Gregory so highly I would go so far as to say I don’t think we have another midfielder who can play his role anywhere near as effectively. In that respect he is like Kedwell – if he’s not there, even if he’s not on form, we miss him.

Ultimately the Dons were worthy of their victory, only just. The differences between the two sides was in the detail, this was a big three points to pick up. A win that has taken us back to the top of the table, a win that keeps us there for at least the next fortnight… Now the distraction of the FA Cup, albeit a tricky trip to Basingstoke, more on that later in the week…

AFC Wimbledon 2 Histon 0

Its quite difficult to find an angle for this match report. On one hand, the Dons were persistent, frequently tore Histon to shreds and could have had a hatfull by half time had they been a bit more collectively focused in the attacking third. Some of the football they produced was breathtaking at times, and they really deserved to have won the game by several more.

On the other hand, well, they didn’t score earlier, nor did they win by more. This can be considered a fault, a trouble, a worry that needs to be discussed. The opposition were limited, and right from the off a big win seemed to be the order of the night… but it didn’t materialise.

The third and final hand (this report is already turning out to be a bit of a monster…), were Histon really that bad? With hindsight, I’m not even sure they were that negative? We’ve seen a lot worse during our battle through the feeder leagues, and judging by last nights performance their organisational qualities alone will give the likes of Southport a run for their money. For all the talk of Histon having no cash, of being the whipping boys this season, it looks as though they might just be a bit more competitive than many of us thought….

Histon shouldn’t really have been given the opportunity to hold on to what they had in the second half. Wimbledon tore them to shreds in the first period with some wonderful passing football, although for all their possession they produced few clear goalscoring opportunities.

Something strange was happening in the Dons midfield. Ricky Wellard was using his left foot for purposes other than simply passing the ball sideways… or occasionally passing the ball forward… or very occasionally passing forward and finding a team-mate. In fact he seemed to have adopted a shoot on sight policy. Hindsight has shown this was probably due to a quite word in the ear from the manager asking him to weigh in with a few more goals, although by the time this reached the press it mutated into BROWN THUNDERING that Wellard would FACE THE AXE if he failed to find the net.

Actually the start of that previous paragraph was pretty unfair on Ricky. He would have been regarded as our most consistent midfielder last term had it not been for Steven Gregory, and I have no doubt that should he continue at his current rate of learning at this level, he will be the sort of player that strikes fear into even the strongest opposition in six months time… and the sort of player opposition fans identify on web forums as one to watch…

No wonder he looked so happy when he finally put one away. During the first half however, while it was great to see a Dons player shooting when given the opportunity, and even better not to see the ball hit a passing 131 on the Kingston Road, Wellard needed to calibrate his x-axis with a little more precision – his efforts too close to Histon keeper Welch, but still drawing excellent saves from the stopper who also came up big when required from an Ismail Yakubu header from six yards… 

When half time came, the team left the field to applause, it seemed not to matter the scores were still level – the Dons were playing some awesome football, and goals were coming… As you would expect, football is a bit more complicated than that, and AFC Wimbledon more complicated still, and as the second half wore on without a Dons chance forthcoming Histon began to fancy their chances of an unlikely reward.

I don’t blame Histon for the way they went about defending their point, although it isn’t great to watch. Especially as a frustrated home supporter willing them to get on with it… although I did notice keeper Welch ALWAYS took his goal kicks on the right hand side of the six yard box, and I was willing the Tempest end to throw the ball back to him on that side to see if he would take it back to the left… but they never did, allowing him to trudge back over to his favourite kicking spot, find a good bit of turf, rotate the ball a few times to make sure he’s kicking the valve… this probably only killed a few seconds each time, but Dons fans lived a lifetime each time he did it.

The delays were strangling the Dons performance. All of a sudden things seemed a bit more urgent, passes were becoming more forced and the natural football we saw in the First had been replaced by a team now desperate for the breakthrough. The closest they came was a reaction header from Sammy Moore that drifted wide of the right post… it might have gone miles wide, but from my view down by the corner flag it was agonizing… and it wasn’t in the net…

Brown saw Main and Moore were becoming less and less effective and made the same change he had on Saturday, bringing Jackson and Jolley on to replace them. This was a different challenge for the youngsters, with a massed defence ahead of them and little chance to get behind and use their pace, but presented a different challenge to Histon than  Main and Moore had (again, neither had a bad game, but a change was required…).

Then the Dons were handed a massive lifeline… midfielder Oluwafemi Ilesamni, who had been deservedly booked in the first half, for no reason slammed the ball against the wall behind the goal. That it ended up only yards from where it started mattered little to the referee, Ilesamni can probably consider himself a little unlucky… but cards get given for that these days, especially as he hit it with a little anger and directly at the Dons fans behind the goal (if he’d got under it a little and the ball had struck a supporter there would’ve been REAL trouble…).

The game had actually restarted by the time the Histon midfielder had reached the tunnel, but it seemed the Dons had blown their chance before Histon’s lack of experience got to them once more in the second minute of stoppage time. Danny Kedwell burst into the box, turning his man who left half an arm and half a leg out… not much, not enough to stop a rampaging Danny Kedwell in full flow under normal circumstances… but he saw it, and said ‘I’m having that’…

The referee was definitely having it too, and Kedwell was given the opportunity to make the most of the opportunity he earned. Unlike Mains effort on Saturday there was no uncertain sidefooted effort from the skipper, rammed home with such pace this writer can’t remember a Dons penalty despatched with such intent since a certain V. Jones bashed one in during injury time against Sheffield Wednesday in the mid 90’s. Same corner too.

This certainly knocked the stuffing out of Histon, and Rashid Yussuff capped an impressive cameo by picking up a rebound off the referee, skipping past a couple of challenges before feeding Danny Kedwell on the right. The captains measured ball was begging to be put away, and Ricky Wellard bounced it into the far corner, grabbing the goal he richly deserved for his own Man of the Match performance (well, in my eyes anyway…). Wellard can stick one in the top corner from thirty yards every game, but this type of goal will please his manager most – this is the type of goal Brown wants to see from his midfield, actually attacking balls into the box and getting their reward.

Was this a lucky Wimbledon victory? Well, you could look at the clock when the ball went in the net, and you can question whether on another day a different referee would have given the penalty, and I would still deny luck played any part. Wimbledon got their reward for persistence, and after their first half performance went unrewarded could easily have let their heads drop and stop fighting. That they didn’t is a great credit to them.

Are their still questions over whether this squad can mount a title challenge? Well, yes. There are at least forty-four of them I can think of. While we have every reason to get excited going into the Tamworth game on Saturday, it’s still early days.

Wimbledon 3 Altrincham 1 – Match Report 19/1/10

A much changed Dons line-up went through to the Third Round of the FA Trophy after a disjointed performance that was just about good enough to see off a battling Altrincham side. Lining up in a formation that owed more to ensuring as experienced a side as possible took the field, and with a non-existant bench, it could be argued this Wimbledon side just don’t know how to lose at the moment, despite making things hard for themselves at times played in front of a disappointing crowd of just 1450.

In fact it was Altrincham who had the first real effort of the game after two minutes, an outswinging corner firmly headed towards the left side of Sebb Brown’s goal, fortunately Jay Conroy had taken up a position on the post and was able to nod clear. Conroy found himself caught out of position frequently later in the game, but the tie would have followed a different course had he allowed this effort to creep past him. It was also pretty much the only effort Alty managed on goal before the break.

Not that Wimbledon dominated, at least not to start with. It took a while for the game to settle into any kind of pattern, as players fought to cut a niche for themselves while occupying slightly unfamiliar positions. For Danny Kedwell this seemed more of a problem than most, trying to play the Moore/Hendry role he constantly found himself sucked back deeper into midfield to win the ball, to the extent it almost seemed as if he was trying to play the holding role rather than the point of a diamond. Whatever his tactical instructions may have been, it left him far less effective than normal.

His battling qualities were still there, and he drew the foul that led to the Dons first chance just after the ten minute mark. Just right of centre, it seemed ideally positioned for Ricky Wellard’s left foot, but instead Hatton tried to whip it over right footed, the ball clearing the bar with ease. Next up Kedwell almost got on the end of a Main pullback after he had been set free down the left by a Hatton flick, sadly he was just beaten to the ball by a defender and the chance was gone.

Still the Dons now had Alty on the back foot. Despite not yet creating anything, and giving the ball away with worrying ease, the home side were getting the ball back thanks to some increasingly panicky clearances that allowed the Dons to build from the back once more. All of a sudden Wimbledon started to test Altrincham keeper Saunders. First, a Johnson cross found Kedwell whose looping header caused Saunders to stretch in order to collect. Then a Sam Hatton volley from the right edge of the penalty area caused the visitors custodian to drop smartly to his right to gather.

Finally, with five minutes of the half remaining Wimbledon found the breakthrough. Kennedy Adjei was given time to compose himself on the half way line before launching a rampaging surge into the visitors half, leaving two opponents for dead in the process. The ball found its way to Ricky Wellard loitering on the right edge of the area, a drop of the shoulder saw him past the opponent that blocked his path as he cut back inside, and rifled a left foot effort into the bottom right corner of the goal.

There then followed a bizarre piece of refereeing that infuriated the Dons fans and left both sides feeling a little hard done by. A through ball found Altrincham’s Chris Senior through on goal, and despite being a clear two yards offside the linesman’s flag stayed down. This threw Sebb Brown’s concentration, and he spied the danger too late before rushing out to clear. Senior’s balance had gone by the time the two came together, and after prodding the ball past the keeper the Alty man decided to take the easy option and tumble over the goalkeepers leg. Finally a whistle came, too late for Dons fans liking, awarding the free kick in Altrincham’s direction. A yellow card for Brown, but no more on account that Senior’s trajectory was sending him closer to the corner flag than the Dons goal, and at least two covering players were protecting the goal.

Not that the Altrincham bench were happy with the free kick, and kicked off into one of the biggest strops seen at Kingsmeadow this season, which included an always enjoyable spot of crowd interaction. Perhaps Alty manager Graham Heathcote should have read Terry Brown’s Mansfield programme notes, as there was little Respect shown by him towards the match officials. Ultimately you could say the men in black came up with the correct result, the referee seemed to notice something was up and took leniency on young Brown when I suppose a red card was a possibility – we have seen those given in the past. But ultimately the only losers in the incident were the Dons… if the referee had managed to make the correct decision to start with, I wouldn’t be writing this now!

[Edit – I’ve actually seen the video now and in particular the image reproduced here, and I’m ready to accept that it might have been a closer offside call than I suggested – which of course doesn’t excuse Senior’s extravagant tumble, which you don’t quite get the full benefit of on the video. For the avoidance of any doubt though, you can see the direction he was heading (Berrylands) and the number of covering players (plenty)]

Presumably Heathcote used this mock sense of injustice to his advantage during the half time break, not that it did him much good as his side found themselves two goals down less than five minutes into the second period. Adjei controlled a fierce low clearance, and slid the ball into Ross Montague, who had his back to goal on the edge of the area. Montague quickly laid off to Jon Main, who took a touch before drilling the ball into the bottom right hand corner.

For the next few minutes it looked as though the Dons would put the game well beyond their visitors. Main forced a corner on the right, and Wellard’s delivery was flicked on at the near post by Brett Johnson, only to be deflected behind. Wimbledon then threatened though a number of succesive corners, ended when Jon Main found himself brushed off the ball in the area, with the referee and his assistants being in no place to make a decision.

It was a that point that Heathcote decided to make changes, bringing on the more offensively minded Clee and Little. The switch had an immediate effect, with Altrincham now able to hold the ball in the Dons half more effectively and build attacks. Minutes later they forced the first real moment of danger in the Dons box, with Shaun Densmore’s precise volleyed cross from the right finding Senior in space, only for the Alty man to rush his headed finish when he could have taken the ball down. It was only a short respite for Wimbledon, as the visitors pulled themselves right back into the game.

As another Alty forage forward looked to have been repelled, a half-clearance found Anthony Danylyk in space twenty-five yards out, and he took his chance really well, returning the ball into the bottom left corner of Sebb Brown’s goal at such pace it gave the young keeper no chance.

Adjei immediately picked up a head injury that required a BIG bandage, however it was just coincidence that following this the Dons overworked midfield seemed to break down temporarily. Unable to pass the half way line, their balls forward were either over hit and poorly placed, or didn’t make it past the first man. Fortunately the back line was battling bravely against a barrage of crosses during a spell when it seemed a matter of when Altrincham would equalise rather than if.

But the storm had been weathered, and the Dons finally found their feet again in midfield. This culminated in a gradual spell of pressure that saw the hosts extend their lead and put the game beyond doubt. Following a bit of head tennis in the area a Ricky Wellard shotwas deflected into the air, looping perfectly for Jon Main to bury his header… Instead he just about did enough despite putting the ball too close to a defender for anyones liking. It seemed to have crossed the line before said unidentified Alty player fisted it away from goal, but Ben Judge was on hand to blast into the roof of the net and end the arguments.

Except the arguments between Main and Judge of course! To be honest it all happened to quickly to tell whether the linesman was flagging for Judge or for Main’s original effort, the two of them still trying to work it out long after the final whistle [Late edit – you can’t tell from the video either!]. To be fair Main gets more than his fair share, and Judge is a warhorse, reliable and loyal with it… Judge deserves the goal. If Jon Main has a problem with that, my only advice to him would be to make sure the ball hits the net in future – then no-one can take it away from you!

Five minutes later Altrincham had the ball in the net once more, this time ruled out due to a rather obvious handball by Colin Little, still it ensured a few Dons hearts leapt into mouths at a key moment. Despite the shaky performances from both sides, or rather because of the shaky performances, the game was reasonably exciting throughout. Although the Dons created more chances, including a self-made chance from a surprisingly lively Ross Montague that ended with a twenty yard shot that was slightly scuffed and comfortably saved by Saunders, it would have been slightly rough on Altrincham who deserve credit for their gutsy performance.

And those stay-away supporters ultimately missed out. Wimbledon now face the other unfortunate team that lost out to the 1977 Dons 4 Div 4 campaign – Workington of the Blue Square North. Without wanting to tempt fate, the Third Round draw has presented a series of fixtures that mean a winnable quarter-final would be just as likely as a difficult one – should we get that far… And to paraphrase Sam Allardyce (sort of…), those that weren’t there last night will be the first ones to complain when they can’t get tickets for the later rounds…

‘We’ll Never Make It Back To Wembley’, Part Two (or Altrincham Match Preview 19.1.10)

After our return to League action, we immediately switch our attention to the Trophy and welcome Altrincham down to the ‘Meadow. While not exactly the Magic of the Cup, the Temptation of the Trophy will be enough to drag 1732 hardy souls down to Kingsmeadow to see this vital Second Round tie. In fact I’d almost rather have half of those there than the bland atmosphere we witnessed for most of Saturday, when my concentration had been broken on several occasions by the dropping of knitting needles in the Strank Stand…

I love midweek cup action at Kingsmeadow; that it’s normally just the hardcore who turn out for this type of game means perversely there is more concrete and steel for the atmosphere to bounce off, and not absorbed into static flesh like it was on Saturday. Plus where do these extra supporters disappear to for these midweek cup ties? We are always going to lose a few due to kids not coming, distant Dons being unable to travel, late shift workers not being able to get there in time… but that can’t account for half our regular fanbase, surely?

I think its down to our modern Sky-assisted idea (yup, it’s always Sky’s fault…) that there is nothing like the League, and all other tournaments are little more than a meaningless distraction… which as we all know is horsecrap of the highest order. The cup is where it’s at, and if you think back to some of the greatest games you’ve seen, I guarantee at least half of them would be cup ties – which those of you working out the ratio of League games played to Cup games would already have worked out, doesn’t quite add up…

To borrow a Football Managers Cliche, ‘The League is our bread and butter’… which probably explains why managers are more likely to suffer heart problems. Stop moaning about stress, try using low-fat spread for a while, that’ll sort it out. Plus you can’t eat bread and butter all the time, which is effectively what these stay-away fans are doing… How do they avoid the boredom of Conference fixture after Conference fixture? You need the curry of an FA Cup run, or the microwave Spag Bol of the Trophy from time to time… even the Curly Wurly of the Surrey Senior Cup is enough to sort me out good and proper…

As for the game itself, lets not kid ourselves that we are going to overwhelm Altrincham. If they won their three games in hand they would only be a win away from us (not that they will necessarily win those games, it’s just a way of saying ‘careful now..’), and have shown some pretty decent form away from home. Their supporters are confident – not just for this tie but for them to go on and win the thing – which is a great attitude to have (and I mean that not in a patronising way, football gods…).

Having said that, I think we would have been more likely to throw this one away if we’d played the game on its original date. Ever since we lost 1-5 at home to Southall in the Combined Counties Premier Challenge Cup we have looked shaky at the ‘Meadow in cup competitions played on a Saturday. I’m still waking up in the middle of the night sweating while having nightmares about Walton & Hersham. Even right up to Boreham Wood, when we could easily have ended by shuffling out of the ground wondering what just happened.

Team news now, and as the O/S conveniently managed to point out just before I had the chance to, John McAliskey is Cup Tied and won’t be featuring for the visitors. There, thats it, my one and only insight into the Altrincham lineup and they go and ruin it… ahem, although my sources close to the Moss Lane outfit suggest apart from that the lineup will be pretty similar to the side that picked up three points at Ebbsfleet on Saturday (which is more than we did…).

Dons news, and the list of those available would probably be easier to write than those that are out, but as far as I’m aware those Cup Tied are Hendry, Poole and Garrard, with the beast that is Elder unavailable due to not being signed in time for the original tie (one of those weird rules that you only find out about when it affects you…). With Saturday’s Man of the Match out, we will have to make do with top scorer Danny Kedwell starting, and with a point to prove.

In reality our best forward line will probably turn out to be Kedwell alongside Elder, despite Jon Main’s best attempts to put himself about Keds style on Saturday. Main can put an end to that type of talk tomorrow however, and I’m sure he’ll be desperate to avoid slipping out of the starting XI altogether no matter how effective most of us think he can be as an impact substitute.

So in my opinion, we will line up something like this;

Brown

Conroy

Blanchett

Johnson

Judge

Adjei

Hatton

Taylor

Wellard

Kedwell

Main

Ricky Wellard’s fifteen minutes against Mansfield has shown his desire is there, even if we may have to make do with the negatives as well as the positives he brings to the side – although like Sam Hatton I’m one of those who firmly believes those positives far outweigh any mistakes he might make. Plus he seems to have discovered his eye for goal, so keep an eye out for any screamers he might let loose from distance… one day one of them is going to end up in the top corner and we’ll be talking about it for months…

Apart from that, the side pretty much picks itself at the moment, mainly due to those unavailable. With Lorraine out the centre half pairing looks assured, I think if Blanchett can walk he’ll be asked to play over a virus-ridden Derek Duncan, and continuity will be good enough reason to keep Sebb Brown between the sticks despite what must be a strong urge to give returning senior goalkeeper Jamie Pullen a Cup run-out. The only thing I’m not quite sure of is formation, so we could see something interesting happen involving Ross Montague should Terry decide to leave a midfielder on what I would imagine could be a fairly lightweight bench.

I spent most of today thinking about this game; I’ve been looking forward to it since the draw was made. We could be in for a difficult but watchable game, I would expect the home team to have 60-70% of possession, but it certainly won’t be enough to make sure of a victory on its own – its making use of the ball that is going to ensure whether we win through, or watch Altrincham continue on their way and wonder what might have been.

Wimbledon 2 Mansfield Town 0 – Match Report 16/1/10

Before the action, Wimbledon said goodbye to one of the men that made us. Allen Batsford, the man who initially took Wimbledon into the Football League in 1977, sadly passed away after collapsing at Wimbledon Broadway tube station following the Chelsea-Fulham game just after Christmas. It was time for those who knew Allen to say goodbye, and those who didn’t but still recognise the great debt this club owed him for his fantastic work almost three decades ago. The programme carried his photo on the front cover, his former players spoke before the teams emerged and a perfectly observed minutes silence preceded kick off.

But life goes on, as does football, and the clubs playing staff had to stay focused on the task in hand. Terry Brown, the man tasked with replicating Batsford’s achievements in the seventies, has played his transfer hand this window and brought in three newcomers to the squad; Chris Hussey replacement Danny Blanchett, plus the ex-Brentford pair Glenn Poole and Nathan Elder. Perhaps with one eye on Tuesday nights crucial FA Trophy tie with Altrincham, and aware that neither Poole nor Elder can play a part in that game, Brown took the risk of naming all three in his starting line-up. In fact including Sebb Brown and Brett Johnson the Dons started with four ex-Brentford players, with Ross Montague also waiting on the bench.

It should be regarded as a good sign that we featured so many players that were part of a promotion winning side last season in the division above, but many Dons fans wondered whether this was too much of a risk against a side one place and one point ahead of them before kickoff – especially considering Wimbledon have failed to beat a side that started the match above them in the table all season.

Any butterflies were eliminated moments after the first whistle. Before the game had even had a chance to settle, Will Hendry picked up the ball in the visitors half. With Nathan Elder the obvious target, Hendry’s job was made a whole lot easier by the big forward intelligently dropping off his man. Hendry floated an inch perfect ball to Elder, who floated his header back across Mansfield goalkeeper Marriott and into the net.

All thoughts that top scorer Danny Kedwell (who has interestingly been linked with a six figure move to St Mirren very recently) was on the bench taking a rest, Elder became an instant hero and a contender for earliest goal on début in Dons history, having netted after only 117 seconds. And Wimbledon weren’t ready to take their foot off the gas just yet…

Five minutes in, and Jon Main found himself free on the right linking with Elder to send his new strike partner free. Mains ball bobbled around and never quite sat right for Elder, who sensibly decided to square for Lewis Taylor. Taylor was well placed, but seemed to rush his finish, seeing the ball deflected away and eventually scrambled clear. Wimbledon had started the way we have come to expect of them, passing the ball around nicely, always looking forward, positive and expansive in their play.

Not that Mansfield were going to sit back and take this. The visitors looked like a team lacking confidence despite their position, seemed unable to string together more than a couple of passes and were over-reliant on their albeit admirable battling qualities. Wimbledon were as solid when faced with this type of aerial onslaught as they have been all season, yet a reshuffled Dons midfield were sloppy at times, gifting the ball to their opponents on far too many occasions. A team firing on all cylinders could have punished them, yet Mansfield seemed rusty, the weather enforced mid-season break seemingly having done them no favours today.

They created chances though, the first on twelve minutes when Gary Silk wriggled free on the right side of the Dons box only to be closed down by Sebb Brown, the Dons keeper deflecting the ball wide for a corner on the right. A deep corner travelled all the way to big forward Rob Duffy at the far post, who could only direct his header tamely wide of goal. The unfortunate Duffy showed no confidence moments later when he found himself in the clear with only Brown to beat, but could only side-foot tamely into the Dons keepers arms.

Now all too aware they couldn’t simply stroll through this game, Wimbledon stepped up a gear. They thought they had doubled the lead on twenty minutes, Lewis Taylor was brought down as the ball ran on to Elder, whose expert finish was ruled out by the referees whistle. Not for a Dons free kick as most presumed, the referee refusing to bring back play even though the Dons had gained no advantage, and presumably wouldn’t have anyway had Elder been offside. Terry Brown aimed his programme notes at fellow managers who had criticised referees of late, but even he must have had to bite his tounge after some inconsistent decision-making from the man in black.

The Dons weren’t to be denied though, and they added a second goal in fantastic fashion in their next attack. Blanchett fed the ball from the left flank to Hatton on the right via Kennedy Adjei, and Hatton delivered a great ball to Elder. Wimbledon’s new hitman this time cushioned a header into the path of Lewis Taylor who swept his shot into the bottom left hand corner of the Mansfield goal giving Marriott no chance.

While Mansfield’s workmanlike forays forward were ultimately proving fruitless, the Dons went on to go close on a couple of occasions during the remainder of the half. Perhaps the best saw Jon Main flick a ball in Glenn Poole’s direction leaving him in possession on the left side of the area with his back to goal. Expertly spinning his man he whipped a shot across the face of goal, just dropping wide of the right hand post.

The second half took a little bit longer to get going than the first, mainly down to a nasty clash of heads that saw Elder receive his second off pitch treatment of the game. The frontman was rightly named the Dons man of the match by the sponsors, combining the battling qualities you would expect from a man of his physique with some intelligent forward play and, as you would expect from a Terry Brown signing, some nifty footwork too that consistently drew fouls from the bamboozled Mansfield back line (even if the referee didn’t always elect to blow his whistle for them…). Then, with the Dons first real chance of the half just after the hour, he could have grabbed his second after being played in by Will Hendry only for a fantastic challenge from Michael Brough to deny him.

The Dons had to stay alert defensively, a fantastic stretching challenge by Sam Hatton saw off a three on three Mansfield break. The visitors just weren’t troubling the Dons goal, their game plan was direct but their play was directionless. Their best player – by some way – was substitute Jake Speight, the only Mansfield player who seemed to show any inclination or ability to take the ball and run at Wimbledon. The difference between the two teams was the home side had players like this all over the pitch, and while the Dons could just about handle Speight, with the likes of Taylor, Hendry and Main among others bombing forward, Mansfield couldn’t really cope.

Hendry was withdrawn for Ricky Wellard with fifteen minutes to go, after proving what a fantastic signing he has been. Hendry seems to have almost single-handedly made the Dons midfield a more offensive unit, he slipped straight into the squad as if he had always been there at just the right time. I still think the Dons squad is poorer without Luke Moore, but Hendry is a more than worthy replacement for him.

Elder made way for Montague with seven minutes remaining, to huge applause from the home fans. Yet it was a fifteen minute cameo from Ricky Wellard that almost stole the show and gave Wimbledon breathing space. First, Montague chased down a through ball that Marriott was clear favourite for, but the Mansfield goalkeeper seemed to be distracted by one of his own defenders and mishit the ball to Wellard just inside the visitors half. As Marriott retreated, Wellard rounded an opponent, and urged on by the crowd struck a perfect dipping effort that the goalkeeper somehow managed to tip over the bar.

Then two minutes later he picked up the ball wide right, cut inside leaving two Mansfield men for dead, and smashed a left footed effort towards the top left corner. Marriott was once again equal to it, just, flying across goal and getting enough on the ball to divert it over for a corner. Marriott won this personal battle, but Wellard showed just how much more confident he has become of late. Not long ago it seemed in the balance whether he would make it at Wimbledon at all, but ever since he turned down the chance to move on loan he seems to have really come on. Yes, he will still suffer from the inconsistency of youth from time to time, but he has shown he has the ability to blossom into a Football League midfielder if he applies himself further.

In between Wellard’s attempts to steal the show, Mansfield managed to get the ball past Sebb Brown only for the effort to be ruled out for offside. Some suggested after the game that an extra goal for each side would have been a more accurate reflection of the game, this would have been at the expense of yet another clean sheet for Sebb Brown and the back four. The Dons have now only conceded once in the last eight league games, and Decembers Conference Player of the Month winner Brown has kept eight clean sheets in his eleven full games for the club.

Adjei and Conroy had twenty-five yard efforts that just cleared the bar in stoppage time, but the points were Wimbledon’s by this stage. The victory moved the Dons up to fourth, which perhaps disguises that there is still plenty of work to do – the Dons find could drop as low as seventh if sides below them (including Mansfield) win their games in hand, and until a few of those games have been played, and points are dropped by promotion rivals, Wimbledon really need to be aware that they haven’t really broken into the playoff places just yet. Stretching the gap between the clubs below them should be their first priority.

If anything the Dons playoff ambitions could be decided between now and the end of February, with winnable home games combined with some very tricky road trips, and if Terry Brown can ensure his newly reinforced squad can remain in the top five by the time March rolls around, we will know whether this is a serious promotion push or not. While Batsford loomed large on the front of the programme, the rear cover featured an advert for our sponsors new game, urging you to ‘Make History’, like Allen did, and Terry is trying to. If Brown can guide us from the Ryman League to the Football League in three consecutive seasons, well, that would be an achievement that would even eclipse the achievements of the great man himself in the seventies. And should it happen, I’m sure there would have been no prouder man than Allen Batsford himself.

AFC Wimbledon 3 Crawley Town 1 – A Match Report

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Crawley Town 1 AFC Wimbledon 1 – A Match Report

It doesn’t matter who we play, FA Cup ties are nervous affairs for me. The legs go a bit wobbly, I get twitchy and in need of a constant nicotine fix… and I don’t really smoke that much these days. I’ve long since realised smoking isn’t as cool as it appears in the movies (especially when you spot a girl across a crowded dance floor, then get smoke in your eyes, recovering vision in your streaming eyes just in time to see said girl and usually most of her friends pointing and laughing at you…). Cigarettes are hard things to quit, yet in all other aspects of my life I have cut them out… except football.

To be fair, circumstance helped calm me down. A couple of pints in the pub beforehand where I had the pleasure of meeting a number of Dons fans that in fairness I should have done ages ago. I won’t name them for fear this report becomes as cliquey as an article in WUP(!), but they certainly helped me relax… at least momentarily.

I got to the ground by trudging through and underpass rendered a death trap thanks to slippery pavement and wet leaves… and maybe a poor choice of footwear on my part… Crawley, or at least the part around Broadfield Stadium, looks as soulless as you would expect from a new town. The stadium itself is the shit shaped cherry on the sewage cake. Built on the cheap, all breezeblocks and concrete… It reminds me of the purely functional Eastern Bloc stadiums of the 80’s.

Actually quite flattery pic of Broadfield Stadium

The turnstiles themselves looked like a hand me down from the Premier League, like Farnborough’s Chelsea rejects. Yet upon passing through them, I handed over my fourteen quid, and in return I got… nothing. No ticket, no receipt, absolutely no record of entering the stadium. Even Combined Counties League sides managed to rustle up a roll of stubs to hand out. The true nature of Crawleys, erm, lack of professionalism would become apparent later in the afternoon.

Unfortunately the side that Crawley managed to put on the pitch didn’t match their chaotic administration. While the Dons had difficulty finding their feet in the first half, the hosts took advantage by taking control of the game. Just four minutes in big Jefferson Louis managed to meet a deep corner only to guide it straight into Pullen’s arms. A couple of minutes later a good Crawley move saw the ball switched quickly from right to left only for Danny Forrest, who was a real thorn in the Don’s side all afternoon, to hit his effort wide of the near post.

Forrest made no mistake with his next effort. Wimbledon had several efforts to clear without success, the ball finding its way to the Crawley number seven on the right corner of the six yard box. His fierce effort took a nick off of Alan Inns, flashing past Jamie Pullen into the net via the underside of the bar.

Surely this was the wakeup call the Dons needed? Ahhhmmm, no. They continued playing in a manner that involved a few misplaced passes before eventually someone gave the ball away. Either that or Alan Inns thumped it forward and Crawley regained possession slightly quicker than they normally would have done. Having said that, Crawley weren’t exactly turning the screw either. After a bright start they just seemed happy to contain the visitors, which they managed to do easily.

Ready for kickoff

It seemed like the Dons players hadn’t realised this was an FA Cup game. The midfield was absent for long periods, the hapless Ricky Wellard watching the game bypass him, perhaps not looking as poor as he would normally due to slack performances all round. Sam Hatton was exceptional, putting in probably his best performance of the season albeit at fullback. His involvement in two second half incidents changed the game in Wimbledon’s favour.

Firstly, a rare Crawley counter attack found Louis bearing down on goal down the left flank. Brett Johnson seemed to have the situation covered until an unfortunate slip saw the goal open up for the frontman. His attempted shot was blocked for a corner by Hattons appearance from nowhere, a wonderful challenge that probably went a long way to keeping his side in the competition.

Then just before half time, a Wellard corner was easily cleared only as far as Hatton lurking on the left edge of the area. Easily beating the first man he put his foot through the ball, firing low into the back of the net. Now this was Wimbledon’s first shot on target, it probably would have drawn cheers from the large travelling support if it had cleared the roof of the terrace behind. Regaining parity at that key point gave renewed hope leading into the half time period.

The ten minute break at half time gave me time to experience the stadium’s smoking area (i.e. outside the stadium), and the matchday programme. As if Crawley haven’t been put through the ringer enough by me already. Oh, Red Devils, I haven’t even started yet! This programme… it had a really thin cover page that screws up and rips easily in your pocket. Plus the content… the usual shit. I actually think the same about most programmes but don’t care to mention it because most clubs don’t have big signs up saying MATCH PROGRAMME £2.50 which someone has attached a piece of paper to obscuring the £2.50 and scribbled £3 on…

The second half kicked off with our boys attacking the away end, and it was a different Wimbledon who took the game by the scruff of the neck. It took a while, and the hosts again created the first clear-cut opportunity, and unidentified Crawley man being denied brilliantly by Pullen at his near post. Ten minutes into the half, and Terry Brown had seen enough, removing the weak link in Wellard and replacing him with Kennedy Adjei.

The effect was immediate. Instead of Wellard lazily drifting across the field like a feather caught in the breeze, Adjei stamped his authority on the game by putting in challenges, winning the ball, passing with some level of accuracy and intelligence. Normal things that midfielders are expected to do. We can no longer afford to carry individuals, that must be the lesson we take into the rest of the season. How can we expect to have good runs in the Cup competitions if we effectively play with ten men for the majority of games?

Kedwell in control

With Taylor and Moore receiving the ball on either flank with increasing regularity, the fullbacks joining the attacks and Kedwell not required to drop back and help the midfield as much, Wimbledon started to look like the team that would go on to take the tie. A storming Kedwell run on the hour saw him carry the ball down the right flank before his low cross somehow evaded everyone at the near post, with no one on hand to tap into an empty net at the far.

Jon Main seems to have regained his form, and more importantly the confidence that he can play at a higher level. A high ball over the top was well watched by last seasons top scorer, protecting it from his marker as it bounced in the area. Keeping the ball at arms length from his man, he hit a shot from a tight angle that took Crawley keeper Rayner by surprise and unluckily bounced away off the near post.

Rayner had gone missing when Hattons strike hit the back of the net, a fact that Dons fans had noticed. Quite why a fellow Dons fan felt the need to remind him by throwing a paper cup at him I don’t know. I mean, a paper cup??? Quite what thats going to do I don’t know; apart from making you, and by extension all Dons fans, look like knobheads. Besides the fact it was only a paper cup, theres just no class in doing it. We are Wimbledon fans, we are a cut above the likes of Crawley. We were a bit fortunate that someone in the Crawley end threw something at Pullen towards the end, but there is no credit to be gained from sinking to their level.

The problem I had with Rayner was his beard. One of his team mates really needs to pull him to one side about it. Fair play, a few of us (myself included) like to grow a bit of face fur over the winter period, it keeps you warm on cold evenings and winter mornings. Rayner should perhaps be going down the ‘Viking’ road like me rather than the ‘History teacher’ look he is currently sporting… it just looks, well, it looks a bit rubbish.

In fact, shouldn’t we be encouraging our own players, especially Pullen, to grow beards (even just for the duration of our cup run?). Lets not forget, we once went on a decent cup run as a non-League club that made us famous up and down the land, and the bearded gentleman between the sticks made a bit of a name for himself… Plus Pullen would scare the life out of a few lightweight Football League centre forwards, who wouldn’t have come across an albino Yeti many times in their career.

Hatton tries to ignore the empty terraces...

The Dons next attack was down the left, and this time Luke Moore’s direct run caused problems. He made it to the bye-line before his attempted pull back bounced off a Crawley defender, narrowly sneaking past the near post. Another Dons break saw Lewis Taylor break down the right. Taylor really is a sight to behold, watching him fly down the flank, bamboozling defenders as he goes. An intelligent ball into Kedwell saw the big hitman just unable to get the ball from beneath his feet, a challenge from a Crawley man only seeing the ball as far as Main, whose effort at goal deflected straight back into Rayner’s hands.

Wimbledon’s big chance sadly relied on the referee to do the right thing and point to the spot, as Main burst into the Crawley area on the right, rounded his man only to be hauled down by his opponent. Now there was no doubt about what happened, it only relied on the referee blowing his whistle and pointing to the penalty spot. The guy had two hands around Main, denying him the chance to move towards goal or get a shot away. The referee saw it as clearly as we did… yet for some reason, he bottled it.

I have mentioned in the past how we need referees to do their job. We have skillful players who many defenders just cannot cope with. We have been awarded numerous penalties this season because of it, in fact we have been given seven. Yet on numerous occasions, referees have just bottled it. This has cost us points in the past, and could have cost us our place in the First Round.

I think referees are showing a great deal of paranoia following the high-profile beachball incident at the Stadium of Light last week. Yesterday our friendly man in black ran twenty yards, holding up the game in the process, in order to burst an inoffensive tiny yellow balloon that found its way into the Crawley penalty area. If only he had been more thorough at his job moments earlier, perhaps I wouldn’t have wasted two paragraphs moaning about his performance.

The Dons wouldn’t go on to get a further clear-cut chance in the game, although Kedwell again burst down the right, this time firing into the side netting. This infuriated Luke Moore in the centre, but to be fair he hadn’t managed to take up a decent position, so Keds was within his rights to go it alone.

Crawley went on to raise our nerves by forcing a few corners towards the end that were dealt with comfortably by Wimbledon. One scramble saw Pullen bundled over by a Crawley man, who found his way into the book (this was the incident that saw the object find its way from the Crawley end in Pullens general direction… again I think it was a bog roll or something, but why do it?).

Crawley also managed to raise our tempers at the final whistle. First they announced the crowd as a mere 2204, a figure that drew an incredulous response from both sets of fans. Now the relevance of not issuing tickets becomes clear. I’m not suggesting we go all St. Albans City and our directors moan about it in public- thats my job. I suggest we ask the FA to audit this figure. Whether it was an oversight by Crawley or not, I can’t be certain, but it has been widely agreed that the actual attendance was closer to 3000. This means that, purposely or not, Crawley Town have stolen several thousand pounds from our own club.

Only a cynic would suggest that an error in calculating the figures would more than make up for our appeal to the FA to reduce the admission price resulting in them losing a pound on every person entering the ground. And you have to wonder whether in that case, Crawley Town received all the money from their own turnstile operators. I heard talk that children were being charged £4, despite the ‘Kids for £1’ offer being heavily signposted… did this extra cash somehow disappear into turnstile operators pockets??? Purely by accident of course…

The final insult came on the final whistle, when the tannoy announcer reminded us all that the replay will be at ‘Kingstonian FCs ground’ on Tuesday night… Now thats just downright petty, in fact its bloody stupid. I dont think the PA guy at Crawley is thick, I think hes just an idiot, and such a provocative comment is actually a pretty dangerous comment from someone who is only supposed to be there for safety announcements…

Yes of course Kingsmeadow is home to Kingstonian FC, and it always will be. K’s have been my local side and second team for as long as I can remember. But the stadium is now owned and operated by AFC Wimbledon, and naturally I take great pride that the side I support have taken another local team in my home borough under their wing, hopefully leaving Kingstonian FC with a vastly improved stadium that they can use to build their own ambitions.

Of course. Crawley PA guy probably never thought that there was a pre-existing relationship between the two clubs. He’s probably one of those knobs who turns up on the K’s forum trying to stir up shit between the clubs. It ain’t going to work mate… I suppose we can only be thankful he didn’t mention Them…

So its back to the Meadow on Tuesday night, and very shortly we will know who the prize for the victor will be. Can I first appeal that should it be a tempting one, we don’t get over excited. As yesterday showed us, we still have a huge challenge awaiting us before we even think about that…

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…

AFC Wimbledon 0 Oxford United 1 – A Match Report

It felt strange walking out of the ground following a 0-1 defeat and feeling very positive about the performance, but that’s what happened following this game. I know going into the game I felt perhaps the performance against Luton had been a one-off. In the days before the game, deep in the back of my consciousness I had tried to keep dark thoughts of a heavy home defeat at bay.

And yet as I stumbled out of the ground wondering how on earth we lost that game, encountering Oxford fans pinching themselves that they got away with the three points, it suddenly struck me that outside of our little world, other clubs actually look at coming to Kingsmeadow as a tough place to come. We spend much of our time reminding each other that we won’t be putting together a serious challenge this year that perhaps sometimes we forget that.

The reason we took nothing from this game had nothing to do with Oxford being a much better side than us. In fact for long periods of this game they looked quite ordinary. We lost because we showed Oxford too much respect in the first half, and failed to take our chances in the second. While I certainly wouldn’t want to criticise Terry or the players after our great start, I would hope when Wrexham, Mansfield and Cambridge come to town we won’t wait until we are a goal behind until we take the initiative to put pressure on the opposition.

In fact the only aspect of this game that made me think Oxford looked potential champions was the manner in which they rode their luck. They were strong and well organised, yet today they took the points despite not really looking as though they deserved to. You know, like we did last term…

Its annoying looking back on the first half, with the power of hindsight, that we showed Oxford so much respect that ultimately they didn’t really deserve. The first half followed a pattern where Oxford pushed forward without ever showing enough guile to break down the Dons defence, but often enough to worry regular Dons watchers that any mistakes by their team could lead to problems.

It was Wimbledon who created the games first decent chance… well, sort of. A sortie down the right saw the ball break to Conroy, who literally dumped a high ball into the box. Misjudged completely by an Oxford man, it broke to Luke Moore who had space and time but in such a manner the Dons man had to hit it straight away, unfortunately looping the ball over the bar.

Lets not dress this up as something it wasn’t by the way. I’m not mentioning many first half chances, because there wasn’t really that many of them. It must have been a shocking half for any neutrals that bothered getting tickets, as Oxford tried to batter Wimbledon into submission, only for the Dons defence to bang it clear to Kedwell, who had little support to make any decent use of the ball. It was literally all long balls and flicks to nowhere.

Oxford managed a couple of scares just before half time. A deep corner from the left floated over everyone, before being knocked back over Pullen, headed away from under his own bar by Sam Hatton, and somehow scrambled clear. Then a ball played in from the right was met by a flicked header from Adam Chapman that just dropped wide of Jamie Pullen’s right post.

Wimbledon looked a lot more positive at the start of the second half, yet found themselves a goal down just five minutes in. Some poor defending from Jay Conroy allowed Oxford in, as he appeared to leave the ball for an unsuspecting Brett Johnson only for an Oxford man to steal the ball and sweep it right, and Damian Batt’s brilliant cross knocked in along the six yard box was turned into the far corner by the unfortunate Conroy.

Jay Conroy certainly didn’t deserve this after his decent start to the season, and the errors that started and finished the move for Oxfords goal were out of character. You can see why Brown favours him over Luke Garrard. Conroy possesses qualities you wouldn’t normally expect of a fullback, especially his ability in the air. Apparently Jay filled in well at centre half last week after Lorraine and Judge were injured, and by all accounts he did very well. Coupled with his ability going forward, perhaps not of the same quality as Chris Hussey but we certainly don’t look as unbalanced as we did last year when every positive move seemed to come from the left.

Wimbledon didn’t respond to going behind immediately, in fact the game followed its well worn pattern until around the hour mark. Jay Conroy moved forwards with the ball looking for a pass in midfield, but the Oxford midfield backed off him allowing him to fire a low shot that was straight at Ryan Clarke, yet the Oxford keeper did well not to spill the ball with Dons players lurking.

Shortly after Derek Duncan fired in a shot that was immediately blocked, however the ball looped into the air dangerously. Kedwell beat Clarke to the dropping ball but the Dons top scorer could only stab the ball into the keepers arms. With Hussey and Conroy finally getting into the game down their respective flanks, Wimbledon looked threatening.

Oxford should have been reduced to ten men on 68 minutes after a great ball to Lewis Taylor on the right saw him flick the ball past Oxford fullback Kevin Sandwith. However Sandwith cut Taylor down with a shocking challenge that caught the Dons man just above the knee. After extensive treatment Taylor was able to continue, yet the referee determined the challenge only warranted a yellow card.

True, the referees inconsistency had been working both ways until this point (especially his insistence that any 50/50 aerial challenge should be blown for backing in, something that cost the Dons a few free kicks in the first half but almost certainly prevented Paul Lorraine giving away a penalty after a spot of climbing…), and you could say this made amends for a decision made in the Salisbury game when Jon Main should have seen red. But decisions don’t balance themselves out for long, and Wimbledon were on the wrong end of a poor decision minutes later.

It happened when the breakthrough looked like it had come for the Dons on 69 minutes, as Paul Lorraine found himself upfield following a corner and seemed about to pull the trigger to level the scores before finding himself bundled to the floor by Batt. The Oxford man seemed certain to be shown a red card, only for the referee to decide a yellow card would be a more appropriate punishment.

Not only this but the official spent several minutes sorting this out (fortunately remembering to stop his watch… although more on this later…), including ensuring no Oxford player had gained a head-start in encroaching into the box (down to the last inch…). While all this was going on, Danny Kedwell was waiting with ball on penalty spot, presumably changing his mind several times.

After such a long wait it may have been sensible to re-spot the ball and compose himself once more, instead Kedwell’s tame right foot effort was easily kept out by Clarke. Kedwell has had to carry the load of goalscoring expectation so far with Jon Mains loss of form, and maybe this was a big game to far for the man who normally puts in his best work while acting as a foil for his strike partner. A few goals for Main, or the return to match fitness of new addition Ross Montague will take some of the pressure off Kedwell once more, but until then we are relying on our midfield to help him out a little.

While Wimbledon pushed forward, Oxford resorted to picking them off on the break. Pullen had to get down and smother a shot after an Oxford man had muscled past the Dons defence too easily. But in reality it was all Wimbledon. A Hatton deep cross found Danny Kedwell free at the far post but it was just too deep to give the big striker a chance to make up for his previous miss, floating the ball to the keeper from a tight angle.

By this stage Conroy had been sacrificed for Ricky Wellard (with same Hatton moving to right back). Wellard was to spurn a couple of chances that could have put Wimbledon back into the game. However the youngster has looked sharp in all other aspects of his game (except finishing!), and we may well see him start on Monday against Grays.

The first came when Hatton (who had his best game yet this season in midfield) crossed only for Wellard, with the goal at his mercy, to allow the ball to slide of his head. The ball continued to the far post where Main was lurking, the striker couldn’t make proper contact but was offside anyway.

Then, the penalty aside, came Wimbledon’s best chance. A fantastic deep cross from Hussey on the left was met by Kedwell, heading back across goal for Wellard who once again froze, the ball seemed like it hit him and bounced into Clarke’s arms. I have faith that very soon Wellard is going to break his scoring duck by belting one in from thirty yards in a manner that will make Luke Moore’s effort against Salisbury look like a tap in by comparison. Until then, maybe Terry might like to put him on the six yard line, point him towards goal, and have him belt the ball in the net all day until it becomes second nature. 

This was Wimbledon’s last chance, although Oxford had a couple of what looked like sitters as they exploited gaps in the Dons defence. Paul Lorraine looked like he had been seriously injured in stoppage time as Jamie Pullen bravely headed a through ball clear, colliding with his centre half.

As I don’t tend to report on incidents like ‘long ball by the keeper, headed clear by Lorraine’ it might not seem like he does a lot by reading my reports, except maybe for giving away penalties and occasionally pushing forward for corners, but I would just like to add now what an immense contribution Lorraine makes. That’s taking nothing away from his defensive partner Brett Johnson, and it was their solid display all afternoon that kept Oxford at bay.

The game didn’t actually finish until close to five, as the referee fortunately added the time it took for Lorraine to be treated to the six he already added on, which mainly came from him stopping his watch to talk to someone every time a foul took place. Of course, this also meant that he blew the whistle as soon as time ran out, which for Wimbledon was just as Chris Hussey was about to play a ball in from the left. Oh well…

Which brings me back to the start. A moment of intense frustration as the whistle blew passed almost immediately, and I could appreciate the performance the boys put in. They deserved the ovation given by the majority of the crowd at the end, and if the boys can put in a performance half as good as this on Monday at Grays we won’t have any problems.

Oh, and I probably don’t need to lose any sleep over heavy home defeats anymore…