Second Thoughts… Tamworth 5.9.09

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So, on to the ratings;

Pullen    5

Conroy    8

Hussey    6

Gregory    6

Inns    6

Johnson    6

Hatton    7

Adjei    6

Kedwell    8

Main    5

Moore    6

SUBS

Godfrey    6

Brown    6

Taylor    6

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

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

Tamworth 2 AFC Wimbledon 2 – A Match Report

The Dons fantastic start has increased my expectations to such an extent that coming out of the ground yesterday, I couldn’t help feel slightly disappointed we hadn’t stolen the game in the second half. Yes, at half time I had given up hope of seeing any points, especially when I saw the two substitutions as the players came back out.

But we Dons have been spoilt by our team, as I have said before. And Tamworth really didn’t look anything special, which perhaps sums up our poor first half performance Plus some moronic MK chants from a section of the Tamworth support really made me want the lads to ruin their day with a winner.

It had started off, erm, cold. Tamworth is a grim looking place, with the stadium stuck on what looked like a piece of waste ground. They have done their very best to turn it into a Conference standard stadium though, aside from a horrendous slope from left to right (as seen from the away end). On the whole the locals were friendly (ignoring the MK stuff), yet a piece in their programme bemoaned the lack of locals turning up to watch the team, spending equivalent amounts of money watching games in local pubs.

The addition of a few hundred extra supporters and the money they will bring is probably all Tamworth need to stabilize as a Conference club. Not that they will have many problems staying up this season, especially after the start they have made this term.

The Dons fans travelled in their numbers once more, packing out the admittedly small away section and visitors seats, with a few more in the home section of the stand boosting numbers slightly above the 645 that officially entered. You wonder how Tamworth will cope when Luton arrive, with numbers in four figures rather than the high threes, yet the same could be said of a number of clubs – perhaps ourselves included.

Wimbledon fielded a slightly weakened starting lineup, with Luke Moore at the top of the diamond. No Derek Duncan meant Kenedy Adjei kept his place, moving to the left side of midfield, with Hatton and Gregory completing the quartet. It seems Steven Gregory had suffered a family bereavement during the week, for which the players wore black armbands in respect, and he showed a great deal of bravery stepping out for the team on an occasion when no Dons fans would have begrudged him spending time with his family instead.

Defensively, no Judge or Lorraine meant a first start this season for Alan Inns at centre half. As usual Jamie Pullen took his place between the sticks, yet unbeknown to us supporters was carrying an injury that he picked up during the warm-up, something that may have played a part in his erratic first half performance.

The players took the field to the strains of ‘Let Me Entertain You’, which was cringeworthy enough to provoke groans from Dons fans around me. That, and the overenthusiastic PA man, are a curse seemingly every club in provincial towns up and down the country seems to have fallen for, capped by the local village idiot parading round in full Tamworth kit and a lambs head (and since when have lambs taken to wearing keepers gloves?).

Wimbledon looked uncomfortable right from kickoff. Maybe it had something to do with the slope, or the changes made to the team, either way it didn’t look like it was going to be our day at all. Nick Wright created Tamworth’s first chance for himself on three minutes, cutting inside Alan Inns before guiding a tame effort into Pullens arms. It should have been a wake up call for the Dons, but just lead to more chaotic defending and misplaced passes.

Wright has been called up to the forthcoming England C squad along with team mate Alex Rodman, and it was Rodman that spurned the Lambs next chance, mishitting his right foot effort that still beat a scrambling Pullen, rolling just wide of his left post. I have to say, despite Rodman and Wright causing us problems today, if they are the England C benchmark then the likes of Luke Moore and even Sam Hatton should consider themselves unlucky not to have received a callup.

It seemed only a matter of time before either Wimbledon sorted themselves out defensively or Tamworth took advantage, and sadly it was the latter. A throughball was heading back to Pullen, and although he seemed in control of the situation, Jake Sheridan was chasing up to put pressure on the Dons keeper. Pullen seemed to have made his mind up to pick the ball up, yet at the last moment changed his mind and kicked it.

Maybe if Pullen hadn’t been thinking of his injury he might have realised the ball was on the edge of the area, and if he had just dropped on it and smothered then he could have made the best of a bad job. Instead his kick cannoned off Sheridan and flew in the bottom right corner of the net. On another day it would have flown out for a goalkick, but following our early season good fortune our luck seems to be turning after Oxford somehow escaped Kingsmeadow with the points last week.

Wimbledon finally created a chance on the quarter hour. Some persistent play by Jay Conroy saw him work a shooting opportunity from twenty-five yards, but his firmly hit strike flew straight into Tamworth keeper Danny Alcock’s arms. At the time, Conroy had just resumed full back duties after a spell at centre half after Alan Inns had to leave the field following a nasty gash to his head.

Unfortunately although Inns would gladly stick his head into a cement mixer if it meant there was a chance of defending the Dons goal, he isn’t made of stone (we probably forget that sometimes, and Inns himself definitely does…). A patched up Innsy returned to the field sporting a replacement or his bloodied shirt and a huge head bandage. And it only took one more commanding header to see that bandage slip off.

Really Inns should never have returned to the field. I would imagine his insistence to return was probably the reason he did, although he didn’t give the impression that he really knew where he was. There was always a danger he could have seen Tamworths red shirts, thought he was back playing for Trumpton and started challenging Dons players in the air. Innsy was eventually removed from the action, to a rousing reception from the Dons fans and good appreciation from the Tamworth supporters – despite the chanting later which was only from a minority of fans, it was good to see the majority of them know bravery from a footballer when they see it.

Lewis Taylor replaced him, with Sam Hatton moving back to fullback and Jay Conroy at centre half once more. Conroy really impressed me after the switch. He is a brilliant fullback, but has a defensive brain that he could probably apply to any defensive position. Knowing Jay can play this position must be a huge boost to Terry Brown, who seems to have run out of centre halves after having four at the start of the season.

Despite this setback things started to look up for the Dons, a short spell of pressure followed featuring our best chance of the half, a scuffed Kennedy Adjei strike seemed to be completely misjudged by Alcock who just watch it rebound of his right post and back into open play. Then on the half hour Gregory found space to fire a shot that seemed destined for the bottom left hand corner until Alcocks last minute intervention diverted it round the post.

Both sides played out the remainder of the half with some pretty shocking football. I’m not sure either side had any excuses, the Dons just couldn’t get their passing game going and were relying on long balls to Kedwell which may have been more effective if they were directed anywhere near the frontman. The players must have taken a small amount of hope from the fact their hosts were only slightly better than them, and you got the impression that if they could just get it together there still might be a way back into the game for them.

Not that it looked likely, especially following the use of both remaining substitutes during the interval. Pullen was removed from action having suffered a shocker (including being mocked by the Tamworth goalkeeping coach… obviously big Jamie wasn’t actually there to witness this, the guy being a coward and all…), being replaced by Sebb Brown.

Regular readers will know Browns performances in what should have been his trial period left me with little faith in the kid, and when he signed I promised to back him 100%… well I never expected him to actually get onto the pitch! Fortunately all Sebb had to do was the one thing he appeared quite good at during his trial period – kicking the ball clear.

Steven Gregory was also replaced by Elliott Godfrey. Gregory hadn’t actually had too bad a game. He gave the ball away a couple of times, but there probably wasn’t a Dons player on the pitch who hadn’t also. I can only imagine he had been affected by recent problems more than he thought he would.

Naturally with all the changes I saw the best case scenario as keeping the score down, and maybe notching a consolation goal that kept our hopes up until settling for a battling defeat. Yet, something clicked. Wimbledon immediately started looking dangerous. The ball found its way to Hatton on the right, who somehow worked space for a cross down by the corner flag. It was a delightful ball that found Danny Kedwell in plenty of space to guide his header across Alcock and into the far corner.

It certainly sparked the Dons fans into life (although the support was already pretty impressive, just perhaps a little resigned to our fate). The Dons were looking good but still in danger of being caught on the counter, Michael Blackwood striking straight at Brown. Then Wimbledon levelled the scores thanks to Kedwell again. A brilliant Hussey corner found Kedwell, who had lost his marker and had the easiest job of slamming his header into the back of the net.

I have to say I’m really proud for Danny Kedwell right now. When he joined last year he started with a flood of goals, before finding he was better at creating goals than scoring them. After that he seemed lose his scoring touch a bit, and he was never prolific at this level with Grays, so to see him second in the scoring charts right now is a pleasant surprise to us all. Maybe he won’t bang them away as frequently as he is now for the rest of the campaign, but by then perhaps our midfielders will discover their goalscoring touch…

If either side was going to win this game, Wimbledon now looked the more likely. Kennedy Adjei blazed an effort over seconds later. Then on the hour Sam Hatton found a shooting opportunity from a tight angle on the right, but couldn’t find the target. Elliott Godfrey found Lewis Taylor on the right who cut inside two defenders before lifting over and wide. Of course, perhaps it was better that none of these efforts made their way towards goal for fear a midfielder might actually score this season…

Luke Moore doesn’t count. He may have topped the diamond today, but his two strikes against Salisbury were both notched while supporting Kedwell up front. Today from his midfield position he couldn’t hit a milk producing animal with a medium sized stringed instrument. He lead an incisive break from his own half, and as the Tamworth defence backed away could only drag his shot from twenty yards wide of the left post.

Wimbledon had to stay switched on at the back, particularly to defend their inexperienced keeper. Jay Conroy in particular pulled of a couple of magnificent last gasp challenges to prevent Tamworth players a shot on goal. It was this type of danger that prevented the hosts from really threatening the Dons goal, although they did have a lot of possession as the game wore on.

Mostly it was wasted, the ball returned to a Dons player, and on a couple of occasions we saw a promising Wimbledon break halted early thanks to some quite cynical challenges. These drew yellow cards from the referee, but succeeded in negating the threat of these potential counter attacks.

Wimbledon have been awarded a few penalties already this season. The reason for this has been our speed of movement in the opposition penalty area, and outstanding close control confusing defenders, drawing fouls. While not all of those awarded this season have been clear cut, all of them were earned and deserved.

The problem is I don’t believe referees actually like giving penalties. Even the guy at Grays really didn’t want to give them, we got two because they were so obvious the linesmen were able to confirm what he had seen yet didn’t give the third – the most obvious of the lot. Perhaps the official who took charge of yesterdays games had noticed this statistic? He certainly didn’t seem to want to give us one at Tamworth.

Firstly, Elliott Godfrey burst into the box at pace, only to find himself dumped on the ground thanks to both of his legs being removed from under him. I have to say I wasn’t expecting a penalty to be given, it was borderline whether the offense was inside or outside of the area so thought the referee might give the benefit of the doubt and give a free kick. However he decided on this occasion he had seen a dive, and booked a clearly shocked Godfrey.

The second one was maybe more clear cut. Lewis Taylor weaved his way into the area only to be bundled over. This time the referee allowed play to continue. I’m not sure what he thought he saw, but he can’t have seen this as a Taylor dive as no yellow was forthcoming. So what then? Did Taylor just fall over? Or is body checking an opponent now a legal challenge, even when the ball is nowhere near?

It was around this time we heard those MK chants. As I said previously, not all Tamworth fans were a bad bunch, but still couldn’t they self police? After all, as I have said before if any Dons fan acts like a dick around me I don’t have a problem (kindly) bringing it up with them where necessary. The MK chants signal a lack of class, self respect even. It’s pure jealousy, and the majority of Tamworth fans don’t deserve being tarred with that particular brush.

While we are on the subject of Them by the way, it was great to see they threw away the lead at home to Huddersfield on Saturday. I’ve always liked Huddersfield, even more so as one of their supporters chose to come and support us rather than enter the Winkiedome. That’s another reason why Tamworth were ill advised taking the MK option (after all I’m sure there must be other, more original, chants that might hurt us equally badly…), that is that neutral eyes don’t look kindly on it either…

The game ultimately petered out in a serious of attacks and counter-attacks from both sides that threatened much and delivered little. Wimbledon failed to strike the killer blow when they had the momentum, but its was a fantastic effort to take a point from a game Tamworth didn’t deserve to lose due to their organisation and persistence in the first half.

Wimbledon now head into a free week, undoubtedly we shall drop a few places while the rest of the Conference have a full match week, and return to action against Cambridge next week looking to complete the visit of a trio of big hitters with a win against a side bang on form after destroying Forest Green 7-0 at the weekend.

Conference Score! Saturday 5th September ’09

Tamworth    (2) 2    Sheridan (7), Wright (37)

AFC Wimbledon    (0) 2    Kedwell (49, 59)

Danny Kedwell struck twice in the second half as the injury hit Dons fought back from two goals down to claim a point under difficult circumstances in the Midlands. Match Report to follow…

Elsewhere in the division, Cambridge hit seven at home to Forest Green prior to our meeting at Kingsmeadow next Saturday, Oxford maintained their lead with a 2-0 win at Ebbsfleet, and Luton are still unbeaten following a 1-1 draw at Salisbury. Plus there was an unusual incident at Gateshead, where the home team seemingly caused an abandonment by refusing to come out of their dresing room after play was suspended for half an hour due to a serious injury to one of their players.

Tamworth v AFC Wimbledon – A Match Preview

Having being given the all clear to attend the Tamworth game on Saturday by Mrs Anony Don, I approach this match preview with renewed excitement. The only problem is I know very little of Tamworth… which is never usually a problem in terms of writing a preview as you know. I did have the pleasure of spending the early evening in a pub with someone who has actually visited Tamworth’s ground, and their opinion of it was ‘It’s a bit Non-League…’. Really? Who would have thunk it?

Tamworth have had a similar start to the Dons, and are showing the sort of form that suggests they won’t be struggling at the bottom of the table come April. Having said that, we know from personal experience that when Terry Brown included Grays in his list of ‘very strong teams’ that Tamworth have taken points from this term, he might have exaggerated their ability slightly…

Plus the Dons have an intimidating away record so far (except for when we murdered Eastbourne 0-1 of course…), meaning we are seeing the clash of an immovable object and an unstoppable force (I’ll let you draw your own conclusions on which team is which). Their Lamb Ground stadium looks like your typical non-league stadium from photos I hve seen (sorry for doubting you, pub guy) and it seems on an afternoon where rain is expected, we are stuck on a crappy uncovered terrace once again…

Anyway, credit to Tamworth for not charging us £16 to stand on it, in fact you can gain access to the ground for the very same £12 you would pass over the turnstiles at Kingsmeadow, meaning we should in theory see similar numbers that ventured north for Kettering (bearing in mind the nondescript nature of the opposition may put a few off…).

The Dons don’t seem to have picked up any further injuries following the Bank Holiday weekend, so if, uhm. whoever the Tamworth manager is happens to be reading this, he can be assured the following predicted lineup is probably pretty accurate.

Pullen

Conroy

Hussey

Lorraine

Johnson

Gregory

Hatton

Taylor

Duncan

Kedwell

Moore

The biggest question is whether Ross Montague will play any part after his goal for the reserves against Uxbridge in the week, otherwise we could see a similar XI to that above. Perhaps Main might get a start after his two penalties on Monday, in which case Moore will drop back into midfield and Duncan to the bench (in my opinion).

As I am at the game, once again there will be the full Anonymous Don service including match report and second thoughts… and having said that, I think I may have forgotten something…