Dons 2 Bristol Rovers 3. And stuff.

Before the game I had been entertaining the notion that with us already having played a competitive match, with the momentum from our promotion, with the emotion of the day, we might just conjure up a win against one of the bookies' favourites for promotion and find ourselves top of the league for an hour or two. As it was, a combination of nerves and three serious lapses meant that despite a brave comeback, we found ourselves bottom of the league for an hour or two.
There are accounts and footage of the game aplenty online - The Anonymous Don, SW19's Army have reports on the game, and the BBC have brief highlights - so there's not much point in me repeating everything they've said. Instead, here are a few random thoughts and opinions on our return to league football:

1. Jamie Stuart shouldn't be captain because he's not guaranteed a place in the starting eleven. Mat Mitchel-King hasn't been bought to be a substitute, and for all the fact that Brett Johnson was responsible for two of the Gas' goals, I'd still have him in the team ahead of Stuart, whose lack of inches looked a real handicap against a tall Bristol Rovers team.
2. The tickets were rubbish. I'm not surprised there was talk of fake tickets - it's not difficult to forge something where the original looks like a bad photocopy anyway. And why no stubs so we could keep our intact tickets as a memento of the day?
3. Kedwell and Gregory haven't been replaced, making us a worse team than we were last season. Midson and Porter have to fill their boots, despite having been bought to play with, rather than instead of, the departing duo.
4. Mo has been replaced - Charles Ademeno looked the business when he came on. Difficult to know who to relegate to the subs bench though, as Jolley also looked dangerous, and I can't see Ademeno playing up front on his own. Also, with his injury record, it would be dangerous to build a team around him.
5. It won't be long before Bush is first choice left-back
6. The referee was a twat, but at least he got the big decisions right (though I'd have preferred it if he'd got the last one wrong).
7. Marcus Bent is not the answer. And I don't care what the question is.
8. Nor is Jason Euell.
9. Having said all that, based on this game, we've got nothing to fear from this division
10. I'd forgotten just how bad the view from the John Smiths stand is
11. How much would it cost to buy one of those machines that can pour numerous pints at once?
12. Is the meat in the burgers really halal? In fact, is it really meat?

As a final talking point, here's another possible line-up, in a 4-4-2 formation (fitness permitting):
Brown; Hatton, Mitchel-King, Johnson, Bush; L Moore, Minshull, Porter, Jolley; Midson/mythical new signing, Ademeno. Subs: Turner, Stuart, and now we see a bit of competition in midfield. Three places left, and Wellard, Toks, S Moore and Mulley to choose from. For my money, Sammy Moore would be the man to miss out.

AFC Wimbledon win 4-3 on penalties (play-off final match report)

At approximately 5.50 p.m. on Saturday 21st of May, 2011, Danny Kedwell marched to the penalty area in front of the Wimbledon fans, and proceeded to smash the winning penalty into the Luton net, establish himself even more firmly in Wimbledon folklore, and propel AFC Wimbledon into the football league less than nine years after an open trial on Wimbledon Common marked the first heartbeat of the club.
At the time, the match itself was, quite possibly, one of the least enjoyable 120 minutes of football I have ever endured. That's not because it wasn't exciting - if anything, it was almost too exciting for my nerves to take. Whenever Luton had the ball, I was convinced that I couldn't relax for a second, as if it was my concentration, my willing Luton not to score, that kept the ball out of the Dons net. In fact, I'm sure it was my brainwaves that caused Jason Walker's 89th minute header to hit the inside of the post and rebound into Seb's hands rather than into the goal.
Having said that, I have to point out that I couldn't have done it without a certain 14 footballers in Wimbledon blue who played their hearts out in order to give Wimbledon football its finest hour since Dave Beasant lifted the FA Cup at Wembley in 1988.
Not least among the heroes was Steven Gregory, who gave another commanding performance at the heart of the Dons midfield. Injured after being caught a fraction late in the 70th minute, he returned to the pitch with a heavily strapped right ankle, but continued to be an infuential figure until the injury finally got the better of him in the fifth minute of extra time, when he was replaced by Lee Minshull.
Similarly, Mo went down injured early in the last period of extra time, and would surely have been substituted had TB not been forced to use his last substitution because of Gregs' injury. However, he stayed on and, despite a marked reduction in his mobility, still made an almighty nuisance of himself playing wide on the left.
As for playing through the pain barrier, Gareth Gwillim lasting 60 minutes is all the more remarkable when one considers that he was playing with a fractured hip.
Other than the injured heroes, every other player gave everything. Hatton, Gwillim, and Johnson (when Brett moved to left-back after GG's substitution) repelled everything Luton's dangerous wide men could throw at them. Toks had one of his best games in a Wimbledon shirt, constantly worrying the Luton defence by taking the ball and running at their left flank. Jamie Stuart, predictably, was pumped up and put his feet, head, and body in where it hurt time and time again to repel Luton attacks. Brett Johnson was imperious at the back and showed no little skill and control when bringing the ball forward. Ricky Wellard wasn't at his penetrating best as against Fleetwood, but many of the Dons' best moves still featured him at some point and he showed far more enthusiasm for a physical challenge than many fans would have previously have given him credit for. Luke Moore was at his waspish best, harrying Luton all game long and providing a skilful focal point for many Dons attacks. And Danny Kedwell was, well, Danny Kedwell. As for possibly the biggest hero, Seb Brown, we'll come to him later.
Predictably, there were controversial moments. James Adcock, 27,  refereed the game with an impressive air of calm authority for one so young, but that doesn't mean he got every decision right. If, 10 minutes before half-time, he had interpreted Keith Keane's two-footed, both-feet-off-the-ground, studs-first foul on Ricky Wellard as a two-footed, both-feet-off-the-ground, studs-first foul, then the Dons would have been playing against 10 men for the rest of the game, and we wouldn't have witnessed another moment of refereeing controversy when, in the 87th minute, Jason Walker cut in from the right and bore down on the Dons goal in front of the massed ranks of Luton fans at the South end of the stadium. As Seb came out and spread himself for the shot, Walker slipped the ball past him across the six-yard line, the resulting collision leaving the striker in a heap on the floor. I've watched the TV replay of the incident a number of times to try and work out if it was, in fact, a penalty. Possibly the referee thought that Walker had pushed the ball too far, and not quite in the direction he was running, but if the situation was reversed, and it had been Danny Kedwell brought down by Mark Tyler, then every Dons fan would have been screaming for a penalty. It's possible the referee even played advantage, because the ball fell to Barnes-Homer six yards from goal with Seb Brown hopelessly out of position, but he was denied by a miraculous Sam Hatton block, which was followed by a sprawling Jamie Stuart denying Jake Howells in an almighty goalmouth scramble that the Dons somehow survived. When, 2 minutes later, Walker put his header against the post from no more than six yards out, I started to think that maybe, just maybe, it might be our day after all.
Whilst the match was nerve-wracking for the supporters, it would have been exciting for the neutral. The large pitch was, as expected, in perfect condition, favouring good football. If the Dons didn't take full advantage of this, it was as much due to Luton's pressing high up the pitch as any understandable nerves. The result was a fast and frenetic game, with high levels of effort, and no small amount of technique and skill on display. In fact, the game had everything but goals, though how it remained goalless through 120 minutes of attack and counter-attack is anyone's guess. After just seven minutes Wellard broke from midfield and fed Mo on the left, who cut inside and shot at goal. Tyler parried the shot to Kedwell, who dispatched the rebound into the net. Cue delirium among the Dons fans, who took a few seconds to realise that a linesman's flag had ruled out the goal (TV replays later showed the official to be correct - Danny was a good couple of yards offside when Mo took his shot).
Further chances came and went. Seb Brown gathered Howells' deflected cross at the second attempt, Wilmott blasted a free-kick over the bar after Brett Johnson had gone in late on Walker, Mo was an inch short of heading Kedwell's cross into the net, and Gnapka's shot from a tight angle was saved by Seb when the Luton winger should really have pulled the ball back for a teammate. And that was all in the first twenty minutes. On the half-hour mark, referee Adcock made his first mistake of the afternoon when failing to notice Pilkington's assault on Kedwell right on the edge of the Luton penalty area. A minute later, Gnapka sent a free header inches over the bar, having won the free kick himself thanks to a challenge that earned Brett Johnson a yellow card.
The second half ended with the Dons on top, but with the fans - never mind the players - in dire need of a break to regather themselves and prepare themselves for the second half.
The second half started off at the same high pace as the first, although clear-cut chances were harder to come by, and challenges started to get a little feisty. Alex Lawless saw yellow for hacking down Gregs, and a little bit of afters between Luke Moore and Keith Keane had TB on the touchline telling his man to calm down. On the hour mark, the Dons produced the best move of the game thus far, which commenced with the outstanding Steven Gregory breaking up a Luton attack by the right corner flag. After dummying a Luton attacker, he exchanged passes with Sam Hatton, and the move ended with Toks pulling a ball back to Keds, whose cross was intercepted by Zdenek Kroca's big toe just as Mo was about to pull the trigger. Although Luton were starting to get on top, the Dons still managed to come close when Yaks, on for Gwillim, and Brett Johnson seemed to get in each others' way from a left-wing corner when a decisive contact would surely have put Wimbledon ahead - instead the ball bounced off a defender's knee for what the ref gave as a goal kick.
The only other incident worthy of note before the heart-stopping last 5 minutes was when Luke Moore, who'd just been booked for a foul on Keane, held off the same player from a bouncing ball on the edge of the Luton box. Keane went down as if shot, and the linesman flagged for a foul. To the relief of the Dons' fans, the ref saw that the arm-to-face contact was accidental, and let Luke off with a final warning. From then until full-time, the Dons defence held firm as Luton turned the screw, albeit with a little bit of help from the inside of the post (and the combined will of 6,000 Dons' fans). Luton may have been on top at the end of the second half, but the final action of normal time was a Kedwell drive charged down by the Luton defence. As if we hadn't suffered enough, it was time for extra time.
The first minute of extra time saw another worrying moment for the Dons when the ref wrongly decided that Brett Johnson had fouled Gnapka again. Despite Gnapka's protests that he was denied a good attacking position, the ref again kept his card in his pocket.
For the first ten minutes of extra time, Luton carried on where they left off at the end of normal time. But the Dons defence simply would not be beaten, and it started to look as if Luton had punched themselves out. With Minshull adding extra energy and presence (if not the same range of passing as Gregory) to the heart of the midfield, and Mulley's pace down the flanks worrying the Luton back line, the Dons started their own period of dominance.
The Dons had five excellent chances to win the game in the second half of extra time, but the footballing gods had obviously decided that the match was destined to finish goalless. First, Mulley's snap-shot was saved by Tyler at his near post after the former HandY man had been played in by Toks. Then Luke Moore pulled the ball back for Mo, and with the Dons fans expecting a repeat of his semi-final goal at Fleetwood, the injured Mo could only side-foot his shot against the outside of the near post with Tyler a mere spectator. Minutes later, Keds fired a low cross across goal only for Luke Moore to be denied by an excellent chanllenge by Luton right-back Dan Gleeson. With two minutes left, Gleeson was in the action again. After a Dons corner had been cleared, the ball was passed in to Yakubu, eight yards out and straight in front of goal, but the pesky Gleeson just nipped in first, and it was Luton's fans turn to have their hearts in their mouths as the defender's touch took the ball (in slow motion, naturally) towards and then just past the outside of the post. There was still time for one last glorious Dons chance. Again it was Yaks, this time at the back post as a cross from the right floated invitingly onto his forehead. With the goal at his mercy, Yaks somehow mistimed his header high and wide, much to the animated disappointment of the nearby Dons skipper. And with that, and with me thinking that maybe it wasn't to be our day after all, the ref blew for full-time and we were to be subjected to football's ultimate instrument of torture: the penalty shootout.
After negotiation, a coin toss, scissors/paper/stone, or whatever it is they use to decide these things, it was determined that the spot kicks would be taken at the end where the Wimbledon fans were seated, but that Luton would have first whack. But not, thanks to Seb Brown, the first successful penalty. The England 'C' keeper dived low to his right to keep out Alex Lawless' kick, and raise expectations once more among Dons' fans - expectations that would rise further with Sam Hatton and Luke Moore's clinical spot kicks. But deep down, not even the most optimistic of Dons fans would have expected a comfortable progression of successful spot kicks, and when the injured Mo (why was he taking a penalty anyway) sent his side-footed kick comfortably within range of Mark Tyler, both teams had scored two out of three penalties. Fortunately for Dons' fans nerves, Seb Brown came to the rescue once again, with an even better save than the first one. Walker's chipped kick was passing above Seb as he dived to the right, but he stretched up his left hand to paw the ball away, sparking further delirium in the North stand. Then came Yaks, who I don't think many people were expecting to take a penalty, but after a pause and a deep breath, he sent Tyler the wrong way leaving the Dons one kick - one kick! - away from the Football League. Jake Howells scored to keep Luton in it, but the muted cheer from their fans betrayed their dwindling hopes, especially with a certain D. Kedwell to take Wimbledon's fifth penalty. With Dons fans not daring to hope, Keds calmly strolled up, placed the ball on the spot, and proceeded to smash the ball past Tyler's right hand with such ferocity it almost broke the net. In case you've forgotten how that looked, this should remind you.
And that was that. All that remained were the formalities of the trophy presentation and a night on the town in Manchester. You have to feel a little sorry for Luton who, lest we forget, have also suffered at the hands of incompetent owners and the game's administrators, and who may well have been promoted with us but for the recently and mysteriously acquired financial might of Crawley Town. As for the City of Manchester Stadium, it really is a splendid stadium, large but with a good atmosphere, even if various issues (not least ticket prices) hadn't kept the attendance down to a slightly disappointing 18,195.
But that wasn't going to worry anyone associated with Wimbledon on Saturday night. For me, three images sum up the afternoon. First, lifelong Wimbledon fan and penalty-saving hero Seb Brown crying tears of joy after the game; second, Danny Kedwell's penalty kick - a satisfyingly emphatic finish from our talismanic captain who had done more than any other player to get us to Manchester in the first place; and finally, Terry Brown's victory celebrations, including the miming of a successful penalty kick and subsequent goal celebration. Widely regarded as the best manager in non-league football, he now gets a well-deserved crack at the Football League. When a match is won by such a narrow margin, you start to realise how even the smallest detail is important, and that therefore the time and effort put in by TB and his management team to provide his players with the best possible preparation (which included practising penalties in the weeks before the play-offs) was probably the key factor in the Dons now being a football league club. And in contrast to the big-boned manager of a certain Sussex club, Terry has always conducted himself with the utmost dignity, making him that rarest of people - a nice guy who is also a winner.

This is where the playoff final preview should be

Bit Really f**king nervous. Hope Gwillim's fit.
Having booked a hotel, I'll either be having it large in Manchester or crying into my room service soup tomorrow night.
Obviously I hope we win, but if we lose I hope it's after a good game free of controversy (I don't care how much controversy there is if it goes in our favour).
That pretty much covers it. What were you expecting with less than 24 nerve-wracking hours to go before 90 nerve-shredding minutes? Incisive analysis? I can barely concentrate on watching Deal or No Deal, never mind string coherent sentences together. Come back on Monday, when I may or may not have a meaningful match report.

Play-off Final Tickets rubbish

With two days to go, as well as looking forward to a (potentially very) historic day for AFC Wimbledon, many of us are musing on how to best use the words "brewery", "Conference" and "piss-up" in the same sentence. Along with their partners in crime See Tickets, the Conference Board - and in particular the sub-committee who set the the ticket prices for the Play-Off Final - appear to be doing their level best to exploit, alienate, and generally get on the tits of as many fans as possible.

Predictably, the first problem is the price. The cheapest ticket is £36 (plus a mandatory £3 booking fee and a transaction fee). Thirty-six pounds to watch a non-league game of football. To put that in context, let's look at the cheapest tickets available for some other matches this season:
League 2 Play-Off Final (Old Trafford):  £26
League 1 Play-Off Final (Old Trafford): £30
Championship Play-Off Final (Wembley): £36
Johnstone Paint Trophy Final (Wembley): £24
FA Trophy Final (Wembley): £30

The Conference argues (in response to my polite enquiry as to why tickets are so expensive) that the "average price is below the average charged by the Football League" for the League 2 final. Which brings me neatly on to the second problem - the pricing structure. For all the other finals, be they at Old Trafford or Wembley, there is a wide range of ticket prices available. The most expensive of the five price levels for the League 2 final is £56, giving a range of £30 between cheapest and most expensive (compared to the range of just £5 between the cheapest and most expensive tickets for the Conference final). This means there are tickets available for people who can afford a good seat in the middle tier at the side of the ground, while there are also tickets available for those fans whose resources are more limited. Fans who can't afford, say, £36 for a ticket can therefore buy cheaper seats which, although they won't have the best view in the house, will allow said fans to attend the match, cheer on their team and be able to say "I was there". Unfortunately for us, it seems the Conference sub-committee either didn't consider such an obvious concept, or simply don't want poor people to attend their game.
Having a range of ticket prices not only takes into account the varying levels of wealth among fans, but also acknowledges another familiar concept that seems alien to the Conference, namely that some seats offer a much better view of the game than others and are therefore worth charging more for. Ticket prices for the Conference final are determined only by the tier they are in, and not their position relative to the pitch. Lower tier, row A, at one end of the ground? £36. Lower tier, 20 rows back, by the halfway line? £36. It all makes you wonder if any of the infamous sub-committee have ever been to a football match.
Having already noted that the Conference appear to be trying to keep poor people away from the game, I've identified more groups that seem to have incurred their wrath. Namely, the evil-doers that are the young, the old, and the unemployed. The Conference's way of keeping young people away from the good seats is to only make under-16 tickets available for the cheap seats in tier 1. So if you want to take your wife (or husband - no sexualism here) and two children to the game and sit in good seats, it will cost you four full-price tickets. Plus booking and transaction fees, naturally, thus making the cost of the trip over £170 before you've even got to Manchester and bought the overpriced commemorative programmes/burgers/drinks etc. As for senior citizens, and the unemployed, the Conference doesn't seem to want these doddering, shiftless, workshy losers in the stadium at all, never mind the good seats. Because there are no concessions at all for these groups, even in tier 1. Presumably they can all go to the same pub as the poor people and watch the game on Premier Sports - assuming there is a pub somewhere in the country that actually has Premier Sports, which is doubtful.
And the mistakes don't stop there. Because of the need to sell a large number of tickets in a short space of time, the Conference chose to use a ticket agency. That's fair enough, but unfortunately the chosen agency (See Tickets) aren't every fans' favourite right now. For a start, there's the way they offer you the 'best tickets' available for your selected block, but unfortunately they believe that the closest seats are automatically the best, with the result that for the lower tier, the best seats are deemed to be in the first few rows (which, for the other play-off finals, are in a lower price range than the rest of the lower tier). After the website offered me seats in row D, I rang the ticket hotline, at which point I was offered exactly the same seats. When I asked if there were any seats available further back, I was told that they could only offer me the seats suggested by the computer, and couldn't look to see if others were available. This led to a bizarre game of online ticket-purchasing chicken, whereby I would occasionally check to see if other poor souls had snapped up the lower seats thus leaving me with the option of buying better seats further back, but at the same time worry that if I was too late checking there could have been a rush and all the tickets would be gone (in the end I chickened out altogether and spent an extra fiver to have seats in row B of the second tier). What doesn't improve my mood is that I've just checked to see if this is still the case and an extremely helpful gentleman at See Tickets gave me a full choice of available seats for me to choose from. The bastard.
Even when fans have successfully purchased tickets, there are still palpitations to be had due to the late stage at which the tickets are sent out. While this is normal practice for most events, and while I'm sure there will be very few, if any, undelivered tickets come Saturday, it does not help to send a football fan an email on Wednesday telling him his tickets for the final have been dispatched and will arrive in "2-3 days".
And one final cheery thought on See Tickets - judging by the Luton message board last night, it seems that the See Tickets website temporarily stopped working for them and some Luton fans announced that they proceeded to buy tickets for the Wimbledon end instead. Hopefully that's just a bit of 'hilarious' trolling on someone's part, as most of the respondents to that thread said they had no such problems.
All in all, the attendance is going to be lower than it could - or should - have been, though by how much is difficult to tell. Posts on the message boards indicate that there are people who cannot afford to go, or cannot afford to take their children, and many have said that they have mates who didn't support the Dons but would have considered going along if it wasn't for the exorbitant cost. But mostly, fans will be going because although they think the tickets are too expensive, they can't afford not to go. It is this loyalty that is apparently being exploited by those that set the ticket prices.
So what have the Conference said about all this? Have they apologised or attempted to rectify the situation? Er, no. Conference spokesman Colin Peake, who is not going to win any popularity contests any time soon, has come up with a number of mealy-mouthed statements. Here's a few:

"The Conference sub-committee decided the pricing but Manchester City are running the game. We have to comply with them and they dictate things." (Also note this from the AFC website "At a Conference meeting on Thursday 12 May, the Board was notified that the arrangements [for ticket pricing] were in the contract with the City of Manchester Stadium which has been signed.") So, Colin, you set the price but Man City are dictating things? How are they dictating things, exactly? What say do they have in determining the ticket prices that were decided by the Conference sub-committee? I asked Manchester City the same questions but unfortunately they haven't got back to me yet (probably busy answering questions from less important organisations like the Guardian, The Sun, the BBC, SW19's army etc).

"If tickets were half [the price], people would still complain." (As quoted in this week's Non-Leage Paper) No, Colin. No they wouldn't.

"They weren't far off this price last year but it didn't stop 30,000 Oxford fans going to support their team" (Again, as quoted in this week's Non-Leage Paper). That was Wembley, Colin. With all due respect to Eastlands, it's very different for a fan (of any team) to be able to say "I saw us win at Wembley" compared to being able to say "I saw us win at Eastlands".
On the subject of cost of venue, when cuddly Colin was on BBC Radio London's Non League Football Show, he refused to answer questions from Dave Anderson on whether Eastlands was the same price to hire as Wembley, claiming that he wouldn't know the full cost until August. Just like the DA, I couldn't believe what I was hearing - was no price agreed in advance? Or are Manchester City free to invoice the Conference for as much as they please? If Eastlands isn't the same price as Wembley, why are the tickets not similarly reduced in price? If it is the same price as Wembley, then the Conference has been well and truly diddled.

To make matters worse for us Dons fans, our Chief Executive didn't do himself any favours with his appearance on this week's Non League Football Show, by refusing to criticise the pricing structure. He may be somewhat hamstrung in the views he can offer as he has a seat on the Conference board, so hopefully the suggestion that he is keeping his powder dry until after the event (and hopefully after our promotion at which point he will have nothing more to do with the Conference board) are true.

I'll leave you with one final quote from my favourite Conference spokesman from his appearance on last week's Non League Football Show "One of the things that you will get in the promotion final which you did not get with the FA Trophy final at Wembley on Saturday - you'll be able to watch ours on the television[...]for £6.99"

AFC Wimbledon 6 Fleetwood Town 1 - match report (again - sort of)

Cod Army battered! Cods walloped! Right, that's got the obvious, cod-awful puns out of the way, here's the match report. Given that the last one was so popular (well, I didn't get any complaints), I've decided on using the same format again i.e. general impressions of the various stages of the game, followed by player ratings.

0-90 mins: Fleetword are terrible, Dons supremely competent without ever having to get into top gear.

Hmmm, there's not much there, so as an added bonus I'll do this goal by goal instead.

30 seconds: Fleetwood centre-half Gregan lumbers after a hopeful ball over the top and seems to have everything under control, but while he's deciding what to do with it, Mo picks his pocket, (thus obtaining the ball, some chips, a half-eaten Mars bar and an expired WeightWatchers membership card), cuts inside another challenge, and neatly slips the ball past the keeper. 1-0

28 mins: Something of a rarity thus far in the tie - a goal that we score all by ourselves, without any glaring defensive errors (although they did give Keds the freedom of the penalty area). An excellent diagonal ball from Sam Hatton reaches the unmarked Kedwell just inside the penalty area. A good first touch and shot later, it's 2-0

35 mins: More comedy defending. Luke Moore charges down a pass out of defence, and is quickest to the loose ball which he squares across goal for Mo to tap into an empty net. 3-0

47 mins: Seb parries a shot only for Seddon to tap in the rebound. 3-1. Is this the comeback?

63 mins: No. A good build-up is given what seems for this tie to be the traditional slapstick finish. I can't quite remember the exact sequence of events, but from my less-than-perfect vantage point in the John Smiths Stand, it seemed to involve Toks having a shot saved, a stretching Mo hitting the post from 2 yards, then a defender sliding in to put the ball back into Mo's path. Having had a practice shot at scoring into an empty net from 2 yards, Mo smacks this one home confidently for his hat-trick. 4-1

68 mins: A good run by sub Christian Jolley ends with the keeper saving at his feet. But as keeper and defender dither to clear the bouncing ball, Christian nips back round the keeper to flick the ball deftly into the net. 5-1

80 mins: James Mulley robs a Fleetwood attacker deep in Dons' territory and powers off towards the half-way line, and beyond. After an exchange of passes with Toks, he's through on goal and shimmies his way round the keeper for the best goal of the tie. I'm almost feeling sorry for Fleetwood now. 6-1

So there you have it. You have to have some sympsthy for the 153 hardy souls who travelled from Fleetwood on a school night in order to have a John Smiths Stand view of their last realistic hopes of victory being dashed within 30 seconds, and their team humiliated in the ensuing 89-and-a-half minutes-plus-stoppage-time.
Watching Fleetwood's performance last night, I really had to wonder how they made it to the play-offs at all, expecially with two such immobile centre-backs. You might get away with one such chap at the back, but  two? Are attacks in this division so lacking in skill and craft that they can't pick their way between two players that have the turning circle of the Ark Royal?

Anyway, here's what you've all been waiting for, those all-important* player ratings:

Brown - 9. Three excellent saves in the first half underlined why he's rated one of the best (if not the best) keeper in this division. Again, to be picky, his kicking isn't up to the standard of the rest of his game though it has definitely improved over the season.

Hatton - 6. An improvement on Friday's game (which isn't difficult), he cleared off the line, set up Keds' goal, and was a willing outlet on the right. But generally his delivery wasn't up to scratch, and he fell below the high standards he's set for himself this season.

Gwillim - 7. Solid enough until replaced at half-time (which is another way of saying that I was up the wrong end of the John Smiths stand to get a good view of how he played).

Stuart - 8. Not quite as dominant as in the first leg but still mighty impressive. Everybody needs a nutter in the middle...

Johnson - 8. The Johnson/Stuart axis didn't look quite as impervious as on Friday, with Seb bailing them out more than once, but it was still an excellent performance, including a second half at left back after GG's substitution for Yaks.

Gregory - 8. Tracked anything that moved in a red shirt, and distribution was almost always on the money.

Haydon - 10. Flawless. Excellent use of the wheelie-bin, gave 110%, and looked every inch a league 2 (and possibly higher) mascot.

Wellard - 8. Not at the match-winning level of Friday night, but still very composed and creative in midfield. Covered a lot of ground tracking back as well.

Yussuff - 7. Looked tricky and threatening at times, particularly in the second half, without ever hinting at the quality displayed by his midfield partners.

Mohamed - 9. Scored a hat-trick, always willing to run at Fleetwood, and put in another great shift. Only possible criticism is that his brain doesn't always work at the same speed as his feet.

Kedwell - 9. Another barnstorming performance by the skipper

Luke Moore - 9. Arguably man of the match. His pace, energy, skill and determination gave the Fleetwood defence nightmares. Probably taken off for his own protection after Fleetwood decided the only way to stop him was to hack him down.

Subs:
Yakubu (on for Gwillim at half-time) - 7. Admittedly against a dispirited Fleetwood attack, Yaks nonetheless looked very solid indeed.
Jolley (on for Luke Moore after 57 mins) - 7. Just when the Fleetwood defence thought they'd got rid of one pest, along comes lightning quick Jolley to terrorise them some more.
Mulley (on for Danny Kedweel after 72 mins) - 7. Scored the goal of the game. It says something about our quality in depth when a player of his calibre can only get on the subs' bench.
*may not actually be important at all

All-in-all, a perfect evening. An early goal to settle any nerves, some very accommodating opposition, and a scoreline that will certainly grab Luton's attention. No-one got booked, there were no serious injuries (that is, assuming Gwillim was taken off as a precaution and will be fit for the final), the Tempest End had a disco, and having guided the club to the play-off final, Terry was cheered for waving at the crowd.
Roll on Manchester.

Fleetwood Town 0 AFC Wimbledon 2 - a match report (sort of)

Yeeeeesssssss! Get in!
Right, now I've got that out the way, this is roughly what happened:
0-30 mins: Nervy, edgy stuff, Dons passing game edging it against the more direct approach of the home side. Better (half) chances fall to the Dons.
30-39 mins: Dons passing game stops working so well. Fleetwood gain the upper hand but still without really testing Seb Brown
39 mins: Fleetwood's hard work undone by gifting Luke Moore a great chance - which he takes with minimum fuss, though from our terrace, the ball seems to take an age before it sneaks inside the post.
39-65 mins: Goal deflates Fleetwood, we play like Barcelona. Mo scores a second after a pull-back from Luke Moore. Could, possibly should, have got more.
65-90 mins: Fleetwood wake up, we sit back a bit, Cod Army finds its voice, and it all gets a little nervous towards the end. Seb makes a couple of very good saves.

Other notes: Ref was a homer. Our players got booked for minor fouls, celebrations, their players got booked for G.B.H. Excellent atmosphere generated by 800-odd visiting Dons fans in crowd of 4,112. Like their team, Cod Army only really got going in the last 20 mins or so, and might find themselves in trouble for lighting a flare in their terrace.

Player ratings:
Brown - 8. Two excellent saves in second half (possibly three but it was too far away to tell). Handling very secure, but kicking still needs work.
Hatton - 5. And that's being generous. Seriously, this was as bad as I've ever seen him. Too many casually misplaced passes, not so tight defensively, and got booked towards the end.
Johnson - 8. Another classy display by Brett, even after having to switch to left back following Gwillim's injury.
Stuart - 9. Immense. I'd have had Yakubu in the team rather than Stuart so thank god I'm not picking the team.
Gwillim - 8. Very solid defensively, though still not looking the most accomplished coming forward. Went off injured in the second half - possibly still suffering the effects of Gregan's assault on him at the end of the first half
Toks - 7. Had some good runs, though distribution not always perfect. Suffered a bit from having to cover for Hatton a lot
Gregory - 8. Very solid game from Gregs. Never panicked in posession, closed Fleetwood down well, kept things ticking over very nicely. I always felt confident whenever he or Wellard had the ball, that we would retain possession and the next pass would arrive safely at its chosen destination.
Wellard - 9. A revelation. Even when things were getting frenetic in the middle, he always seemed to have that extra time on the ball to pick a pass. And put himself about, covering a hell of a lot of ground.
Luke Moore - 9. Always works his socks off to close down the opposition - which proved especially useful against the two fat lumps they had in central defence. Took the all important first goal very nicely, made the second, and was a constant thorn in Fleetwood's side
Kaid Mohamed - 8. Lively, skilful, scored a good goal. Not all his tricks and flicks came off, but, like everyone else, really put in a shift
Danny Kedwell - 9. Another inspirational performance by the skipper. Constantly barged and buffeted by their centre backs, but never took a backward step. His game had everything apart from a goal.

Subs: Yakubu (on for Gwillim) - 7. Came on at centre-back with Brett Johnson switching to the left. Looked strong - and had to be during the last part of the game when Fleetwood were throwing everything at us
Minshull (on for Toks) - 6. Sent on to shore things up in midfield, did OK
Jolley (on for Luke Moore) - 6. No time to make an impact.

Now I've read that through, I seem to have made a very exciting evening sound not so exciting. But really, we did look like Barcelona at times in the second half. And really, our player of the year had an absolute shocker. And really, Wellard put himself about a bit. It all made the pain of the M6 worthwhile.

Reasons to be cheerful - a play-off preview

Right now the world is a very pleasant place for us Wombles. Admittedly, that could all change by 9.45pm on Friday, but for now we can put all negative thoughts to one side and reflect on a successful season while dreaming of play-off glory (without tempting fate and actually predicting play-off glory, naturally). So here, in no particular order, are my reasons for Dons fans everywhere to sit back, crack open their beverage of choice (mmm, turps) and feel good about the world (and that's without even mentioning nice weather, bank holidays or some posh bint marrying an even posher bloke):

1. We made the play-offs. Our season is still alive, and we're potentially three games away from league football. If you'd been offered this at the start of the season, you'd have taken it, wouldn't you?
2. Not only did we make the play-offs, but we came second in the league with a highly creditable tally of 90 points and played a lot of good football along the way. Only the financial might of Crawley finished above us (and before you start complaining about how unlucky we were to be competing against Crawley, it's worth reflecting that it could have been worse. In a league that includes former league clubs such as Luton, Wrexham, Grimsby, Darlington, York, Mansfield and even Cambridge, we can count ourselves lucky that for one reason or another, more of them couldn't mount an irresistible challenge for the play-off places).
3. That second place means we face Fleetwood. I'm not especially delighted that it is Fleetwood, but I'm more relieved that it's not Luton, Wrexham, or York.
4. Luton have to play Wrexham. I'm with the bookies in thinking that Luton are favourites to go up, but I'd give Wrexham as much chance as anyone of upsetting Luton over two games, having taken four points off them in the regular season. Hopefully Wrexham's off-pitch financial worries will have a unifying, rather than distracting, effect on the team. At least until the final, should we happen to get there as well.
5. With the arguable exception of Sammy Moore, our first choice eleven is fit and raring to go, and stronger than at any time this season. When we scraped a nil-nil at home to Luton, their star player was Andy Drury, who has since left the Hatters for the tractor boys of Ipswich. Meanwhile, the Dons have been strengthened by the return of Brett Johnson and Lee Minshull from injury, the return of a rejuvenated Ricky Wellard from his loan spell at Cambridge, and the acquisition of Kaid Mohammed from Bath. So while you can argue that Luton have got weaker, the Dons have only got stronger, to the point where, even without the injured Sammy Moore, it's very possible that only one out of James Mulley, Rashid Yussuff, Ricky Wellard and Christian Jolley will be in the starting eleven. That's a lot of firepower to come off the bench should it be needed.
6. Our run-in, which before the Wrexham game had me thinking that we could mount a challenge for the title itself, wasn't too onerous. Having won six and drawn one of the last seven, we should be full of confidence going in to the play-offs, without having endured too many tough, draining contests in order to acquire that confidence.
7. Play-off playing conditions. If you could choose playing conditions that would suit the Dons' style, it would be warm weather and a good playing surface. I didn't go to Fleetwood in January (travelling to an evening game in NW Lancashire in the middle of winter would seriously threaten my status as an armchair fan) but judging by the highlights on AFC Wimbledon TV, their pitch looks a decent size, and will hopefully be in good condition on Friday night. Moreover, with no more games at "The Cherry Red Records Fans' Stadium Kingsmeadow" until the home leg, our pitch should, with some tender loving care, be in good condition. And IF we do make it to the play-off final, the pitch at Eastlands is all but guaranteed to be in excellent condition.

So there you have it. We have four days when pretty much everything is just fine. We can approach Friday's game knowing that we've had a great season already, and while the Fleetwood encounters will provide an incredibly tough test (our haul of four points against them during the regular season flattered us greatly and could easily have been just the one), we couldn't be in much better shape approaching them. So enjoy it - either because we could be on the brink of something great, or because we could end up being beaten by Fleetwood, in which case these four days will be as good as it gets for a while...

Reserves v Mansfield preview

I wrote the following on Tuesday afternoon, then realised that I'd forgotten about the prestigious London Senior Cup game against Hendon that was due to take place that evening, which had the potential to change my thinking about the possible line-up for the Mansfield game. Which it did, but rather than re-write the whole post before publishing it, I've decided to leave it as is but add some extra notes at the bottom.

With the news that St. Terry will rotate his squad over the bank holiday weekend, and that advance terrace tickets for the Mansfield game will only be a tenner, it is safe to assume that the team appearing in yellow and blue won't be the strongest one available.
But that's a good thing for lots of people, such as bloggers who can write many words on the possible permutations available to TB and how we've now got a very strong squad indeed. But more important even than bloggers (is that possible?), it's good news for the players who might otherwise not have had a chance to show what they can do ahead of the play-offs.
The main battle is for midfield places. Not so long ago, the thought of entering the playoffs without any of Christian Jolley, James Mulley, and Rashid Yussuff in the starting eleven would have been unthinkable, but the injury to Christian, the suspension of Mulley, the return of in-form Wellard and fit-again Minshull, as well as the signing of the lively Mo mean that those three face an uphill struggle to start the first play-off game.
As well as the Jolley/Mulley/Toks combo (which makes for a very decent midfield already), I'd expect to see Reece Jones give a start against Mansfield. He looked very good after coming on at half-time against ten-man Eastbourne, so after limited (i.e. no) opportunities since then, he will be keen to show he can perform against better opposition.
Elsewhere, I wouldn't be surprised to see Ryan Jackson get a start at right-back, playing behind another man with a point to prove - Kirk Hudson. Ryan's form has dipped since the heady early days of the season when he was a regular in the starting eleven, so he'll be keen to avoid becoming the forgotten man of this season's campaign. As for Hudson, I'll try to be positive. He might just be given enough time and space to show what a good right foot he has, and he might just link up well with an overlapping Jackson. And that's about as much positivity as I can muster for the useless twat.
Up front, I expect Nokkers to be given a start, and at the back I would expect to see the growling, grimacing face of Jamie Stuart beside whichever of Johnson and Yakubu has less need of a rest. It won't matter to the massively competitive Stuart that this is, on paper, a meaningless game between a team guaranteed a top-three finish, and a team guaranteed a mid-table finish.
The only positions where there doesn't seem to be meaningful competition are left-back and goalkeeper. If Gwillim does get injured or suffer a massive loss of form, Brett Johnson can cover at left back, leaving Stuart and Yaks in the middle. And while TB may give Jack Turner a run-out, he'll only feature in the play-offs if Seb gets injured.

So my starting eleven would be:

Brown (sub Turner 45); Gwillim, Johnson, Stuart, Jackson; Jolley, Mulley, Yussuff, Jones, Hudson; Nwokeji.

It's an attacking line-up, so there is an argument for putting Minshull in as holding midfielder at the expense of Reece Jones. Either way, I could see both of them playing some part in the game, very possibly with one replacing the other.
I should probably write something about Mansfield, but to be honest, the fact that they're destined/doomed to finish in mid-table is all we need to know. They may have an inkling of a revenge mission after the 5-2 stuffing we dished out at their place back in October, but the story of this game will be the how the 'reserve' Dons take their chance to shine. It might not be the Dons' first choice eleven, but it's still a very good one and will be fully motivated. I predict goals. For a tenner, this match could be an absolute blinder.

Notes after LSC game:

Given that Ryan Jackson, Reece Jones, Kirk Hudson, and Mark Nwokeji all played at least 113 minutes on Tuesday, I don't expect them to start against Mansfield. Judging by comments on the Old Centrals board, none of them did themselves any favours with their performances either - the one player to come out of the game with any credit was Christian Jolley, previously picked out by TB as the man to give us an extra spark in the play-offs. As he only came on at half-time for Mulley, I'd still expect both of them to start tomorrow.
So my amended expected starting line-up now includes Minshull as holding midfielder, Mo on the right (interchangeable with Jolley on the left), Hatton at right-back, and Keds up front:

Brown; Hatton (sub Jackson), Stuart, Johnson, Gwillim; Minshull, Jolley (sub Hudson), Mulley, Toks, Mohamed; Kedwell (sub Nokkers)

I still predict goals - especially with Keds up front rather than Nokkers. (Cue drab nil-nil with a completely different Dons line-up to the one I've just predicted - which is just fine so long as no-one gets injured).

Histon 0 AFC Wimbledon 4 - not a match report

If you read my preview to this game, you'll know I wasn't going to it, so for me to do a match report would merely involve copying and pasting lots of text from here, here, here or even here.
What I will do though, is to copy and paste text from my own preview: "If I was [Terry Brown], I'd play the same eleven again against Histon. Take the three points, ensure the top three finish, and then worry about resting players by rotating the squad during the last three games." And then feel a bit smug and not bother writing anything else.

Histon preview

The review of the SGM I didn't attend will have to wait, as time is running out for me to preview a match which I also won't be attending (an old uni mate is having a house party which kicks off at the same time as the match - Histon away seemed a less enticing prospect than trashing an old mate's house, thus offending the family-centric attendees, all after getting fuelled up on food and drink kindly provided by aforementioned old mate).
Fortunately, I have the advantage of actually having attended the Cambridge match, where for 80 minutes everything that could have gone right, went right (with the possible exception of some less than ruthless finishing by the Dons). The weather was warm, the playing surface was large and in very good condition, the opponents were obligingly reluctant to take any goalscoring chances they managed to fashion, Drewe Broughton had returned whence he came, and Kirk Hudson was only on the bench.
There was so much good stuff about our play that it's difficult to know where to start. So I'll start with a player that I rate very highly, despite the fact that many Dons' fans see him as a lightweight liability. Step forward Ricky Wellard, whose movement, touch, and passing off both feet was as good as ever. Not only that, but he showed himself willing to track back, even made a couple of tackles, and broke his previous record by heading the ball twice in the same game. If he can maintain this form, our chances of winning the play-offs will increase dramatically. Whilst Toks is a good player, I'd pick Wellard over him any day, leaving Toks to his most effective role - as an impact substitute.
It was my first view of Kaid Mohamed in a Wimbledon shirt, and I was very impressed. Always threatening, he linked well with Keds up front, and as soon as he brushes up on his finishing when in a one-on-one situation, he'll be another match-winner.
Cambridge was also the first time I'd seen Lee Minshull start a game in midfield, so for the first time I got to see what caused other fans to see him as the great white hope. Strong and powerful, with no little technical ability, he looked like a beefy Lewis Taylor.
The fact that we lost our way a little after the substitutions doesn't bother me too much. They were made in order to rest players - if this had been, say, a play-off game, then I don't think Terry would have made those substitutions. What bothers me is that Kirk Hudson is still sniffing around the first team.
As you'll have noticed, I'm assuming we'll make the play-offs. It's not mathematically certain yet, but I don't think I'm tempting fate too much by suggesting that either we'll get 3 points from our remaining games, or that neither Kiddy or York will win every one of their remaining games.
If the Histon game came at any other time in the season, team selection would be much easier. I'd simply pick the same team again - if it ain't broke, don't fix it, never change a winning team etc etc. But with a play-off place almost certain, there are other considerations. Keeping the same team in place for the rest of the season risks injuries (and makes play-off opponents' scouting missions easier), while players like Mulley, Jolley, Toks et al need minutes on the pitch to avoid getting rusty. It's achieving that, while maintaining our recently rediscovered winning habit in order to boost confidence going into the play-offs, that is TB's big test for the next 4 games.
If I was him, I'd play the same eleven again against Histon. Take the three points, ensure the top three finish, and then worry about resting players by rotating the squad during the last three games. Strangely, I'm happy the last 3 games are all within eight days, as it gives Terry the chance to give plenty of players minutes on the pitch within a relatively short period of time before the play-offs.

By way of introduction

Welcome to the latest AFC Wimbledon blog. The latest of three current English blogs* -as far as I'm aware - the others being SW19's ARMY and The Anonymous Don, following the sad demise of the Big Tissue. Now those blogs are all very well if what you're after is informed and interesting comment from people who actually go to all (or at least most of) Wimbledon's games and have been doing so for many years, thus building up an extensive knowledge of Wimbledon football club, and the people involved in running and playing for it. But, I hear you ask, what about the voice of the ill-informed, 'occasional' fan, who doesn't go to every game? Does his (or her) opinion not count for as much? Well, objectively, you'd have to say not, but it doesn't mean that such a fan shouldn't, in this age of the interweb and mass communication, be able to spout as much nonsense on the subject of AFC Wimbledon as anyone else. And I am that fan. I don't even go to most games (current tally is thirteen league games this season - W5 D4 L4), so you'll have the privelege of reading a number of opinions written without the advantage of having witnessed the events I'm writing about. Instead, I'll mostly be relying on the official website, existing blogs, the Old Centrals Repository, and AFC Wimbledon TV. For extra inaccuracy, I might also rely on the BBC website match reports, but that would probably be taking things a bit too far.
So sit back, relax, and read on, safe in the knowledge that even though I go to less games than some, even though I don't know as much of the club history as some, even though I don't know as many of the people involved in the club as some, MY OPINIONS ARE STILL RIGHT BECAUSE IT'S MY F***ING BLOG, OK?

*honourable mention to Maliniok's blog, which must be the best Polish-language blog about an English non-league football team you could ever wish to read. It got me wondering if many English people have ever blogged about Dalin Myślenice or MKS Stąporków. Probably not.