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.
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