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.