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31/08/2003
North Greenford Match Report - Saturday saw us take on the only other unbeaten team in the Combined Counties League in North Greenford United. Last season we played two brilliant games with them with a 4-3 victory after being 3-1 down at Kingsmeadow and the famous double hat-trick game when we won 6-2 at North Greenford.Matt Everard returned to the starting line up but the injury that Ray Merry picked up on Monday at Withdean saw us start with a new keeper in Matt Martin. Gavin also returned in midfield and a crowd of just under 2,800 got settled for a good game of football and to see if either team would keep there unbeaten run going.
North Greenford kicked off with AFC attacking the west bank end of
the ground. A number of new advertising hoarding were around the ground
and the new yellow and blue corner flags were in place. The first
AFC opportunity on goal came from Ryan Gray just after two minutes
but his shot was saved. It was five minutes into the game before Matt
Martin was called into action and he collected the ball well before
kicking the ball down the pitch where it was picked up by Cooper and
he dispatched a shot that just went over the bar.
Two minutes later we almost had another Cooper headed goal but this time it was saved by the North Greenford goal. From a resulting corner Joe Sheerin had a shot but once again the North Greenford was not to be beaten. As the Dons got more into the game Joe Sheerin played a lovely ball through to Gavin who would of been through on goal but a defender just managed to intercept the ball.
Ryan Gray was playing well and made a run down the wing he was about
to cross the ball to an unmarked Joe Sheerin but the defender managed
to put the ball out for a throw. The action was about to transfer
up the other end of the pitch as North Greenford had an attack but
good defensive play by Matt Everard and Matt Martin managed to clear
any danger that was on the cards. As the half hour mark came round
Lee Sidwell crossed in a nice ball but Ryan Gray's header forced the
keeper into a top save and put the ball over the bar for a corner. The half drew to a close and the score was 0-0No changes were made to either team at half time and AFC kicked off. At the start of the second half North Greenford seemed to be having a big go at trying to get the first goal but after 8 minutes of the second half AFC were 1-0 up thanks to Kevin Cooper. The goal had come about from nothing as the ball was played into the middle of the pitch from out wide and Cooper just turned and swung a boot at it and it went into the top corner.Both keepers were doing really well in the match but 5 minutes after the first goal AFC were 2-0 up as the ball was crossed over from the right wing the keeper saved well from a Kevin Cooper effort but then Ryan Gray fired the ball home from close range. It now looked like the points were in the bag and that we would keep our unbeaten record.
With us 2-0 up Terry Eames decided to make a couple of changes with
Ally Russell coming on for Joe Sheerin and Andy Sullivan replacing
Lee Sidwell. On the 30 minute mark of the half Matt Martin pulled
off a brilliant save from close range when it looked like North Greenford
should of scored. A minute later AFC could well have been awarded
a penalty after Kevin Cooper was impeded with his shirt being pulled
but the ref waved play on.
As the closing minutes came approaching we made our final sub of the game with Sean Daly replacing Matt Everard. Steve Gibson made a brilliant run down the pitch before crossing for Cooper to have a shot but this was saved. The 90 minutes were up and the 4th official indicated that 3 minutes added time were to be played and half way through this Kevin Cooper got his 2nd goal of the match. I am unable to describe this goal as I was looking the other way at the time.The ref blew the whistle and we had extended our winning run to 5 league games this season.
In my view the Man Of The Match for this game was the North Greenford
Keeper Gary Jallow and this was recognised by the sponsors when he
was awarded join Man Of The Match and when it was announced he got
a brilliant reception from the fans. I was impressed by North Greenford
and I can see them being a top six side this year based on this performance.
The Man Of The Match vote for the AFC player is now open and you can vote by clicking the following link.
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31/08/2003
From Charlie's Angels To Steve's Angels -
STEVEāS ANGELS
Steve Elson who ran the London Marathon this year for both the Dons
Trust Ground Fund and HemiHelp is once again enjoying himself running
in Wimbledon Park. He was asked by Chloe Bowles who wanted to raise
money for the Ground Fund. So now he gives up his Sunday mornings to
train some of the ĪAngelsā who are planning to run/walk 5k at the
Flora Fun Run in Hyde Park on Sunday, 14th September.
Anne Eames is one of the walkers and she is one of 25 other women
have signed up.
The ĪAngelsā want to raise the clubās profile and so have asked Tempest to provide
shorts and the Dons Trust the training tops. If anyone wants to sponsor
any of the women there will be a sponsorship form on the Dons Trust
Desk in the back bar. Weād love to see you all turn out to support
the ĪAngelsā in Yellow & Blue so come along to Hyde Park and why not
bring your flags? And being ĪAngelsā they have donated £5 each from
their entry fee to the charity HemiHelp. Contact jacki@thedonstrust.org
Jacki Harvie
The Dons Trust
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31/08/2003
This Weeks Action - This afternoon the AFC Ladies team are at home to Barnet. The match will be played at Kingsmeadow and kick off is at 2pm.On Tuesday evening the reserves have a home fixture against Chertsey Town. This match will be played at Hampton and Richmond FC and kick off is at 19:30. |
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30/08/2003
Saturday Results - The results from today's games are as follows: -
Saturday 30th August
F.A. Cup - Preliminary Round
Abingdon United 3-2 Cove
Beckingham Town 2-5 Sandhurst Town
Chessington & Hook 2-0 Merstham
Chipstead 1-2 Ringmer
Fisher Athletic 3-4 Bedfont
Molesey 1-2 Godalming & G
Oxford City 6-1 Farnham Town
Peacehaven & Telscombe 2-1 Chessington United
Sawbridgeworth Town 2-2 AFC Wallingford
Slade Green 1-2 Hartley Wintney
Walton & Hersham 0-2 Walton Casuals
Whitchurch United 4-1 Withdean 2000
Whitstable Town 1-3 Raynes Park Vale
Worthing 7-0 Ash United
Premier Division
AFC Wimbledon 3-0 North Greenford Utd
Frimley Green 0-2 Feltham
Reading Town 4-0 Westfield
Southall 5-0 Horley Town
The results of the day in the FA Cup have got to be Bedfont winning
4-3 at Fisher Athletic and Walton Casuals 2-0 away derby win against
Walton and Hersham. Well done to all the teams still in the FA Cup
and good luck in the next round on September 13th. |
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30/08/2003
Another Victory - This afternoon we managed to win 3-0 against
the previously unbeaten North Greenford United with goals from Kevin
Cooper, who got two and Ryan Gray. Full Match report and photos on
Sunday but if you wish to vote for the AFC Wimbledon Man Of The Match
please click below to vote.
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30/08/2003
Saturday Matchday Service - Only four games in the Premier League today as most of the clubs are involved in FA Cup action, But with us and North Greenford United meeting and having 100% records at the moment it could well see two teams that will bee up at the higher end of the table come the end of the season.
Both the Audio and Text services will be in action this afternoon
and you can listen to the Audio Service by clicking here
and the text updates can be viewed by clicking here.The full list of fixtures involving premier division teams is as follows: -
Saturday 30th August
F.A. Cup - Preliminary Round
Abingdon United v Cove
Beckingham Town v Sandhurst Town
Chessington & Hook v Merstham
Chipstead v Ringmer
Fisher Athletic v Bedfont
Molesey v Godalming & G
Oxford City v Farnham Town
Peacehaven & Telscombe v Chessington United
Sawbridgeworth Town v AFC Wallingford
Slade Green v Hartley Wintney
Walton & Hersham v Walton Casuals
Whitchurch United v Withdean 2000
Whitstable Town v Raynes Park Vale
Worthing v Ash United
Premier Division
AFC Wimbledon v North Greenford Utd
Frimley Green v Feltham
Reading Town v Westfield
Southall v Horley Town
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30/08/2003
Withdean Man Of The Match Poll - Congratulations to Seb Favata who put in a brilliant performance on Monday and has won the Man Of The Match poll I am sure it wont be the last one that Seb wins this season. The full results is as follows: -
Seb Favata 38 Votes 55.88%
Kevin_Cooper 10 Votes 14.71%
Steve Gibson 5 Votes 7.35%
Darren Dobinson 5 Votes 7.35%
Michael Rootes 3 Votes 4.41%
Andy Sullivan 2 Votes 2.94%
Jamie Angell 2 Votes 2.94%
Lee Sidwell 1 Vote 1.47%
Joe Sheerin 1 Vote 1.47%
Noel Frankum 1 Vote 1.47%
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29/08/2003
Team News For Saturday - The official site has got details
of the quad for Saturday's game against unbeaten North Greenford United.
The team also includes a new 26 year old keeper and you can read what
Terry has to say about him over on the official
site. |
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29/08/2003
Prediction Contest Update - The league table for the prediction
contest has been updated following Monday's game at Withdean. You
can view it by clicking here
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28/08/2003
Fixture Change - The game at home to Frimley Green has been moved from 10th September to 9th September. One game to keep your eye on this weekend is Oxford City Vs Farnham Town, if Farnham win our game against Farnham due to be played on Saturday 13th September will be called off as they will be in FA Cup action. |
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27/08/2003
Photo Action - Sorry for the delay in the photos but I have now got round to putting them up. Click below to see the pictures.
Merstham
Home
Southall
Home
Withdean
2000 Away
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27/08/2003
One Midweek Game Tonight - The only game in the CCL tonight
is Cobham Vs Ash United. Once I know the result I will put up an updated
table. RESULT - Cobham won 2-1 the table has been updated. |
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26/08/2003
Withdean 2000 Man Of The Match Vote - The vote for the Man Of The Match at the Withdean match is now open. Please click below to vote. |
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26/08/2003
Reserves Suffer Defeat - The reserves lost 2-0 away at Bracknell tonight. With one of the goals being a penalty. |
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26/08/2003
Southall Man Of The Match Result - The result of the Southall Man Of The Match vote is as follows: -
Joe Sheerin 16 Votes 36.36%
Steve Gibson 11 Votes 25.00%
Ryan Gray 7 Votes 15.91%
Gavin Bolger 4 Votes 9.09%
Jamie Angell 3 Votes 6.82%
Lee Sidwell 1 Vote 2.27%
Seb Favata 1 Vote 2.27%
Leon White 1 Vote 2.27%
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25/08/2003
Bank Holiday Results - The results from today's game is as follows: -
Chessington & Hook 1-2 Raynes Park Vale
Chessington United 3-2 Bedfont
Chipstead 2-1 Farnham Town
Frimley Green 0-4 Sandhurst Town
Merstham 0-0 Horley Town
Southall 3-0 Cove
Westfield 0-0 Hartley Wintney
Withdean 2000 2-4 AFC WimbledonThe league table has been updated. |
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25/08/2003
Oh I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside - Today we took on Withdean
2000 and a lot of the pre-match talk was would we face the team who
had lost there first three games of the season or would they be bolstered
by a few of the players who have 'moved' to Worthing. As the teams
ran out it was clear that we had problems of our own as the team from
Saturday had a number of changes.
The line up was as follows: -
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1
- Ray Merry
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2
- Steve Gibson
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4
- Jamie Angell
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5
- Sean Daly
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3
- Darren Dobbinson
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6
- Lee Sidwell
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7
- Seb Favata
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8
- Noel Frankum
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11
- Ryan Gray
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9
- Joe Sheerin
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10
- Kevin Cooper
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Subs
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Wade
Falana (for 9)
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Michael
Rootes (for 8)
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Andy
Sullivan (for 10)
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Once again we started strongly and the new combination on the right
hand side of Dobbinson and Gray were teaming up well. Then on 10 minutes
Steve Gibson crossed from near the corner flag on the right hand side
and it was coming brilliantly into box at about 12 yards out. All
of a sudden was the realisation that standing in the box was Kevin
Cooper and this ball was coming straight for his head and then a moment
of magic when Kevin directed his ball from his head and into the top
corner. The ground went crazy and Kevin just ran around the pitch
doing a jumping in the air routine to show everyone he had scored
with his head.
Five minutes later we were 2-0 up when the ball was whipped into the
box and Joe Sheerin got his sixth goal of the season with a nice header
from round about the 8 yard mark. The goal was scored following a
free kick from Seb Favata in the middle of the pitch. The match was
now well in our control and it looked like we relaxed a bit, perhaps
because we had lost a number of important players out on the pitch
we seemed to lose our shape a bit and we were caught out fifteen minutes
before the break when Withdean pulled a goal back after a bit of a
mix up in the defence.
The half time team talk was needed and to remind the players that they were good players and were more than able to win the game. We started the second half and although we tried to get the important third goal we just couldn't get through, and on the counter attack Withdean were giving us a few problems. The first substitution of the second half for us saw Wade Falana come on for Joe Sheerin and straight away he was in the action with a header.
With about 15 minutes left and us under a bit of pressure Terry made
a second change and Michael Rootes came on for his debut as he replaced
Noel Frankum and within a minute Michael had his name on the score
sheet when he threaded the ball past the keeper and into the back
of the net. With no PA system working most of the AFC fans didn't
know who was on the pitch so the chant of "who are yar" went up but
I thought it was Rootes and this was confirmed following a quick text
message. This goal gave the ground a huge relief as everyone felt
that this was the points in the bag.
Two minutes later the ball was being played through to Seb but a defender
blocked it with his hand and a free kick was awarded this was taken
and following pressure from Wade the keeper dropped it and wade tapped
it into an empty net from all of an inch. The Withdean players complained
and the ref checked with his assistant but the goal stood and we were
4-1 up. Then in the final minute a Withdean player smacked the ball
from 35 yards and it flew into the top corner once again we had won
4-2.
Based on the team that we had playing this was a brilliant performance and result yes it had a few worrying moments but I am sure that Terry will discuss this with the players and we should have a bit more strength in depth on Saturday when we play North Greenford United.As the Southall game was only on Saturday I am leaving the vote open until Tuesday night. |
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25/08/2003
Bank Holiday Monday Matchday Service - An early start today as we take on last season's champions away at Worthing FC. Withdean have had a bad start to the season but there is a suggestion that they may be awarded 3 points due to the fact that Westfield May have fielded an unregistered player in the first game of the season.When our game starts at 12:00 most of the other games will have started as it is traditional in the Combined Counties League for games to start at either 11:00 or 11:30. The full list of matches are as follows: -
Monday 25th August
Premier Division
Chessington & Hook v Raynes Park Vale
Chessington United v Bedfont
Chipstead v Farnham Town
Frimley Green v Sandhurst Town
Merstham v Horley Town
Southall v Cove
Westfield v Hartley Wintney
Withdean 2000 v AFC Wimbledon
I will be doing the text updates and they can be read by clicking
on the following link.
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25/08/2003
News Round Up - Terry Eames has decided to concentrate as first
team manager only and has therefore stepped down from his role as
"Director of Football" you can read the full statement over on the
Official
SiteThe AFC Wimbledon ladies won 3-2 yesterday at home to Ipswich Town.
With games being played thick and fast at the moment I am keeping
the Man Of The Match vote open for the Southall game until Tuesday
evening so if you haven't voted please click on the link below the
Southall match report.
On Thursday evening the players will be at Kingsmeadow for a meet the players session. I will post more information on this on Wednesday evening.
The updated table for the prediction table is also available and can
be viewed here.
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24/08/2003
Ladies In Action Today - This afternoon the ladies play there first home game of the season when they take on Ipswich Town at The Fans Stadium, admission is free and the kick off is at 2pm. |
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24/08/2003
Poor First Half By The Reserves - OK a misleading headline
but when you look at it compared to the final result you will realise
why. Yesterday AFC Wimbledon played away at Fleet Town in the Suburban
League and at half time AFC Wimbledon were 1-0 up with the goal scored
either by Mickey Rootes or Hodges. In the second half it looks like
we found our goal scoring boots as a goal was scored every 5 minutes
as Ally Russell Scored 4 Ben Chesters got 4 and Ryan Luffman scored
to mean that we had scored another 9 goals without reply, and a final
score of Fleet Town 0 AFC Wimbledon 10.
Although we have score 15 goals in 2 games we are not top as Tooting
& Mitcham and Wealdstone have maximum points after playing an extra
game. The full table can be seen over at the Suburban
League site. |
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23/08/2003
Saturday Results - Today's results were as follows: -
Saturday 23rd August
F.A. Cup - Extra Preliminary Round
Bedfont 4-0 Littlehampton Town
Reading Town 1-2 Lymington & New Milton
Sandhurst 2-1 Camberley Town
Walton Casuals 5-0 Westfield
Premier Division
AFC Wallingford 3-2 Frimley Green
AFC Wimbledon 4-2 Southall
Ash United 4-2 Withdean 2000
Cove 0-0 Horley Town
Farnham Town 1-1 Chessington & Hook
Feltham 0-3 Chipstead
Godalming & G 0-0 Merstham
Hartley Wintney 3-1 Chessington United
Raynes Park Vale 2-4 North Greenford Utd |
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23/08/2003
Say We Are Top Of The League - So another chapter is written in the short history of AFC Wimbledon when at just after 4:45 tonight we were confirmed as being top of the Combined Counties Table for the first time.
The game had started nervously for AFC Wimbledon but on 15 minutes
we were 1-0 up when Joe Sheerin finished after Kevin Cooper had crossed.
Just before this Gavin Bolger had shot from the edge of the box and
had hit the underside of the bar but had stayed out. It was only a
couple of minutes later when we were 2-0 up and once again it was
Joe Sheerin scoring his 5th goal in two games who was on the scoresheet.
Two minutes later it looked like Joe would get his second hat-trick
when we were awarded a penalty but Kevin Cooper stepped up and put
it to the right of the keeper and into the back of the net. It had
been an incredible six minutes with 3 goals for AFC and the game looked
cut and dried, but only earlier in the week Southall had been 3-0
down at half time at Raynes Park and come back to a 3-2 defeat so
it wasn't going to be all over yet.
Ten minutes later it looked like Southall were going to make a comeback
when O'Sullivan crossed and Robinson scored an acrobatic goal and
3-1 was the score when the teams went in for half time. Matt Everard
had picked up an injury at the end of the first half and didn't return
for the second so a bit of a change around was needed with Bassey
going to left back and Daly going to centre back.
The second half was a very tame affair compared to the first half
but had two very interesting incidents first up with just under 10
minutes remaining Ryan Gray had the ball out by the touchline and
it looked like he was crossing it but it went into the top corner
at the back post and we were 4-1 up. There was still one more goal
to come and after the ref had waved play on as AFC had the advantage
Noel Frankum had a strange moment when he went to pass the ball back
to Ray Merry in goal but instead played it straight to the Southall
striker who managed to put it past Ray Merry and into the net for
a final score of AFC Wimbledon 4 Southall 2.
The Man Of The Match Vote is now open and you can vote by clicking below. |
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23/08/2003
Saturday Matchday Service - Today sees the start of the FA Cup and so once again we have a mixture of league and cups games, full details are given below.
Saturday 23rd August
F.A. Cup - Extra Preliminary Round
Bedfont v Littlehampton Town
Reading Town v Lymington & New Milton
Sandhurst v Camberley Town
Walton Casuals v Westfield
Premier Division
AFC Wallingford v Frimley Green
AFC Wimbledon v Southall
Ash United v Withdean 2000
Cove v Horley Town
Farnham Town v Chessington & Hook
Feltham v Chipstead
Godalming & G v Merstham
Hartley Wintney v Chessington United
Raynes Park Vale v North Greenford Utd
The updates will be in action with text ones available from here
and commentary available from the Radio
Wdon site. |
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23/08/2003
Close Thing On Man Of The Match Result - Well it was for second place and lower. But Joe Sheerin walked this after his match winning hat-trick in Wednesday's game. The results are as follows: -
Joe Sheerin 92 Votes 88.46%
Kevin_Cooper 3 Votes 2.88%
Seb Favata 2 Votes 1.92%
Steve Gibson 2 Votes 1.92%
Tony Smith 2 Votes 1.92%
Lee Sidwell 1 Vote 0.96%
Andy Sullivan 1 Vote 0.96%
Wade Falana 1 Vote 0.96%
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22/08/2003
Possible Team News - It looks like there will be a few changes
tomorrow with reports that both Seb Favarta and Danny Oakins are both
out of action. Speaking to Danny after the game on Wednesday he said
that the knock he had picked him could well keep him out of the match
on Saturday. It's possible as well that Ray Merry may be back after
he has recovered from flu, and Kevin Cooper could start up front.
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21/08/2003
News Round Up - On Sunday the AFC Ladies team will be in action
at Kingsmeadow when they take on Ipswich Town in a 2pm kick off. This
game will be free to get into.
The first team game at Withdean on Monday is a 12:00 kick off and
a fair number of us will be on the 9:53 train from Clapham Junction
to Worthing station.
Sorry about the lack of updates in the second half last night over the last few games the system has been slowing down so I am trying to sort this out and quicker updates should be running from Saturday. |
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21/08/2003
Pre-Season Prediction Updates - The updated table after Wednesday nights game can now be viewed by clicking on the following link. Prediction Table |
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20/08/2003
First Get Out Of Jail Free Card Used - Well tonight was a game
of two half's with us being 2-0 down in the first half but ending
up winning 3-2 by the final whistle. Merstham took the lead in the
open minute when it looked like AFC goal keeper Tony Smith dropped
the ball over his own goal line from the first corner of the game.
After 20 minutes we were 2-0 down and things were not looking good,
but as we saw last season we were capable of coming back from 2-0
down.
We continued to pile the pressure on but we didn't seem to be able
to convert the chances and we went in at half time 2-0 down.
At half time terry made a couple of changes Jamie Angell came on for
Simon Bassey who had started for the injured Gavin Bolger and Kevin
Cooper replaced Wade Falana. We continued to pile on the pressure
but it wasn't until 20 minutes into the half when we managed to pull
a goal back Joe Sheerin managed to get his head to a corner and put
the ball in the back of the net and the Dons were back in the game.
With about 6 minutes of the game remaining the Dons pulled the score back level when Joe got his second of the night. What had looked a lost case earlier in the evening was now looking very good and it was a case of can Merstham hold on for a point or would the Dons take all three? Then in the final minute Joe capped an outstanding performance with the winning goal and a brilliant comeback.So already we are 3 points better off than this time last year and also 2 points ahead of Wallingford in a game where we could of dropped points. But we cant keep going 2 goals down otherwise we will get caught out.The Man Of The Match Vote is now open and you can vote by clicking below. |
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20/08/2003
Feltham Man Of The Match Result - The result of the Feltham Man Of The Match Poll is as follows: -
Matt Everard 21 Votes 23.86%
Andy Sullivan 15 Votes 17.05%
Steve Gibson 14 Votes 15.91%
Gavin Bolger 10 Votes 11.36%
Joe Sheerin 9 Votes 10.23%
Wade Falana 9 Votes 10.23%
Seb Favata 8 Votes 9.09%
Danny Oakins 1 Vote 1.14%
Tony Smith 1 Vote 1.14%
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20/08/2003
Midweek Match Action - First home game of the season tonight
with Merstham the visitors. Both audio and text updates should be
in operation. The audio commentary can be listened to by going to
the following Website, Match
Commentary and my text updates can be viewed here.
Just a quick note on the text updates once a goal is scored I will
flash up just the score and the team who has scored and then in a
follow up post describe the goal. This should mean that goal messages
come through faster. And a quick reminder don't forget your season
ticket if you are a season ticket holder. See you at The Fans Stadium
Later. |
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20/08/2003
Withdean Game Kick Off Time - The kick off time for the game
away at Withdean on Bank Holiday Monday (25th August) is 12:00. It
is traditional in the CCL for Bank Holiday games to kick off at 11:00
or 11:30 so a 12:00 kick off is a slight change in the rules and gives
us a bit extra to get down to Worthing for the start of the game.
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19/08/2003
Tuesday Night Results - The results from the games tonight are as follows: -
Tuesday 19th August
Premier Division
Ash United 4-0 Chessington United
Bedfont 0-0 Chipstead
Chessington & Hook 2-1 Walton Casuals
Cove 0-0 Frimley Green
Farnham Town 3-1 Withdean 2000
Hartley Wintney 2-1 Godalming & G
Raynes Park Vale 3-2 Southall
Reading Town 0-2 Feltham
Sandhurst Town 1-1 AFC Wallingford
Westfield 4-1 Cobham |
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19/08/2003
Southall Scout Report - Tonight I went to the Raynes Park Vale
Vs Southall game and it was an entertaining game. In the first 25
minutes Southall were all over Raynes Park and it looked like only
one team would win the match but Southall were unable to convert any
of there chances. Then against the run of play Raynes Park Scored.
Raynes Park's second came via the penalty spot when the Southall Defender
decided that he wanted to play goal keeper and handled the ball on
the line. He was sent off and the penalty was awarded. Just before
half time Raynes Park went 3-0 up and it looked like the game was
all over but Southall had different ideas. Southall were soon back
in the game with two quick goals but couldn't get the goal that would
level the scores.
It's difficult to judge Southall on this performance but if they play
like they did in the first half against us on Saturday they will be
a hard team to beat. If they play like they did in the final 20 minutes
of the first half we could win convincingly bust as Southall played
for 60 plus minutes with 1 men it's very hard to judge.
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19/08/2003
Tuesday Night Games In The CCL - With the season under way
now midweek games are coming thick and fast. Tonight most the CCL
Teams are in action whilst on Wednesday we play Merstham. I am going
to the Raynes Park Game tonight so will be able to report on our opponents
on Saturday Southall. The results and updated league table will be produced once I get back.
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18/08/2003
Feltham Man Of The Match Vote - The vote for the Man Of The
Match at the Feltham game will remain open until Wednesday evening,
and at the moment it remains very close. If you haven't voted please
click on the link below to cast your vote.
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18/08/2003
Photos From Feltham - The photos from Feltham can now be viewed
by clicking on the following link. View Pictures here.
For your information the last one is a picture of the home teams bench.
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17/08/2003
Feltham Match Report - After looking at AFC's pre season form
it was difficult to detect how we were doing as although there had
not been many victories all the games had been against higher league
teams.
The trip to Feltham would see us face the challenge of playing on an artificial
surface that had seen better days. With the pitch in mind it would
require accurate passing as anything too long would pick up speed
and either go to an opposition player or run out of play.
Around 1,100 AFC fans made the trip across London to see league debuts for Tony
Smith (goalkeeper), Steve Gibson (Right Back), Seb Favarta (Centre
Midfield) and Wade Falana (Forward) with Wade replacing Kevin Cooper
who was on the bench following his hamstring injury that he had picked
up against Luton a couple of weeks ago.
Feltham kicked the first half off with AFC attacking the athletics end of the
ground and it wasn't long before AFC had there first chance of the
match with Sean Daly having a strike from 20 yards out and just to
the left of the box, the shot looked like it was going over but just
to be on the safe side the keeper elected to tip the ball over the
bar and the first corner of the afternoon was awarded. Andy Sullivan
took the corner but this went straight into the side netting and a
goal kick for Feltham.
With just over 5 minutes played Danny Oakins fired in a long throw and an unmarked
Matt Everard had a chance but his header went wide of the goal. One
of the criticisms last season was that players were not chasing down
defenders well today with the Feltham goalkeeper not looking full
of confidence both strikers were taking every opportunity and forced
the Feltham keeper and defenders to panic and therefore put the ball
out of play and keep the pressure on them.
With 23 minutes gone Lee Sidwell had a good effort on goal but this went wide
of the goal. With AFC pushing forward all the time it couldn't be
long before we took the lead. Steve Gibson was called to show his
defending ability when Feltham broke from our planned offside trap
but Steve did well and won the ball on the edge of the box and started
a move up the pitch.
AFC had a chance to take the lead when Sean Daly took a free kick this was headed
on by Joe Sheerin and Danny Oakins tried a scissor kick but this went
wide of the goal. This chance seemed to increase the confidence and
only a couple of minutes later AFC had the ball in the back of the
net but it was called back for offside. Joe Sheerin intercepted the
ball and played it back to Sullivan who crossed the ball to Wade Falana
who fired home but the assistant referee's flag was raised and the
score remained at 0-0.
With half time rapidly approaching AFC scored their first goal of the season (On
42 minutes) when a Sully cross was first of all missed by Wade Falana
in front of goal but Lee Sidwell was on hand to place the ball past
the keeper. The ref blew the whistle for the end of the first half.
During the second half AFC continued to pile on the pressure and Feltham also
conceded a really strange goal the ball was played into the box from
distance and the keeper called for it but he let the ball bounce in
front of him and he had to jump up to get the ball which almost went
over him due to the large bounce that you get off Astroturf pitches.
Wade Falana who was having an impressive debut had another chance but he headed
the ball over from a Sullivan cross. Danny Oakins had a brilliant
chance to either score or set up a goal, as he charged in on goal
but rather than squaring the ball he elected to shoot and fired the
ball in to the side netting. With just under 15 minutes of the second
half played Seb Favarta who had, had a very good debut was replaced
by Simon Bassey.
The second goal that would have sown the game up should of come when the ball
was played across the box and from close range Wade Falana selected
his wrong leg to make contact with the ball and hit the side netting
if he had used his left leg her would of placed it into an empty net.
The second goal did come when Matt Everard fired home on 72 minutes from 12 yards
after Feltham failed to clear the ball. Following the goal Darren
Dobbinson also making his debut came on for Joe Sheerin who once again
showed what a brilliant player he is. The final substitution was made
with 6 minutes left when Ryan Gray, another debutant, came on for
Andy Sullivan who left to a standing ovation.
The game came to an end and it was a very satisfactory result and performance.
We also had no bookings in the game. Which was very pleasing. The
one talking point after the game was the non-appearance of Kevin Cooper.
The hamstring injury although almost healed could have been aggravated
by the Astroturf pitch but we could well see him on Wednesday when
we take on Merstham at The Fans Stadium Kingsmeadow.
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17/08/2003
Pre-Season Prediction Contest Game 1 Table - The first table
for the pre-season prediction contest has now been uploaded and can
be viewed by clicking here.
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17/08/2003
Feltham Man Of The Match Vote - The vote is now open for the Feltham Match. The vote will stay open until 19:45 on Wednesday when the Merstham game kicks off so please vote below for who you think was Man of the Match in the Feltham game. |
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17/08/2003
It's Ladies Day - This afternoon AFC Wimbledon's ladies team
play Chelsea ladies in there first league game of the season. The
match that is Chelsea's home game is played at Hampton & Richmond
Football Club, where our reserves play there home games and kicks
off at 2pm |
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16/08/2003
First Team And Reserve Score Victories - On the first day of
the season both the reserves and first team had comfortable wins with
the first XI winning 2-0 at Feltham with goals from Lee Sidwell and
Matt Everard. The reserves won 5-2 with 4 goals from Leon White and
one from Ally Russell. A full match report will follow on Sunday but
below is the results from the Combined Counties League: -
AFC Wallingford 3-2 Hartley Wintney
Chessington & Hook 2-1 Ash United
Chessington United 5-2 Cove
Chipstead 1-2 Reading Town
Cobham 1-1 Horley Town
Feltham 0-2 AFC Wimbledon
Frimley Green 0-2 Bedfont
Godalming & G 3-6 Raynes Park Vale
Merstham 1-2 North Greenford Utd
Southall 3-0 Farnham Town
Walton Casuals 3-2 Sandhurst Town
Withdean 2000 0-3 Westfield The league table has been updated and you can see it by clicking the link on the left. |
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16/08/2003
It's Showtime - So today is the first day of the season for
both the first team and the reserves. The first team is in action
over at Feltham and it looks like Tony Smith will be in goal as Ray
Merry is unwell at present. I will be doing updates from Feltham and
you can read them by clicking here.
If you cant make the game at Feltham you could go to Hampton & Richmond's
ground where the reserves will be playing Chipstead. Our reserve team
will include players like Keith Ward, Daniel Couch, Dave Towse, Paul
Quinn and Leon White. If I get informed of any scores from the reserves
I will also put them on the updates. |
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16/08/2003
Junior Dons Trust Birthday Cards - On The
Dons Trust Website there is a nice article about the cards that
are sent to all Junior Dons Trust members so if you haven't read it
yet it's worth having a look at. |
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15/08/2003
Travel To Feltham - On Saturday we travel to Feltham for the first game of the season. Feltham of course are the only team in the Combined Counties League who have a plastic pitch and this of course means that the club has to disrupt the normal training schedule to train on a plastic pitch this week the team trained on Monday on a plastic pitch and this should have all the players ready for the kind of surface we will face on Saturday.Talking o surfaces the pitch at Kingsmeadow is looking brilliant and will have it's first test tomorrow when Kingstonian play Purfleet.
If you are traveling to Feltham the easiest way is by train and the
journey from Wimbledon should take just over 30 minutes. A number
of us will be on the 13:47 from Clapham Junction and this is due to
get to Feltham at 14:10. When you arrive at Feltham cross to the other
platform and leave by that exit and the "Feltham Arena" is signposted
its about a 10 minute walk but straight across the park.
Trains from Clapham Junction depart at 13:29, 13:37, 13:47, 13:59 and 14:07 and the 14:07 should get you to Feltham for 14:27.
You can find a map by clicking on the following link. Map
for Feltham. |
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14/08/2003
Last Chance To Enter The Pre-Season Prediction Contest - Entries
for the pre-season contest end on Saturday at 3pm so if you haven't
entered yet and wish to You can still enter the competitions and the
rules are now available to download from this site by clicking here
and if you wish to enter the pre-season contest you can download the
excel spreadsheet here.
Right click and select save as. If you have any questions drop me
an e-mail. |
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14/08/2003
Games This Weekend - Three of our teams are in action this weekend the first team are at Feltham on Saturday, The Reserves are at home (Hampton & Richmond) to Chipstead and then on Sunday also at Hampton & Richmond the Ladies are away to Chelsea with a 2pm kick off. |
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13/08/2003
Operation Season Ticket Dispatch Almost Complete - Over the
past couple of days a group of volunteers have been putting together
the season tickets and getting them ready to be sent out. Well by
this evening there were only about 125 (out of 1,376) to be produced
and so everyone who has ordered a season ticket before the start of
this week should have there season ticket by the weekend.
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12/08/2003
Draw At Whyteleafe - Our final pre-season game of the season
finished with a 1-1 draw at Whyteleafe we went behind after 13 minutes
but just after the half hour Rob Hills one of the Hills Twins (John
also played) scored a lovely goal. The match mainly consisted of reserve
players although Kevin Cooper played the first half and Keith Ward
played for most of the match. This was once again a good performance
for the squad. |
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11/08/2003
Last Pre-Season Match - Tuesday Night sees us take on Whytleafe
in our final pre-season game. Whytleafe is the team that both Ryan
Gray and Gareth Graham played for before joining us. We have played
at Whytleafe's ground before when we played Chipstead away last season
but a map of the area can be found by clicking here.
As I may not get round to doing an update before the game I will be
doing text updates and these can be read by clicking here.
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10/08/2003
One Week Left To Enter The Prediction Contest - You can still
enter the competitions and the rules are now available to down load
from this site by clicking here
and if you wish to enter the pre-season contest you can download the
excel spreadsheet here.
Right click and select save as. If you have any questions drop me
an e-mail. |
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10/08/2003
Fixture Changes - Details have been announced of a switch round
of the Raynes Park Fixtures we will now be at home on Saturday 27th
December 2003 and away for the Bank Holiday game in May. More details
can be seen here.
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09/08/2003
Ray Harford RIP - At lunchtime today I heard the sad news that
Ray Harford had lost his battle against Cancer. Ray was manager for
Wimbledon when we were getting slated for a style of football but
he managed to turn the single minded views of the press round and
we often got praised after leaving Wimbledon he moved on to Blackburn
where although Kenny Dalglish got all the praise it was Ray that did
the work on the pitch to make them into a championship side.
Ray was always popular at the clubs he was at and he will be missed
I remember when he joined us and everyone said he didn't have a sense
of humor Luton Fans produced a banner at Plough Lane That said something
along the lines of "Thanks Ray, You may not have smiled much but you
made us Smile" he also joined fans on the dance floor at the end of
season bash. Just before the start of the game today a minutes silence
was held to remember Ray and was appreciated by fans.
Also today was the sad news about Jimmy Davis who was on his way to play for Watford against Coventry but was killed in a car crash. My thoughts are with his family as well as supporters and officials of Watford and Manchester United. |
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09/08/2003
Sutton Result - This afternoon in some of the hottest conditions
I have known at football AFC Wimbledon went down 1-0 to Sutton United.
A healthy crowd of over 1,500 were present to enjoy the football and
the sunshine. The game sparked into life about 20 minutes after the
start when there was a bit of a scuffle between a number of players
after it Sean Daly was asked to be subbed by the ref along with a
Sutton player. The game had to be stopped on a couple of times when
the ref asked for drink breaks due to the hot conditions. We had a
few chances but were unable to convert them. Sutton's goal came in
the second half and was taken well. The players used looked like they
will be the 1st team squad (apart from Gavin Bolger who was away as
he was celebrating his 21st birthday. He didn't know about the trip).
Kevin Cooper also came on late in after being out for a few weeks
with his hamstring injury. |
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09/08/2003
Saturday Matchday Service - Today we take on Sutton in the
40th anniversary game of the FA Amateur Cup final it was hoped that
the FA Amateur cup would be there for people to have official photos
with but unfortunately it is not available so as well as the FA Cup
will be the match ball and a replica of the 1966 Jules Rimet trophy
which was presented to England following the victory in the World
Cup.
Match Updates will be available by clicking on the following link.
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08/08/2003
Trig Departs - At last night reserve game which finished 0-0
news began to break that Trigger had departed the club and it appeared
that Lee Dobbinson (Darrens dad) would be involved in some way as
he was on the bench. This morning this has been confirmed by a statement
on the Official
Site.Can I say a huge thanks to Trigger for everything he did last season with regards to the development of players at our club. He will also be remembered as the man who had the cheek to score AFC Wimbledon's first goal at Bromley when I was at the Burger Bar. Lets hope that it's not the last we see of him and he will always be welcome down at The Fans Stadium Kingsmeadow. All The Best Mate. |
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07/08/2003
Reserves In Action Tonight - At 6:30 tonight the reserves are playing Forest again who are based down at Horsham. I will be going to the match so will give a run down of what happened on Friday. |
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07/08/2003
Sutton Game On Saturday - On Saturday we play Sutton United
at Gander Green Lane in a 40th anniversary of the 1963 FA Amateur
Cup Final. It should be another hot day so lets see another good crowd
to watch the game in what is our penultimate game before the start
of the season. |
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06/08/2003
Westfield Vase Game To Be Played At Woking? - It looks like our Vase game against Westfield could well be moved over the road to Woking Football Club again as Westfield have been given permission to move it. They plan once again to have the bar at Westfield open both before and after the game so we can have a drink at there ground. |
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05/08/2003
Defeat Against Luton - Tonight we lost 2-0 against a strong Luton team. I missed a fair part of the match due to helping out in the Presidents Lounge and therefore this explains the lack of updates. Sorry about this. From what I saw and understand we played well but they were just that bit stronger than us. I am sure that Terry got a lot out of the game as he also used a large number of players. |
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04/08/2003
Luton Town Game On Tuesday Night - Tuesday night will see us
play Luton Town in our final home pre-season game of the season. With
the brilliant summer weather its a chance to have a few drinks before
and after the game in the sunshine and raise some funds for the club.
Anyway both the commentary and the text updates should be up and running
the commentary can be found over at Radio
Wdon and I will be doing text updates at the following link.
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03/08/2003
2003/04 Seasons Fixtures - I have now got round to putting
up the fixtures for next season. If you wish to view them for the
time being please click here.
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03/08/2003
Fun Competitions For The New Season - I have thought of running three prediction competitions for the new season, all will be free to enter and you can enter none, one, two or three competitions. The details of each competition will be as follows: -Pre-Season Prediction Competition
This will be complete guess work and will need you to predict all
league results before the season starts at 3pm UK time on Saturday
16th August 2003. After each game the points table will be updated
and it will score on a similar basis to the APL on Wisa
Chat you will get 1 point for getting the home, draw, away result correct 1 point for getting the score correct for each team a bonus point if you get all three right and an additional bonus point if the winning team has won by 3 or more goals and you have all the other maximum points.Match By Match Prediction Competition
This will allow you to take into account form and any injuries that teams may have and will need you to predict by the stated kick off time for each league game. The scoring will be the same as for the pre-season prediction competition.Match By Match "Tote Style" Competition
This will be similar to the Match By Match Competition but the scoring
will be totally different. Each player will start with 460 points.
For each game as well as predicting the score you will need to state
a number of points that you will risk after each game all the points
risked will be added together and then divided by the number of people
that have the correct score. If you don't predict each week 10 points
will be deducted from your score, if you join the competition late
(after 16th August) 10 points will be deducted for each game you have
missed. This will obviously reward people that go for more unlikely
scores (as long as the result comes off).
How To Enter
If you wish to enter any of the competition please e-mail me at Competitions with your name a username and your e-mail address and I will send you a full set of rules and for the pre-season predictions an excel spreadsheet to complete. I will have the option to refuse any usernames that do not go along with the family nature of the site. |
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03/08/2003
Draw At Newport - On Saturday we had a lovely day out in Newport and a very good draw against a team that plays two divisions above us (although in a different section of the pyramid). Newport had made it into a family fun day and it was a lovely Sunny day for everyone. About 250 AFC fans made the trip out of a crowd of 1,012.We started fairly slowly as we got used to the pace of the game. Just after the 20 minutes mark Wade Falana had a shot that was tipped over for a corner. About 5 minutes later AFC Wimbledon took the lead after a nice run by Sully who crossed the ball to the far side of the box it was then played back by Ally Russell who passed to Gavin Bolger who slotted the ball into the back of the net. 10 minutes later Keith Ward came on for Matt Everard who went off with a hamstring injury and could be out for the next four weeks. Half time came and we were 1-0 up.
20 minutes into the second half it looked like we would go 2-0 up
when Wade Falana had a chance from about 6 yards out but the pressure
from the defender seemed to put him off and the ball went over the
bar. 5 minutes later the score was level when Newport who had been
causing us problems by getting down the wings and round the back of
us managed to get through the defence again and put the ball past
Ray Merry into the back of the net.
The rest of the game was played out and a 1-1 score was a fair reflection on the afternoon. After the game there was a fans penalty competition and we won 3-2 a covers band then started and it was a nice evening to finish off a fun day.
Newport Made it a really nice day and you can read what they thought
about us at the following websites The
official Site and "We
Love Our County". |
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02/08/2003
European Matchday Service - Today AFC Wimbledon have there
first taste of European Football when we make the trip over the seven
bridge to Newport. I will be doing text updates and they can be read
here. It looks like it will be a nice day and I will take some photos I hope to put up all the pre-season ones taken so far on Sunday.
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01/07/2003
League Statement On Fixtures - Following on from the fixtures
that have been announced (They should be up here on Sunday) the league
have issued a statement regarding the fact that we have 8 midweek
games at home. The statement can be read over on the official
site. |
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