Hot off the press a recording of the goal that Paul Barnes scored yesterday has just arrived this was recorded off a mobile phone so you will have to understand the size and quality, but I will work on it and try and get a bigger version and maybe add in some Wdon commentary but for now please click here. Also this version may be better quality so click here. Big thanks to Peter Armfield for the clip, you may need to save the file before opening it.
Ricki Herbert (RH) - Morning Shane see your playing Well for AFC Wimbledon and your commitment to New Zealand is great, I have some good news for you.
Shane Smeltz (SS) - Hi Ricki yes the season is going really well and it's nice to be in your plans, what good news do you have for me.
RH - Well I have just been informed we have a prestigious friendly arranged and wanted to let you know about it.
SS - Oh right so who is it against.
RH - It's Brazil's final pre-world cup game so will bee their first team, Carlos, Robinho, Ronald, and Ronaldniho to name a few of the players but I'm sure you know the line up for them.
SS - Wow that's incredible and where will this be played?
RH - With the World Cup being played in Germany it's been arranged for Geneva so almost a home game for you European boys.
SS - This is incredible it gets better I cant wait for the game when is it?
RH - It's Sunday 4th June.
SS - NO IT CANT BE
RH - Shane are you ok, you didn't sound too happy with that.
SS - Ricki it cant be Sunday 4th any date but then.
RH - No shane defiantly that date what's the big problem with that?
SS - It's just, well, I have a family commitment for that weekend so wont be able to make it.
RH - What do you wont be able to make it, it's Brazil one of the best teams in the world surely you can get out of the "Family Commitment" even if you fly home straight after the game.
SS - Ricki I would if it was any other event problem is I'm getting married.
RH - Your What, of all the weekends in all the years you chose to get married when we are playing Brazil, oh dear, I will break the news gently to the other boys in the team, oh and good luck i'm sure it will be a lovely day and we will bring you back a programme.
The Man Of The Match Vote is now open and will remain open until kick off on Tuesday night to cast your vote please click the link below: -
So after we spent the majority of the past week wondering where and when the semi final will be we now know that for the majority of us it's a nice local trip to Fisher on Tuesday night but it terms of final outcome today had a number of twists and turns.
Lets start with the easy bit and our game the first half was definitely your last game of the season type event where teams knew that they had secured the area of the table they hoped for so it was no surprise when the teams went in at half time at 0-0 although Harrow had a good few chances.
At the start of the second half Harrow came out all guns blazing and so wasn't a real surprise when on 48 minutes they scored from a corner. This seemed to switch everyone on both on and off the pitch as we made a couple of changes and the crowd got behind the team hoping to see the minimum of a draw that we needed to secure 4th spot.
Then on 61 minutes Tony Battersby scored his first goal for the club and then 11 minutes later a free kick was awarded on the edge of the box Scott Curley and Dean Brennan stood over it Dean hit it the keeper cleared it to the edge of the box and Paul Barnes just leathered it straight into the top corner. that was the end of the goals and the three points were secured, we knew that we had finished 4th but who would we play, well if we re-wind the action a bit I will give you a breakdown of how the other main games went.
This afternoon I was in regular contact with Heybridge Swift and occasional contact with Fisher so when ever the situation changed I was aware of what it meant.
Heybridge started by taking the lead at the end of the first half and this was the case at half time, with no update from fisher anywhere it meant that at half time if results stayed the same we would be off to Heybridge.
Early in the second half Heybridge had and missed a penalty and then at the same time as we scored so did Slough so both our games were 1-1 and news was confirmed that Fisher were 1-1 as well, so this meant we were still off to Heybridge.
The possibility of going to Heybridge seemed even more likely when Fisher score came through that they were 3-1 up with around 20 minutes to go. Heybridge then went 2-1 up but then everything went crazy as Chelmsford scored 2 goals meaning that Fisher was 3-3, Heybridge was 2-1 and we were 2-1 if results finished as they were Heybridge would get 2nd Fisher 3rd and us 4th so we would be off to Fisher on Tuesday.
When Heybridge phoned to confirm the full time they told me that the Fisher score was 3-1 so I corrected them and they were amazed once the Fisher score was confirmed as a full time we knew we were off to champion Hill and judging by the people wanting tickets after the game it will be a road block at Champion Hill.
In the battle for the final playoff space Hampton came from 1-0 don to win 2-1 and mean they will visit Heybridge on Monday afternoon. A crazy afternoon but the vast majority of fans will be very happy.
Last day of the League Season at Kingsmeadow this afternoon but the season is far from over, and if you are at Kingsmeadow it's going to be a crazy day, with the main event being the game against Harrow Borough at 15:00 we have presentations both before, at half time and after the game, add in the play-off tickets are on sale before the game to season ticket holders and after thee game to everyone when we will know who we are playing and coach tickets will also be on sale.
Don't forget to bring along any lose change for the collection as well as every penny contributes towards the pounds and it really does help. So that's the information for all of us lucky people who can be at the game today but if you cant the Matchday service will be in operation and you can follow all the action from kick off to final whistle and then news of the other games and who we will face in the playoff's on Tuesday night. To follow the action click the Matchday link above.
With the final series of league games taking place today it's time for the final predictions of the season, the main game of the day is Billericay vs Hampton & Richmond where the winners will secure a play-off spot but Hampton have the advantage as a draw will be enough for them to secure the place.
The full list of predictions is as follows: -
| Team | Venue | Against | Win | Draw | Lose |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braintree | Home |
Walton & Hersham |
33 |
17 |
6 |
| Fisher | Home |
Chelmsford City |
45 |
9 |
2 |
| Heybridge Swifts | Away |
Slough Town |
25 |
30 |
1 |
| Hampton & Richmond | Away |
Billericay Town |
54 |
1 |
1 |
| AFC Wimbledon | Home |
Harrow Borough |
51 |
3 |
2 |
| Staines | Home |
Folkestone Invicta |
42 |
12 |
2 |
| Worthing | Home |
Leyton |
45 |
8 |
1 |
| Walton & Hersham | Away |
Braintree Town |
6 |
11 |
37 |
The result of last Saturday's playoff clinching place game at Hendon is as follows: -
Paul Barnes 25 Votes 30.49%
Luke Garrard 16 Votes 19.51%
Richard Butler 11 Votes 13.41%
Scott Curley 9 Votes 10.98%
Anthony Howard 7 Votes 8.54%
Dave Sargent 3 Votes 3.66%
Tony Battersby 3 Votes 3.66%
Robert Ursell 3 Votes 3.66%
Wayne Finnie 2 Votes 2.44%
Michael Woolner 2 Votes 2.44%
Andy Little 1 Votes 1.22%
Just a reminder that at various points during the day today both Surrey Senior Cup Final and Playoff Semi Final tickets will be on sale from the Credit Card hotline and also in person from the club. for the various details please see the news section of the official site.
Overnight Shane Played 60 minutes for New Zealand in a 1-0 defeat, our unofficial New Zealand correspondent "Pete The Kiwi Don" posted the following review on the AFCW Guest book: -
Full Time in the second tour match: Chile 1 New Zealand 0. No fairy tale finish for Shane Smeltz today. After the All Whites found Chile too hot in the first match, this was an attempt by NZ to pack the midfield with 5 men, leaving Shane alone up front surrounded by fast-moving, skilful South American defenders including one excellent man-to-man marker seemingly surgically grafted to his back. NZ couldn't win the ball in midfield, so Shane rarely got a sniff of the ball. He played his usual game - running his socks off and getting into positions where he could receive the ball, but always his back was to goal and there were defenders preventing him from turning and wriggling a path to goal. With the midfielder's failing to get forward to support him, there was nobody to pass to and Shane eventually got dispossessed. He was substituted after 15 minutes of the second half, not due to injury but for tactical reasons (2 fresh strikers to try and save the game). Overall, he did OK: worked hard and made a few good flicks from clearances, but the Chile defence was just too good. The NZ tactics worked, in that the score line was better than the 4-1 roasting of the first match, but god knows what Brazil will do to them on 4th June, even when the Premiership and Scottish Prem players are able to turn out for the All Whites. 6.5 out of 10 for Shane on this performance. He'll be tired when he gets back to KM, but no injury.
By the time the majority of people read this Shane Smeltz will have another cap for New Zealand as they take on Chile in the second game of the mini tour. Kick off is at 23:00 UK time and lets hope Shane can get on the team sheet again. I will post any information I have in the morning.
So if you want to try and work out the team, date and Time that the game might be played I have put together a page where you click a link and it gives you a suggestion. to take part in this click here.
Although currently suspended for us Shane Smeltz is able to play in New Zealand's tour of Chile and overnight they played the first game in the 2 game Tour, although New Zealand lost 4-1 the first goal of the game was scored by Shane, the following is from "Pete the Kiwi Don" who watched the game - "Shane scored the opening goal after 14 minutes - beat his defender to a cross and "passed" the ball into the bottom left corner from 20 yards. Brilliant finishing!"
The teams meet again on Thursday night but the New Zealand Manager is saying he will make changes to the Starting line-up so Shane Might not be involved.
Shane should be back for the weekend game to watch as he sits out the Harrow game and first play-off match due to suspension.
An announcement was made yesterday regarding the playoff semi final next week. The big concern was the possibility of having to go to Heybridge on a Tuesday evening but this has now been changed and if we have to play the Swifts we will play them on Bank Holiday Monday at 3pm.
The Official Site also has details of the criteria for getting one of the advanced allocation of 2,000 for either of the games, most supporters should be able to get tickets ahead of the game with the various methods being made available, Credit Card Hotline for Season Ticket Holders, Wed-Fri 5pm to 8pm 1 per season ticket, Saturday after the game 4 per person, and if any are left over on Sunday lunchtime.
So we know next Tuesday (2nd May 2006) we know we will be away in a Play-off Semi-final but as yet we don't know where, the big problem is if it's away at Heybridge and how people will get to the game. If people know that they are driving and will have any spare spaces for other wombles to travel you can e-mail me details with number of spaces, departure point and time and I can put details on the site and can arrange to put people in contact, otherwise i'm sure if people ask around after the game on Saturday things should be able to be sorted out.
Tonight the London Senior Cup Final takes place at Tooting & Mitcham F. C. with a 19:30 kick off, the added bonus of the Final is that it involves Hendon F. C. and an opportunity to have a scouting mission on a potential play-off opponent in Fisher Athletic. I am planning to go to the game although I may misses the start of the game, once I do get to the game I will be doing text updates on the game and you can keep up to date with the action by clicking the matchday link above.
As you may know our semi-final in the play-off has been moved to Tuesday 2nd May with a 19:45 kick off so this may be required if you work for an employer rather than being self-employed, a student, looking for work, or the boss.
Arrive at work on time or maybe even a bit early, when the boss arrives check they had a nice weekend and maybe offer to get them a drink, ask if any early or late shifts need covering this week, but be careful you don't want them to be to suspicious if things seem to be going ok around mid morning ask them if you can ask them a question.
Explain you know next week is a bank holiday weekend but see what the possibility is of maybe taking the Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning off, when they ask why you will need to explain that your not sure yet and in fact might not need it and wont know for certain until Saturday afternoon if you will, I am sure most nice generous bosses will say yes.
Of course this will only be needed if we play Heybridge Swifts in the Semi Final but if it's Fisher you will end up with a few brownie points for a later date.
Plans are already underway with regards to possible travel arrangements if it was to be Heybridge but this wont be known until thee final whistle of games on Saturday so if you are attending the game on Saturday make sure you listen out to the PA system for details.
If you work in central London another option would be a train from Liverpool street to Chelmsford and then get a cab to the ground although this is 10 miles away if groups cab share the price should be ok. More information will be posted later in the week and on Saturday night once everything is known for definite.
Leader of the "Kent Wombleverse" Ray Armfield has put a really nice item up on e-bay with all proceeds going to the ground fund, it's a signed series of pictures from the 2003/04 CCL Double winning season to view the item and maybe place a bid click here.
Congratulations to Richard "Soundman" Lonsdale who yesterday completed the London Marathon in 4 hours 27 minutes and 16 seconds, that's his official time and takes into account the time it took to start the race. For people who like stats here are some on Richard's Race.
Overall Position |
18,422 |
|---|---|
Men's Race Position |
14,543 |
Age Group Position |
4,467 |
10 KM Split |
0 Hours 55 minutes 12 Seconds |
20 KM Split |
1 Hours 55 minutes 51 Seconds |
Half Way Split |
1 Hours 59 minutes 09 Seconds |
30 KM Split |
2 Hours 58 minutes 38 Seconds |
40 KM Split |
4 Hours 12 minutes 03 Seconds |
Finish Time |
4 Hours 27 minutes 16 Seconds |
Richard is rightly very proud of this time and thanks everyone who supported him and more importantly sponsored him with all money going to the ground fund so if you did or would like to contribute to his fund raising effort he will be in the back bar before and after the game on Saturday and will take cash or cheque's, cheques should be made payable to The Dons Trust and write "Soundman Marathon" on the back of them.
Six weeks ago I set the challenge of inviting people to predict the results of the remaining fixtures for the teams that we expected to be in the play-off's well with just 1 week to go and 4 of the 5 teams confirmed so lets have a look as a group how the predictions have done.
| Team | O.P.Pts | O.P.PL | C.P.Pts | C.P.PL | Points Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Braintree |
91 |
1 |
93 |
1 |
+2 |
Fisher |
80 |
3 |
87 |
2 |
+7 |
Heybridge |
84 |
2 |
86 |
3 |
+2 |
Hampton |
77 |
5 |
75 |
5 |
-2 |
Staines |
72 |
6 |
71 |
6 |
-1 |
Worthing |
72 |
6 |
70 |
7 |
-2 |
AFC Wimbledon |
78 |
4 |
77 |
4 |
-1 |
Walton & Hersham |
70 |
8 |
65 |
8 |
-5 |
The Amazon Shop that raises funds for the stadium fund continues to do really well so if you are looking for items to buy from Books and CD's right up to electrical goods click the amazon link on any page and then any items purchased in that visit will result in commission being passed on to the stadium fund.
The Man Of The Match Vote for yesterday's victory at Hendon is now open please click the link below to cast your vote: -
The man Of The Match site has now started working again and I can therefore put the result up of last Monday's game against Walton & Hersham, the result is as follows: -
Luke Garrard 16 Votes 21.33%
Paul Barnes 16 Votes 21.33%
Scott Curley 15 Votes 20.00%
Anthony Howard 10 Votes 13.33%
Richard Butler 4 Votes 5.33%
Andy Little 3 Votes 4.00%
Dwayne Plummer 3 Votes 4.00%
Simon Sobihy 3 Votes 4.00%
Wayne Finnie 2 Votes 2.67%
Wes Daly 1 Votes 1.33%
Dave Sargent 1 Vote 1.33%
Shane Smeltz 1 Vote 1.33%
A few weeks ago the chances of making the play-off's looked slim at best so to be able to guarantee our place with a game to spare is a brilliant achievement. The first part of reaching the play-offs was achieved when we won 1-0 at Hendon thanks to a lovely finish from Richard Butler as he broke to the edge of the box and placed the ball beyond the keeper.
The only downside of the game was Scott Curley's sending off right on half time and meant that for the whole of the second half we played with 10 men.
The play-off's were guaranteed when first Heybridge beat Staines and then just for added fun Maldon beat Hampton, this means with us sitting in 4th place a point against Harrow will guarantee 4th place but potentially the game of the day next weekend will be at Billericay as Hampton & Richmond visit A win for Billericay would see them take the 5th spot otherwise Hampton Will make the play-off's.
The current man of the match problems means the vote cant be started yet but I will sort this on Sunday so you can all start voting.
This afternoon we will be involved in the last competitive game at Claremont Road as Hendon are leaving at the end of this season, to a venue yet to be confirmed. Hendon will be launching their Trust this afternoon to hopefully help them in the long term secure their future so if your going to the game and see anyone collecting for the trust remember thee support when we launched our and throw some lose change in.
If you cant make the game this afternoon, the Matchday updates will be in full effect starting from around 14:45 when I hope to be able to bring you the starting line up and then all the action from kick off to the final whistle and beyond. To follow the action please click the Matchday link above and that will bring you all the information as it happens.
One request I would make especially as the game nears the end is that with the high demand for the service that people allow screen to refresh automatically every two minutes as if people keep pressing "Refresh" it can jam the server and not only means people cant view the posts, more importantly my updates don't get through.
It looks like trains are now running direct from Wimbledon to Cricklewood today so we should all be ok if we are taking this route.
| Team | Venue | Against | Win | Draw | Lose |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braintree | Away |
Windsor & Eton |
40 |
11 |
5 |
| Fisher | Away |
Walton & Hersham |
4 |
33 |
19 |
| Heybridge Swifts | Home |
Staines |
47 |
7 |
2 |
| Hampton & Richmond | Home |
Maldon Town |
4 |
41 |
11 |
| AFC Wimbledon | Away |
Hendon |
40 |
16 |
0 |
| Staines | Away |
Heybridge Swifts |
3 |
24 |
29 |
| Worthing | Away |
Chelmsford City |
12 |
24 |
19 |
| Walton & Hersham | Away |
Fisher Athletic |
17 |
30 |
9 |
This afternoon an incident happened which resulted in damage to the overhead lines between Kings Cross and Luton and therefore the service to cricklewood was suspended, they are closing the line overnight to carry out work and more information will be published at this time, if it is available before I depart I will of course post it but otherwise the other suggestion is Northern Line to Brent Cross and then a 15 minute walk but this involves crossing a very busy road.
On Saturday we visit Hendon and if you are traveling by public transport you can get a train direct from Wimbledon to Cricklewood, the nearest station, trains depart at 23 and 53 minutes past the hour and take 56 minutes to reach Cricklewood, from the station you need to take the first turning which is Claremont Road and the ground is about a 10-15 minutes walk up this road.
For the journey home trains are at 19 and 49 minutes past the hour and take an hour back to Wimbledon.
It appears that the Man Of The Match vote from Monday's game is currently down, this has happened before and when it comes back all previous votes are usually ok, touch wood, from memory it was a well contested Man Of The Match vote and 3 players were fighting it out for the top spot. Let's hope it comes back by Saturday morning and I can issue the results at that stage, I will be looking at a few other suggestions for next season and be asking for people's feedback over the summer.
With only two games left this season for all teams except Billericay in the hunt for play-off positions I thought I would do a comprehensive breakdown of the play-off situation.
We already know that Braintree are Champions and Fisher and Heybridge are guaranteed 2nd and 3rd Place but we don't know in which order, the other contenders are Hampton & Richmond, AFC Wimbledon. Billericay, Staines and Worthing. So here goes with a team by team breakdown, the order of teams is based on the current order of the league table standings.
Fisher - Fisher need to match heybridge's performance to gain 2nd spot on goal difference, unless something goes spectacularly wrong.
Heybridge - With Heybridge being on the same number of points as Fisher they must get more points than Fisher or somehow improve their goal difference by at least 18 over fisher in the next two games.
Hampton & Richmond - require 4 points from their final 2 games to be guaranteed a top 5 finish and the two games they face are Home to Maldon and away to Billericay, their goal difference is 19 as well and this could play a part in their final position.
AFC Wimbledon - With the best goal difference of the contenders 4 points will be enough for a play-off place and in fact if Staines were to lose on Saturday 2 points would be enough.
Billericay - are possibly in a slightly false position as they only have one game left against Hampton on the last day of the season. of all the teams they must feel their chances are very slim of making the play-off's.
Staines - A defeat for Staines on Saturday away at Heybridge could see the end of their play-off hopes and even victories against both Heybridge and Folkestone might not be enough.
Worthing - After seeming to have it in their own hands just a couple of games ago Worthing are relying on a maximum points and a complete set of strange results to get to the play-off's even their goal difference wont be enough if points are level.Below is a grid of all the details.
Pos |
Team |
Pt's |
GD |
Max |
22/4 |
29/4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2 |
Fisher |
81 |
39 |
87 |
Walton & Hersham (A) |
Chelmsford City (H) |
3 |
Heybridge |
81 |
21 |
87 |
Staines (H) |
Slough Town (A) |
4 |
Hampton |
72 |
19 |
78 |
Maldon Town (H) |
Billericay (A) |
5 |
AFC Wimbledon |
71 |
29 |
77 |
Hendon (A) |
Harrow Borough (H) |
6 |
Billericay |
69 |
24 |
72 |
No Game |
Hampton & Richmond (H) |
7 |
Staines |
69 |
20 |
75 |
Heybridge (A) |
Folkestone (H) |
8 |
Worthing |
67 |
15 |
73 |
Chelmsford City (A) |
Leyton (H) |
The complete library of pictures from Monday's games can be viewed by clicking here, ad for a sequence of photographs you can see the Header the ball going over the keeper followed by the players reaction I am sure you will agree they are an incredible series of pictures.
Paul Barnes 24 Votes 30.77%
Anthony Howard 21 Votes 26.92%
Shane Smeltz 7 Votes 8.97%
Simon Sobihy 7 Votes 8.97%
Josh Lennie 6 Votes 7.69%
Wayne Finnie 5 Votes 6.41%
Scott Curley 5 Votes 6.41%
Dave Sargent 3 Votes 3.85%
Ok the Dons Online Team are away so we thought we would have no video action for you but amazingly "Nomadon" from the Guest book managed to record in all it's glory Paul Barnes first goal yesterday, this was the view I had of it as well as we were standing near each other, at present this is an AVI file and rolls in at around 9mb I will try and sort it out later to make into a mpg and smaller file size, but for now let's not complain :)
To download and watch the file please click here.
Update - From the other side of the world "Dons Online" have added to their site a 1.7mb version of the clip so if this one is a bit large watch the slimmed down version.
Before today we had made two previous visit's to Walton & Hersham in the past 3 seasons (or is it 4) in one of the first games we lost 5-0 and then last year on what should of been Champions Monday we lost 4-0 so we were showing sign's of improvements it always looked like this was going to be a really tough game and after the great display on Saturday and the fact Walton had all but given up hopes of making the play-off's it was important that we capitilise on this.
The game got off to a great start after 15 minutes when a ball was played across the box and Paul Barnes got his head to it which possibly took a deflection off a defender and over the keeper and into the top corner of the net. to put us 1-0 up.
The game continued with us playing really well with everyone playing their part and some really hard challenges coming in, mainly from the Walton side, and in the end we ended up having both Wes Daly and Simon Sobihy going off with injuries, which could see them miss the remainder of the season.Then once again with the clock ticking down Richard Butler managed to get past the offside trap and managed to chip the ball over the keeper and into the back of the net to send the crowd wild as we wrapped up the points.
With the long Easter Weekend I am delaying the start of the Walton & Hersham Man Of The Match Poll until Tuesday evening so that anybody who hasn't had a chance to vote for Saturday's one can do so, please click the Man Of The Match link above.
If you wish to vote for player of thee year and haven't done so as of yet you still have a few days left to vote and please click the link below: -
Congratulations to Braintree who this afternoon clinched the Ryman League Premier League and therefore automatic promotion to The Conference South division next season, thanks to a 1-0 victory at Chelmsford City.
Elsewhere in the league, fisher and Heybridge continued to fight out the 22nd and 3rd place with Heybridge winning 1-0 at Maldon and at the same time relegating Maldon and Fisher winning 5-0 at East Thurrock united. In terms of the other play-off places Bromley went down to the seaside and picked up a 2-1 victory after being 1-0 down at half time.
For the third Easter Monday in a row we return to Walton, in a game that can only be described as Huge. The atmosphere and commitment both on and off the pitch on Saturday was outstanding and we need to continue this as Phillo said on Saturday the twelve player is "us" and we really must make this count.
I appreciate not everyone is able to get to the game today and therefore thee matchday updates will be in operation, and I might even try and post when full time whistle is blown unlike on Saturday :) If you are following the updates from home please let them update automatically as every time people press refresh I am unable to post at that time as I get a service unavailable message.
To follow the action click the matchday link above and it will all happen right in front of you.
Tonight a new series of New Tricks starts on BBC1 and judging by the preview that has been shown over the last couple of weeks Alun Armstrong is still doing a major part to promote thee club, so once you have returned from the game tonight sit down in front of the TV at 21:00 on BBC1 and watch a great programme.
With Hampton and Staines having met last week due to the fact that Hampton are in Middlesex cup final action tomorrow tomorrow see's the game in hand that the other playoff hopefuls have on these two. Two other events could also be confirmed the first is a victory for Braintree at Chelmsford would confirm them as champions, and defeat for Maldon against Heybridge could also confirm that Maldon are relegated along with Windsor & Eton and Redbridge.
The predictions for the games involving the top 8 sides tomorrow are as follows: -
| Team | Venue | Against | Win | Draw | Lose |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braintree | Away |
Chelmsford |
16 |
27 |
13 |
| Fisher | Away |
East Thurrock United |
23 |
21 |
12 |
| Heybridge Swifts | Away |
Maldon |
45 |
8 |
3 |
| AFC Wimbledon | Away |
Walton & Hersham |
21 |
25 |
9 |
| Worthing | Home |
Bromley |
25 |
22 |
8 |
| Walton & Hersham | Home |
AFC Wimbledon |
12 |
22 |
22 |
Reading the BBC web site today they are talking about how tomorrow will be chaos at shopping center's and DIY stores round the country as people try to spend money on items they don't really need. Well their is only one crowd i'm going to be in and that's the one at Stompond lane as we continue the push for a play-off place as we take on Walton & Hersham.
If your traveling by train, they depart Wimbledon platform 8 at 6 and 36 minutes past the hour and take 18 minutes's to reach Walton-On-Thames. When you arrive at the station cross to the other platform and exit the station on that side, the road directly opposite should be Ashley Park Road start walking up that road and after crossing 3 roads on the right the 4th one should be Stompond Lane turn down this road and the ground is just on the right, it should be about a 10-15 minute walk from the station.
If your planning on driving the following information has been posted about parking "there are limited parking facilities, there will be no access to the stadium car park except match officials there is a public car park adjacent to the ground and spaces will be set aside for Your Players so there will be around 100 free spaces, when full the best place to park is at Walton station car park which is within 15 minutes walk,chargeable though, the streets around the ground are also available but I would steer clear of any double yellow lines (especially in Stompond lane opposite the ground) as they will get tickets if you want to park in the free car park then come early"
One rumor broke on the Ryman message board on Friday night and also just a chance to explain the current situation on suspensions: -
Rumors: - On Friday night the Ryman message board which is a hotbed of rumors suggestions started to appear that both Fisher Athletic and Heybridge Swifts had both failed the "FA Ground Grading to progress to Step 2" to explain this to be able to be promoted grounds must reach a certain criteria the higher up the leagues you go the more requirements that are required. The requirements include, number of turnstiles and exits, amount of covering, designated seats for press and officials.
The first reaction was that it was a very late date to be telling clubs that they hadn't reached the criteria but the process is that clubs inform the relevant league if they plan to be put forward for promotion by the end of December by the middle to of March clubs are inspected and informed of any additional improvements that are required and these must be completed by 1sst April of that year, clubs are then re-inspected and then informed by letter of the outcome of the review.
So if a club was re-inspected just after 1st April it could take 10 days for written confirmation to come through to the club.
Last season in the Conference South Lewes were informed they couldn't get promoted and were therefore excluded from the play-offs what happened was the top team were given to the final and the two other teams met in a semi-final, if any teams were excluded from this years play-offs the same would happen and in the event two teams were excluded the remaining two teams would go straight to a final.
A regular fisher poster has since posted that this is untrue and Fisher have been given their grading for next season, so although the play-off place will still only involve teams down to 5th in the league the format of the play-offs could change if this rumor is confirmed.
Suspensions: - As you will be aware both Shane Smeltz and Dwayne Plummer were sent off last weekend at Billericay both have been given 3 match bans that both come into effect from Saturday 22th April and therefore will defiantly miss Hendon away, Harrow at Home and then this is where it get's tricky if we make the play-offs they would both miss the next game, if we fail to make the play-offs they would not only miss the Surrey Senior Cup Final but also the first league game of next season, as has been mentioned before you are allowed to nominate one County Cup to serve suspensions against and ours are served in the London Senior Cup, but you are still suspended for all competitive games that the club play until they have completed the number of qualifying games that the player is suspended for. So this is added reason whilst it is extra important that we reach the playoffs.
The Dons Online Crew are on a well deserved Holiday on the other side of the world so we don't have any video highlights from yesterday's game, if you pop by Su or Jon don't believe what people said about the game you didn't miss anything special really.
If your looking for something to relive the magic of yesterday you could download and listen to the Complete Radio Wdon audio broadcast by clicking here but if you just after thee goal's I have put together some individual clip files of the goals and final whistle that you can listen to or download from the links below: -
AFC Wimbledon make it 1-0 - 456K
AFC Wimbledon make it 2-0 472K
East Thurrock score two quick goals for A 2-2 score line 700K
AFC Wimbledon Make it 3-2 980K
The Full Time Whistle and Round-up 1.6mb
The afternoon thee clock was ticking down on us with the score at 2-2 and then Boom the place exploded as following a Rob Ursell cross and goal mouth scramble the ball came out to Frankie Howard who hit the ball into the back of the net for the winning goal.
With Andy Little suspended for the day and Wes serving the last game of his suspension it was a slightly different line up we had and Josh Lennie who started his first game in goal played well.
This was a hugely entertaining game with end to end action. We took the lead on 15 minutes when the ball came out to Dave Sargent who had a shot and thanks to a strategically placed piece of turf thee ball deflected over the East Thurrock Keepers dive and into the back of the net.
Four minutes later and we were 2-0 up when Shane added to the score sheet.
Although we were playing an adventurous 3-4-3 formation it of course put us at risk at the back and on 27 minutes East Thurrock pulled one back when following a good cross on the left it was headed home in the middle. worse was to come just a minute later when a break down the right saw the attacker get into the box and a nice finish put the ball past Josh. No more goals came before half time, and the talk at half time was about how we would react at the start of the second half.
As we had attacked The Tempest End in the first half the second half saw us attacking The West Bank but during the half time interval a large number of supporters had taken up residence in the West Bank and that made for a continuation of a cracking atmosphere but although we had a number of chances and East Thurrock had a good number of chances it came down to a 95th minute winner to decide the tie.
At the end of the game the players all got into a huddle to celebrate the win before acknowledging all four sides of the ground, the huddle seemed to show that not only were the team all pulling together but the supporters were all pulling together as well, it's important that we keep this going for the remainder of the season and then who knows what may be achieved.
Tomorrow is the penultimate home game of the season and the first of the very important Easter holiday period games. The Matchday service will be in operation with team news from around 14:45 and all the action from kick off at 15:00 to follow the action click the matchday button above and the screen should update automatically every couple of minutes.
This afternoon both before and after the game Richard "Soundman" Lonsdale will be in the Back Bar with his 2006 Flora Marathon sponsorship form where all money pledged by AFC Wimbledon fans will be passed on to the Stadium Fund, so far he has been pledged just under £650.00 but it would be a great incentive in this final week if we could get this figure even higher.
| Team | Venue | Against | Win | Draw | Lose |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AFC Wimbledon | Home |
East Thurrock |
42 |
12 |
2 |
| Fisher | Home |
Staines Town |
24 |
28 |
4 |
| Staines Town | Away |
Fisher |
4 |
26 |
26 |
| Hampton & Richmond | Home |
Redbridge |
32 |
22 |
2 |
| Walton & Hersham | Away |
Leyton |
27 |
18 |
8 |
| Worthing | Away |
Margate |
10 |
25 |
18 |
The result of last Saturday's Man Of The Match Vote is as follows: -
Wayne Finnie: 13 votes 27.08%
Paul Barnes: 12 votes 25.00%
Shane Smeltz: 10 votes 20.83%
Anthony Howard: 4 votes 8.33%
Dave Sargent: 4 votes 8.33%
Luke Garrard: 2 votes 4.17%
Andy Little: 1 vote 2.08%
Dwayne Plummer: 1 vote 2.08%
Simon Sobihy: 1 vote 2.08%
The 4 games today made a fair amount of movement in the league table, the results were: -
Billericay Town 3-1 Harrow Borough
Braintree Town 2-1 Slough Town
Heybridge Swifts 2-0 Folkestone Invicta
Wealdstone 0-2 Maldon Town
Four games have been moved from Saturday to Friday's bank holiday and two of these games contain two teams in the top 4 of the league. The full fixture list is as follows: -
Billericay Town Vs Harrow Borough
Braintree Town Vs Slough Town
Heybridge Swifts Vs Folkestone Invicta
Wealdstone Vs Maldon Town
The predictions for the relevant games are shown below: -
| Team | Venue | Against | Win | Draw | Lose |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braintree Town | Home |
Slough Town |
48 |
8 |
0 |
| Heybridge Swifts | Home |
Folkestone |
51 |
5 |
0 |
On Monday night (Easter Monday) at 21:00 on BBC 1 a Special edition of New Tricks is on and if you have seen the Trailer on BBC you will be aware that Alun Armstrong is yet again doing his bit for AFC Wimbledon. Thanks to Vic abbott he has been able to take 3 screen shots and you can view each of them by clicking one of the following links.
On wednesday night dave Anderson hosts one of his Meet the manager night's at Kingsmeadow starting at 19:30, it's normally a lively evening so if you can get along to either just listen or ask a question do so.
One game tonight but once again it involves two of the major playoff candidates. The game has been switched from Bank Holiday Monday as Hampton will be involved in the Middlesex Senior Cup Final on that day, thee predictions are as follows: -
| Team | Venue | Against | Win | Draw | Lose |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Staines Town | Home |
Hampton & Richmond |
10 |
37 |
8 |
| Hampton & Richmond | Away |
Staines Town |
51 |
2 |
3 |
With the season only having a few weeks to go before the end of the league games, it's time to open this years itmustbedons.com Player of the year vote. To go to the voting page please click below: -
Another Crazy Day in the Ryman Premier division this weekend with only 3 of the top 8 teams winning and that included Staines on Friday night, so although as we left the ground following a 2-1 defeat things didn't look great on returning home the madness showed that in effect the result had cancelled each other out and it just means 1 less game to play before the end of the season, the shock result of the day was Redbridge's 3-2 win against worthing.
One ground we will hate this year will be New Lodge, not only earlier in the season did we lose 1-0, lose a player for the season and have two players sent off but today we after taking the lead from a well worked Paul Barnes goal. Billericay's first goal came from a free kick taken on the halfway line and a header from inside the box that went into the top corner.
The second goal was a Wayne Finnie own goal which he tried to clear but sliced into the top corner. Unfortunatley once again we ended with 9 men first of all when we were awarded a free kick the ref sent shane Smeltz off and then with almost the last incident of the game the ref sent our fourth player of the season off at "New Lodge" when he sent off Dwayne Plummer who apparently punched a Billericay player after a scuffle. We shall wait to see what suspensions they get but it is possible that both players will play next weekend's two games and then miss the end of season including the cup final.
The Man Of The Match vote is now open please click below to cast your vote: -
With staines beating Walton & Hersham 2-0 last night it's important that we get at least a point in our trip to Billericay this afternoon. The updates will be in operation from around 14:45 with the team news and then all the action from kick off at 15:00. If you cant make the game click the Matchday link above and follow it from your computer.
The result of the Man Of The Match vote from Tuesday's Surrey Senior Cup game at Ashford is as follows: -
Dwayne Plummer 17 Votes 32.69%
Shane Smeltz 12 Votes 23.08%
Anthony Howard 10 Votes 19.23%
Robert Ursell 9 Votes 17.31%
John Boswell 2 Votes 3.85%
Dean Brennan 1 Votes 1.92%
Andy Little 1 Votes 1.92%
The predictions for the games being played on Saturday are as follows: -
| Team | Venue | Against | Win | Draw | Lose |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braintree | Away |
Bromley |
20 |
24 |
12 |
| Fisher | Away |
Wealdstone |
35 |
15 |
5 |
| Worthing | Away |
Redbridge |
49 |
5 |
1 |
| Hampton | Home |
Margate |
8 |
28 |
20 |
| Heybridge | Home |
Leyton |
16 |
30 |
10 |
| AFC Wimbledon | Away |
Billericay |
23 |
26 |
7 |
On Friday night, Walton & Hersham host Staines in the League, this is a game that could have an impact on what looks like could be the two remaining play-off places. The predictions that have been made for these games are as follows: -
| Team | Venue | Against | Win | Draw | Lose |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walton & Hersham | Home |
Staines Town |
17 |
29 |
10 |
| Staines Town | Away |
Walton & Hersham |
7 |
30 |
18 |
With the suggestion that the cup final will be played at Imber Court on 2nd May 2006 with each team getting approximately 1,200 tickets on the basis that we have had around 3,000 at cup finals in the past 2 years and Kingstonian's expecting to take a large number the Kingstonian's site have set up a petition requesting that the game is moved to a venue and date that doesn't clash with the possibility of either or both teams being involved in play-off action.
The petition take a few seconds to sign and to do so please click here.
If you want to update your own versions, Walton & Hersham vs Staines has been moved from Saturday 8th April to Friday 7th April and Staines vs Hampton has been moved from Monday 17th April to Tuesday 11th April. To download the current version by clicking here.
The result of the Man of The Match vote from Saturday's Match against Hampton is as follows: -
Andy Little 17 Votes 32.69%
Danny Wheeler 11 Votes 21.15%
Paul Barnes 6 Votes 11.54%
Anthony Howard 6 Votes 11.54%
Robert Ursell 5 Votes 9.62%
Scott Curley 3 Votes 5.77%
Luke Garrard 1 Votes 1.92%
Dean Brennan 1 Votes 1.92%
Wes Daly 1 Votes 1.92%
Shane Smeltz 1 Votes 1.92%
Following tonight's two semi-finals we know that one way or the other the surrey Senior Cup will remain at Kingsmeadow for a further year as the final is between AFC Wimbledon and Kingstonian F. C. A date and venue will be confirmed but as it currently stands the suggestion is that it will be played at Imber Court on May 2nd but this date and venue could change.
Yet again thee ref awarded the other team a penalty this time on just 15 minutes when they went 1-0 up but a brilliant goal by Rob Ursell on 39 minutes and then a Dwayne Plummer finish on 53 minutes saw us progress to the final.
The Man Of The Match Vote is now open please click below to cast your vote: -
Whilst two of the League games finished 1-1 tonight the important one of the night that involved Hampton & Richmond vs Heybridge Swifts saw Heybridge move 4 points clear of the 4th placed team's with a 5-0 victory this now means that the 4 teams in positions 4-7 and separated by just 1 points having all played the same number of games. (I will update the league table on Wednesday)
Tonight we take on Ashford Town (Middx) in the Semi Final stage of the surrey Senior Cup and it will be a game that see's a number of changes from recent line-up as to be eligible to play in a semi-final you must have registered 28 day before the tie and then played a minimum of 3 times prior to the semi-final.
If you cant make the game the Matchday updates will be in operation and you can follow the action by clicking the Matchday link above, the team news should be up by 19:30 and all the action from kick off at 19:45.
On Tuesday night we play Ashford Town (Middx) for the 4th time this season so far in the pre-season game and 2 FA Cup games 2 draws and a victory. If your traveling by train a reminder that it's a good 20 minute walk from Ashford station and the local cab firm isn't that good, they never seem to have any cars available.
Three Ryman games tonight and one of real note, the prediction for the game that sees 4th host 3rd is below and the other two games are Margate vs Windsor & Eton and Wealdstone vs Billericay.
| Team | Venue | Against | Win | Draw | Lose |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hampton & Richmond | Home |
Heybridge Swifts |
11 |
24 |
21 |
| Heybridge Swifts | Away |
Hampton & Richmond |
28 |
25 |
3 |
The Kingstonian site is reporting that the 2006/07 Ryman League season will start on Saturday 19th August 2006 which is the same weekend that the season started this season, if e enter at the same stage of the FA Cup and Trophy as this season the first round's we would be involved in for the FA Cup would be Saturday 16 September and 21st October 2006 for the FA Trophy, I wonder if wembley will be finished by the time the Finals of either of these competitions are due to be played.
One regular viewer to the site and AFC Wimbledon is Richard Lonsdale, who you may know as Soundman who is running this year all sponsorship money pledged to him will be donated to The Stadium Fund and at the last count he had been pledged around £650 so if you would like to sponsor him you can find him in the back bar at the East Thurrock Game and he will be more than pleased to take any pledges.
The Dons Trust World cup scorecast started officially yesterday let's get everyone involved so that not only we can all have some fun over the summer the Dons Trust can also raise some valuable funds, to help clear the debt.
Yesterday was a very frustrating day, to put it mildly, as far as I was concerned at half time we were very luck to be only 2-0 down but the nature of the two goals in the second half were very disappointing in that having watched the re-runs of the incident's involving the penalties, I still am not convinced they were penalties and the fact that Andy was sent off for the second one (for two yellows) and now misses the east Thurrock game just adds to it even more.
A strange fact is that on the first game in April last year we lost 4-0 to Walton & Hersham and our next game was a Semi Final in the surrey Senior Cup game, let's hope Frankie doesn't end up in goal on Tuesday night.
Although we have dropped out the playoffs it is still very tight and a lot of movement could still take place between now and the end of the month.
The Man Of The Match vote for the game is now open please click below to cat your vote: -
This afternoon we have a chance to put one result from the first half of the season when we put in a brilliant performance but came away with nothing in the 2-1 defeat at Hampton, Hopefully Kingsmeadow will be rocking and the updates I send will be read by very few people as we are all at Kingsmeadow cheering the lads on.
If you cant make the game the updates should start with team news from about 14:45 and then all the action from kick off through to the final whistle. To follow the action click the Matchday link above.
No real surprise on the winner of the Man Of The Match vote from last saturday but for the record here it is.
Paul Barnes: 57 votes 70.37%
Shane Smeltz: 7 votes 8.64%
Scott Curley: 6 votes 7.41%
Anthony Howard: 5 votes 6.17%
Dwayne Plummer: 2 votes 2.47%
Andy Little: 1 vote 1.23%
Dean Brennan: 1 vote 1.23%
Luke Garrard: 1 vote 1.23%
Robert Ursell: 1 vote 1.23%
