With everything that has gone on over the past week I forgot to update the Man O The Match votes for both the Dunstable and Dulwich games so they have now been added to the results page and you can see the results by clicking here The Man of The Match vote for the Exeter game are still coming in so if you haven't voted yet and wish to please click the link above for Man of the match.
I think everyone has had a chance to look back and reflect on the Weekends defeat at Exeter so I thought I would post my views.
Saturday started early and as I feared it would it was difficult to sleep and after I woke up at about 04:00 and not being able to sleep I eventually decided to get up at about 5am and I was pleased to see I wasn't alone and already a number of people had been posting on the guest book and as the clock ticked round more joined up. As I was involved with the coaches that were heading to Exeter I had to leave early and it was just before 8am I set off and lots of regular faces were outside the pub in Wimbledon Park by the time we reached Kingsmeadow 120 people were waiting and once we had all boarded the coaches we had one thing to add on to the coach before setting off On Friday night I had a request from the Commercial Department How could we get 3 lots of confetti down to Exeter I said don't worry we will take them on the coaches, apparently they were dropped in last Tuesday night at the collection window, what I didn't realise was how heavy these were these were black bin liners that were full with confetti and how would we get them into the ground in Exeter?
We headed down the M4 and at the time I was getting updates from people on the A3033 route and a umber of them were seeing other fans even if some took a diversion to visit Yeovil's ground. Two things of note we spotted on the M4 first we passed a Marmite container lorry it was like an oil lorry but decked out in Marmite livery then just before we stopped we saw going the other way (or not) a broken down hovis lorry now if them two had collided it could of been very interesting. Service stations haven't defiantly changed from the days of premiership trips up north and the delight of stops at the like of Watford Gap, the one we stopped at had a WH Smiths, Burger King, Coffee shop of some type and then a Marks & Spenser food store, this was a full food store they even had packs of bacon and complete family moves, just needed a electrical superstore to be able to buy a cooker or microwave to cook it in. As we left the Corby Town team and supporters coach who were off to Yate in the Southern League and they got a good round of applause from the Wombles and they wished us the best.
As we approached the ground we all of a sudden came across Wombles walking towards the ground and then as we got to the ground loads were waiting to get in at the turnstiles and it looked like SKY TV were in attendance we got off and opened the confetti fortunately the bag i opened was lots of smaller bags and we stacked them up on the road side and fans took bags as they went past. On of the bags was just a complete bag of confetti so fans had to take a large handful before going in.
As we entered the ground the terrace already really busy and the seats were packed we were told to move along the terrace and I found a spot right at the back and in the center of the goal, almost immediately the singing started and as more joined us it continued to get louder and with Haydon out on the pitch it was warming up for a cracking afternoon. As the team came out for the start of the match they were greeted by superb noise and confetti everywhere as you can see from the picture below.
You can read about the game itself but two incidents in the first half, after 7 minutes Exeter took the lead and then in thee closing minutes of the half scored a great goal at that time it wasn't looking good and the fear was that Exeter would over run us but the AFC Wimbledon players went off to a great ovation. Little were we to know what would happen in the second half.
The players were greeted with an even louder roar than the one that they left the field with. With the Wombles attacking us the noise continued and we started to get more into the play and then on 63 minutes a ball was played through to Roscoe on the left side of the box he broke into the box and then aimed it goal bound, that was the last I saw of the ball and then the packed terrace seemed to somehow clear as the ball hit the back of the net and the place went wild, could we be about to create the thing we all hoped for and be in the hat at 5:15
Although the players gave their all as did the supporters Exeter held on to progress and get a nice home draw against stockport County. We may have lost but we weren't giving up and the players got great support as they came up to show their support of thee fans. As everyone headed home people weren't down beaten and when speaking to Exeter a mutual understanding was on show, Exeter were 2 divisions higher than us and it showed but each time we play this sort of game it gives us an idea of what we are up against.Our coach arrived back just before the players coach and they once again got a great reception it was a great atmosphere at Kingsmeadow as players and supporters relaxed after a great campaign but knowing we want to be back at this level very soon.
The picture below was posted on the guest book and I understand was taken by an Exeter City Fan, if you were not at the game on Saturday or in the middle of this you can see how impressive the support was. If anyone knows who took the picture please e-mal me and I will add a full credit.
The proceeds from the 3rd Quarter of sales on the amazon link have just been paid out for the period July to September was £178.83 and this takes the total for this year to £529.41 if we were to have a similar response to what we have had in the final quarter for last year we could well go through the £1,000 which is passed on to the Stadium fund.
If you wish to help increasing this figure all you need to do is click one of the amazon links and then any items you buy see money passed on to the Stadium fund.
The Man Of The Match vote for yesterday's game at Exeter is now open please click below to cast your vote: -
After just over 10 day's at time which has flown past and others has gone really slowly the day has arrived and at 3pm this afternoon our boys come up against Exeter City Football Club. Just under 2 years ago Exeter looked like they could well be going out of business and then in early December 2004 after winning an FA Cup 2nd round game they got drawn out against Manchester United at Old Trafford it turned into their dream game and even earn a replay, that secured their future and are also a fans own club.
If we are still in the competition at 17:00 the draw for the 1st Round of the FA Cup will be at 17:15 on BBC TV Radio 5 live and various other media, by my calculation the winners or both of the Exeter City Vs AFC Wimbledon game will be number 75 (out of 80) in the 1st round.
I will of course be doing the matchday update service and i hope to have team news by 14:30 and then all the action live and direct from Kick off at 15:00 through to the final whistle and hopefully the draw at 17:15 as well. To follow the action click the matchday link at the top of the page, please don't continually press refresh as this blocks my ability to post and all i get is a failed message.
If you are one of the 1,000 plus people making the trip lets get behind the boys and back them all the way to show what this means to us and hopefully we will still be in the draw at 17:15.
The last few days has seen a huge amount of media coverage, apart from the regular local media, we have had features in the Sun, The Times, The Daily Telegraph, Sky Sports News, BBC Local news, in fact thee BBC London feature was filmed this morning at Kingsmeadow and can be viewed either by clicking here for the direct link or paste http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/avdb/news/video/63000/bb/63252_16x9_bb.ram direct into real media, this is the idea video for your final build up to the match.
Tomorrow we will be featured on BBC Football Focus as well and that will be shown between 12:10 and 13:00 and once again in a lot of newspapers and sports's show.
With the advanced party of supporters and the players having arrived down in the West country those of us that are not going down until tomorrow are eagerly waiting to set off and join everyone for tomorrow's huge game. If you are traveling take every bit of blue and yellow you can find and have it on display as we head down to the west country.
Byron Bubb has been confirmed as having a place at the FA Cup Final, all he needs now is to know where they are going to hold the match. Byron got an incredible 51% of the votes in the FA Player of the Round poll and you can read about it by clicking the following link on the FA web site.
Don't forget if your looking for any sort of item that amazon sell you can purchase by clicking any of the link on the site and then any sale results in commission being paid and passed directly onto the ground fund.
I have updated the individual player stats graphs including one for Steve Watson who has started playing since the graphs were first produced.
If you haven't looked at any of the charts yet, it's a chance to compare each individual players mark's against thee average team mark that all the players who were involved in that particular game got. To view a list of all the players and view the individual graphs click the link below: -
The Man Of the Match Vote for the Dunstable game is now open please click the link below to cast our vote: -
This afternoon we guaranteed that our run of Saturday cup games continues as, a result of our 2-1 victory over Dunstable thanks to a 4th Minute Paul Barnes goal and then a 63rd minute penalty converted by Roscoe DSane we now have a 2nd qualifying round Trophy match on Saturday 4th November 22006. The Draw will be made on Monday lunchtime and the next round their are still no Conference, National, North or South teams involved. Dunstable pulled a goal back 6 minutes after we went 2-0 up but in the end we finished the game still in the competition.
Ok chance for you to do a bit of fund raising of a different kind here, we have all done our bit for the club, charities but now is a chance to help a few of our fellow fans but these are supporters that only get to see the team a few times each season. These are our overseas supporters and a few of them are once again making the trip over from where they reside.
One such person is HP The Norse Don, he was in fact only over at the weekend and didn't have plans t come back to the UK until the temperature in Norway had risen above -2C so that would be about April to me or you, (Only Joking HP), with this unexpected cost and it is a substantial one it would be great if we could raise a bit of cash to help go towards his and and maybe any other overseas don.
If you want to help drop Tintin an e-mail and then catch up with him on Saturday even if it's just the price of a beer you contribute this will make the dent in HP's pocket that bit smaller. We know he will be very grateful and he will bring noise with him and that's what we need.
With all the talk of the Trip on Saturday week for the FA Cup game at Exeter it's easy to forget about games before that and we have two, both of which are cup games but on Saturday we host the FA Trophy game against Dunstable Town.
The FA Trophy is the major Non-League cup competition so it will be great to have a long run in this and Saturday is the chance to get match tickets for Exeter as well.
As the game fast approaches now I have summaries the various ways to get to Exeter.
The Simple was is by Club Coach as you will get taken directly to the ground and picked up afterwards, we have already filled one coach and already onto the second coach. The cost is £20 Adults and £15.00 Concessions they depart from The Woodman Pub, Wimbledon Park at 09:00 and Kingsmeadow at 09:30.
Trying to pick a train route is very complicated the two routes are either out of Waterloo& Clapham Junction or Paddington the Clapham route is cheaper but takes about 40 minutes longer with a time of around 2 hours from paddington, but the time and train selection is very much based on tickets that can be purchased, from people that have already booked it appears that you need to shop around as two single tickets can be cheaper than 1 return and also some services offer buy 4 tickets on the same trains and pay for 2 but all 4 people must travel together.
Route to the west country is always very popular and with a large number of us adding to the journey may make things difficult so make sure you make your travel plans as soon as you can.
If your driving you can either do the M4 and M5 motorway route or go the more scenic route of the A303 for the majority of the route, but I am sure the drivers amongst you will have worked something out or put the relevant sat nav details into your machine.Tonight we left it late, but an 84th minute goal from Roscoe saw us get the 3 points in the league game against Leyton. If you would like to cast your votes for the match please click on the link below: -
The Result of the Evesham United Man of The Match vote can now be seen by clicking here.
Unfortunatley I am not feeling well at the moment and therefore I wont be at the game tonight, and therefore wont be able to provide a full Matchday Service, any goals will be posted on the service in case any viewers only have access via WAP and wish to find out the current score. I Hope and expect aa full service to be restored for Saturday's FA Trophy game ageist Dunstable.
The FA Have nominated Byron Bubb as one of the Candidates for "The Player Of The Round" Award, this is the first time since Rob Ursell was Nominated for his Hat-trick against Dunstable 2 years ago.
To Vote you need to visit the FA Site you can only vote once per computer so if you possibly have access to more than one computer please cast your vote on as many machines as possible.
At lunchtime today the draw for the 4th and final qualifying round of the FA Cup was made and if we want to have one of the in the 1st Round proper we will need to beat Exeter City who are currently 5th in the Nationwide Convergence, With us having been drawn away it is in Theory this is the 5th toughest game we could of been drawn against.
This is a must attend game for everyone I know it seems like a long way to travel but this could be one of them days that is talked about for years, The game will be played on Saturday 28th October 2006 so start planning your arrangements now as it's less than 2 weeks away.
After a request from a regular reader I set to work on something I had planned at the start of the season but wasn't sure how I could implement it so now I am pleased to announce that you can view an individual players performance throughout the season against the average player's mark for everyone involved in that game.
The numbers across the bottom relate to a match number, Carshalton being Game 1 and onwards but a full list can be viewed by clicking here A full list of all the players that I have produced charts for can bee viewed here at the moment this goes up to the Burgess Hill Game at the end of September.
If you have any comments or suggestions please drop me a line at the following e-mail.
This Friday the 2007 edition of Football Manager is released, football Manager is the flagship game of our shirt Sponsors SI Games and having played the Demo I can say the game is really good, although in the demo you cant play as AFC Wimbledon the squad is bang up to date.
If you will be getting a copy why not get a copy through the Amazon link and earn the club some additional revenue click on the link below: -
I have now posted the result of the Hampton & Richmond Man of The Match Vote and as you can imagine this has resulted in the lowest Team score of the season and all the marks are lower than usual, to view the full result please click here.
The Man of The Match vote for today's game is now open please click the link below to cast your vote: -
This afternoon we progressed to thee possibility of being just 90 minutes away from a lace in the 1st Round of the FA Cup. This game looked as if it would be a very straightforward game when on just 8 minutes Byron Bubb scored a lovely goal from the edge of the box. But 7 minutes later one of thee strangest things I have ever seen in Football, andy Little collected thee ball rolled it out to Michael Haswell but a charging tackle from the Evesham player saw the ball fly through the air from over 25 yards and at an angle and ended up in the back of the net and the scores were level.
I don't know i this knocked our confidence but we couldn't get our game flowing and the first half had no real chances for us although Evesham had a great chance to take the lead from which andy Little turned the ball over.
As we approached the 60 minute mark Paul barnes replaced Darren Grieves and what turned out to be his first touch of the ball turned into the winning goal as his headed wrong footed the keeper and he couldn't react in time to stop the ball going into the net.
Steve Watson had made his debut and lasted 60 minutes and everyone said how great it was to see him in action at long last. We even had a penalty awarded but Roscoe's effort was saved and then In the final 5 minutes Evesham tried everything possible to get an equaliser but we held firm and are therefore in the hat on Monday lunchtime.
This afternoon we are in FA Cup 3rd Qualifying round action when we host Evesham United. The team news should bee posted by 14:30 and then all the action from Kick off at 15:00 through to the final whistle. to follow the action click the matchday link above.
Sorry for no service during the past week, this has partly been as I have been working on an added man of The Match feature and also I have been feeling a bit unwell. The added feature should launch on Sunday and hopefully I will battle through and get daily updates done.
Sorry for thee slight delay but the Man of The Match result for Tuesday night's game at Burgess Hill can now be viewed by clicking here, it would appear that Byron Bubb's winning wonder strike impressed most people and made sure that he got the highest rating and votes for Star player.
I have also added the September combined rating although during the month we used 25 players in 8 games 13 players were involved in at least 6 games you can view the september result by clicking here.
We now know that in the first round qualifying of the FA Trophy we will be hosting Dunstable Town after they beat godalming Town 2-1 in the preliminary round yesterday. The game will be played on Saturday 21st October 2006 at Kingsmeadow.
The Man Of The Match Vote is now open please click the link below to cast your votes: -
After 10 league games and 14 games in total we finally had our first defeat of the season today, if anyone had said at the start of the season we would go this far before our first defeat I think most people would be surprised, but lets hope it's another 13 games before we have another defeat.
In terms of the game itself it always looked like one goal would always settle the game. One early point that possibly changed the whole game was a very early booking to Scott Curley and just 15 minutes into the game the ref gave him a final warning and with the Hampton players targeting him Dave Anderson took the decision to substitute him rather than risk the chance off having to play over 60 minutes with 10 men.
Both teams battled away in end to end action but not many clear cut chances fell to either side, then with just 20 minutes left Andy Little was unable to hold onto a shot and it fell at the feet of a Hampton striker who scored from close range, after that Hampton made sure we didn't have any chances to level the score and went away with the 3 points, we played Hampton twice last year and didn't beat them are they once again going to be a side that we have difficulty breaking down?
This weekend we return to league action as we take on Hampton & Richmond at Kingsmeadow, With the game kicking off at 15:00. Why not come down and watch the game and then stay or the England game. If you cant make the game you can follow all the action on here with teams news from around 14:30 and then all the action from kick off.
Once again thanks's to everyone who voted in the man of the match poll against Oxhey Jets well over 50 people cast votes, thee clear winner in both categories was Scott Curley who averaged 8.20 and had 25 individual votes for star player. You can view the current result by clicking here or go to the Man of The Match section to view results from every game this season.
Tonight we won 3-2 in the westview cup in a game that had two notable moments the first was the decision that saw Richard Butler sent off, Wes Daly had just been kicked in the air and we had a free kick, we made a sub replacing Scott Curley and the next thing we saw was Richard Butler sort of standing behind the Burgess Hill number 4 who then fell to the floor holding his head, the next thing the ref went to talk to the linesman who had an even worse view and the ref then sent Richard off and the Burgess Hill number 4 got up as if nothing had happened, and just to make things even more fun, Burgess Hill were given a free kick!
After that the thing that made the evening was a wonder strike by Byron Bubb who saw the keeper off his line and from a diagonal of about 35 yards sent a looping effort right into the top corner of the net with itt dipping enough to go just under the bar. With the other goals being a Darren Grieves Header and a Niall Connery shot into an empty net with about 3 people lining up to shoot it was a good night. Burgess Hill scored the first and last goals of the night but we managed to progress into the next round which is due to be announced on Thursday 12 October 2006.
The Man of the match vote is now open please click below to cast your vote: -
Tonight a matchday service will be in operation as we take on Burgess Hill Town in the westview cup, the line up should be up by 19:15 with a 19:30 kick off.
This lunchtime the draw for the 3rd Qualifying round of the FA Cup was made and with the 40 possible ties being split into 3 region of North, South and South West with 40 ties being announced we ended up being the 71 number pulled out of the bag and therefore were the home side next out was Evesham United of the Southern League Division One midland league, which is the equivalent of a Ryman Division one team, the game is to be played on Saturday 14th October and tickets go on sale tomorrow morning.
On Tuesday night we are in League cup action, last time we played there was last game of the 2003/04 season and I will imagine that a large number of people wont either make thee same travel plans or wear the same clothing as they did that day, if you cant remember some people walked from Kingsmeadow, some got open topped buses and some people were in fancy dress, no really they don't normally dress like that.
In terms off getting to Burgess Hill the journey is only 1 hour from Clapham Junction so if you fancy some midweek football it's a fairly straightforward trip, the nearest station is Wivelsfield which is only 1/2 mile from the ground. I have listed some example train times from Clapham Junction To give you an idea: -
| To Burgess Hill | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leave Clapham Junction | 17:43 |
17:53 |
17:59 |
18:13 |
| Arrive Haywards Heath | 18:20 |
18:32 |
---- |
18:50 |
| Leave Haywards Heath | 18:25 |
18:36 |
----- |
19:02 |
| Arrive Wivelsfield | 18:29 |
18:41 |
18:45 |
19:06 |
| From Burgess Hill | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leave Wivelsfield | 22:02 |
22:16 |
22:23 |
22:54 |
| Arrive East Croydon | ----- |
----- |
23:02 |
----- |
| Leave East Croydon | ----- |
----- |
23:14 |
----- |
| Arrive Clapham Junction | 22:50 |
23:15 |
23.25 |
23:42 |
A map showing the station and the ground can be seen here
The Man o the Match vote for Saturday's game against Oxhey is open and all votes received before 19:30 on tuesday evening will count towards the final outcome. If you haven't voted and wish to please click the link below: -
The most recent quarter on the amazon shop closed this weekend and it looks as if this quarter raised over £170 for the club the final quarter of the year covers the christmas period and last year this was a brilliant earner for the club so if you are having at look for Christmas presents don't forget to click one of the links and then any sales generate commission that is passed directly onto the club.
The fixture position is changing almost on a daily basis, the current situation for the next couple of weeks is as follows: -
Tuesday Night - Away to Burgess Hill in the League Cup
Saturday Afternoon - Home to Hampton & Richmond in the League
Then on Tuesday 10th We could be playing at home to Dulwich in the London Senior Cup, but this would be of if Dulwich draw in the trophy next Saturday.
The following saturday 14th we are now in FA Cup action and the worthing game is called off. We should know tomorrow lunchtime who we are playing in the next round so will put up more information tomorrow night.
I have now added the full result of the midweek game at Ashford you can view the result by clicking here. The current vote will see the last one in the September poll and then I will also update how each player has done during the month.
