With most teams still having 10 games to play it looks like the the playoffs sides will come from teams in the top 11 of the current table. With Ashford, Horsham and Staines having games on hand they could still be right in the mix of the things.
Between now and the end of thee season teams fighting for the play off positions seem to facing each other on a regular basis, this weekend two of these clashes take place with Billericay hosting Ashford and Horsham facing Hendon. So any points picked up in these games could prove vital to play off chances.
Tonight's very open game against Margate ended up being a case of the Late, Late Show both sides had great chances to score through out the game with maybe the best opportunities going to Margate but the deadlock was broken on 79 minutes when following a Margate free kick the ball was blocked by Sam Hatton and he played the ball over the defense for Romoane Rose to rush on to and close down on goal before placing the ball under the keeper for a 1-0 lead.
If we thought the points were ours we had a nasty shock on 87 minutes when from a corner Margate leveled the score and it looked like we might drop a couple of important points, but deep into injury time Chris Hussey played in a free kick that was headed across goal by Marcus Gayle for Jason Goodliffe to get contact on and loop it over the keeper and into the back of the net the Tempest end and rest of the ground went crazy and the 3 points were heading back our way.
On checking the other results were also good as Horsham lost at home to Heybridge and Ramsgate lost at Tonbridge.
The Matchday service will be in operation tonight for our home league game against Margate. The team news should be posted by 19:30 and then all the action from Kick off at 19:45.
Their are two other games involving potential play-off rivals tonight with Horsham hosting Heybridge and Ramsgate visiting Tonbridge. Last night Chelmsford beat Carshalton 3-0.
On the journey home yesterday I was thinking why does it always seem that we never do well in Essex, and more importantly is this correct?
Well I have just looked at the results over the past 3 seasons and looked at results against the Essex teams, for this I have used the following teams Maldon Town, East Thurrock United, Heybridge Swifts, Billericay Town, Chelmsford & Braintree.
Over the past 3 seasons to date we have played these teams in 13 away games from which we have picked up 16 points or 1.23 points per game whilst at Home we have played them 12 times and picked up 21 points or 1.75 points per game.
Looking at the results from the whole season but removing the games against the Essex sides it shows that we do actually do worse in Essex in comparison to the other games.
| All Games | Without Essex | Essex Only | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | H | A | H | A | H | A |
| Played | 57 | 58 | 45 | 45 | 12 | 13 |
| Points | 105 | 106 | 84 | 90 | 21 | 16 |
| Points Per Game | 1.84 | 1.83 | 1.87 | 2.00 | 1.75 | 1.23 |
We still have 3 games to play in the league this season
against Essex Teams but two of these are at home, East Thurrock
& Billericay whilst we visit Chelmsford.
As I mentioned on Thursday their was thee potential for a bit of a shake up in the top part of the Ryman League with a number of teams going for playoff spots, the only problem was that we didn't take advantage of the other results.
The game at Heybridge started really well with Luis Cumbers on the score sheet after just 3 minutes following a cross from Steve Ferguson the initial effort was blocked and Luis was on hand to fire in from about 8 yards.
The rest of the first half seemed to be all about pressure from us with Daniel Webb having the best opportunities and either having efforts saved or choosing the wrong option. As we changed end's at half time we spoke about the chances we had missed and hoped it wouldn't cost us.
The second half we played with the wind behind us but this half was totally different and in fact Heybridge scored after just 3 minutes of the half to level the scores.
We really didn't get going second half and looked a totally different team to the one in the first half we still had chances but Heybridge were having the majority of the chances.
Our fears were confirmed when after 75 minutes Heybridge scored their second of the game and what turned out to be the winner.
As we traveled home on the coach it was mixed feelings as the other results came through a combination of well it could of been worse had the other results gone against us and we missed a great chance to close the gap on Chelmsford and move away from the other teams.
If you have read the official site it's clear that Terry Brown was clearly not happy with the game and I'm sure the team will be out to rectify this on Tuesday when Margate visit us.
This afternoon we visit Heybridge in the Ryman league, the matchday updates will be in operation via the match day link above. I will hope to have the team news posted by about 14:45 and then all the action from Kick off at 15:00.
I will be doing the updates from my phone this afternoon so it's a bit slower than using the laptop so if you are viewing please don't refresh the page to much as it can block my ability to get messages through, thanks for your assistance.
This weekend may end up being one of the "Big weekend's" of the closing part of the season where come the end of the season teams look back on it and say they either got a result that helped them reach the playoffs or a result that cost them a chance of making the playoffs.
Whilst we visit Heybridge Swift's their are potentially 4 games that will have a big impact on the top half of the table they are as follows: -
Chelmsford 1st Vs Horsham 4th
Hendon 6th vs Margate 9th
Staines 3rd vs AFC Hornchurch 5th
Boreham Wood 11th Vs Billericay 7th
It will be interesting come 5pm tomorrow evening to see how the league table has been altered with the results.
If you were unable to watch last night's episode of Football Hurts it has now been posted on line thanks to "Mike A" and you can watch it by clicking here. Having watched last night's show it wasn't as bad as I feared and the coverage was very good again.
The second part of Football Hurts starts tonight and after last weeks episode where we had the joys of FA trophy wins at Maidenhead and Tonbridge it's a good guess that this episode wont be as enjoyable from the results front as it should cover at least the Folkestone & Billericay games.
`This series is more about the club than just the results so it will be interesting how they cover it. If you cant watch it at 10pm tonight I imagine an on line version will be available tomorrow and once it is I will post a link to it.
By this time next week I should be able to release the 2008 version of my Final Countdown spreadsheet. This is a excel spreadsheet that allows you to enter what you think will be the results for the final 10 games of the season (or so) for the top 10 league sides.
By entering the scores in either a prediction or as the season unfolds the league table for these teams will update and it also includes how the play offs either will or could end up depending if you are using actual or predicted scores.
The saying is that you can only compete against the teams you are up against and last night we certinally did that. The first goals was one of them goals that if you werent there you wont believe how funny it was.
To try and describe the goal it appeared on the corner of the box a Wealdstone defender had the ball and not really under to much pressure although Luis Cumbers was approaching him the defender decided that it would be best to pass the ball back to his keeper the problem was that he played the ball to far over and the keeper wasn't their the quick thinking cumbers ran on to it took a touch past the keeper and played the ball into an empty net. So we were 1-0 up on 16 minutes.
Our second goal came on 38 minutes when Steve Ferguson cut in from the right and fired across the goal into the bottom corner. So a 2-0 lead at half time and things were looking good.
The second half would see a whole host of chances and goal with the next coming on 57 minutes when Daniel Webb had a shot from the edge of the box it appeared to be going straight at the keeper but to compound his part in the mistake for the first goal it went straight through him and into the back of the net.
As we were all finishing celebrating the 3rd goal Tony Finn got in on the act just two minutes later for the 4th goal of the evening. The 5th came when we were awarded a corner on the 71st minute and Rob Quinn claimed the header although some people suggest it may have been an own goal.
Our final goal of the evening came on 78 minutes when Mark De Bolla fired in our 6th goal of the evening.
The evening scoring started on a strange note and also ended on a strange one when we made a mistake near the corner flag and managed to pass the ball to a Wealdstone attacker and he put it into an empty net, the only blip on a great night.
Tonight we face Wealdstone in Ryman League Action, the Matchday service will be in operation with the team news posted at around 19:30 and then all the action from Kick off at 19:45 to follow the action click the matchday link above.
One other game of major note tonight with Horsham visiting AFC Hornchurch if I get any goal updates from this game I will also post them on the updates, Last night Staines were due to visit Folkestone but this game was called off due to a frozen pitch, so this game will have to be re-scheduled for another date.
This Saturday we travel to Heybridge Swifts in Essex, if you haven't been to Heybridge before it's safe to say it is int it a public transport friendly area.
The nearest train station is some 6 miles away and the bus service that runs from their is int very regular or goes that close to the ground, so if you don't have access to a car and plan to go make sure you book onto the coach tomorrow evening before the Wealdstone game.
The coach will leave the Woodman pub near Wimbledon Park and Kingsmeadow and will take you right to the ground before departing post match to the same pick-up points. The cost is £13 for adults or £9 for concessions.
Relax It's not true but by reading the Official Site you will see that Frankie is off to New York! (But my headliner is a better one)
I first heard the news yesterday evening in the bar at the ground that the story had gone up on the official site and I must say it added a downer on what had been a really good day. When Frankie first joined us he was studying a Sports science course at university so it regrettably appears that he has made the most of his education to be offered this opportunity to pursue this chance in America.
The one thing this will mean is that once Frankie leaves in March our goalkeeping backup will be better! (sorry if you read this Frankie but I occasionally wake up in the middle of the night with flash backs to the Surrey Senior Cup semi-final and yes I know you kept a clean sheet.)
We will have a number of opportunities to give Frankie a send off before he departs but for the moment I would like to say Thanks and good luck to Frankie.
This afternoon we had the potential banana skin game of Leyton at Kingsmeadow, Leyton are currently routed to thee bottom of the table and having lost 12 games in a row this run was ended with a 2-2 draw against Staines after being 2-0 down and with us also having suffered this scoreline earlier in the season I think most fans would of happily taken a win by any margin rather than thought of us being able to make up a lot of the goal difference we are behind Chelmsford.
On 13 minutes we got our first goal when Sam Hatton scored from close range. We doubled the lead on 26 minutes when Luis Cumbers got his first goal for us. So a 2-0 lead at half time but more and better was to come in the second half.
On 51 minutes the best goal of the afternoon was scored when a quick bit of thinking by Daniel Webb allowed him to flick the ball over the keeper from a quick Chris Hussey free kick so the points were more than wrapped up.
Just 5 minutes after coming on as sub Luke Pigden got a debut goal when he scored from close range from a cross on the wing and then with just 2 minutes left on the clock Sam Hatton got his second goal of the afternoon and our 5th of the day so a good day all round.
This afternoon the matchday service will be in operation as we take on Leyton in the Ryman league. I will post team news by about 14:30 and then all the action from Kick off at 15:00. To follow the action click the matchday link above.
If you haven't seen last night's show and wish to watch it you can see a streaming version of it by clicking here. This is in quick time format but I presume it will run in most media players.
Last night was the first episode of "Football Hurts" and if you haven't seen it yet and thought that it wouldn't be the sort of programme you will enjoy, I think you will find that you will be pleasantly surprised.
The programme starts with an introduction of how and why the club was set up and includes an excellent interview with Crystal Palace fan Kevin Day who you may remember was on the bill of the Comedy Night at Wimbledon Theater.
Once the main coverage started they showed footage from Maidenhead and Tonbridge games in the FA Trophy and got supporters comments about how the game was progressing. With the added coverage of the ladies and supporters side it came across as a well put together programme.
Terry Browns post match messages to the players came across well and although this was a happy episode with us winning the games it will be an interesting series to watch. One thing a lot of us are guilty of are turning away when the camera crew ask for our views this programme will really work if they can get interaction from the supporters so if you are asked by one of the crew for a quick comment just spend a few moments to assist them, we don't want to see the same old faces all the time and this is a wonderful opportunity to promote the club..
After thee promotional clip last night tonight's TV programme now has it's own website and you can read more about the programme and watch other clips by clicking here.
At 22:00 Tonight the first episode of the AFC Wimbledon Documentary "Football Hurts is broadcast on Nuts TV Nuts TV can be found on Freeview channel 42 or Sky TV channel 207.
From Memory The Nuts TV crew were first spotted at the Maidenhead away FA Trophy game and had a handheld camera behind the goal in the crowd when Marcus scored so it could be worth keeping an eye out for any footage from that.
If you cant get to see the programme due to other commitments I hope to possibly have something by the weekend that you may be able to see so keep an eye out for that. The Nuts TV preview clip has been added to You Tube and can be viewed here.
Last night we came away from Horsham with a brilliant 3 points after a 2-0 victory. The game saw two major changes with Marcus Gayle Starting instead of Jason Goodliffe at the back and Rob Quinn in the middle of the park for Jake Lebrel. Things didn't look to be going great when on just 15 minutes Karl Beckford pulled up with an injury and had to be replaced by Robin Shroot.
On 23 minutes Louis Cumbers got his first goal for us when he jumped brilliantly to head home a cross. We were playing really well with everyone committed to doing their part but special mention must go to Marcus at the back and Daniel Webb at the front who just won everything all night.
Horsham seemed to be a bit on the physical side but although the ref seemed to give us a number of free kick usually for a foul by the same player he didn't appear to have his pen with him and didn't take any names, in fact the linesman on the covered terrace side even had a chat with the Nuts TV crew to make sure he was filmed only on his best side (whatever that was) So a 1-0 lead at half time.
The second half saw us score our second goal just before the hour when Rob Shroot scored with our players lining up to get on the end of a ball from Ramone Rose.
With the advantage of an extra goal we started playing really nice football passing the ball about all over the park and every time their seemed to be one of our players on the end of it.
A 2-0 victory and the night rounded off even more by Staines being held 2-2 by Hastings that saw us move into 2nd place in the league.
The folks over at Hornets Review The Horsham website have put up a clip that shows both of our Goals from Tuesday Night's 2-0 victory to download the file please click here the file is 10mb in size so may take a while to download.
Tonight we face our first league match against Horsham of the season after initial one was called off to give them extra time to prepare for one of their FA Cup games.
If you cant make the game tonight the Matchday updates will be in operation with team news from around 19:30 and full details of all the action from kick off at 19:45 to follow the action click the matchday link above.
As well as our game their is one other Ryman Premier game being played tonight when Staines Host Hasting if I get any scores from this game I will also post these on the updates.
If your planning to go to Horsham on Tuesday Evening by train just a reminder of the route from the Station.
Rather than going out the main entrance go out the back of the station turn right and follow the road round and then turn right down New Street follow this road right to the bottom and it will bring you out by The Queens Head pub that is opposite the ground.
Yesterday afternoon's we returned to winning ways after what seemed like a long time well it was 6 games and almost went back a month.
The thing that was different about this game was that we seemed to have confidence back throughout the team. James Pullen in goal definatley has the experience that Lee Butcher didn't have and the rest of the defense know what Luke Garrard is going to do each week and with the added bonus of Louis Cumbers up front things felt good.
We took the lead on 15 minutes when Frankie Howard was upfront and had one miss kick before volleying the ball home inside the box it was one of them moves that only Frankie can do.
Our 2nd goal was on 41 minutes when we were awarded a penalty the move started on the halfway line and the ref could of given us a free kick but he didn't then Finn went on a run and cut into the box he attempted to go round two players but the second one clearly fouled him and the ref gave us a penalty. Karl Beckford stepped up and scored.
The second half was one we were clearly in control of and although we didn't score any more goals we managed to hit the post and cross bar. Ramone Rose our loanee from QPR came on and looked very useful up front with Luis.
The only downside of the game was a red card for Sam Hatton for two yellow card's the first one was for a foul but after that it went a bit strange, first he appeared to block the ball with his hand the only reason I can imagine he did it was he heard a whistle the ref didn't book him but gave a free kick to Harrow. Then in the final minute Sam was fouled right in front of the bench and just to the side of me and the ref booked him. I would say it was a strange decision but when earlier two Harrow players were pulling Daniel Webb's shirt off him and Daniel got booked, Yes you work it out?
In Other results Chelmsford were beaten 4-0 at home to AFC Hornchurch. Horsham drew 0-0 at Carshalton and Stain beat Maidstone 4-2 at home. SO we have moved up to 3rd ahead of Hendon who didn't play as they moved their game forward nd had a free weekend.
This afternoon we face Harrow Boro in Ryman League action the matchday service will be in operation with team news from around 14:45 and then all the action from Kick off at 15:00 to follow the action click the Match link above.
This time next week (Thursday) will be valentine's night and I'm sure most people will be making plans for a nice evening out at a restaurant to wine and dine your love one, or just get brownie points to allow you to go to games in the run in to the end of the season. Well why not suggest something different.
How about a nice takeaway a few beers or bottle of wine and then relax on the sofa, just remember at 22:00 to put on the TV go to channel 42 on freeview or 207 on Sky and enjoy "football Hurts" on Nuts TV this is week 1 of a 14 part series following your club during the season.
If you have been at any of our games recently you will have seen the Nuts TV crew at games and they have been covering all angles of the club the official press release can be read here, But here is the opening part of it.
"The pain, emotion and love involved in grassroots football will be fully celebrated, analysed and documented in the cutting edge football docudrama Football Hurts, premiering February 14th at 10.00pm on Nuts TV. Direct from the cold terraces to your comfy sofa, sit back with your Bovril and enjoy a 14 week series giving unlimited access to one of the UK’s greatest clubs – A.F.C Wimbledon."
First of all I will deal with our London Senior Cup game at Bromley and then the League Action that took Place.
If you read Terry Brown's preview to the game it was always going to be a case that we would put out an in-experienced side and when the team was announced it was definatley that. Add in that Bromley were putting our a full strength side and it looked like the evening could be a long one.
This wasn't helped when in thee second minute goalkeeper Elliot Ransom came out to collect the ball but caught the Bromley strikers leg and a penalty was awarded from which they scored. The word on thee terrace was how many would Bromley get?
The fact was the floodgates didn't open and it took another 22 minutes for the second goal to come as it looked we would go in 2-0 down Bromley scored right on the stroke of half time but we hadn't disgraced ourself.
The second half was a different show and we played it about very well and got a goal back on 83 minutes when QPR work experience player Ramone Rose scored a good goal. But right at the end of the game Bromley got a 4th so the final score was Bromley 4 AFC Wimbledon 1 the AFC Wimbledon youngsters left the pitch to a good round of applause from both sets of fans as they appreciated how well they had played.
In the League their was the potential that we could drop 3 places in the league but in the end we only dropped 1 place with Horsham losing at Billericay, East Thurrock beating AFC Hornchurch and Staines could only manage a 2-2 draw at Leyton who picked up their first point in 13 games Leytons goal was very late on whilst Richard Butler got one of the Staines goals.
The Matchday service will be in operation from our London Senior Cup game at Bromley tonight, I will post the team news from around 19:30 and then all the action from kick off at 19:45 to follow the action click the Matchday link at the top of the page.
Unless something very strange happens, (apart from the games being called off) we will drop at least 1 place down the league on Tuesday and possibly as many as 3 places.
The games that could see us drop places are as follows: -
Leyton vs Staines Town, A point for Staines takes them above
us.
Billericay Town Vs Horsham, A win for Horsham puts them above us
AFC Hornchurch vs East Thurrock United, A win for AFC Hornchurch put
them above us.
Staines & Horsham are of course catching up games on us but AFC Hornchurch will have played 2 games more than us.
An easy way to raise funds for the club is to click the Amazon link on any of the pages before purchasing from them, that way any purchases that you make will see a commission paid to the club, this doesn't cost you anything more but helps. the club.
Yesterday we lost in the trophy 2-0 to Torquay united and although most people present in the crowd would admit that we didn't do enough to break down a strong Torquay side their was an element of disappointment about how the first goal came about.
The two sides went in level at half time and then in the second minute of the half Steve Ferguson appeared to be fouled on the half way line but the ref allowed Torquay to play on and as the ball was played into the box Jason Goodliffe appeared to clear it for a corner, with the linesman signaling accordingly but the ref decided that it should be a penalty.
Roscoe stepped up and just in case anyone had given Lee Butcher information on the way he always puts his penalties he went and put it to the other side of the gal to put Torquay 1-0 up. Roscoe also stuck to his word and didn't celebrate his goal although his team mates and the Torquay fans behind the goal did.
It's was going to be an uphill task now to get back into the game and then just after the hour mark Torquay were given another penalty this time Tim Sills stepped up but smashed it high over the bar, was this our chance to punish Torquay?
But on 76 minutes any chance went as Torquay went 2-0 up when they scored with a header at the back post. With a 2 goal lead Torquay could just pass the ball about and ease their way into the quarter finals.
At the final whistle the team rightly got a well deserved reception from the crowd who had seen us put in a decent performance, coming up against one of the toughest teams in the highest level of non-league football was always going to be a challenge but was still good experience for us.
A really nice thing following the game was reading reactions from Torquay fans that were at the game and all were really positive about their experience and how much they enjoyed everything about the day, mixing with other fans and seeing the off-field performance that we put on so the club can be very proud of how things went both on and off the pitch.
Well the day has arrived of the FA Trophy game against Torquay.
If your able to attend the game the following is relevant to you.
1) of all if you are attending the game today, If you have ordered a ticket and need to collect it please arrive early to collect your ticket.
2) if you need to buy tickets arrive early or you may end up missing out.
3) A couple of extra fund raising schemes will be in operation as well as the golden goals tickets a raffle will bee in operation so if you see any sellers please buy some tickets as this will help the club directly, and a new WUP will be on sale all these initiatives are operated by volunteers who want to get in and see the game.
4) The ground is going to be very full and with Torquay having the Kingston Road end you might not be able to stand in your usual spot so try and get the best view you can.
5) Sing shout and encourage our team on throughout the game to show what a great club we have.
If you aren't able to make the game the following will be of assistance.
The Matchday service will be in operation and you can follow all the action via the matchday link above. I will try and get the team news posted by 14:30 and then all the action from kick off which is scheduled for 15:00
If you follow Radio Wdon this will be in operation and as well as the usual stream for broadband users you can also access it via a dial-up stream this week. The usual broadband stream should be able to be listened to at the following link or for the dial-up stream this link.
Why not get the weekend off to a cracking start when the new look comedy evening starts at Kingsmeadow tonight. The acts are always brilliant and good entertainment. for more information visit the Kingsmeadow Live website by clicking here.
