2012 Prediction League; Game 9 v AFC Wimbledon (away)

Div3North · 23-09-2012, 21:38

AFC Wimbledon

V

Accrington Stanley

2012/13 Prediction League – Game 9; v AFC Wimbledon (away)

Terry Brown played for Hayes Utd (two spells), Sutton Utd, Slough Town and Wokingham; although he was in the Hayes team which beat League side Bristol Rovers, and played for an FA Amateur representative side he won’t, perhaps, be particularly remembered for his playing ability. He moved into management, with Hayes from 1993 to 2002, and then Aldershot - taking their job on the 10th Anniversary of the winding up of the old Aldershot; he stayed there for 5 years, winning the Hampshire Senior Cup within a month and the Conference South by 13 points from Canvey Island

. Their first Conference National season, remarkably, resulted in the Shots qualifying for the Playoffs, where they beat promotion favourites Hereford on penalties

, before going down to Shrewsbury in the Final.

The following season – now full time – Aldershot managed to reach the Playoffs again; this time, though, luck wasn’t on their side, and they went down in a penalty shoot-out to Carlisle

. The following season they finished 13th. Terry Brown resigned one day before his 5th anniversary with the club to care for his wife Susan in her illness.

Clearly a manager with the Golden Touch, the Wombles came knocking, and 7 weeks after leaving Hampshire, Terry Brown was the new manager of AFC Wimbledon

; his history there is well recorded; in his first season (2007/8) they won their Ryman League Premier Division playoff 2-1 over Staines Town, and were promoted to the Conference South; in 2008/9 they won the Conference South, and a place in the Conference “proper”; in their first season there they finished 8th; in 2010/11 they finished 2nd, wasted Fleetwood

in the playoff semis by 8-1 on aggregate (2-0 + 6-1

), and then they beat Luton Town 4-3 on penalties after a goalless draw at the City of Manchester Stadium. League 2 was a challenge, but they managed 16th; this season, after an iffy start (including getting smacked 6-2 at Burton

and 5-1 at Bradford

in consecutive games), and with a record of 1 win, 1 draw and 5 defeats in 7 League games, Terry Brown was sacked

. Many thought he deserved more time; this man – like someone else we all know – is a legend.

And of course the inevitable happened

; managerless Wimbledon went to Wycombe yesterday and beat them 1-0; within a couple of hours, Wycombe – relegated last season, not playing a blinder yet this season – were also managerless, Gary Waddock getting the bullet

. Wycombe, I note, go to Dagenham and Redbridge on Saturday; if I were the Dagenham manager, I might be worried

……… although taking a point off Coleydale (away

), coming back from 2-0 down (the highlights including a goal for Bobby IronDale-Grant, and one Kevin McIntyre getting first go at the hot water in the bath

for a 2nd yellow) might save him yet …………..We’ll see ……………..

As a result of that win, the Wombles are now 20th, with 7 points from their 8 games – 4 above Wycombe, the Daggers and the Pirates, and 6 above Barnet (who doubled their points tally for the season on Saturday from 1 to 2!

) Two wins (both by the odd goal in one

) over Chesterfield on opening day and over (now) managerless Wycombe on Saturday, one draw (2-2 at home to Dagenham) and 5 defeats

- at home to Rochdale and Torquay (1-2 and 0-1) and away to Burton (6-2), Bradford (5-1) and Northampton (2-0); P8 W2 D1 L5 F8 A18 (for the worst goal difference in the Division

)

They signed Mikhail Jaimez-Ruiz (28), a Venezuelan GK who played in the UK before (Aldershot and Barnet) but whose last club was Venezuelan Premier League side Yaracuyanos (don’t remember seeing them in the World Club Championship); he said after leaving there, “The opportunity to play Premier League in Venezuela didn’t work out. I couldn’t adapt and that’s why I decided to return”……. A Venezuelan, playing in Venezuela, and he “couldn’t adapt”?

Must be me ………….; they also gave contracts to Warren Cummings (LB, 31) - a former Scottish International, and the Bournemouth skipper (although I suspect the writing was on the wall when they let him go on loan to Crawley last season

); Pim Balkestein (25), ex Brentford, a Dutch-born defender, came back permanently, having been at Kingsmeadow (no, that’s where the Wombles play, not a Cheshire County League team) on loan last year; Charlie Strutton – a 23 year-old striker who I thought they’d signed last March from the footballing hot-bed that is Chalfont St Peter

- “signed” in the summer; and a few days ago they added Ghanaian-capped central defender William Kwabeni Antwi Agyei (29), a 6’2” central defender who worked under Terry Brown for 3 years at Aldershot, and was last in the League at Dagenham, where he left last summer, spending last season at Luton, Grimsby and Staines.

In on loan came Bournemouth MF Stephen Gregory (25), who spent two years at the Dons (including their promotion season) before signing for Bournemouth last summer; Dale Bennett (22), a centre back from Watford, and George Francomb (20), a RB from Norwich, signed up on the same day; Curtis Haynes-Brown, a 23 year-old LB with Colchester and Yeovil on his cv arrived from Somerset, and Reading’s 19 year-old central defender Angus McDonald completed the set; two central defenders, a RB and a LB; what does that tell you ………………

?

They went out of the Carling (CoCup) in Round One

, 3-1 at Stevenage, and the JPTinpot (also in Round One

) 2-1 at Southend; 7 defeats in 10 in all; 10 goals scored (but 23 conceded

) in those 10 games; nine different scorers – only ex Stevenage striker Byron Harrison has two – and only two clean sheets all season …………… Hmmmmm. Good news – maybe – is that the prolific Jack Midson (Stevenage, Dagenham, Bishops Stortford, Histon, Southend, Barnet and Oxford) is due to serve game 3 of his 3-game ban for a sending off in the 24th minute of the 2-1 defeat to Rochdale, so he misses the game against us ……..

The deadline for entries is, as ever, scheduled kick-off time, which is 3pm on Saturday 29th September. We did the double over them last season

, 2-0 away (goals from Padraig on 3 and Craig Lindfield on 23) and 2-1 at home (Luke Joyce on 3 and Will Supersub on 80); watch out for an early goal, d’you think? Ahead after 3 mins?

3 points at the moment can put you up or down several places in the League; in our case it could cement the start that most of us probably only dreamed of …………… Keep the Faith

……….Come on Team Cookie!

Good luck to everyone ………… and thanks for playing!