2015/16 Prediction League; Game 35 v AFC Wimbledon (away)

Div3North · 03-03-2016, 23:47

AFC Wimbledon

V

Accrington Stanley

2015/16 Prediction League; Game 35 v Wimbledon (away)

They’ve been creeping up the table, recently, have Wimbledon; personally, I think it’s all down to Great Uncle Bulgaria’s tactical nous, but Manager Neal Ardwork apparently thinks that’s a load of Wombles .................. Last 10? W7 D1 L2 – the defeats being at home to Oxford (1-2) and Yeovil (2-3), the wins coming against Carlisle 1-0, Luton (H) and Cambridge (A) by 4-1, the Stags 3-1, Notts Co (A) 2-0, Exeter (A) by the same score, and they also took 3 points off Barnet at the Underground Stadium (“change here for Brighton”) – a feat that we, Pompey and Plymouth couldn’t manage ................ The draw, last time out, was at Northampton, courtesy of a 90th minute equaliser, and their current form is almost as good as the Cobblers’, who are on 8 wins and 2 draws in their last 10.

More interestingly, though, if the Numbers Gods are right, is their chance of staying where they are (8th on 52 points, one behind Pompey, BrizzleRov and the Orient) ...........over the season, their home form is more than a touch dodgy; P16 W6 D3 L7 (and three of those wins – Carlisle, Luton and Mansfield - have been in their last five at home) ...not only that, but their Cups didn’t exactly Runneth Overeth either; League Cup, Round One, 0-1 at Cardiff; PaintyThingy, Round One, 2-3 at home to Pompey, and FA Cup, Round One, 1-2 home defeat by Forest Green Rovers, who are still well in the promotion mix from the Conference. That leaves them on a League record to date of P33 W14 D10 L9 GF51 GA 40

Let me, though, take that one stage further; their last 13 games include visits from us (4th), Pompey (5th) and Leyton Orient (7th), and trips to Plymouth (3rd), Brizzle (6th) and Wycombe (9th) ........in total they took two points off Northampton (two half-Desmonds, which do not, together, make a whole Desmond) and nul points off Oxford, losing 0-1 away and 1-2 at home................first time round against the six they still have to play again, they beat us (see below), drew with Brizzle, Pompey, Wycombe and Orient, and lost to Plymouth .............therefore, in their games so far against the remainder of the sides in or near the auto or play-off positions they’ve played 10, winning one, drawing six and losing 3 ...........9 points from 10 games against their closest rivals for promotion, with six of them to play again ...now that’s not by any means the same thing as 7 wins from the last 10, is it?

They brought in Derby’s Dutch GK Kelle Roos (23), who started out as PSV Eindhoven as a trainee .........their only other recent signing is former Watford MF Connor Smith (22) ........and they look to have lost CB Karleigh Osborne (27) – on loan from Bristol Citties – to an injured knee, out, it seems, for the season ...

We met on an October night at the WhamBam; we went two up in 10, courtesy of Billy Whizz, 3-2 up after 36 courtesy of Shorn "the Sheep" McConville, 3-3 at HT courtesy of letting them score again, and 4-3 down – where it stayed – courtesy of not closing out a winning position (and that to a side who’d lost 5-2 at home the previous Saturday to Morecambe ...........I mean, who the hell loses 5-2 to Morecambe???) That, even more annoyingly, was only the second time they’d ever beaten us in the League; up till then we’d won six of the first seven League meetings, drawing the other, and they only first beat us in the return game at their place last year .......... in 2011/12 we won 2-0 away and 2-1 at home; 12/13 it was 2-1 away and 4-0 at home; 13/14 we managed a half-Desmond away and 3-2 at home; and least season we beat them 1-0 at home but lost 2-1 away, Rhino getting an 88th minute consolation ........ 30 goals between us in 9 games ......not bad for the neutral ......but you can’t avoid the feeling that we owe them one! Or possibly several!

54 goals scored in 36 games; leading scorers are Monserrat International striker Lyle James Alfred Taylor (25), who’s previously enthralled the crowds at Bournemouth, Falkirk, Sheff Utd and the Iron and who has 14 (two of which were against us in October!), followed by Adebayo Linford Kazim Azeez (22), once of Charlton (once being how often he played for them) with 7 (“SevEN!”) and 6’ 4” Tom Elliott (Leeds, Hamilton, Stockport and Cambridge, which is an eclectic mix), who has 6 in 27 ................Tom went on loan a while back to Rotherham, managed then by Ronnie Moore; he featured seven times for the Millers without scoring a goal. He struggled with hamstring problems and Moore nicknamed him 'Sicknote', and said of him;

• “He’s always injured and he won’t play with any bit of pain, so he has to grow up".

And where, on that list of scorers, you may ask, is my hero and their leading scorer of last season (15 in 43) YouFatBastard, the man who can bench-press Liverpool Cathedral? Fourth, is the answer, with just 5 goals in 28 .............How are the Mighty fallen, and the weapons of war perished .....................

Deadline for entries is, as always, scheduled kick-off time, which is 3.00pm this coming Saturday, 7th March. Very winnable, this, despite their recent impressive form, according to the stats – but who ever won a game on stats? This is a mixture of bottle and belief, I suspect – and I think we’ve more of both than they have. We went 5 unbeaten before the Yeovil setback, and we can do it again – starting Saturday ...........can’t we Lads?

Good luck to everyone! ................. Keep the Faith! ............... And thanks for playing!