Saturday 30th April 2022
EFL League 1
at the Cherry Red Records Stadium, Plough Lane
AFC Wimbledon (0) 3
Ayoub Assal 56, Jack Rudoni 58, 66
Accrington Stanley (3) 4
Jay Rich-Baghuelou 18, Colby Bishop 35,
Michael Nottingham 45, John O'Sullivan 63
Attendance: 7,839
Point and hope photo gallery: Click HERE
AFC Wimbledon
Tzanev;,Osew, Heneghan, Nightingale (Csoka, 46), Brown; McCormick, Bendle (Chislett, 83); Adjei-Hersey (Cosgrove, 46), Rudoni, Assal; Mebude
Unused subs - Broome, Hartigan, Guinness-Walker, Kalambayi
Accrington Stanley
Isherwood, Clark, Sykes, Nottingham, Rich-Baghuelou; O’Sullivan, Leigh (Butcher, 68), Coyle (Conneely, 76), Hamilton, McConville; Bishop
Unused subs - Hood, Rodgers, Procter, Nolan, Woods
Traveling by train from the north to Plough Lane is straightforward enough, whichever mainline station you arrive in London at, the Thameslink line from St. Pancras isn't be far to walk to and trains run from there (Platform A) fairly frequently to Haydons Road, which is a ten minute stroll away away from the ground. Alight on Platform 2 and head up the stairs and turn right over the railway bridge, follow Haydons Road until the traffic lights and turn right into Plough Lane.
AFC Wimbledon's home is just a few minutes along the road from there on the left, where it stands on the site of the former Wimbledon Greyhound Stadium, a couple of hundred yards from where the original Wimbledon FC used to play.
A further clue that you're heading in the right direction is the old signpost on Haydons Road that directs you towards to the Greyhound Stadium, but be aware, the positioning of a sign near the station exit does kind of suggest that the stadium might be 900 yds in the opposite (and completely wrong) direction.
Of course, underground, over ground and even Wombling free , there are other routes that you could choose to reach the Cherry Red Records Stadium, butin my ever so humble opinion, the Thameslink route, which takes roughly forty minutes and requires no changes whatsoever en route, is by far the easiest and most convenient. Each to their own though innit? I know how much some of you like whizzing around on numerous trains and visiting as many different railways as is humanly possible. That isn't a slight on anybody by the way, we all have hobbies and pastimes. Some really sad anoraks even tick off football grounds, imagine that!
'Twas high noon (well 12.30PM to be more precise) for five League 1 clubs this afternoon, as they vied to avoid finishing their respective seasons in one of the three remaining relegation berths that hadn't already been claimed (with indecent haste) by Crewe Alexandra. One of those teams looking to smash and grab their way out of the mire and overcome the highly unlikely odds afforded them by the last bastion of slim hopes that goes by the name of 'mathematical possibilities' was AFC Wimbledon.
In a nutshell Mark Bowen's side had to win and make up a goal difference of plus seven on Fleetwood Town, who they needed to lose at Bolton Wanderers, while also hoping that Gillingham didn't pick up at least a point at home to Rotherham United.
Doncaster Rovers, who started the day level on points with AFC Wimbledon but a further minus twenty goals behind the Dons could probably have been written off as a lost cause before their game at Oxford United had even kicked off, while Morecambe (who had a home game against Sunderland) started the day two points ahead of both Fleetwood and Gillingham, who'd need to win their respective games to have any chance of catching the Shrimps, who themselves went into 'Survival Saturday' (to hype things up in a pay per view telly kind way) handicapped by a minus thirty goal differential.
One history in the making fact of the day was: should the Dons fail to preserve their third tier status, then today would mark the first ever relegation suffered by the club since their formation in May 2002.
Prior to today, relegated Crewe had notched up a mere seven wins all season, but even they had one more victory to their name than AFC Wimbledon, who hadn't won a game since December 7th, when (by way of a massive coincidence) they beat today's visitors Accrington Stanley in the reverse fixture at the Wham Stadium. All told, as the game got underway, the home side were looking to avoid ticking off a twenty seventh consecutive winless game, that's quite some record and provided a thick coating of perspective to the task that lay ahead.
So that was the runners, riders and SP schedule, with several inevitable probabilities outweighing a multitude of extremely long odds possibilities in a fairly top heavy manner.
However last day of the football season quite often throws up a few quirky coupon busting results and sub plots to keep the expectant hordes on the edge of their seats and in spite of the virtual inevitability of most of the above, this afternoon wasn't without it's fair share of drama, especially in the second half at Plough Lane.
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| A museum room accessed through the club shop |
AFC Wimbledon's inaugural League 1 game at their new(ish) 9,215 capacity home was a 2-2 draw played behind closed doors, against Doncaster Rovers, on 3 November 2020.
On 18 May 2021, 2,000 people were admitted the the Cherry Red Records Stadium to watch the Dons play Liverpool's U23 side in a test match.
Spectators were allowed to attend AFC Wimbledon's first home league match of the current 2021-22 campaign, a 3-3 draw against Bolton Wanderers, which was watched by a crowd of 7,728.
Today marked a first visit to the new Plough Lane ground for myself, after two previous attempts earlier this season were scuppered due to a twice postponed League 1 fixture v Charlton Athletic, which was eventually played earlier this month when I couldn't get there logistically.
The massively experienced Mark Bowen was only given the Dons management job as recently as March 20th (on an until the end of the season basis) and during April his team have drawn four times and lost twice, including a 3-1 defeat on the road at Crewe, in a game that they were actually 0-1 ahead in at half-time, after Birmingham City's forgotten striker: Sam Cosgrove (who is on loan at Plough Lane) scored their opening and only goal. Following the Dons draw at Fleetwood a week ago, the headline to the match report on their own website carried the moniker: 'Wimbledon all but down after draw'. There's 'nowt like staying positive and trying to keep everyone's spirits up, is there!? And that was definitely 'nowt like.
For their part Accrington have been consistently inconsistent throughout the past month, inasmuch as they've won two, drawn two and lost two. Most recently they beat Lincoln City 2-1 last weekend, a side who continue to confound their doubters while stubbornly punching above their weight in League 1.
This division is becoming increasingly competitive with every passing year, it'll definitely be no place for the faint hearted next term, given the quality of the clubs who will be joining the third tier ranks from both the Championship and League 2 any time soon, not to mention the big hitters who are on the verge of missing out on promotion any time soon. Sadly at of todays fixtures, that saw the League 1 season end (barring the play-offs) before the Premier League, the Championship and League 2 reached their conclusion, AFC Wimbledon won't be part of that particular equation any more.
In the seventeenth minute, just after low Dylan Adjei-Hersey shot had warmed Liam Isherwood's hands, with what was the home sides best chance of the first half... while word began to filter through that Fleetwood Town had gone in front at Bolton and before anybody had even had a chance to get their calculators out to work out what the ramifications of that particular game might be for the Dons, Jay Rich-Baghuelou smashed the ball past Nik Tzanev in the hosts goal, from outside the area to effectively put the lid on Wimbledon's escape plans, while the other Stanley players nipped off to fetch an hammer and some nails to finish the job off. They returned shortly afterwards, with a vengeance.
Until now I'd had a fairly relaxing afternoon looking on as the game unfolded from my comfortable end of row vantage point, feeling particularly smug with myself that the Sumo wrestler who'd waddled in just after kick-off and headed my wayhad deposited himself two (and three) seats across from me before getting stuck into the task of masticating the pile of fodder he'd fetched along to sustain himself.
A great view and a huge human barricade to thwart any interlopers who'd intended to invade my own personal bubble of tranquillity... what could possibly go wrong? Hmm, I was about to find out why such a desirable seating option hadn't been snaffled up by anybody else. Problem one: the guy directly in front of me was up and down like a defective Jack in a box... frequently! "Liner, he just stole a yard at that throw in, it's no wonder we keep losing", "F*cking hell referee! Anybody could see that was a mistimed tackle that almost decapitated their number 3, not a foul!". "F*cking hell, get up and hop it off number 3, you don't need two feet... it's a mans game", "Oh shut up you smart arse Scouse's" (aimed at the away fans to our left (Accrington is approximately fifty miles from Liverpool by the way)... and on and on and on,
I wasn't here to watch the back of shouty man's head whenever he had a problem with anything and everything and must admit to being on the verge of forgetting everything that my counsellor said to me in those anger management sessions and throttling the irritant with my bare hands (from the response of those around me to his annoying tantrums, such a course of action would've been met by universal approval).
But my attention was drawn away from my prey, by an odd looking man who must've have been on sponsored seat using challenge, because he'd already moved himself and his oversized rucksack to at least six different places since the commencement of the game.
Surely not! He can't be be! But he could. Having spotted the merest slither of light betwixt myself and my new world eating champion pal Jabba, he made a beeline for the minimal gap between us, climbing over three rows of seats and inconveniencing an infinite number of people who were trying to watch the game, instead of using the staircase to our right.
Fidgeting his way into the limited space he began flailing his elbows about to, a bit like Magnus Pike directing traffic at a busy intersection. To avoid being shoved off of my seat and onto the floor by his wriggling buttocks, I stood up and looking at the two empty rows of seats behind us announced: "Right I'm moving up there to get away from his f*cking retarded shouting and your lack of muscle co-ordination... and don't either of you tw@ts even think about following me!"
By heck! Such a stroppy outburst was very out of character for me.
But hey! Strike me down for not having been ever so PC or patient at this juncture. But one needs to draw the line somewhere.
And for what it's worth, in my humble opinion, all seater grounds aren't the problem, it's some the Stefan Kuntz that you have to share them with.
The game continued... Ross Sykes and Michael Nottingham were twin towers of strength at the back for the visitors, repelling the Dons ineffective advances towards Liam Isherwood's goal with consummate ease. The home side did create a handful of chances, but their profligate finishing (I'm being polite at this juncture, believe me) was met with a mocking and jubilant response from the travelling 'Accy' fans of: "That's why you're going down!". It was almost too painful to watch at times, even though I was now in an infinitely less harassed corner of the ground, that for some strange reason I had all to myself.
The Dons continued to look like a team who'd already bought a leather bound atlas of League 2 grounds in preparation for next season, while the visitors hardly had to get out of cruise control to ease themselves into a three goal lead by half-time.
The hosts made hard work of clearing a right wing cross into their midriff and as the ball pinged about the area it fell kindly for Colby Bishop, who tucked it home from ten yards, At this point a number od Dons fans headed for the bar, while others decided to call it a day. On the stroke of half-time Tzanev did really well to tip over a header from a right wing corner, but the respite from the inevitable was only short lived and from Sean McConville's resulting flag kick Michael Nottingham directed his header into the roof of the net.
HT: AFC Wimbledon 0 v Accrington Stanley 3
I'm told, on very good authority (AKA: a guy in a Wimbledon FC 'Crazy Gang' t-shirt who I'd never met before in my life, who struck up a conversation with me in the queue for the toilet at half-time, said it), that there is a scope, should it ever be deemed necessary, to double the current capacity of the stadium, though going on the current state of play at the club, I would've thought that would be a very long way off, if indeed it ever happens at all.
Looking at the ever growing number of swanky buildings climbing up around the Plough Lane site, I'd imagine that the stadium will be even more landlocked, in the not too distant future. As it is, the three stands outwith the double tier construction that I was in the lower part of, that are all of the same height with the corners filled in (though there was an open area to my immediate left, looking over across to where the away fans were housed) provides a more than adequate enclosure for the Dons and stands as a testament to what fan ownership of a football club can achieve.
Possibly 'Crazy Gang man' was also stating a fact rather than indulging in tittle-tattle (tiddle-tattle?) when he told me that the AFC prefix at the front of club name was an acronym for 'A Fans Club', it would be nice to think that he was telling the truth.
He didn't seem overly happy when I asked him if the people in the flats surrounding the ground got a discount oh their rent if their windows overlooked the football ground and subjected them to such a grim spectacle as watching AFC Wimbledon since their season imploded in December.
Sam Cosgrove was introduced to the fray for the start of the second half and as impact substitutions go, his input was quite remarkable, the Dons upped the ante around the visitors as they strove to keep the ball away from their lumbering number nine and remarkably scored two quick fire goals to make the score 2-3 before the hour mark, Ayoub Assal and Jack Rudoni both found the net for the Dons, from Dapo Mebude and Luke McCormack deliveries into the area, much to the delight of their fans who hadn't decided to stay in the bar or bugger off home already. The look on the faces of those who left during the interval must've been a picture, as the game was turned on it's head a turned into a seven goal end to end thriller, instead on an inevitable display of one way traffic.
Game, set and match? Not bloody likely said Rudoni, as he tore towards the Stanley area, almost from the restart, jinking one way then the other before planting the ball past Isherwood. One can only speculate as to why the hosts number twelve took responsibility for the goal instead of laying the ball off to the well placed substitute striker Cosgrove,
Four goals in ten minutes had brought this game to life, but it was probably advisable that the home faithful didn't check how the scores were panning out elsewhere.
Effectively, the Dons were going down after all and by virtue of earning an unlikely draw at Oxford United, Doncaster Rovers (also relegated) had leapfrogged over Mark Bowen's side to finish twentieth in the table.
FT: AFC Wimbledon 3 v Accrington Stanley 4
While the 0-2 result at Priestfield Stadium meant that victors Rotherham United were promoted, while the Gills also lost their scrap against the drop. While Fleetwood Town, who spent a nervy afternoon losing 4-2 at Bolton stayed up and Morecamble survived by virtue of results elsewhere.
MK Dons won 0-5 at Plymouth Argyle (who fell out the play-off places on the final day of the season as a consequence) to finish third, a point outside the automatic promotion slots, while Sheffield Wednesday, Sunderland and Wycombe Wanderers (by virtue of a late Jordan Obita goal at Burton Albion) will also join the 'other Dons' in the end of season play-offs.
Having stayed on to watch the added time, during which AFC Wimbledon were unlucky not to be awarded a penalty as they mounted an all hands to the pumps assault on the 'Accy' goal, I'd only left myself with eleven minutes to catch my train back into London.
A brisk walk ensued, as I got my head down and paced ASAP it to the station at ramming speed.
"Wow Dad! That old man in the white jacket walks fast" said a small child in a Dons shirt as I motored past him... cheeky little bar steward!
According to the step counter technology on my phone I'd run it there in just six minutes. I'm not fit enough to have jogged there, let alone run, but if my telephone wants to make me out to be a fit and sporty type, I really ought to take it as a compliment instead of calling the app a damned liar. And besides, that's a bloody good effort for such an 'old man'.
