retired_destiny1124

Thanks thepain, I am glad you are liking it

***

7.9.10
AFC Wimbledon (2) Halesowen Town (1)
AFC- D.Watts 38,70
Halesowen- P.Burton 74
MOM- Dave Watts, AFC Wimbledon

AFC Wimbledon, playing without several resting players- including skipper Gary Hardy- managed to hold off visiting Halesowen Town in a taut 2-1 win. The match was in doubt until the final whistle as Dean Delaney had to make a pair of good last minute saves to preserve the AFC win. Dave Watts showed he has potential and knows what to do with the ball as he scored in each half to key the win. Steven Murphy was the architect of the first goal as he intercepted a wild clearing pass and then sent a pass to Watts on the left side. Watts had enough room to break into the area and his shot trickled past Phil Senior for his 1st goal at AFC. Watts 2nd goal of the match was a thing of beauty as Paul Dunn lofted a long pass into the area. Watts and defender Peter Reynolds leaped for the ball, but it was Watts who snapped his hard header past Senior to make it 2-0 AFC. The visitors quickly drew one goal back when Paul Burton smashed a low shot past Delaney after a pass from Matt Quinn trickled past David Woozley. AFC held on for dear life as both Burton and Stephen Dawson had shots blocked away by Delaney as he held them off the board to finish the close 2-1 win.

DC- We had to hang on, but it was another good win in the books for us. If we can just get a little momentum- I think we might be able to string some good matches together.

retired_destiny1124

18.9.10
Scarborough (1) AFC Wimbledon (0)
Scarborough- M.Martin 90
AFC- None
MOM- Matthew Martin, Scarborough

It was AFC Wimbledon's turn to lose a heartbreaker as Matthew Martin slashed a rebound past Dean Delaney after Delaney had blocked a strong header from Lee King on a corner in the last moments of second half injury time. AFC would rue the chances it missed again in this match as Dave Watts had several good opportunities to score, but couldn't convert against Scarborough keeper Gareth Downey. Scarborough also had missed chances to score previous to Martin's goal, mainly due to excepitional saves made by Downey, as the AFC backline played poorly in the match.

DC- So much for momentum. It was another match of missed chances coming back to haunt us. We played well, but they played just a bit better and caught a break that they took full advantage of at the end.

retired_destiny1124

25.9.10
AFC Wimbledon (1) Darlington (0)
AFC- A.Charlton 80
Darlington- None
MOM- Craig Sives, AFC Wimbledon

AFC Wimbledon hadn't done particularly well in the Darlington zone during the match and it seemed well on track for a scoreless draw. One converted chance later, it was a close 1-0 win for the home side. David Woozley headed back a clearing kick and Andrew Holt, who was on for injured Tony Shields, continued to show why he is a excellent prospect as he picked out Alan Charlton unattended outside the right edge of the area. Charlton, who had subbed on for Steve Morris at rightwing, then made a quick move before drilling his shot inside the far left post for the lone goal in the match. Up until that point, Darlington's backline had done a very good job of covering the AFC midfielders and forwards- blanketing them inside their zone. They had completely smothered Stephen Elliott in his debut. Dean Delaney continued to show well in the AFC net- and AFC also welcomed back Steve Croudson to the bench after a long stint on the injured list. As is becoming the case, Jim Corbett is back on the injured list with a bad ankle.

DC- One good play made up for a very ineffective performance on the offensive end. Charlton looks more and more deserving of a starting role on either wing.

retired_destiny1124

28.9.10
AFC Wimbledon (0) Oxford (2)
AFC- None
Oxford- E.Dzeladini 8 C.Lee 26
MOM- Chris McCabe, Oxford

Oxford took advantage of AFC mistakes and leaned heavily on their keeper Chris McCabe to dump AFC 2-0. A combination of miscommunication and poor work by Dean Delaney led to the visitors' first goal. Steve Harvey headed a cross away to the left, but both Matt Lockwood and Paul Wilkinson stood and watched Evzal Dzeladini scoot right in and fire a shot. Delaney should have had the save on it, but instead bobbled the ball and it trickled into the net. Oxford went up 2-0 when Delaney made a good parry of a header from Danny Brown, only to see defender Chris Lee whack the rebound past him for his 1st ever goal. McCabe gave a very good account of himself as he stopped Mark Kerr from in close and pushed a sharp angled shot from Alan Charlton around the post. The Oxford backline gave McCabe good support as they cleared all the loose balls away and marked the AFC forwards well. New AFC addition Stephen Elliott was booed when substituted for- he had his 2nd straight poor match and looks like a huge waste of money at this point.

DC- It is hard for me to argue with the fans and press- I appear to have been wrong about picking up Steve Elliott as a forward. I had just landed him a few days before the match on free. He seems to have little sense what to do in the offensive end. I guess I will try to use him as a game day sub and work him in that way.

retired_destiny1124

2.10.10
Margate (1) AFC Wimbledon (1)
Margate- D.Gill 67
AFC- D.Watts 77
MOM- Dave Watts, AFC Wimbledon

In a closely played match the 1-1 draw was well earned by both sides, but both clubs could rue the chances they missed. AFC did a good job of moving forward, with the surprising start of Stephen Elliott in the midfield seeming to help them. The problems for AFC was that skipper Gary Hardy wasn't converting his chances. Karl Barr made two excellent saves on Hardy, but Hardy also wasted three more chances by being hesitant with the ball. Following a scoreless first half the home side took the lead when Darren Gill flicked a header forward for Rob Payne. Dean Delaney parried away Payne's blast, but the ball was left uncleared by Stephen Green and Gill swooped in and fired it inside the left post for his 5th goal of the season. AFC equalized when Dave Watts took a pass from Hardy, moved past Lee Mathews and rifled his shot past Barr inside the left post. AFC had another good chance late in the match, but Alan Charlton's shot bounced solidly off the post and AFC was forced to settle for the 1-1 draw. Hardy twisted his ankle at the end of the match and will miss the next two weeks.

DC- It wasn't a bad performance, well other than Green's play, but if Hardy finishes just one of the good chances he had- then we get a win instead. It won't be easy without him for the next couple weeks.

retired_destiny1124

Comings and Goings at AFC
AFC Wimbledon surprised some, but likely pleased some of their fans, as they sold recently purchased Stephen Elliott to Luton for 35K. Luton was reportedly pleased to add Elliott to help them in their push for promotion from Division 3. Also leaving AFC will be veteran Betrand Cozic, who has been on the transfer list for quite some time now. Cozic will be moving to non-league Altrincham for 7K. Arriving at AFC will be flashy midfielder Chris Doughty. Doughty a 21 yr old AMC, was sold by bankrupt Morecambe for his rated price of 18K. Doughty will have to wait for his debut, as he is still on suspension at present. John Burton also finally moved on to Luton after signing with them this summer for the panel's price of 160K.

DC- I was surprised that Elliott drew a bid that quickly, but very glad (well we did offer him to any English club in 2nd, 3rd or Conference) that he did since the fans were against him and I wasn't too happy with him. Cozic was likely to retire soon and wasn't on the senior side- so it was fine to move him for a pittance. Doughty looks like an exciting player, maybe he will give us what we haven't had yet in our midfield- someone with offensive presence.

retired_destiny1124

9.10.10
Southport (1) AFC Wimbledon (3)
Southport- R.Davies 13
AFC- M.Vaughan 21 S.Harvey 57,65
MOM- Steve Harvey, AFC Wimbledon

The trials and tribulations of young clubs offer ups and downs and AFC Wimbledon's upset of 1st place Southport was definately one on the up cycle. The match started out poorly for AFC as Lee Williamson picked out Ryan Davies with a full two steps on Steve Harvey. Davies broke in and fired it past Dean Delaney inside the right post to leave AFC Manager Colley cringing. AFC righted themselves when they evened the match. Steve Murphy chipped a pass to Anthony Hogg at midfield. Hogg scurried all the way to the baseline before beating Gavin Rothery on the dribble. Hogg crossed to Mark Vaughan on the far side of the net. Vaughan collected the ball and then had time to blister a low shot past Peter Middleton for his 1st ever AFC goal. The two sides traded good attacks and both Middleton and Delaney had to be sharp to hold the score to 1-1 into the second half. AFC grabbed the lead when Steve Harvey used exquisite timing to deflect a corner from Hogg past Middleton for his 1st ever goal. Southport came close to answering immediately as Davies had a step on Harvey again, but Delaney pushed the shot over the bar for a terrific save. A few minutes later, Harvey provided a carbon copy header- this time on a Jim Corbett corner- for his 2nd goal of the match. Southport didn't quit, but they also couldn't get any more really good chances on Delaney and AFC had their surprising 3-1 road win. The win did come at a cost though as Dave Watts tore a calf muscle and will miss the next 3 months after surgery to correct it.

DC- A very proud moment for this club. We played the type of match we had to- to have a chance against them- and then took advantage of two corners (I don't think we had scored directly on a corner before this) to take away an encouraging win.

retired_pahuja_satish

Your stories are always so easy to read Faramir: and you often do Orient stories which is always a sure way to get me to read.

When I saw you had gone as far as naming a story after me I felt I had to comment

Seriously, great stuff as usual.

retired_destiny1124

*Chuckles* Well, maybe not after you exactly

I liked the double combo of SOS and S-I, so that is why I bunched them together. Glad you are enjoying it though

By the way, got a nice reply back from Matthew Porter (the official Orient webmaster) for an email I sent him.

***

More AFC Player Movement
AFC Wimbledon announced the transfer sale of keeper Steve Croudson to Bristol Rovers for 16K. Croudson had recently recovered from an injury, but lost his starting role to Dean Delaney. Also leaving AFC is forward Aren Wilford, who was sold to Farnborough for 6K. Arriving at Orient is lefback Peter Watson, who was acquired from Nottingham Forest for 20K. Watson will likely move directly into the lineup.

DC- Croudson cost too much to be backup keeper, so I was glad to allow his salary to be paid elsewhere. Same went for Wilford. Watson looks like a really good leftback, so I am very pleased to add him.

***

23.10.10
AFC Wimbledon (4) Telford (0)
AFC- M.Vaughan 8,85 G.Hardy 15 T.Shields 18
Telford- None
MOM- Mark Vaughan, AFC Wimbledon

AFC was ready to go and jumped on visiting Telford early as they scored three early goals enroute to a convincing 4-0 win. Newcomer Peter Watson made a big difference early as he had a hand in the first three goals. Watson's throw in allowed Anthony Hogg to break down the left side. Hogg launched a cross into the center and Vaughan outleaped Carl Moore to deflect it past Andy Woods. Watson's pass then found Gary Hardy free in the area and Hardy whistled a shot past Woods inside the far, right post for his 5th goal of the season. Watson then found Shields lurking outside the area and Shields smashed a 25 yard shot past Woods. Vaughan scored the lone goal of the second half as he picked up a rebound and swept it in after Woods had blocked away Jim Corbett's initial blast.

DC- A very good win for us, especially since the squad is showing signs of fitting together very nicely. We played a strong overall match- one of the best since coming here.

retired_pahuja_satish

Yeah Matt also does the commentary on matchdays. Why did you email him?