And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the couch with a couple of Madri tins to watch a League One scrap.
Admittedly, your editor is to religion what Franchise is to having decades of history, and I can think of better kickoff times.
I thought 7pm at Port Vale would be the worst start time this season, but this runs it close.
Anyway, it was a bit more hard work than it should have been, but Sandals 1 Shoes 0 made it worth missing what you normally do on a Sunday.
Three wins on the spin at PL now, isn’t it? Hopefully by 10pm on Wednesday it will be the fourth.
Because of Sky playing silly buggers, there wasn’t much buildup to the match at all. Hell, I think people only thought about it when the team was announced and Joe McDonnell was in goal.
Did Bishop pull something in training? Did he pull something in a nightclub last night because he forgot the date and had to find an STD clinic post haste?
Or maybe he’s a man of the cloth, and playing today is verboten? Bishop by name, bishop by nature…
Actually, it was a bit of a risk without a spare goalie, and depending on why he’s missing we may need to get somebody in as cover.
Perhaps Willy Caballero is available for a couple of weeks? He’ll know where our training ground is, anyway.
Still, the millions (?) watching on the telly will have seen us score once through Maycock, seen us denied a couple more times through their keeper, and then prove why you must always try and get the second goal.
We were tearing them a new arsehole down the right hand flank, so much so that they had to make a sub after 30 minutes.
Either their player was injured, or he was being pulled around a bit too much.
Browne’s assist by the way was the absolute canine danglies. A backheel in the path of Maycock, who finished what proved to be the only goal of the game is worth watching on repeat.
And it wasn’t like we weren’t trying to get another strike, it’s just that their keeper pulled off some decent stops.
That was the first half, anyway. The second half was a bit, well, yes…
Actually, that’s probably being a little bit harsh on us. The problem is, when you’re playing a team fighting for survival, is that they absolutely have to go at you.
That’s what Northampton did, and to their credit they did make what was a comfortable lunchtime into an uncomfortable one.
McDonnell had to pull off a couple of decent saves, though in hindsight I think they were routine stops.
Fair play to him coming in and getting a MOTM award, although I think it could have gone to any of ours.
Besides, how many times do we not win these sort of contests?
I think it changed when Tilley went off, or rather got kicked off (he was not happy when off the field). With luck, he won’t be out for too long – I don’t think his return and our uptick in form is coincidental.
I won’t say we were under the cosh, but we’ve seen this sort of thing play out so many times. Just one lapse of concentration, just one fuck-up, and three points becomes one.
Thankfully, today, we were able to concentrate and do what we should be doing for these contests.
It wasn’t pretty, and I don’t like defending 1-0 leads for that length of time. But we did what a mid-table L1 side did against a bottom feeder.
And I’ll take that. Just as I’ll take similar on Wednesday against Blackpool.
As I typed this, the JJ post-game comments are up. Nothing really we would have guessed, although I’d like to know more about Tilley because he’s important.
It’s still a bit premature to say we’re safe, but we’re inching ever closer to it. We’re in that odd position where points wise we’re nearer the playoffs than the drop zone.
I’m not going to remotely suggest we’ll extend our season. But stranger things have happened…
Plus points: We won. Clean sheet. McDonnell coming in and doing well. Maycock’s goal. Browne’s assist.
Minus points: Should have scored more. Not as good after the break. Tilley’s injury.
The referee’s a…: Obviously he didn’t believe in the obstruction rule, as he failed to apply it on a couple of occasions.
Or to put it another way – maybe he liked seeing their players grapple ours a bit too much?
Them: Crap, but could have still done us over.
I can see why Northampton are second bottom, and they had that air all probably-doomed sides have.
They battled hard, as one would expect, but they reminded me of our last season under MR in League One.
I forgot Nesta Guinness-Walker played for them, and a couple of people near me clearly weren’t fans of his, though to be fair he’s managed to be a L1 player for a good while.
Nearly 800 of them made their way down despite transport being fucked, which proves that football fans always find a way to get to a game.
It was amusing listening to them doing the whole “Ole” stuff in the first half when playing around at the back. Even more amusing when the Northampton keeper almost gifted it to Stevens…
Point to ponder: Could this be the most impressive win of the year so far?
That might sound preposterous to write, but it’s the kind of game where we could so easily fucked it up.
And far too often in the past, “could” is instead “have”.
Losing your keeper before the game can very easy affect things, so seeing McD looking as comfortable as Bishop was a good thing.
Ditto dealing with Tilley’s injury, and overseeing a win despite effectively failing to attack afterwards.
It’s those sort of wins today that push you upwards, because they’re a lot more difficult than you think.
One thing that has become apparent in recent weeks is, funnily enough, doing what we started to do this time last year.
While we’re much more attacking this time round, we’re starting to look like a unit again that’s very hard to beat.
Today was a good example of us putting our heads where it could hurt (almost literally), making sure everyone is on the same page, and having a target to aim for.
Last year it was promotion, and this year could well be top ten.
It won’t be easy, and I do wonder about our intensity if we secure realistic (if not mathematical) safety quite soon.
But I would have taken where we are now before kickoff at Luton. Hell, I would have taken that when we were going out of the FAC to Gateshead…
Truth is stranger than fiction: 1) McD’s first appearance for us in the league since Franchise away in September 2019. Longer than I thought. 2) The Worldwide Wombles Weekend. Perhaps whoever decided to reschedule this weekend could go on their own adventure to Iran. 3) Lidl no longer has toilets. Greggs does, though, albeit you need a code. And yes, this is a PSA from finding this out the hard way.
Anything else? I’m not going to delve too much into the 50+1 vote, because there’s not much more that needs to be said.
At least not until the vote comes in, where (hopefully) it passes.
I did find it interesting getting a cup of tea today and seeing leaflets with “Your club, your choice, your future” about it on kiosks.
It’s been the elephant in the room that the vast majority of people don’t engage with anything beyond going to games, so it’s perhaps no surprise there’s this kind of canvassing.
What is more intriguing is that the decision makers are no longer pretending they’re even-handed about 50+1 now.
The strapline of “50.01 : The Next Chapter For AFC Wimbledon” tells its own story, although it’s still trying to push the fan-ownership-is-non-negotiable mantra.
Which is bullshit, because it’s non-negotiable until it isn’t. And it always has been.
The decision makers aren’t wrong in pushing for 50+1, as said on SW19 in the past we should have done it a decade ago.
But something I read elsewhere today has stuck with me – why is there no mention of what happens if 50+1 doesn’t pass?
To be fair, I don’t think that’s so much the issue as it probably doesn’t need to be said. And it’s quite difficult to predict anyway, catastrophising notwithstanding.
What could be more of a problem is presenting 50+1 as a fait accompli.
There is a faction of our support that just doesn’t trust anything the decision makers say now. They will probably vote against it just because of who is making the proposal.
There’s also a faction of our support who think that there shouldn’t be any further equity sale and that if it means National League South is our level then that’s where we should be.
Neither side are that sizable, in truth, and they’re probably the very same people who voted against moving back to PL because of some personal grudge against a board member.
I wish I was joking.
But there isn’t too much of what 50+1 entails, beyond “trust me, bro”. And that’s what made it fall short the first time.
Even somebody like myself, who would happily sell out tomorrow, thinks there’s not enough practical information, and while I’ve voted for 50+1 I can understand some being hesitant.
If it does fail, it ultimately doesn’t matter, because you can’t escape financial reality. This is at least trying to do something about that, and it does need to pass.
But like too many things at this club – it doesn’t help itself…
So, was it worth it? Three points.
In a nutshell: Enjoy the rest of your Sunday.