Getting Wood

And relax……

Until the last ten minutes of Conference 2 Turdeyland 1 the obituaries were getting written. Not of our team, but mine. It would have been just my luck to be out of the country with a four game winning streak and by all accounts playing quite well.

So, I suppose if anyone should be thanking DK and the Cue, it’s me.

As you scrape cash together to buy me a one-way ticket westwards, there was a touch of nostalgia today at times. And I don’t mean that in a good way, either. Remember how horrible we were against teams like Boreham Wood back in the day? You don’t even need to dig out your old Football Hurts recordings this evening, because there was some – OK, a lot – of play today that felt like those dark days.

I guess complacency came in big time here. Before the game, I expect most of you were expecting a 3-0er, even with a second string side. Feels like the players had the same idea too, as we started off well and got shittier as the game progressed. You could just sense it that we failed to do anything, BW thought “hang on a minute” and somewhat predictably, we end up making it difficult for ourselves.

When their 30 yard Seb Brown fuckup effort went in, who here rolled their eyes and felt deja vu? I know I did. I don’t recall them having much else to do, but then, I felt that for most of the Ryman Prem games we endured.

Actually, that’s the best way to describe this game – Ryman Premier. To think we had three years of these sort of contests week in, week out. No wonder getting promoted at Staines that sunny spring day probably meant even more than gaining the title last season. The difference two seasons on is that this could have counted as our second string.

Which proves two things : firstly, it proves how far we’ve come in less time than it takes a Franchise fan to spell its own name. In 2009/10, the pitches are better, the opponents are better, the whole setup is better. Afterwards, the BW manager said we could put three classy players on with our superior fitness, and it showed. When was the last time we could have said that in the AFCW era, before this season? Ever?

The second thing? Ah, you’ll have to wait until “Point to Ponder” below…

I shudder to think what I would have written if we’d lost this. I developed a reputation a couple of years ago for flying off the handle at these sort of “performances”, and now I remember why – we should be doing better and we weren’t. It would have been typical of us to have gone out after the buildup we gave ourselves beforehand. I don’t think I would have bellowed every expletive I could have thought of, but I would have been within my rights if I had.

Even if we drew, there would have been much gnashing of teeth. Cup upsets can and do happen, but there shouldn’t have been even a sniff of one today. Chances are, we were too cocky going into this, and we were brought back down to earth.

But we got away with it.

Suppose there’s nothing more to say really. You can get out your old Football Hurts tonight and relive today’s game in its finest. For those who would rather bum themselves with a barbed-wire covered strap-on, you could always read the following…

Plus points: We won. Banana skin avoided.

Minus points: 98 minutes worth of complete horse toss. Monty’s injury.Realising how much we rely on DK.

The referee’s a…: Was he good? Was he shit? I dunno, I was too busy despairing over yet another misplaced pass.

Them: Must feel gutted right now as they could (and maybe should) have taken us out today. But then in the last 20 odd minutes they seemed to run out of physical and mental steam.

Took a couple of minibuses today, one of which was clearly one from Sunshine Variety. You remember, the Danny Dyer appreciation society, cliches and all.  Apparently, they’re not exactly regulars at their games, which may explain why their support was trying to keep a distance away from them. Either that or the BO.

Needless to say, three got thrown out (one of whom being that midget who escaped from the circus and found himself on our pitch after their goal), and allegedly tried to get in for nothing.

That said, BW do have a reputation for this for their big games. Apparently, Ks have a couple of stories to tell about them, and who remembers this from a previous meeting at their place?

Sour note (1)- group of BW fans were allegedly done for racist abuse towards one of our fans (I believe they’ve had their names taken etc). One of said group was also nicked for – wait for it – “exposing himself”. I presume it was against women and children, though my bet is that he was waving it towards our male support hoping for a bit of business.

Wonder if it was any of the Green Street rejects? Or do they just get their cocks out in each others bedrooms these days? Would explain a lot.

Point to ponder: Just checking to see if you were paying attention earlier. Anyway, the second thing proved today is this : isn’t it a bit worrying that we had to rely on our two best strikers to dig us out of a hole today? I don’t think we realise how much we need DK – today was when Monty and the Cue proved to us that they could break into the first team. The Cue could (and may have to, if Luke Moore really is out for the season), but I wonder if Monty’s previous injury concerns are causing a psychological brick wall.

It’s unfair to single those two out of course. We don’t look nearly so good without BJ either. And TB’s comments afterwards about DD (see below) seem to suggest that moves may be made in the January window. In fact, the likes of DD, and even Kennedy and Hatton may slowly be starting to run out of time.

Jon Main had the clock ticking on him, and to his immense credit he pulled out of his slump. Though he wasn’t at his most effective today, but he’s earnt the right to have an off day (not that he was the only one, of course). I think we now need to apply the same expectancy on those I’ve just mentioned. I don’t like bashing Sam Hatton but right now I’m not sure he brings as much to us as Steven Gregory does. And boy, did we miss him today.

Kennedy? Got to say, I don’t notice whether he’s on the team sheet or not. And that’s not meant in a good way either. As for DD, I can see why he never gets a run in a team. Those at the Ash game on Tuesday reckon he didn’t want to be there. Their #9 was causing him grief all afternoon, and I wonder if he has a touch of the Tony Finns about him? On second thoughts, Finn had a problem with timekeeping but not so much attitude…

We seem to have some very good players who could easily make the step up to the League – DK, Quiche, BJ, Gregory, Moore. We have those who will be around for us for a good while – JM, Seb Brown, Conroy, Wellard, LT. People like Monty and Cue haven’t quite got going yet, but I think both deserve this season. Then, there are ones that you’re just not sure about. And you can easily name them. Are they the weak links of the side? You have to ask the question, especially after today, whether we can do better than them.Not just on the odd performance, but week in, week out.

What we basically have is a team with a good foundation. But that’s as far as it goes right now. We won today because we put our two juggernauts up front because we had to. We shouldn’t have needed to risk them. One day, we won’t need to.

Meet the manager: As AFCWimbledon.tv is doing the honours now, including MP3s, I won’t need to do this any more. Obviously if you can help them out just doing the donkey work to get this up to the Womble masses, and you know what you’re doing, please do. They really would appreciate any and all help.

One thing I will say, I wonder if TB is starting to lose patience with a couple of his players?

Truth is stranger than fiction: (1) The first time (certainly in the AFCW era) that we’ve ever beaten Boreham Wood. (2) 1306 there, which to be fair is pretty piss poor. Then again, it is two weeks before Xmas, a less-than-attractive fixture and we all know the sort of game it was going to be. Mind you, the other attendances today were pretty lousy – only five games reached four-figure turnouts…

Anything else? Not really, although as stated earlier – I’m glad I don’t have to watch that level of football every week.

Come to think of it, I did something just now I don’t think I’ve done for a good couple of years – look at the Ryman League table. And here it is. Got to say, apart from the fact we struggled against the team in 13th, that looks a thoroughly unexciting league. Nobody really jumps out at you, do they? Christ, when we were there the games against Chelmsford had something to them, but the only reason you pay attention is because you may live in Kingston, Sutton or Tooting (or Mitcham). And even then for a fleeting second.

I know we can be (and are) disparaging about that whole league, but how many of those sides can you genuinely say are going to be in the Conference within 10 years? Unless some usual fly-by-night comes in with shitloads of cash they want to launder spend on behalf of the local community, pretty much none of them. Dartford, maybe, but after that? Not that their collective attitudes suggested that they were ever willing to make that move forward.

Somehow, everything we said about them in the past is coming true…

So, was it worth it? Yes. Just.

In a nutshell: Watch us draw the Axewounds on Monday.