Where were you on this date?
You may have been out shopping. You may have been out at work in East London (like your editor was). You may have done some much needed decorating. You may have been playing about with your curtains. And no, that’s not a euphemism.
Or you could have been on the edge of an industrial estate and science park in a crappy bit of Oxford. Where on the aforementioned date just gone, you finally witnessed something that your kids and grandkids will gleefully pass down the generations.
AFC Wimbledon finally got a point against Oxford United.
In the run-up to Christmas, I hope that the club puts out a DVD of this game, if only to relive the moment at the final whistle when the monkey finally got tossed off our back, tied up with concrete slabs and thrown into the nearest river. It can go pride of place next to the Franchise JPT DVD* in our collections.
* – and while the rest of what you’ve read may be a tad tongue-in-cheek, this bit is serious : why has the club failed to put out anything on this game? Plenty would have loved to have purchased it, SW19 Towers included, and I *hope* that the reason is that they couldn’t get redistribution rights….
In all seriousness, this was – once again – a game where the result mattered a thousand times more than the entertainment on offer. Reading around, it seems there were few half-chances, even fewer actual chances and a lot of uses of the word “dire”.
We had three up front to begin with, which either means a) AA and Tubbs doesn’t work nearly so well when the other AA comes on, or b) we really have been sussed out tactically now.
Probably a bit of both, if truth be told.
Perhaps the main thing here is that we are grinding out results. We have only lost twice out of six games, although we’ve only won one of them (just) as well. Which does beg the question – where does the next spark come from?
AA and Tubbs failed to find the net between them again, although if they’re getting no service….. That said, at least with those two you know it’s a case of when they’ll score goals again, not if.
Azeez is still too raw to start games, although he looks a grizzled veteran compared to Oakley (was that the first time he’s properly got on the pitch in a first team game?). Although this may answer the “spark” question just posed – youthful enthusiasm can certainly kick a few complacent arses.
We certainly noticed that when Harrison was left back, and if the likes of Oakley and Beere can make a similar step up then it helps immensely. Thankfully, it looks like our yoof development is finally at a useful level, and providing we get the right people in from now on it can only get better.
We might be needing younger legs at some point anyway, because there were some comments after Saturday how tired we looked. For once, that might be a valid excuse – since your editor got back from the US on the 4th November, we’ve played York (FAC), Brizzle City (JPT), Daggers (FL), York again (FAC) and Oxford.
None have been games we could have idly experimented with, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if our squad has been given today off. Barring Xmas, cup replays and the inevitable postponements, it’s really only the beginning of March where the next backlog of fixtures could be a problem.
And famous last words here, but we shouldn’t be remotely anywhere near a relegation scrap at that stage. Not that we should be at one at any stage of this season to begin with…