Morecambe Matchzone

AFC Wimbledon 0:0 Morecambe

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All-Square at AFC Wimbledon

Well – before we start – let me be completely honest with you. Last night, I thought it would be a good idea to watch all the episodes of the latest series of The Bay which are currently available on ITV Hub.

I had no idea before watching this drama/documentary series that Heysham was so ethnically diverse – even though my son and one of my best pals live there. Nor did I previously know that there was a Mosque there, let alone one which looks so remarkably like one to be found in Preston. But you live and learn…

However, the cold-blooded bludgeoning and stabbings which seem to be a regular feature around our neck of the woods as portrayed by the series caused me to lock and barricade my front door after I had watched the latest instalment of the drama. I ended-up sleeping under the bed instead of on top of it last night and if this report suddenly and unexpectedly stops – you know where I’ve retreated to.

In the meantime Morecambe’s football club found themselves back in the nation’s capital – where drug-dealing, stabbings and attempted murder of the sort which are apparently commonplace in north Lancashire are totally unknown of course – for the second time in a week today as they visited AFC Wimbledon’s new stadium on Plough Lane for the first time.

After a bright start to the season, the latest incarnation of the old Crazy Gang has struggled on the field recently. The club’s most recent game was last Tuesday against the outfit which was allowed by the Football League to steal its identity and its very soul back in the day – the rightly detested so-called MK Dons.

Even though they are one of our rivals for The Drop, I really wanted the Wombles to win.

(In my view, indeed, they should be given a Bye every time they are drawn against these utterly despicable imposters.)

But the real Dons lost, leaving them just one place higher than today’s opponents in League One but with two fewer games played. Worse still for them, left-back Nesta Guinness-Walker was sent off against the Cuckoos and would be suspended for today’s visit by Morecambe.

Talk about rubbing it in…

Last Saturday, Wimbledon was on the wrong end of a shock in the FA Cup too: losing by two goals to nil against non-league Boreham Wood. No shame there – they could have competed against them as equals a few years ago in the way the equally unashamed opportunists from Milton Keynes has never been obliged to.

Excuse me whilst I spit…

All in all, the Dons have won two and lost two of their five latest League One games. Because of postponements caused by Covid, today’s game was AFC Wimbledon’s first home match for 49 long days. Manager Mark Robinson said he didn’t expect Terry Ablade to play today because of an ankle injury. He also expressed his concerns for Anthony Hartigan, who complained of severe stomach pains after the fixture at Milton Keynes and has been in hospital for tests since then. Good luck to the lad – let’s hope it’s nothing serious. The Wombles signed young Lithuanian winger Tomas Kalinauskas on-loan from Barnsley this week  but he didn’t feature in the line-up today. The Wombles’ very own Robbo expressed the way he was having to address self-doubts among some of the members of his own squad in these terms:

“A lot of it was around people thinking (that) things are possibly broken which they’re not. But that’s understandable when you’ve had a few disappointing results. It’s my job to kind of just re-align them and make sure we’re ready for Saturday, which we are. It’s important to have an open environment where people feel free to talk. It led on to a really interesting conversation and I think we’ve got real clarity going into Saturday’s game.”

As far as the match against Morecambe is concerned, he added:

“I’m sure it will be a really good game. They are full of energy – absolutely full of energy. I think that game (in Morecambe) was probably one of the best – we’ve had lots of exciting games – but that was unbelievable. I said that to the boys as well. When we went to get back on the coach, some of their fans were waiting for autographs and said “You’re the best side that we’ve had down here” and I told them: “That’s what you are at your best but you have to remember what your best is!” I’m fully expecting a really exciting game but I’d like it to be more comfortable, obviously.”

As for Shrimps themselves, they were leading against Premiership Tottenham Hotspur not a million miles away from today’s venue until the seventy-fourth minute last Sunday. In a battling and determined display, they were unfortunate to finally lose to the multi-million pound superstars on their own patch. If they were to play anything like as well as they had then, the Shrimps would be confident of taking at least a point out of today’s match – and hopefully three.

In previous fixtures against the Wombles, Morecambe have managed to win four, lose four and draw three. Most recently – and despite a wonder strike from the Shrimps’ Goal Machine Cole Stockton – they came from behind only to lose 3-4 in injury time at the Maz last September.

Our own Robbo missed the FA Cup match in north London against his first employers as a professional footballer last Sunday. Assistant Manager Diarmuid O’Carroll was in charge against Spurs and said this prior to the match against the new Crazy Gang today, starting with an update on the boss’ health:

“He had to isolate because of the positive test, he’s a head cold for a few days but he is okay. He’s been itching to get out and he’s been able to have a bit more time to look at the Wimbledon game. He’ll still be able to do all the build up to the game with the team when he returns which is good. That was the best thing about last week, he was still able to do all the work with the lads, but just missed the main event. He will be like a coiled spring when he returns, he is buzzing to get back in and I am more than happy to go back into the background. The players were a little bit stiff, they covered some serious distance on Sunday, it was huge intensity against top, top players, but their heads have been on Wimbledon since Monday. We let them have a day with their families to soak it in and they have come back with their head on and straight back on it. This is massive now, the Tottenham game was always a bonus, now we kick on. We have tried to learn from every game that we have been in. You have to learn from those games against your likes of Wimbledon and Wycombe’s where you come up on the wrong side of the result. Small tweaks (are needed) here and there but I am confident you’ll see us move up the table shortly.”

Their FA Cup heroics had seen the north Lancashire side slip back into the highest of the relegation positions in League One as teams around them continued to play. Three points today, however, would see them leap-frog the Wombles and hopefully see them escape from the Legion of the Doomed at the bottom of the table altogether.

It was dry under a sometimes cloudless sky in Wimbledon this afternoon. The match started with a minute’s silence and the Dons went straight onto the front foot. Morecambe seemed happy to simply back off and let the hosts have the ball in the opening minutes. Wimbledon forced the first corner after eight minutes but it was well dealt with by the visiting defence. The Shrimps looked sluggish and off the pace for the first quarter of an hour or so and Skipper Anthony O’Connor needlessly gave the ball away a couple of times into the bargain. Nikola Tzanev in the home goal made a poor throw straight to Jonah Ayunga after fourteen minutes but the Morecambe forward barely tested the errant home custodian with a weak shot. For the first time, the visitors managed to string a few passes together involving Greg Leigh and Toumani Diagouraga after 22 minutes but ex-Womble Shane McLoughlin’s eventual shot was poor and went into the side netting. Morecambe then attacked effectively down the left but Leigh’s cross into the centre towards Ayunga was deflected away from the danger area by a good block by a Dons’ defender. Cole Stockton was being tightly marked by the home defence but he cleverly got the better of them after 27 minutes only for Ben Heneghan to stop him with a tremendous tackle which saw the ball go out for a corner. Wimbledon won a free-kick on the edge of the Morecambe box on their left after a half an hour or so but – in common with the game so far – it was poorly worked. Arthur Gnahoua forced Tzanev to punch the ball away from a free-kick after 37 minutes. However, the poor quality of the game so far was emphasised when the Dons took their first shot at goal with only a couple of minutes left. But Jack Rudoni’s attempt sailed harmlessly wide of the Morecambe goal.  So a scrappy game of few chances ended goal-less at half time.

Cole the Goal turned brilliantly and smashed the ball just over the top of the target within a minute of the restart. Then Trevor Carson had to make his first save of the afternoon after 50 minutes, pushing George Marsh’s shot away for a corner. He did even better to push Ollie Palmer’s looping header away from a second corner with his left hand after 51 minutes. This was a tremendous piece of goalkeeping. Wimbledon were starting to apply some concerted pressure at this point. Although they enjoyed most of the possession until an hour or so had been played, the Dons didn’t do a lot with it. The closest they came to opening the scoring when Ayoub Assa’s shot-come-cross hit the top of the bar with Carson stranded after 74 minutes. Three minutes later, in a rare foray into the home team’s half, Ayunga’s wayward shot was roundly jeered by the Wimbledon fans. Morecambe won their first corner of the second half after eighty-one minutes from which Leigh headed narrowly wide. There were a few half-chances after this and Carson was obliged to punch a corner powerfully away from the danger area in the third of four minutes of extra time.

So a disappointingly poor game ended goal-less. Stephen will be the happiest of the Robinsons tonight in that he avoided a Wimbledon double over his side this season – and a point on the road is always an achievement. Furthermore, League debutants Carson and Bedeau contributed to a far more sound defensive display by the Shrimps than has been the case for quite some time. In terms of league positions, though, the game didn’t change anything. Elsewhere, though, Doncaster , Lincoln and Gillingham all lost at home and Crewe held Shrewsbury at Gresty Road. Fleetwood did themselves a real favour, though, when they beat leaders Rotherham right at the death at Highbury.  So Morecambe remain in the relegation positions – twenty-first – tonight. Wimbledon are still one place higher, two points better off but still with two games in hand as well.

AFC Wimbledon: 1 Nikola Tzanev; 4 Alex Woodyard (C); 5 Will Nightingale; 6 George Marsh (Y); 7 Cheye Alexander; 9 Ollie Palmer (17 Terry Ablade (Y) 88’); 10  Ayoub Assal (25 Egli Kaja 84‘); 12 Jack Rudoni (16 Adedapo Awokoya-Mebude 84’); 21 Luke McCormick; 22 Ben Heneghan; 37 Paul Osew.

Subs Not Used: 38 Aaron Cosgrave; 11 Ethan Chislett; 31 Zaki Oulah; 38 Aaron Cosgrave.

Morecambe: 30 Trevor Carson; 2 Ryan McLaughlin; 3 Greg Leigh (Y); 4 Anthony O’Connor (C); 5 Jacob Bedeau; 17 Jonah Ayunga (25 Alfie McCalmont 90’); 8 Toumani Diagouraga; 10 Aaron Wildig (Y) (21 Ryan Cooney 75’); 9 Cole Stockton; 19 Shane McLoughlin; 24 Arthur Gnahoua (7 Wes McDonald 68’).

Subs Not Used: 1 Kyle Letheren; 6 Callum Jones; 15 Ryan Delaney; 22 Liam Gibson.

Ref:  Ben Speedie.

Att: 7,128 (318 from Morecambe. One of my spies was secreted in the home crowd today. I will receive a full debrief on his findings next Tuesday…)

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