MATCH REPORT: AFC Wimbledon - Exeter City (Sky Bet League Two)

Wibbly Lane, Matchday 9

Referee: Liam Keymer

AFC Wimbledon Starting XI: Brown; Bennett, Antwi, Weston, Kennedy; Sainte-Luce, Jacquart, S. Moore, Bamba; Smith, Green (Other) [c] (Sheringham 45’)

AFC Wimbledon Substitutes: Worner, Sheringham, Midson, Green (Bald), Sweeney, Francomb, Pell

Exeter City teamsheet was not available at press time.

As is often the case for football clubs, and especially those with new managers and significant roster turnover, the first few weeks of Wimbledon’s campaign have been full of temperature-gauging games. Matches that try to give some kind of early clue as to what the team is and what kind of season they’re going to have. The effect the early games truly have on the campaign as a whole is debatable, but reporters and analysts invest a lot of column inches, air time, and dramatic weight to them in a desperate struggle to forge a narrative.

We’ve had home fixtures. We’ve had away fixtures. We’ve had cup ties against equal opposition. We’ve had cup ties against equal opposition. A few more boxes remained to be ticked off for sportswriters across the country, however.

Today we played with… steel yourselves, now… our Reserve XI.

Can you sense the tension in the air? So many questions arise. Can they score goals without Bald John Green? Does Seb Brown have what it takes to mind the goal against Football League opposition? Would Bennett work as a fullback? Was Sainte-Luce called up to the senior squad too early? The mind races with uncertainty!

Or maybe we’re just reading too much into one game.

Anyway, Manager Green gave some fringe players a run out and everything turned out fine. The first half was a bit sluggish, but no more than you’d expect from a group of players who hadn’t all played together thus far. The link-up play wasn’t there, the off-the-ball movement was somewhat disorganized, and a few passes went astray. Still, the Blue and Yellow held it together well enough to shut Exeter down. Apart from a bit of solid forward play and a promising chance about 20 minutes in, Exeter simply weren’t in it for long stretches. To their credit, Wimbledon’s sole scoring play was as beautiful as anything we’ve seen from the Best XI so far- Jacquart sent a cheeky through-ball to Smith, who thundered in on goal and drew the keeper onto him before sending a short cross to Bamba who tapped the ball into an empty net.

If there was anything frustrating to point out it was a seeming inability to finish near-guaranteed chances in the dying breaths of the game. First, as the clock rang on 90 minutes, Jacquart collected a through ball in the box and was alone on goal, but his shot was parried by Woodman and then cleared by a defensive bicycle kick from Davis. Moments later in stoppage time, Smith sent a low shot past Woodman that hit the post and then the keeper’s back, but was scooped up as it was creeping towards the goal line. Either one of those could’ve easily made it 2-0. Call it bad luck, or bad timing, or bad aim.

Still, Wimbledon did fine and got 3pts using their B-team. Yes, it was at home, and yes, it was against middling opposition. But League Two is a deceptively tough league. Like the Premier League- and, to a lesser extent, the Championship- there are scant few teams with whom you can afford to phone it in. With a few notable exceptions, most clubs in this league are capable of getting results against anyone else. If the Champions-Elect (and no, it’s never to early to whip that out) expect their inexorable march to glory, these are exactly the kinds of games they need to win. Manager Green sent out his reserves and they did a job. Tick off another box.

AFC Wimbledon 1-0 Exeter City

Scoreline: Bamba (WIM) 30’

Discipline: n/a