MATCH REPORT: AFC Wimbledon - Torquay United (Sky Bet League Two)

Wibbly Lane, Matchday 22

AFC Wimbledon Starting XI: Brown; Fuller, Antwi, Frampton, Kennedy; Porter, S. Moore (Pell 45’), L. Moore (Sweeney 45’), Bamba (Sainte-Luce 77’); Green (Bald), Green (Other)

AFC Wimbledon Substitutes: Worner, Arthur, Smith, Midson, Sainte-Luce, Pell, Sweeney

Torquay United Starting XI: Rice; Tonge, Hutchings, Pearce, Nicholson; N. Thompson (Cameron 55’) , Lathrope (Harding 67’), Mansell, Bodin; Hawley (Sullivan 55’), Benyon

Torquay United Substitutes: Downes, Harding, Cameron, C. Thompson, Cruise, Sullivan, Yeoman

There are many different ways to not play well. Maybe your team just isn’t ruthless enough in front of goal. Maybe your passing is off. Maybe you don’t have good movement off the ball. These kinds of problems are frustrating, but at least they’re fixable. What’s most frustrating is when your hard work and effort comes to nothing as a result of sheer, dumb luck.

Tonight’s home fixture against Torquay saw some of the best, most dazzling attacking play of the season. Sharp passing patterns. Dominance in the midfield. Threatening play on the flanks. By most quantitative and qualitative measures, this was Wimbly Wombly football at its level best. Except the scoreline.

And again, the fact that Wimbledon didn’t win in a rout was due to simple bad luck. You can look at Other John Green’s flying header in the 12th minute that was bounced away- the keeper didn’t quite save the shot so much as found himself in the way. Or George Porters beautiful ball into the box on 36 minutes that got caught by the wind and drifted just a bit too far. Or another beautiful cross six minutes later that was just tipped away by the keeper, denying what would have been point-blank tap in. Or Sweeney collecting a beautiful throughball in the 60th to bomb down the flank, send in a dangerous cross to Bald John Green only to have Nicholson beat out the Wimbledon talisman by half a second to clear the ball away. Throughout the game Wimbledon’s chances were thwarted by the slimmest of margins- a few inches there, tenths of a second there, and the Dons would have run away with this game.

That Wimbledon was able to collect all three points regardless- thanks to a commendable poaching effort from George Porter just before the end of the first half- can be attributed mostly to the sense of stubbornness that has permeated this team all season. The Dons are winning seemingly because they refuse to consider any alternatives. If they can’t beat their opponents into submission, the team has mustered the resolve to outlast them. When their stamina and resolve fail them, Wimbledon has managed to win via trickery and effective game management. And when all these fail, the winds of fate have carried them on. Maybe this Wimbledon side is charmed. Maybe they’re resolutely making their own luck. Whatever the case, we’re just about at the halfway point and the Dons remain ten points clear at the top of League Two. Something is going on.

AFC Wimbledon 1-0 Torquay United

Scoreline: Porter (WIM) 45’,

Discipline: n/a