AFC Wimbledon 1-0 Northampton Town
AFC Wimbledon: A Global Phenomenon
It was Worldwide Wombles Weekend. Fans came from over twenty seven countries this weekend. Some travelled hours. Some travelled days. One person, we are reliably informed, came from New Zealand, which raises questions about life choices that we are not qualified to answer.
Fifteen languages were spoken inside Plough Lane. Fifteen different ways of ordering a San Miguel and arguing with the staff about happy hour. Fifteen different ways of trying to have a conversation with the DTB about 50+1. And fifteen different ways of telling Nesta Guinness-Walker, that his left-back display was not up to scratch, and that he should reconsider his own life choices.
Some things do not require translation.
Nesta, we could tell, heard all of it. In every language. From fans who had travelled collectively tens of thousands of miles to wind up a left-back they were never that fussed about to begin with.
He did not score. He did not play well. We choose to read into that.
It was also a Sunday 12pm kick-off. The perfect time for a football match. A rearranged fixture for Sky. The only people watching were those who couldn’t attend due to the fixture being rearranged for Sky.
The Team
One change from Mansfield. Joe McDonnell in for Nathan Bishop, who was absent without further explanation. Where is Bishop? The club has not said. WombleWorld has not been told. We are choosing to treat this as a mystery and are liaising directly with Womble PI McCoy-Splatt. We will report back if we find anything.
The shape looked broadly as expected. Whether it looked like the graphic is a separate question.
We are also not sure what Stevens did to upset the WW Match Rating Algorithm (WWMRA). We thought he was broadly fine.
The Match
The first half was, by the standards of a Sunday lunchtime in League One, excellent. Wimbledon pressed high, moved the ball quickly, and created with genuine fluency. James Tilley was everywhere, skipping past defenders, whipping in crosses, forcing saves. The atmosphere, such as it was at noon on a grey Sunday, lifted accordingly.
The goal arrived early and deserved its standing. A cross from the right, a Seddon header across goal, and then Marcus Browne produced a backheel that dropped perfectly for Callum Marchcock. He met it on the half-volley and didn’t miss. It was the kind of goal that requires three people to do something right in quick succession, which at this level is rarer than it sounds.
The lead should probably have been at least two by half-time. Marchcock had a volley saved. Tilley had an effort parried. Northampton, who had played in the nonsense cup semi-final in midweek, were not at their most threatening (translation for the WorldWideWombles - they were toilet). One-nil at the break felt like an undercount.
The second half was a different game. Northampton made adjustments. The space closed. Jake Evans tested McDonnell twice in quick succession he dealt with both calmly and cleanly. A late Browne effort was cleared off the line. Five minutes of stoppage time passed without incident.
Three points. Fourteenth place. A performance that, whisper it, had genuine shape to it.
What the Manager Says
JJ described it as “a really good day”. This is exactly the kind of considered, insightful assessment you would hope for. He was also “pleased”. “Very pleased”. With “loads of elements.”
More usefully: he acknowledged that the second half was designed to be ugly. The team knew at half-time that Northampton would change shape and chase the game. They spoke about it. They prepared for it. And then they did the ugly side of it, as he put it, “equally as well.”
This is actually interesting. A team that can be two different things in the same 90 minutes is a more functional team than one that can only play well when things are going well. The consistency, the settled squad, the bench contributing when called upon. JJ keeps returning to these things and the evidence is beginning to support him.
He also said Browne’s backheel was something “not everyone’s got that in their locker.” He is correct. Most of us don’t have a locker.
Womble of the Week: Callum Marchcock
McDonnell was excellent. Unhurried, reliable, decisive when it mattered. A man of the match award for everyone else it seems, which we here at WombleWorld fully endorse.
But Marchcock was the reason the game was won. The goal required him to be in the right place, moving at the right moment, with the composure to connect cleanly under pressure. He also had a near-identical chance saved before half-time. He works the channels, he runs beyond, he shows up in the box repeatedly and without fanfare.
“Callum does what he does”. For once, JJ put it perfectly.
Closing Thoughts
Three unbeaten. Fourteenth in the table, equidistant from the play-offs and the drop zone. It has a certain symmetry to it.
Those with longer memories will recognise the pattern. Early in JJ’s tenure, results came in clusters. A run of wins, then a run of losses, then repeat. The tide turns. It will turn again before May. It is just how football works, and how this club in particular tends to work.
But we are pointing the right way at the moment. The team has shape. The squad has cohesion. And on a Sunday when nobody asked to be at a football ground at noon, that’s all we can ask for.
Enjoy it. While it’s here.
WombleWorld
JJ reviewed the Browne backheel seventeen times before his post-match interview. He was later seen by WW sources practicing in the 1889 Lounge after the game. No further comment.