AFC Wimbledon 2-4 Leyton Orient

Nkeng NDouble. Nwe Nconcede Nfour

So close to 50. So close you can almost see it. Smell it. Probably priced into next year’s season ticket already.

Instead, this.

A 4–2 defeat at home to Leyton Orient in a game that had everything. Goals. Momentum swings. Defensive generosity. A brief and glorious reminder that football is meant to be fun. Followed by the equally familiar reminder that it can also be deeply irritating.

And yet. It didn’t feel like the Wimbledon of December and January.

Because not that long ago we were sat through 0–0s where the highlight was a throw-in won in the attacking half. Conversations in the stands about “shape” and “discipline” to cover for the fact we hadn’t had a shot. The sort of football that makes you question your life choices around 3.27pm.

Now we are losing 4–2 and shrugging slightly because at least something happened.

Now that’s what I call progress.

The Team

The Match

We started well.

Browne nearly scored early. Cleared off the line. Nkeng brought down in the chaos of the penalty box. No penalty. Of course no penalty.

Then, as is tradition, the opposition scored with their first real attack. Ballard. A Rebound. 0–1.

It felt familiar. The script we’ve seen too many times.

Except this time, we responded

Nkeng was everywhere. Direct. Aggressive. Wanting the ball. Doing things with it. Not just recycling possession back to someone safer. An 18-year-old playing like someone who hasn’t yet learned he’s supposed to be cautious.

He got his reward. First senior goal. Lifted over the keeper. In off the post. Bravo Robert!

Then another. Because why not. Seddon cross. Far post. Nkeng again. 2–1. Bravo Robert!!

From nowhere to being ahead. Plough Lane awake. Actual noise. Actual belief. A sense that we might just be… good?

A Dangerous thought. Half-time came with us ahead and we deserved to be ahead.

Then the second half happened…

Orient changed their shape. We didn’t. They equalised early. Ballard again. Clinical. Annoyingly so.

And you could feel it. The shift. The game tilting.
Then the third. Cut back. Finish. 2–3.
Then the fourth. Rebound. Hat-trick. 2–4.

And that was the game gone. Not in a slow, inevitable way. In a rush. A blur. One of those ten-minute spells where everything unravels and you’re left trying to work out what just happened.

We had a couple of late efforts. Reeves © blocked. Stevens denied. We couldn’t quite find a way back.

And that was that.

What the fans are saying

Some frustration. Understandably. Conceding four at home will do that to you. Questions about defending. About game management. About whether we need to learn when to shut things down.

But also something else. A recognition that this is different.

We overhead someone in the Phoenix after the game on boxing day. You know the one. The 0-0 to end all 0-0s. The one that left you thinking you’d eat 24 sprouts when you get home just to check if you are still alive. Back when we were grinding out those lifeless games. Someone said they’d rather lose 4–2 having a go than draw 0–0 with a whimper.

Turns out that someone was probably Johnnie Jackson.

Womble of the Week: Robert Junior Nkeng.

Two goals. Constant threat. And more importantly, something resembling a final product.

That’s been the question. We’ve seen the pace. The directness. The willingness to run at people. But end product is what turns “promising” into “important”.

He’s 18. Worth repeating. Because the expectations will now rise. That’s how it works. Score twice and suddenly you’re expected to do it every week.

He won’t. That’s fine.

What matters is his progress. And right now, it’s pointing the right way.

Closing thoughts

Back-to-back defeats. On paper, not great. But context matters.

We are edging towards mid-table. Actual mid-table. Not “technically 14th but only three points above the drop” mid-table. Proper, comfortable, look-up-not-down territory.

More importantly, we’re scoring goals. We’re creating chances. We’re playing with a bit of freedom. A bit of belief.

We are, whisper it, having fun.

It doesn’t mean everything is rosy all the time. It doesn’t mean we won’t have more afternoons and evening like this, where it all goes a bit wrong.

Somewhere, someone is still angry about it. Probably on X. Possibly typing in all caps. Definitely convinced that JJ was the worst thing to ever happen to this club. And that we’ll be in administration by Thursday. But everyone else is starting to realise that this is a perfectly respectable season post-promotion.

On to Peterborough and REVENGE. See you Saturday.

WombleWorld

Meanwhile, on Facebook, Robin Bedford has started a new group to discuss washing kits at 40 degrees regardless of how dirty they are, provided you add bicarbonate soda and vinegar.
Three members. He is delighted.