Exeter City 1–0 AFC Wimbledon
Competitive but pointless
A cold Tuesday in Devon is the natural enemy of optimism, and turning up with many of the squad recovering from a sickness bug didn’t help.
A week after flattening Cardiff in a game that already feels like an hallucination, Wimbledon arrived rested from our blank FA Cup weekend but still somehow running on fumes. Light on players. Light on energy. Light on much of anything. The legs were there but the spark wasn’t.
A narrow defeat followed. Irritating, not disastrous, but the sort of night where mid-table quietly taps your shoulder like it wants a word.
The team
Notable absences:
Ryan Johnson suspended, but still came along because vice captains apparently get restless at home. Took the chance to get his haircut in Honiton before the match. Nice and smooth. No points.
Aron Sasu technically fit but unavailable. Stopped at Otter Valley on the A303 for the “McCoy-Splat” ice cream recommendation, with similar enthusiasm. He overdid it, massively. Apparently he only does things in “fours” now. And then he spent the evening regretting dairy-based decisions resulting in only 6 named substitutes.
The match
Exeter started fast. Higgins hit his own teammate. Then dragged one across goal. Bauer made an early block. Five minutes of noise and then the game promptly fell into a warm duvet of nothingness.
Browne had a long-range strike blocked. Higgins had another go. Bishop saved it. Bauer tested their keeper just before the break. Sometimes it’s best not to overthink it. The first half existed.
Onto the second half.
Smith decided he’d had enough. Two shots in quick succession. One held. One deflected. Orsi buzzed around. Bugiel ran himself into the ground. But the bench was thin. Too thin. There were moments when you realised how reliant we are on the same core eleven to conjure something out of very little.
Then, with just over ten to go, Exeter nicked it. Niskanen cut the ball back. McMillan finished low. Simple. Annoying. Familiar.
Nkeng came on for a league debut. Was it expecting too much for him to have the same impact as the Wigan debutant a few weeks ago. Yes it was, but we hoped anyway.
Exeter dropped deep. We ran out of ideas. Six minutes added. Six minutes of huffing. Not nearly enough puff.
What the fans are saying
“Fresh legs after no FA Cup game and still looked tired. Explain that.”
“Bench thinner than the DTB’s patience for being asked their opinion about Discord again.”
On the subject of Discord, one regular declared our defending for the goal “as organised as Charles Koppel’s moral compass”.
Despite the provocative simile, it doesn’t make sense.
Nevertheless he is currently being investigated by the DTB for potential violation of the Code of Conduct.WombleWorld followers on X said we now specialise in “competitive defeats”, which is a wonderful phrase until you remember it describes your team.
What the WombleWorld readers are saying:
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Womble of the Week
Alistair (Ali) Smith.
While others faded, he kept trying making things happen. Strong on the ball. Neat passing. Drifted into pockets nobody else spotted. Two shots. Created our clearest opening for Bugiel. On a night where everything felt flat, Smith was the bit that wasn’t.
Closing thoughts
This wasn’t a disaster. It was what happens when a thin squad plays a tight game and gets flicked by the margins. But the margins are where seasons drift. Ninth is fine. Ninth is stable. Ninth is the sort of place we all said we’d bite arms off for. But ninth can slide if you’re not paying attention.
Back to Plough Lane on Saturday for another delightful lunchtime kick off. We’d scrap them given the choice. See How to Save Modern Football: A 12 step guide for the full rant.
WombleWorld
At the back of the coach on the way home, Terry Skiverton is practising mindfulness by calmly snapping twigs in half. We assume it’s therapeutic.