Gillingham 1–1 AFC Wimbledon (2–4 pens)
2,166 days later, back with biro…
Attendance 2,205 with 349 away fans. Coincidentally, also the number of vape shops on Gillingham High Street.
It took Joe McDonnell 2,166 days to pull on our shirt again in a competitive game, and 2,446 days since he was last on the winning side. The club, for reasons known only to themselves, counted it as 2,099 days because they are ignoring the EFL Trophy. Fair enough, we suppose.
He spent the evening ruining Gillingham’s mood in the Carabao Cup First Round. Two penalty saves. Calm handling. Smudged ink on the palm. Into the second round. Lovely.
The team:
The line-up:
18 Delano McCoy-Splatt
26 Riley Harbottle
20 Joe McDonnell (GK)
2 Nathan Asiimwe
16 Antwoine Hackford
33 Isaac Ogundere
6 Ryan Johnson©
8 Callum Maycock
9 Omar Bugiel
7 Danilo Orsi
29 Aaron Sasu
Also involved:
21 Myles Hippolyte
14 Matty Stevens
3 Steve Seddon
10 Josh Kelly
12 Ali Smith
Eight changes from the Lincoln game. Expected, but always slightly concerning when you are trying to build momentum. McCoy-Splatt was finally released from the phantom zone, after winning a game of rock-paper-scissors against Terry Skiverton with a 3-rocks, 1-scissors, 1-paper formation. Add that to your UEFA Coaching manual.
The match:
Early flurry from the hosts. McDonnell denied Wyllie when he broke in behind.
We settled. Bugiel headed wide. Orsi had a curler saved.
The opener came in the 31st minute. Bugiel mugged Jonny Williams in our defensive third, slid an outside-of-the-boot pass to Orsi, who flicked Hackford through for a composed finish. More of that in the league please, Antwoine.
Second half was tighter. McDonnell held a tame effort early on. Chances were scarce.
In the 83rd minute Coleman equalised with a header from a Max Clark corner. We held on for 1–1.
If there is one thing we hate more than going straight to penalties, it is playing 30 minutes of meaningless extra time in a regionalised first round cup competition and then going to penalties. So straight to penalties we went, joyfully.
The Penalties:
Gills scored 1–0
Stevens scored 1–1
McDonnell saved 1–1
Kelly scored 1–2
Gills scored 2–2
Hippolyte scored 2–3
McDonnell saved 2–3
Smith missed, then buried the retake 2–4 and we are through.
What the fans are saying:
General satisfaction online, with McCoy-Splatt praised for his decision making (as evidenced in his rock-paper-scissors victory).
Two of our usual news sources were otherwise occupied. The 9 Years Podcast seemed more interested in Ollie Palmer’s brace for Wrexham. Give it up lads, he left years ago. Although you might want to keep your eyes peeled for an upcoming WW piece.
Over on WUP they were too busy stress testing a purely theoretical case study in “things you probably shouldn’t post about the DTB” to notice there was a game on. By the time they checked in, McDonnell was already washing ink off his hands
Womble of the (Mid)Week: Joe McDonnell
Easy choice. Big early stop. Secure. Two saves in the shootout. He even gave the analysts their dues for the prep and admitted the hand-notes trick. Then he probably celebrated with Mum and Dad who were at the game. If you are not smiling at that, you are probably drafting a 14-point Facebook post about why shootout wins do not count in the form table.
Closing thoughts:
Much changed side. Job done. Through on penalties. The analysts did their homework, the keeper did the rest, and the forwards stitched together the move of the night.
This win is really one for new shareholder John Green. The man loves a good story, and he has just bought into a club where the returning keeper writes the ending in biro. Nathan Bishop may have a fight on his hands for the number one shirt.
WombleWorld
Did you know Johnnie Jackson once spent 2/3rds of the January transfer budget on hair gel? This is why the We are Wimbledon Fund explicitly say their fund raising is for player signings only.