Wycombe Wanderers 2–0 AFC Wimbledon
The yellow kit strikes again
On a bitter Sunday at Adams Park, Wimbledon lost 2–0 to Wycombe Wanderers while wearing the yellow third kit. Our record in that thing is grim1. Exposed. Exposed like a centre-back caught flat-footed from a long throw.
We have a perfectly good blue home kit. We have a lovely green away kit that at least doesn’t seem to carry a curse. And yet there we were, luminous and lifeless, trudging through another forgettable afternoon in yellow.
The Team
Johnnie Jackson made two changes. Matty Stevens and Patrick Bauer came in. Omar on the bench. Joe Lewis was missing through injury. We suspect a lack of blood circulation in the left quad.
The Match
Wycombe started brighter and hit the bar inside ten minutes from a long throw. The warning was there.
The goal came on eleven minutes. Onyedinma in behind. Ball across. Unmarked attacker. 1–0.
From there, the pattern set in. Wimbledon had the ball. Wycombe had the structure. Crosses came in. Norris punched them away. Repeat. Crosses came in. Norris punched them away.
Reeves © had two late efforts before half-time. One deflected. One somewhere over High Wycombe. Neither suggested an equaliser was coming.
The second half offered brief hope. Browne played two dangerous balls across the box. Nobody gambled. Stevens couldn’t get a shot away. The moment passed.
On 66 minutes, Mullins turned and found Huggins, who finished first time. 2–0 and Game Over.
Nkeng came on and gave it everything. Three lung-bursting runs down the left, each one ending in nothing. Seddon delivered more crosses. Norris dealt with them without fuss. Bishop kept the score respectable at the other end.
Full time. Flat. Finished. Cold.
Ultimately, the fourth game in ten days. The legs that ran through Orient had nothing left to give.
Womble of the Week: Nathan Bishop
Did everything except score the goals we couldn’t.
Sharp in the first half. Excellent after the break. Made at least three saves that kept this from becoming embarrassing.
The defence in front of him offered little. He offered plenty.
Closing Thoughts
This was always going to be a comedown.
Wednesday was special. The squad is small. The budget is tight. You cannot expect a group running on fumes to hit those heights twice in 72 hours.
The problems that existed before Orient still exist now. We saw them clearly at Adams Park. Lack of rotation. Over-reliance on crossing. A familiar pattern that opposition sides read comfortably.
But this is not backsliding.
The New Year’s resolution still holds. Play with intent. Mix it up. Cause problems. We did that on Wednesday. We didn’t do it on Sunday. That’s football with a thin squad and limited resources.
We need six or seven more wins from here to make this a decent season. That is doable. The slow build continues.
One flat afternoon in the cursed yellow kit doesn’t undo the progress. It just reminds us how much further there is to go.
WombleWorld
The DTB are understood to be forming a working group on kit-related performance metrics. Initial findings suggest the yellow strip has a negative xP (expected points). The working group will report back in May. It should be noted that we are far too cold to actually do the research and collate the data. Therefore we are basing our analysis upon something much more valid - our feelings.