Untitled Document

NEWS

NOTE: Unless there are substantial sums of money involved, I do not give permission for other clubs to use my match reports in their match day programmes. Use your own bloody material.

31 October 2008

More than a Franchise home game It's a frenzy, isn't it?

The photo to your left was taken today at about 11am at KM, for the Wycombe tickets. About 90 minutes later, the ones for the Tempest End had entirely sold out, and at time of writing it looks pretty much nailed on that the WB will be gone and probably the JS as well.

Rather amazing, isn't it? While this season hasn't exactly been short on good will and vibes, there's something pretty pleasing at the way people have come out on a bloody cold late autumn morning, and in the middle of half term. But then, it's the FAC against a decent league side. It's where we've always wanted to be since 2002. Be honest, it's a helluva lot more convincing than in the past when we got excited about AFC Wallingford.

This will be a sellout. If there are any tickets available from AFCW come Wednesday evening I'll be seriously amazed. There were quite a few fears that we wouldn't have a full house, that we'd look shit on telly and forever be tarnished in the eyes of a cynical nation. This morning and afternoon has certainly dispelled that.

Mind you, some are unhappy that they won't get their usual places, and I've got to be honest that allowing four-per-person (non ST holders) wasn't the best idea. This must be, what, the second time we've ever had to deal with a likely 4k plus crowd with proper segregation with a large away following?

Don't get me wrong, the way we've done it ain't perfect. I could have easily bought four tix today for the TE then plonked them on eBay. The fact I chose not to is irrelevant - something like this should only be 1 per person for non ST holders and 2 for those with their little books. Certainly, ST holders should have had 24 hours priority. Any left over from that should go on general sale. That said - last time I looked we don't sell STs for individual parts of the ground. If we did, those complaining that they can't get their sacred spot would have a case. In the future, we probably will need to do something like that, especially if we commit to revamping KM. And especially if we start getting 4k regularly, which should we be in the Conf next season is a legitimate possibility.

I've no doubt the majority of proper AFCW fans who want to get in will do so anyway though. Lest we forget we "only" had 2900 for the AFC Coldseal playoff final in midweek (though a mixture of major traffic problems and the general vibe around AFCW at the time reduced that), and no doubt some who would go normally will have to find a mate with Setanta because of work/family commitments on a Monday evening.

But hey, it's a work in progress. We like to portray how professional we are to the outside world anyway, even if sometimes that image falls a bit short. I'm sure AFCW will be looking into how it can make improvements for the next time this happens (hopefully for the second round...). I do wonder if there should be a special ticket membership scheme in operation, not just for this but generally. Our regular crowd sizes suggest we could justify having one, and if capacities get reduced while we're in the process of revamping KM, we'll need it. Maybe £10 a year to guarantee you're not left out so much in the cold? Or £20, if you feel that it'll be open to abuse. Certainly for somebody like myself can't justify paying £200+ for a season ticket each June, goes to just about every home and away game, but has less guarantee of a ticket than Mr One Game Attendee who just so happens to have a five-year stub

How would it work? Well, off the top of my head......... join up, get your membership number and with it a dedicated ticket hotline along with the ST holders. Could be a boon for away games as well. Maybe if it turns out successful you could start enhancing it, like "tiered" membership. If you could work out how many people travel away, you could start getting regular away travellers super-duper priority for the games where we will only get 500 allocated. Maybe, just maybe, even on-line booking? The technology is there certainly, and is cheaper and more reliable to do these days. When I went to Anderlecht last week, all they needed to do was send an automated PDF file confirming my details, and you just handed it to the nice man who dished out the tickets at the game. Just because we're not a league side doesn't mean we should shy away from thinking about this sort of thing....

As for why this can't be part of DT membership, I don't know either. Apparently, current regulations prohibit a trust doing this sort of thing, which to my mind is bloody stupid. Even if people just joined up for getting tickets, it looks good to have a big membership. And let's be honest here - how many people are really interested in the day-to-day (or month-to-month) running and strategy and whatnot of the Dons Trust? One for the future methinks, and maybe a future that isn't quite as far away as you think

Oh, and how glad are we that we built the ~~Main~~ Strank Stand extension now?

Amongst all this, we've forgotten we're at Chelmsford tomorrow. Hopefully the players won't be as distracted about it as we are right now. Actually, I'm in two minds about this - losing tomorrow won't nearly hurt as much as last season. If we do, it'll simply mean we weren't as focused as we should be and they'll still be the team to beat this season. Yet it's because nobody's been shitting themselves this week about this game that might, just might work in our favour. Remember last season where it was the be-all and end-all? And how our mood slumped when we went 2-1 ahead, went to 2-2 afterwards and that was the regular season gone?

Tomorrow is, dare I say it, just another game. Seriously, you honestly wouldn't have said that when the fixture was announced. But then, that's what drawing Wycombe has done to us. Don't get me wrong, once the game starts I'll be wanting revenge for last season. But again, there's been no buildup from our end. There's been no talk of revenge missions, no week long slanging matches on t'internet (OK, there never are between us and CCFC, apart from their obsession with our crowd sizes). It's the top two and yet this feels like 10th v 11th playing instead.

A cursory glance at Chelmsford fans' predictions of this game suggests if they're half right in their pessimism we could well get it. It's worth remembering that the first time we played at MP, we won 3-0. Nobody remembers it, because we were distracted by Darlogate (if I remember, it was the last game before the 18 points got deducted). Should it come to pass, it'll be the build up to Wycombe that we all want. That glow of overcoming last year's rivals should further impregnate into the warm fuzzy feeling that surrounds AFCW right now. Yet another step towards our ultimate goal, and our ultimate dream that we have put so much blood, tears, sinew and hard cash into.

And when we lose 5-0 tomorrow, I reserve the right to say how fucking shit we are and how Wycombe should just send their reserve team to KM...

28 October 2008

It always seems to happen when I go away, doesn't it? A (s)crappy win away, first round proper for the first time in the AFCW era, a league club at home and on telly to boot. Perhaps I ought to bugger off more often?

First things first. Thank you AFCW for my birthday present on Saturday. Though by the sounds of it, I had the better deal by going here instead.. I know that sitting in an internet cafe "watching" what was happening isn't good for your health. Felt like ye olden days of trying to reinact imagined goalmouth action on teletext. The comments were basically "crap", "glad to get out of there", "Ryman revisited" and most importantly of all, "we won".

After the last couple of games, it seems that we were due to come down to earth. In a way, we did, but conversely this sounded like a better result/performance than even H&W and Bishop's Stortford. Maidstone had banana skin written all over it, and we came out of it without any ruptured limbs.

But that's all in the past. We now have Wycombe Wanderers to look forward to. Revenge mission from 2001, anyone? Bet there are some fans out there even now who still have nightmares about "first phase, second phase", not to mention the penalty shootout at Selhurst. Now, of course, it's different. We are by far and away the underdogs for this. WW are a decent side, and in all honesty we should get stuffed by them. Though this being the FAC, anything can happen and often does.

As much as I want an away trip to Rochdale, in a way I'm glad it's at home because it's more likely we'll do ourselves justice in front of the Setanta audience - an audience BTW which will have no other games that evening to watch. Not only that, but it's likely to have a decent worldwide audience as well. Those who have ever been abroad in remotely sized cities will know that in the now ubiqutous British/Irish ex-pat pubs in these places always have live football. So it's quite possible that Chris Hussey's crossing will be seen in such places as Frankfurt, Boston and Warsaw. And another reason why I hope we don't disgrace ourselves.

It's name recognition as much as anything. If your average punter sees the name "Wimbledon" getting advertised, they may be curious enough to wonder just whatever happened to them. You'd be surprised how many people just simply don't know about it - it's not so much being deliberately ignorant as just not knowing full stop. And be honest - why should they know?

Getting known to a wider audience is good. Yes, I know we all have our opinions on the 39th game, about these Prem sides who bugger off to China to sell shirts etc etc, but now we've got that opportunity to get our little day in the sun, we're going to take it aren't we? The trouble is, since 2002 we've been more or less closeted from the increasingly harsh realities of modern football. It's only the last season or two that we've dealt directly with player wages, and getting outspent by other sides. Also, we will now find out first hand what it's like to be shown in front of live TV cameras...

We're finding that being successful comes at a price - the days when the bulk of games kicking off at 3pm on a Saturday went years ago. To be honest though, unless you support Man Utd or Chelski, getting your fixtures Skyjacked doesn't happen often enough to make it genuinely a problem. Even when Setanta do the Conf, a team might get shown a couple of times in a 2/3 week period but they mostly still play at the traditional time. Getting games moved can be inconvenient when it works against you, but it's a small tradeoff and is ultimately the least of your worries.

Which is why I'm getting pretty pissed off with a few comments (and TBF most people are extremely grateful at how it's turned out) that this game is on Setanta, that ITV should have covered it, that it will affect attendance, that it's just us being a slave to money etc etc. Excuse me whilst I yawn. Have we forgotten everything since 2002? How it felt to go from one season with the NOTW previewing your season to the next season with the SLP struggling to name our opponents? This is where we should be. This is what we work for. True, it'll probably only be one game, but it's a game on a widely available sports channel (don't con yourself that it's a tinpot channel - Setanta has well over 1.4m subscribers and ESPN are looking at buying a stake of it). Nuts TV this ain't. And neither are we FCUM.

Incidentally, ITV went for H&W because of their exploits at Anfield last season. The angle is that they're the plucky underdogs who most remember as being 2-1 up against the Scousers last season and people remember that. While it would have been nice for us to be on ITV, you don't really expect H&W to get many more opportunities like this (especially if they play against Brentford like they played against us). In a way, I expect that we're seen as a side who will be featured on more regular Setanta broadcasts in the coming years - as in, we're a club that's moving up. Us v Wycombe is obviously a big draw, but it's like we're seen as on a par with Lids v Northampton. If that's the case, then it's a big compliment to us.

Anyway, amongst all that excitement, it's easy to forget we've got Chelmsford away on Saturday. Funny how the second biggest regular season game seems like a sideshow right now, although if there's a good a place as any to get back to winning away, deepest Essex ain't a bad place to start. Can't see so many of our fans travelling this time though : the view we'll get again is pretty shitty for the amount of people we would take, and there is no way that they'd ever be allowed to regularly host decent away turnouts with it. As for the game, I'm expecting it to be different this year, though I'm not quite sure why. Maybe it's because we're a lot more settled, a lot more confident in ourselves this time. We'll find out one way or t'other by 4.50pm on Saturday, but it does seem that Chelmsford aren't finding it so easy this season. And for those who played last time at MP, there is a small matter of revenge...

One other thing that passed me by this last few days - the perimeter lease. As Wycombe will show, we will need to do some serious work on KM, and we've now jumped that step forward. OK, returning to Merton must always be our ultimate aim, and it's quite possible that KM will simply be too small/inflexible for us in time. But for now, needs must, and we must certainly look into rebanking the WB and the John Smiths as a priority, not to mention little things like turnstiles. Some may quibble over the instistance that we sort out our ground and pile on more debt in the process. In truth, we need to do it, both in terms of capacity but just as importantly comfort and safety. I'll be honest - I don't look forward to games at KM which are likely to be over 4k. The sightlines are crap in the JS/WB and there's always a feel that it's just too small for the size of crowds we can realistically get in the future

I believe that Ks had plans to redo the Kingston Road end, which their decline obviously shelved. Last week against H&W, I was speaking to a guy who was pointing out that the JS would be next to be redone. So there's bound to be upheaval at KM for a little while to come, but as the Strank Stand extention shows - once you do it, it does look enticing. Remember that you only have to build a stand once. And if we're planning to keep some of the waverers popping along to the Wycombe game, they're much more likely to come back if they've got a nice venue to watch it in.

Right, got that far? Thanks for your patience, the Maidstone report is below. The SW19 Bureau didn't sound impressed by it though...

Well, having just convinced myself this report was ok and about to send it in, I go back on the WUP Guestbook to find out it’s a done deal, - we’re on Setanta, Monday 10th Nov at 1945h

Now TV coverage has been one of those ‘we want back’ perks of being a league club, but like all things you desire in life, it comes with a downside. And that downside was that the game, if televised, would NOT take place on a Saturday. And that was/is going to hurt some of our fans as not everyone can make a day other than Saturday. Our young support, with school the next day might also succumb though it will undoubtedly be a very special night with a cracking atmosphere. In its way is a tad unfair to those who come week in week out, to miss out on probably the biggest game in our history, in the flesh.

We could not I expect, because it would be in the terms and conditions of entry, decline a televised tie, and with the financial advantages of it I am sure that will more than offset any loss in revenue through the turnstiles. Initially I thought sell out; now if the TV cameras are there I am not so sure. Perhaps with it being Setanta then the full up signs might return as their reach to audiences in limited. But the adage does go ‘Any PR is good PR’ and though some of our fan base might miss out now, the longer-term picture could be significantly enhanced for the club.

Of course, we were being BBB expecting, no almost demanding, us to be one of the TV games. The BBC highlighting our draw on their website only served to massage our ego and increase our own perceived self importance. But I presume as ITV had first choice – and they chose Havant & Waterlooville v Brentford – not everyone buys into the hype.

Perhaps the football gods had it right at first, didn’t like what they read on the guest book so we didn’t get the favoured ties: Leeds away, or Leicester. But at least we hadn’t pissed them off enough to warrant them giving us Franchise.

Instead we have a proper team from Buckinghamshire: a team that has a pedigree of rising up through the leagues the correct way; a team we share history with having actually played them and lost a monumental penalty-shoot out in the FAC back in 2001; and a team we share a hero with, in Lawrie Sanchez. That loss surprisingly remains raw for some of our support. But that’s the testament to the fact that was a real cup-tie – and this will be a repetition (lets hope though not the same result) for the fans that will be here and were there, in 2001. That sort of history cannot be ‘adopted’ by another fan base.

And talking of fan base, was I not the only one slightly disappointed with the turnout at Trading Estate 0 ‘The Business!’ Park 1?

So we helped Maidstone set a new crowd record since their reformation (that phrase, with religious connotations makes me smile - football is our religion of course), but after the hype of the importance of this game to both clubs, where did the other 1300 go? Perhaps they knew something we didn’t, inasmuch as they managed – probably rightly – to hold on to their money because as a game this was a big disappointment. So much so I have struggled for two days to put it into prose. Thank god then for REPD's note format then ...

Plus points: We won. Professional performance. Defence dominant. Sam Hatton's goal. Inns cameo in midfield.

Minus points: Taking an hour to get out of the car park. A change in wind direction that helped contribute to a poor game – it was also bloody cold!!

The referee's a......: When he told Ben Judge off for encroaching on to the part of the pitch where the officials were warming up, I thought ‘Oh no….’ But turned out pretty good. One or two strange decisions during the game but was at least decisive in what he did; the booking for the early foul on Jon Main and the ‘simulation’ by the Maidstone player trying to get the penalty for example. Also knew when to talk to the captains about a player.

Them: I really don’t mind, but very disappointing. If I were a Stone’s fan I’d feel slightly cheated - it was an opportunity not taken. They never really got at us and you felt after the first 15 mins our lot thought: “Is that it? Ok, lets go and score and that’ll be that!” And in truth it was. Their manager claimed on the radio they kept our attack quiet throughout the game. But in truth most of the second half we played with a full back four, just in case we need to protect the lead. Every time we did have Hussey or Garrard go forward we looked likely to score. And talking of their manager, up to his old tricks, berating one and all, bending the ear of the ref. Mind you his goalkeeper made a pretty good shout at trying to outdo the boss!

Point to ponder: Why, given that impressive stadium that is the dog track in Sittingbourne is any of the teams playing on that pitch? As I understand it a perfectly serviceable football pitch could be put into the middle of the stadium. If both Sittingbourne and Maidstone (until their new stadium comes to fruition) played there surely it must help all those involved, particularly with a credit crunch coming. But apparently the GRA who owns the stadium is not interested. But we will see …

Truth is stranger than fiction: (1) A bloke I walked by before the game started suggesting trouble in the bar. Sure enough a little fracas – local Chelsea chavs not getting noticed until they lobbed a glass as a missile, got a slap and then lead away by police. Apparently Maidstone has suffered these incursions before. (2) A record crowd of 1719 but it looked very Staines-like around the ground, but they didn’t have that big stand (apparently its temporary and has been moved 5 times). The Staines-like feel made me a tad more confident. But I think we won as Paul Willats (the photographer) was right in front of us just like at Staines! (3) Over an hour to get out the ground??!! I’ll never complain about KM car park again. Apparently a similar situation occurred last January. You’d think they’d have learnt…. It seemed only to get moving when our resident car-parking attendant went and investigated. … And I was taking someone home who only lived 15 mins away (4) The warm up routine by the officials – a combination of cheerleading movements coupled with an opportunity to have a personal bet with your mates, guessing which way they might break into a sprint. Kept us amused for 10 mins and credit to them they saw the fun in it too.

Anything else? Well apart from Maidstone really needing to get away from here to a ground in their own town, not a lot. You have to wonder how they sell the club to potential players when they come down and see that ground.

So, was it worth it? Are you kidding?

In a nutshell: Mission accomplished. Mission impossible to come?

So, what shall I say about Vultures 3 Hawks 0? Well, it was cold, there were a lot of people and even ~~Tintin~~ Haydon turned up.

Actually, for once we can justify the post-game hype. While our actual play was similar to parts at Newport and Basingstoke, this was the first sign of an all-round performance from start to finish. Before the game, if you were predicting a tight, keenly fought 0-0 stalemate, you probably wouldn't have been far out. H&W after all had a pretty decent away record, and if their pre-season spending is anything to go by were considered a team that would be up there or thereabouts at the end of the campaign, Brian.

Well, if they do that, then we should be champions by a long way. Seriously, I'm not sure whether I'll put last night down to us finally starting to click or H&W being the most disappointing side I've seen this season. Probably a combination of both, but it has shown our slump has, right now, been reversed.

It took them a little while to get a foothold in the game, but JM and DK are clicking more and more. Not to mention Hussey, and Kennedy, and Tony "I've just signed a new contract" Finn and the much maligned Sam Hatton and.... well, the whole team really. Christ, even our defence looks quite solid right now. Maybe there was a point a couple of weeks ago, just after Dover away, where we looked at ourselves, realised we just couldn't keep looking like a collection of individuals and pulled our blue and yellow socks up.

It could have been 6-0 and maybe should have been, but I'd rather have three goals for Saturday (see below). What is certainly very real is how we're coming together a bit more, not only as a team but also as a club. Last night, I had my first butchers at the ~~Main~~ Strank Stand extention and it looked, well, nice. Am I right in saying that it's the first thing a club called Wimbledon has done in terms of that sort of thing since the 1980s? Or 1970s?

I think it grabbed me last night that we've taken a step forward into greater professionalism, both on and off the pitch, and we're happier for it. We played and beat a much fancied team with some pretty good stuff, in front of a decent crowd (better than some daytime games in the RP), and to return home to discover that Millwall are sniffing around a player or two. OK, it won't be like this every week, and some weekends this season will suck of shit, but there's something a bit proper about the whole AFCW thing these days.

Maybe it's a little almost insignificant (relatively speaking) thing of playing Brum City in the Academy, or simply a misplaced sense of giddyness about Saturday (see below), but last night I felt like I wasn't watching non-league. Does that make sense? Talking to people near me about extending stands, more in a "to-do" manner rather than a pipedream. OK, playing like we did against a highly fancied team helps that along, but talks of academies playing sides you've heard of, sight of academy players kitted out watching the game a la SP days, cartoon image of Haydon getting used for LBM's anti-litter campaign, that sort of thing.

Last night, we felt like a small league club - big enough not to be tinpot, small enough to be intimate. But then, that's what we always were anyway.

Of course, SW19 wouldn't be SW19 without a reality check : we've still yet to produce this level of performance away, which will make the difference between us being legit title contenders and play off scrappers. Our next league game on the road might be a good a place as any to kick start that. Remember - we've only played a couple of games at das Volkstadion where we've been approaching what we should be producing. Start playing like this for the next six to seven games, both home and away, and then we can start getting ahead of ourselves. Remember last season?

And of course, there's Maidstone in the FAC on Saturday. If there are people out there already discussing who they want in the first round proper, I have four words for you:

Seriously - I really mean it when I say that a trip down to Shittingbourne on Saturday will be ten times harder than last night. Remember the away game at Bedford? And, lest we forget, it was a mere two weeks past that we escaped by the skin of our polished teeth at the Crabble. Make no mistake, we will get no time on the ball against a side that is looking at us right now thinking we've already secured Saturday. We all know what that entails, especially with Maidstone being a Ryman club. Already Turdey's lodge meetings at the nearby masonic hall are full of briefings on what to do if DK is one-on-one on Saturday.

A few little words of advice for this week. We are NOT in the first round proper. We are NOT dead certs. Maidstone are NOT going to let us walk all over them. We CAN lose on Saturday and it WILL hurt if we do. We ARE the big team that is there to be taken a peg or two dow. Do NOT annoy the Football Gods, they hate us and will use any excuse to get at us

Too many of our supporters are gobbing off about playing Franchise, or Lids, or Leicester already. If we go out, I will put the blame solely on you presumptive cunts. I will not appreciate it if you end up ruining my birthday present from AFCW. Don't get me wrong, I badly want to get a text on Saturday saying we've won 4-0 and got Darlington away in the first round. But I've been around too long to know how these things can pan out. This is Wimbledon, we can fuck up Saturday very easily.

In short, I hope TB is focusing the players for Saturday because somebody needs to do the same to our support.

Anyway, enough ranting for this week. Back to last night. Can I just say how seriously, seriously disappointed I was with H&W? OK, they're in a bad run, but for a side that spent a lot of money during the summer, their effort was piss poor. Hope their manager got a receipt for his purchases, I think he needs to take them back. Actually, speaking of their boss, I was a little bit pissed off to hear him claim via the Surrey Comet that "I would dearly love to have the money Wimbledon do for their budget". Hang on - didn't they outbid us for Holloway and Simpemba during the summer? Don't play the pauper card at our expense while singing that you played at Anfield last season...

Oh, and how nice was it to see Danny Webb back at KM? Complete with goalscoring touch to boot. I think ex-players returning to us (and I don't mean in a Lewis Taylor fashion either) fall into one of two categories : they either go under the radar and do us for a couple of goals (ref: Savage, Reggie), or they come back with all eyes on them and make us wonder what all the fuss was about. OK, Webb didn't disappoint anyone with his return, and I do think his clapping on by us was genuine. Helped that we were 3-0 up by this stage, mind you. But really, with Kedwell this season and even Nic McD before him, it did prove that Webb was a panic buy last season.

His return was a lot different to when Kevin Cooper and Rob Ursell returned to us. Back in ye olden days, plenty thought that KC leaving was a slap in the face too far, and as for Rob Ursell, I bet you there's an AFCW fan out there right now who still thinks that RU should still be with us, and how his skills would be perfectly matched in the CS. At least people have forgotten Robin Shroot now. Robin who? Exactly.

Still, I'm happy enough. Not at Maidstone on Saturday, so if anyone would like to oblige... And please AFCW - if my life is going to get one year shorter on Saturday, at least make sure I can see us in the first round proper sooner rather than later...

Ah, now that was a bit more like it. Heathrow 4 Stansted 1, Jon Main finding the net again - not once but twice, Danny Kedwell opening his league account, and the sort of performance we saw in August and what we hope - nay, expect - to see on a more regular basis.

Welcome back, it's been too long coming. This was just so different to this time last week, or at H&Y, or Worcester. Make no mistake, when they went a goal up, you did raise your eyebrows, sighed and thought it was deja vu again. Yet today, that feeling hardly lasted. Whereas in previous games we went 1-0 down you just knew, today just stung us. It really was a "how dare you fucking score against us?" type approach. It must have been that sort of day when we even scored from a corner to equalise.

Was this even close this game? Not really. OK, there's always that feeling that when you don't score when you're on top, you tend to let it slip. Maybe that would have been the case had JM not headed over their keeper, but by that stage it was the closest you'll ever get to a when, not if you score type situation.

Speaking of JM, is it possible to see the emotion of relief? If it is, then you got a damn good view of it. This was the old JM, the JM that cost so much it forced banks to be nationalised. There was an sense of inevitability that he'd get his second goal, and if there's ever video of it, it was a classic style back-to-goal-turn-and-shoot moment. If truth be told, he was heading back in the right direction on Tuesday. Today, he got what he deserved and what we all wanted.

Come to think of it, the forward line linked up very well, including DK and the much-maligned Sam Hatton. And Kennedy. And Hussey. DK scoring really did put the proverbial icing on the Mr Kipling, and I'm glad he scored. Even though he played in the way we expected him to, but if he'd gone much longer without scoring in the league then the questions would have started. And yes, I know I intimated he was an expensive flop last week at Dover. TBH he didn't exactly prove otherwise back then. Today of course is another day.

Which does make me wonder if we need a couple of games at KM to get back into the swing of things? There was that nice feeling afterwards, which granted you always get when it's a good win. It was the same we had against Maidenhead in the last league game all them weeks ago. We have a good chance of motoring on against Big Spending H&W on Tuesday, and again - it'll be criminal if we were to let that slip after such a decent performance.

Last week, we really did look like we'd been on the road once too often. Today saw a 3000+ turnout, everyone in genuinely high spirits and it's clear the team responded to that. One thing that does concern me though - will we rely on that too much? If you want a churlish comment, here it is : yet again, we have to come a goal down, whilst going in level at HT. OK, I'm being a little bit unfair here, as BS were effectively given a goal start. But wouldn't be nice if for just once, we could win this sort of game, playing as well as we did, and ending it 4-0?

Anyway, enough of that. Enjoy this evening, and up until Tuesday where we have to do it all over again.....

Plus points: We won. Comprehensive performance. Defence looked more assured as the game went on. JM's two goals. DK's goal. Sam Hatton's goal. Way we picked ourselves up. The last half hour. Looking totally different from Dover last Saturday. Return of Elliot Godfrey.

The referee's a......: To quote somebody today, he's going home in Bishop's Stortford's coach. Really pissed people off with his decisions, though whenever we win like that I find it hard to get angry with him. Of course, had we'd lost...

Them: Shit, basically. OK, they got a penalty in the first three minutes, and maybe should have capitalised on how stunned we were afterwards. But really, when we settled down again it almost got quite painful to watch. They had something like one on-target (the penalty) and one off-target and that was about it. Even when we were down to ten men, they looked more likely to concede than us. Just proves that really, there's nothing to worry about in this division if we get our mentality right. Had to resort to kicking us a fair bit when they were 1-0 up and with ten minutes gone, that's how bad they were. Not too many of them, those who did turn up apparently reminded us that we have no history. Oh, and what's with those bloody horns which they took in? Normally those things aren't allowed in - not because you can hit somebody with them, but because they don't half get annoying....

Point to ponder: As I've given them a rough time this past couple of weeks, it's only fair that I redress the balance. Are DK and JM finally starting to click? They looked like they really enjoyed carving through the BS defence, and indeed last week Kedwell said how much better he feels playing at AFCW than Grays. OK, footballers always say that sort of thing, although he does look like a player far happier in himself. One may question what future for Belal, CS and Dean Mason. Well, last season we lost JM for a fair chunk of the season, and Elliott Godfrey only came back today, so there's definitely scope for those three to stick around. Neither JM, DK or Godfrey will play every game, nor will they play well for 90 minutes of every game. But our fringers must take their chances when they pop up, they may not get them too often

Meet the manager: Well, I did have an interview with him. Trouble is, it's on my phone (a brand new Samsung) and I can't get it onto my computer. So you'll have to do with the Surrey Comet report unless some kind soul is prepared to let me send them the file on their phone and they email it to me. Please? Shame I can't get it, because he was quite upbeat. There was a bit in the interview where TB commented about Main changing his boots to his old ones, a sort of modern day version of Billy's Boots from Roy of the Rovers. I thought he was taking the piss until I read this in the SLP...

Truth is stranger than fiction: (1) The bloke behind me in the first half who kept saying "bring on the trumpets". No, I don't know why either. Sir, if you are listening - it's not funny. Especially after the tenth time you say it. (2) 3072 there. Decent crowd, even after a mini-slump. Maybe people really were glad to get back to KM? (3) AFCW scoring from corners. Next people won't be slagging off the much maligned Sam Hatton...... (4) Some poshe chef who apparently is famous (though I've genuinely never heard of him) hawking his wares beforehand for a TV programme. Rumours abound that pigeon pie was on the menu. At least issues of main stand hygene are now sorted out, and with a new revenue stream through the tea bars as well.

Anything else? Yeah. I noticed some of those anti-racism stickers about today, so presumably they were doing an awareness campaign. Question is - why? As far as I know we don't have a big problem with it - it's simply isolated cases where it does happen, and that's as much an issue in society as anywhere else. Not suggesting at all that every AFCW fan is a 100% committed multicultralist, and there have been a couple of rather obnoxious comments in the past by a handful....

Truth is, I don't think these sort of campaigns really have much effect. Maybe in the past it would. Just dig out your 1986/87 tape of Everton in the FAC and you'll hear the monkey chants from the Scousers. Not to mention Newcastle fans in 1988. But now? We're all used to people of different coloured skin playing week in, week out, and those who still want to make racist comments now are the ones who are IME too ignorant to ever be reached anyway. If it still exists, it's mainly anti-Jewish (aimed at Spurz) and anti-Irish stuff (both for some reason never gets picked up). By and large though, society generally has changed - these days at Stamford Bridge the likes of Drogba and Essien are cheered. In the past, half their support would have deliberately ignored their goals, as demonstrated by certain league tables in NF publication "The Flag".

My guess for this latest campaign is a result of what was supposedly sung at Sol Campbell, though without wishing to go over much trodden old ground, it was referring to his known bouts of depression and his alleged bum banditry. Dubious? Yup. Bad taste? Certainly. Racist? Nope. And even if it was, the very fact that it's made the news shows how rare it is now...

Before I get onto examining England 2 France 0, I suggest you look at this the whole way through before reading on. And yes, I mean the whole way through - no skipping bits, now.

Done that? No, I wasn't intending to get you excited for a potential fixture that we haven't even qualified for yet. Instead, I want to point out the bit Jimmy Hill said at the end - we illustrated that there is a gap, as there should be. OK, this wasn't the Premiershit champions against a non-league side, but this was the kind of performance I expect from a BSS side against a Ryman one.

Looks like my slaggings off of the past couple of weeks had the desired effect. We certainly looked brisker, more assured, and let's not do ourselves down here - we deserved to win. Granted, AL had to make good saves but even before his first one Tom Davis did do his impression of a rugby player. And no, I don't mean kicking the shit out of somebody, lumbering around with his head between other mens' legs and singing dubious songs in the showers afterwards.

We needed this victory. My thoughts afterwards were "job done". Before the game, plenty of us (myself included) were fearing the worst about this one - visions of a painful, scraped performance culminating in a stomach churning, wind producing penalty shootout. Remember Horsham last season? Well, this banana skin is out of the way, so we look forward to Maidstone.

Well, to be more accurate, a club called Maidstone playing in Sittingbourne (just to counteract the inevitable AFC Norbiton comments). Rumours abound that they might switch this, because their place doesn't hold too many. Less than 2000, I believe, and when you consider we took 1600+ to Tonbridge Angels last season in the FAT, it could get interesting. If they limit tickets to 600 or even 300, there could be a major issue with AFCW fans passing themselves off as home fans. Their website right now is saying they'll keep the game at their place, though if that old chestnut of "police advice" comes up, be ready to get those maps out. I've even heard the hiring of Gillingham's place being mentioned, though don't get too excited yet.

The scary thing is, assuming our atttitude is right and we do overcome Maidstone, we really could have a repeat of 1975 as illustrated above. If that isn't an incentive, I don't know what is. Seriously, this should be the best opportunity to get into that magical First Round Proper in the AFCW era. Be honest, you're thinking a million different scenarioes aren't you? Lids away is the big one. Leicester is also one that should get the cockles going - remember that Coca-Cola Cup semi final? Or there are some other tantilising encounters. Carlisle away, anyone? Barnet would be a nice once, or indeed anyone like Stockport or Rochdale or any other team like that.

Well, if you're thinking that, one word to you. Don't. We could easily fuck up against Maidstone. On paper, we should overcome them (hell, we've just knocked out the runaway leaders of the RP with relative ease), but this is the FAC. Anything can happen, and usually does. Next round could well be the ultimate banana skin - when we got KOed against Exeter, we shrugged our shoulders and said it was probably a level too far. This time, we will be favourites and that brings both its own rewards and its own problems. Just imagine the mental slump we'll have if we lose this one.

But to bring you down to earth, a reminder that we've got to kick our league campaign back to life. Yes, we have two BSS games at KM to contend with now - Bishop's Stortford and Big Spending Havant and Waterlooville. They played at Anfield last season against Liverpool and scored twice, don't you know. Shame the bindippers netted five in response. And lest we forget Alfie "disinterested" Potter. These games will determine where we go from here. Win both of them and the confidence we saw at the beginning of the season starts coming back.

Anyway, this was an AFCW happier in its skin, and the final scoreline reflected that. The games on the road have really taken their toll, and I really can't think of any other club who this season has gone longer without a designated home league game as we have. Is it any coincidence that our last three proper first team games at KM have finished 3-1, 3-0 and 2-0? As just said, we've now got one helluva opportunity to kick our season back to life. It will piss everyone right off if we don't take it.....

Plus points: We won. Expected standard of performance achieved. Kept clean sheet. AL. Tony Finn. DK's goal. All round improving confidence. Banana skin avoided. Some decent play.

Minus points: A few little niggles in defence still. Tom Davis' miss. Tom Davis' fifth yellow card - dickhead.

The referee's a....: The same tosspot who did us on Saturday. Still, he turned down a penalty for them, so maybe his Lodge meeting got cancelled on Monday.

Them: Fair play to Dover. It'll be criminal if they're still plying their trade in the RP next season, and they brought the third biggest turnout to KM, behind Torquay and FCUM. Certainly putting their money where their mouths are, which puts a few other gobby sorts to shame. Just wish we treated them a bit better (see below). But in all honesty, this was reasonably comfortable in the end for us - still looked a decent RP side but they are a RP side. Not a BSS one. They will need to do what we did and make a few tough transfer decisions should they go up. Certainly, they missed their best chance on Saturday, and a BSS level outfit would probably have finished the job in the replay. Oh, and who remembers Andy "stinks of piss" Hessenthaler playing against us for Watford and Gills? No, me neither. Apparently got involved in an "incident" with Luke G, but moved too slowly to get red carded...

Point to ponder: Wither Jon Main? A livelier, happier looking one last night, certainly. When he shot at the keeper in the second half, and pounced around afterwards, you could see the frustration. That was a JM who knew he was playing better than the last month and felt he deserved better. As for DK, after he struck for our second goal, the delight on his face said it all. In fact, if you haven't seen it yet, check out the Setanta profile on us from Saturday. He looks part of the squad anyway, and maybe he started silencing some of the doubters. Not that SW19 would ever do that....

Truth is stranger than fiction: (1) Realising we are only 90 minutes away from THAT possible game. Got to get there first, and I don't just mean beating Maidstone. (2) Everyone seemed in a good mood before the game. Wonder if that vibe helped? Makes you think, especially as people seemed glad to be watching a game at KM again. One thing though - I hope we don't start relying on our home form for the rest of this season.

Anything else? Yeah. Apparently, there were some problems in the away fans section. No, there wasn't any violence or even a few words said (although allegedly a hole was found in the wall of the JS, Dover section). What reportedly happened was a power cut that took out the catering and the lighting around that section. Couple that with some alleged comments that the stewards didn't know whether it was segregated or not and by the sounds of it we didn't exactly cover ourselves in glory.

Think the time has come to be honest with ourselves here - in its present form, KM is not suitable for higher levels. Torquay proved that last season, and if we want to keep putting our fans in the WB end, then we're going to have to pull our finger out, get this sodding perimeter lease everyone is on about and start doing something. Right now, it looks like neither one thing or t'other, certainly in terms of segregation. You either have it, and do it properly, or you don't. This may be unpopular, but maybe it's time to abandon putting the away fans at the side and start giving them half the WB end like we used to? The current setup works if there's less than 100 there, but any bigger than that and we always seem to hear of problems. Even without power cuts...

Why am I mentioning this by the way? Simple - too many of our fans seem rather too happy to point out faults at every single away game. No doubt when we go to Maidstone they will immediately pipe up about why the opposition doesn't issue tickets, or the lack of toilets/catering etc. It's pretty tedious, and just reinforces the BBB tag. I'm afraid that too many of our fans like to lecture in a condescending manner, especially against the majority of other clubs who are simply coping as best they can with our influx. I'm all for vigilance, but too many of us like to act the big "I am" and arrogantly boss others around - while passing it off as "trying to improve things for other teams". Bullshit. As last night showed, we ain't as perfect as these people like to portray us. And themselves.

Also, while I'm here - I don't know what it is right now, but my own experience of KM's organisation seems to have gone downhill recently. Anyone who does any work in the press area will know what I mean insofar as collecting passes for it - a previously good system changed into a poor system, and one that is badly executed to boot. If we want to start entertaining bigger sides with more exposure, and show the world how professional we are, we're doing a very good job in shattering their illusions.

Ah, Ben Dover 0 Raquel Darrian 0. The magic of the cup and all that. Yesterday was an upset of sorts, because AFCW managed to keep a clean sheet, despite all our hard work in trying not to do so. And on Tuesday, we get to finish the task of going down to crushing, painful defeat.

Last night, I wrote a lot of things that even I have to concede were too negative - I was saying things like how shit it was, how we were the luckiest team that is still in the draw for Monday, how we should be preparing to fight relegation instead of even finishing mid-table in the BSS. And of course, questioning the sanity and mental abilities of any fuckwit who thought it was a remotely decent performance......

After a night's sleep, I'm not quite so pissed off. But pissed off I still am. Let's not kid ourselves otherwise - we are lucky to be in the draw for tomorrow. When we almost conceded an own goal after about 2 minutes, it really had Worcester written all over it. At least we managed to get through the first 25 minutes without being 3-0 down this week. The free flowing, devil-may-care sleekness of AFCW in August and early September is now gone, maybe never to return. In its place has stepped up a nervous collection of individuals, chronically lacking in self-esteem and confidence.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Dover are flying high in the RP, they'll be in the CS next season, it's a cup game away from home, BSS sides have come croppers this season etc etc. But really, can you honestly, honestly say this was good enough? When we started to pass the ball about, this wasn't an AFCW side that looked at Dover, cocked a snoot and went to finish them off. This was an AFCW side desperate for a scrap of anything just to get to half time, then full time without conceding. You know, an AFCW side that is playing in the Conference South, with a club and fanbase that is agitating to get into the BSP.

Why have we slumped like this? Have the opening 9/10 games caught up with us? Did TB's Mananger of the Month and JM's Player of the Month curse them out? If so, we need a priest and fast - my local one sits in block B, for a donation he'll do the exorcism. I refuse to accept that losing both Godfrey and Inns has that wide-ranging an effect - if it does, then it proves that our whole team is fragile. Be scared. OK, we helped ourselves yesterday with AL back in goal, but even then there were moments that enduced heart attacks.

A lot of people are singling out Leberl, and to be honest he really didn't do us any favours again. Maybe he shouldn't have said this week that he's got mates down in Dover? Mind you, after last week he's obviously got a bird up in Worcester. Real shame that I have to talk about a fellow Dons fan like this, but if it's true he'll always be injury prone now, you do wonder if his inevitable chop will be long lasting...

But then, nobody came out with too much credit. The reason I didn't publish last night was down to the last 30 minutes. I think I'm still seething. Firstly, I don't think we had any meaningful attempt on goal. That's bad enough, though for some reason I'm still forgiving of that. What I cannot forgive was the wanton way we pathetically gave the ball away on every possession. I'm not joking - it was either pass from Little to defender, defender to midfielder, midfielder to Dover player. Not once, not twice, but every single fucking time. Except the occasions when it went Little to defender, defender to Dover player.

By that stage, it was a case of when, not if Dover would score. With a cunt of a ref (see below) assisting them, whenever they got a free kick in injury time, or when we gifted the ball away like the mugs we are, it wasn't a case of shitting ourselves but just rolling our eyes and expecting the inevitable. Guys, we are a fucking Blue Square South team, playing against a side a division below us. We should not be panicking like a stockbroker selling RBS shares in the manner we did. Yesterday, Dover smelt fear from us, and that's probably the worst slap in the face of all.

So, now what? Firstly, we listen to the draw tomorrow, then come out with the old joke that our opponents may beat them. Except right now it's not nearly so funny. Then Tuesday. How do we approach it? Cross fingers and hope it'll click? Thing is, when you're as short on confidence as we are, one semi-decent game never does it. Remember that we played well against Bedford, gobbed off to the world how buoyant we were and got our reality check against Worcester.

Will we drop players? I give my answer below on our strikeforce, and I've mentioned Leberl above. But that question was answered by Erith last Tuesday. The best we can hope for is to scrape through on penalties. It'll be ugly, it's be a poor way to win, but I'd take that right now.

But i f one thing does give me hope for Tuesday and beyond, it's this. The faces of our players walking off afterwards said it all - not a smile amongst them. They knew. Whilst last week may have a case of a bad 30 minutes, and therefore "one of those things", this was different. They know they're walking on crackling ice right now, and one or two of them must really be wondering if they'll be out of here before too long. Believe it or not, we do have a chance on Tuesday to make amends. We might even take that opportunity, though what makes me think we won't?

One thing is certain, I shouldn't feel this apprehensive against a lower division side...

Plus points: We didn't lose. Clean sheet. Somehow still in the draw for Monday.

Minus points: Horribly low on confidence. Ability to pass, lack thereof. Defence as per usual. Strikeforce. Jake Leberl.

The referee's a.......: And here's one difference between being in the BSS and being back on Ryman League turf. The ref was clearly a member of the same masonic lodge as Turdey. If there was any proof needed that Ryman level refs will forever try to cheat us, it's this. Two penalties not given, "interesting" interpretations of the advantage rule, when applied to AFCW. Christ, even poor JM was penalised when a defender slipped over. No, he doesn't excuse our shiteness, but what's the betting at the next Lodge meeting Turdey and Boon will order him to finish the job properly next time?

Them: Like Chelmsford last season, probably RP Champions-in-waiting already. To make you feel even better, they had four players missing (we had about two, for perspective). They've got the infrastructure right anyway, and a decent, legitimate support, though it does show they're ex-Conference. As long as it's not at our expense, I'd rather them do well than a snivelling small time whiney outfit like Staines Town. Obligatory comments about it being Kent and therefore a pikey convention, though if they start spreading the gene pool amongst a few Sangatte escapees...

Point to ponder (1): Wither Jon Main? He got subbed yet again, and really looks lower than whale shit right now. There were a couple of times each side of half time where he would have normally dropped his shoulder and forced the goalie to earn his money. Yesterday? A horrible pass and powder puff shot. This was also DK's worst game as well, and people around me were genuinely questioning whether we should play him. Expensive flop? The trouble is, DK and JM are the best two we've got - Belal came on and looked painfully lightweight. Whilst you know JM is good enough to overcome a bad spell, Belal has twice this week manage to significantly underimpress. Maybe we just need Godfrey back? We were doing all right until he got crocked.

One thing which is of concern - if Main and Kedwell don't click, and one of them has to be dropped, that could cause real problems for TB if he wants to make future purchases. Especially in the current financial climate, we have to get big money signings right, and if TB starts getting a reputation for buying costly strikers that don't score...

Three's a crowd: 2710. Not to be sniffed at at all, though was I the only one disappointed with our turnout? Not nearly as many as the last FAC game, although apparently we took more than Oxford United when they went there. Expectations, and all that. One other thing : there's more and more questioning of attendances whenever we go to a game, although this time it's not us doing it. Guess this sensitivity is a hangover from the St Albans accusation, which to this day still rankles. Especially as many people at AFCW are involved in accountancy/finance, and wouldn't take kindly to a suggestion they're on the hey-diddle-diddle.

I'm always more intrigued by capacities of grounds full stop - OK, all seaters are easy to work out, but I still find it hard to believe that KM for example holds 4500. Dover's place holds 6500 as well, though it doesn't look like it does. I think capacities should be recalculated to allow for little things like breathing and moving about, because there is no way I would have wanted double the people in the ground yesterday. As Torquay last year proved - having a capacity of 4500 is one thing, having 4500 in the ground is another....

Point to ponder (2): A cursory glance at our fixture list shows that we haven't played a league game at KM in well over a month. Come to think of it - by the time we step onto the field to lose to Bishop's Stortford on Saturday, it will be 35 calendar days since we last had any games on a Saturday at home. And we can't blame the weather, or postponements - the FAC draws really haven't been kind to us, and while we've had replays and the LSC, they're not quite the same are they? Wonder if our form has reflected that?

Got to be honest, as much as I like away trips yesterday got quite tiresome. Another motorway, another service station, another traffic jam. And I'm not even playing, so no wonder our players look out of sorts. They weren't exactly down the road either - Bedford, Worcester and Dover were all 2h+ trips. Maybe WISA should dig out their old "It's Time We Had A Home Game" t-shirts? Assuming they haven't crossed out "game" and donated them to Shelter.

Truth is stranger than fiction: (1) The blonde with the absolutely massive funbags in the seating area. Pleasing to see that the biggest tits weren't just on the field. (2) Do Dover still play games against Calais? One of our fans had an Allez Calais scarf, which I'm not sure was there to provoke. You'll be pleased to know that Calais beat Cherbourg 1-0 on Friday night in front of 3572. Perhaps we could arrange a PSF with them? Apparently, they've got a nice looking new stadium as well. (3) One of the AFCW top brass/car park attendants asking me whether I still predicted a loss before the game. Hey, I was almost right...

Anything else? This could start becoming a semi-regular feature. After last week's discovery of Kerrang FM, your French-learning editor was very happy to discover RFM, Inter FM and Europe 1 in his car radio. So we are justified in singing "You're French, and you know you are" to Dover fans. Quite strange listening to Gloucester v Biarritz in the toffball in a foreign language, though it made it sound better. Anyway, learn this for the replay, all together now : "nous bouvons Champagne, nous grognons cocaine, nous avons ici les femmes . Vous avez des emplois de merde, vous avez le sexe avec votre chiens. Et votre femme est une prostituée". Though it may need a little bit of vocal tweaking...

So, was it worth it? Suppose it might give our squad another chance to see if they can play properly. Or whether they can actually lose the game this time.

It's all gone back to 1998. Peter Mandelson is back plotting, Cadbury's have re-released Wispa, Joe Kinnear is back making expletive-laden press conferences, and AFCW have treated us to a good old fashioned WFC-style fuckup. Even better, we managed to do it for the longest league away journey available with some of the shittiest travel conditions I can remember since, er, Newport....

To the neutral, Lea and Perrins 3 Mark and Lard 2 would have been a good open game. Struggling team runs away with it in the first 30 minutes, then the much fancied away side nabs a goal back, then a second with a good 25 minutes still left. For us, it was shit.

To let in two goals in the first 10 minutes killed the game off for us. Actually, I lie - the first goal after about a minute, when our defender decided to softly head back leaving Pullen more exposed than OJ Simpson's arse in prison, killed it. We really didn't recover from that - in fact, I really did write down that if we weren't careful we'd be 3-0 down before we knew it. And lo and behold....

If you're the sort of person who likes jabbing sharp pencils in your bollock sack, you can watch their second and third goals here. Whilst their third was a good strike, the fact that we just gave it to them makes it worse. Seriously, I've ranted on for a while about our defence being shit - now do you believe me? Lest we forget that they hit the post as well after Pullen again looked like somebody in goal for our supporters team.

What I saw yesterday was something out of the CCL. While the team generally has got better all round, our defence hasn't moved on from RP level. Remember how brown-trousery our backline was a lot of last season, but back then the forwards of the opposition were shit so we (mostly) got away with it. Now we're in a higher division, the attackers have a bit more about them and we're being woefully exposed. It's painful to watch, and not a little depressing.

I really have come to the conclusion we need a dedicated coach for the defence. I'm not sure whether it's in TB's remit, but he's got enough to look after without supposedly experienced defenders like Luke Garrard, Inns, Judge and (on this performance) Jake Leberl playing like morons.

At H&Y, I thought it was just one of those days. This however wasn't. We saw the clear warning signs at Bedford last week as well. Our defence will be the difference between us being in the playoffs and us facing off against Dover in the BSS next season. It's not good enough. If it was, it could have ridden out a slow start and we probably would have won. But we didn't. It's all very well everyone staining their underwear in excitement over how well we played on Tuesday, how we were supposedly all fired up and buoyant for this game. Christ, we had a decent performance against a crap side in a division lower than us and everyone thinks we're wonderful again?

We've hit a sticky patch, and for the first time this season I don't know what the answer is. JM's lack of goalscoring prowess will return. Form is temporary, and all that. I can't fault DK. Are teams sussing us out? Sadly, it looks like it. But even so, that shouldn't be such a problem in itself. I genuinely think we're good enough to overcome that, but it would be nice to show it once in a while.

I'm pissed off not only because we lost, and needlessly so. But I'm pissed off for this as well : many will say that it was a good game, and we maybe deserved a point. Truth is, we got what we deserved. In the last 5 minutes, and indeed even less time than that, we just kept square passing the ball about at the back. Whatever happened to pressurising the opposition like in ye olden days? If we'd done that, instead of fartarsing about doing our impressions of Ray Wilkins, we might have got a draw out of it. But no - it was as though a decent long ball was just simply beneath us. I've got news for you - when we're one goal behind with time running out, nothing is beneath you. Hell, you got us into this mess, now you fucking go and get us out of it......

Truth be told, I dunno. I haven't even thought about Dover, but right now a decent FAC run sounds like the thing we should be looking forward to (bet we manage to fuck that up as well now), because right now I can't see where our next league win is coming from. Seriously, I can't. We've actually been playing like this for a while, and now our luck has run out we can't seem to cope. OK, that's a tad too harsh, and on another day we would have come away with at least a point. But it's as though our winning start has crippled us for the remainder of the season. That expectation level has probably set us back for this season.

Still, if you want to cheer yourself up a little, do the following : take the M25 anti-clockwise no further down than Heathrow. Just drive until you see the sign for Staines. Then tell yourself that at least we're in the BSS. Suddenly, it won't feel nearly as bad. Unlike reading....

The referee's a........: I'll let everyone else disect his "performance". Had we'd lost this 1-0 I really would have gone to town on him - he refused to give us hardly any fouls, and even had difficulty giving us throw-ins. Sometimes, you just can't win with 12 men opposing you. But the bottom line is, he didn't cost us the game....

Them: Took advantage of the gifts we gave them, and probably deserved the win for that alone. Don't think pound-for-pound they were better than us though, but then they did the simple things well enough that were clearly beyond us. Even down to the timewasting after about 35 minutes. Thought they were a club in turmoil? Didn't seem to be, they looked quite a unified organisation. Still, appearances can be deceptive - some think we're playoff contenders. One other thing - how the fuck do they cope with 3h+ trips almost every away game? OK, I imagine that the ones in the West are quite straightforward enough, but I wouldn't fancy going from there to Eastleigh anytime soon. And they didn't even get Redditch to play with....

Point to ponder: JM got subbed again. Is the time coming for him to be "rested"? Especially as Belal is now waiting in the wings. That said, I'm still of the belief that he should continue to play - remember that he did blast over the bar from 3 yards out yesterday, and one day they've got to go in. What good is sitting him on the bench? Unless you believe that he's still struggling with that foot injury he picked up earlier.....

Truth is stranger than fiction: (1) Five hours to get from there to SW19 Towers coming back. Just to remind you what the realities of travelling away are like. Mind you, I had an offer of a train trip (bloody pre-9am start though) and that ended up getting in at 2245. Guess I got luckier than most. (2) Did we really play that badly in the first 30 minutes? (3) Their bell, or rather the little tingly thing that they used to give the effimate kids in school music lessons. That and Amarillo and the fucking "Easy" chant they do. (4) Seeing the Worcester (rugby) ground off the motorway. And here was me thinking yooniun was far better than us lowly football oiks - I've never seen such a bland looking stadium in my life. And I've been to Pride Park.

Anything else? Yes, Miss Worcester "singing" a Celine Dion track at half time. You read correctly - and you thought our day wasn't going to get any worse. Needless to say, she was shite and was asked to stop singing and just get her waps out. Here's what she looks like, just in case she obliged. Katherine Jenkins she certainly ain't - proof here, and here. Here as well.

Why? Seriously, why? Is this what passes for entertainment in the parochial provinces of England? The West Midlands gave us Ozzy Osbourne, Jasper Carrott and Rob Halford, but is now reduced to some slapper murdering a Celine Dion number in front of 1500 embarrassed listeners. Yes, I know murder and the Canadian warbler is something perfectly acceptable, but it was almost to provoke us into a reaction. Then again, the PA insisted on play Amarfuckingrillo every time they scored and to cap it all off - Boogie Wonderland twice in the half time break. It really was that kind of day.

Bring back the marching bands or the RAF display dogs you used to get at half time. At least the canine shit wouldn't smell so bad as our defending.

So, was it worth it? Yes, I really enjoy spending eight hours driving across the country, in shitty weather, to stand in an open terrace of a crumbling stadium to watch us happily smash our own ankles in with a hammer and gift the opposition the easiest goals they'll ever score this season. More please.

Continuing my usual don't-really-cover-evening-games-unless-I-want-to-say-something approach to, er, evening games there was something quite pleasing about last night. I know before Suburb of Wimbledon 3 Suburb of Frenzyville 0 we all had our (more than) slight concerns about it. Another lackisadical performance, stumbling its way painfully to extra time before the ultimate heartbreak of penalties? Be honest, it crossed your mind didn't it.

Truth be told, we needed this game. We've been rather dodgy of late, and it's good to see a performance that we are capable of. Last night, we showed that there is a gap between a decent BSS side (which we are, let's be honest), and a Southern Prem one. Were Bedford poor? Well, they didn't look like the tough conquerers of Saturday. In fact, I can't remember if they even had a shot on target.

Yes, I know it's "only" against a lower division side, but we did prove to ourselves that once we get our discipline right, it's pretty hard to match us. Look at some of the other results from this round - hell, in fact look at them from last night. Could you have forseen Burgess Hill doing BRT? Or Harlow knocking out St Albans, in front of 23,000 people? I suppose the biggest shock of all is that they're not that surprising.

I know I talked about it at length on Saturday, but there's got to be something more to the way the BSS sides have come croppers. There are now ten in the next round, and that can't just be "the magic of the cup". What we did last night is what you expect to happen - but then, dare I say we're more professional? Or at least better prepared.

Back to last night. It was good to see DK net his first for us. I know plenty were suggesting that JM should be rested, but personally I think the best thing to do is keep playing him. He hasn't become shit overnight, and even last night with a couple of extra inches of pace, or a bit more luck, he could have got back on track. Main is one of those sort of players who once he gets one or two in a game will end up scoring about 10 in the next few games. Lest we forget, he's had to (a) carry the striking load by himself, and more recently (b) learn how to play off a new battler of a striker. Dare I saw our recent blips have coincided with his recent loss of form?

Not that we're a one-man team, and Belal looks promising. But all round, I think we couldn't find much to fault from last night. Even the Guinness tasted semi-decent for once.

Anyway, enough mutual masturbation. It's Dover in the next round, and it's another tricky away tie. So much for the easy stroll towards the first round proper. Dover of course was the site of one of the more favoured away games in the AFCW era. I could be mistaken, but it was the first time I can remember "proper" segregation, so you had about 1200 Wombles pushed onto one terrace, the rest of the ground not even half full and what a lovely noise we all made. And this was when we were (on paper) the underdogs.

It'll be different now. Dover are now the plucky lower division side, they've had a decent start and a decent legit support (then again, they are ex-Conference), and like Chelmsford and Newport seem to be one of those clubs who could do something if they get it right on the field. Also, they'll be representing the Ryman, and we all know what that means. In fact, I have visions of Karl Williams and Alan Boon presenting the Dover manager with the Isthmian Ceremonial Sword, giving some masonic handshake and chanting "For God and the Ryman" before ordering them to slain the evil spirit of AFC Cheats on behalf of non-league purity and the Great Deity Turdey.

Actually, it's one of those games that will really pump people up. It won't be easy, but then a couple of tricky-yet-perfectly-winnable games won't hurt us. Especially if it won't bugger us up league wise if we do lose. Dare I say that yesterday and Dover will kickstart our season again? Plus of course now we're in the BSS (oh, these bollocks are so cumbersome) we don't have to play about a zillion qualifying rounds before we can even start drawing Conf sides. Win on the 11th, and we will be one more victory away from possibly playing Franchise. Psychologically, that makes it seem better doesn't it? Apart from the possible opponents bit.

Anyway, that's a long way off. More pressing is Worcester away this Saturday. There's no excuse for us to forget everything we did last night, and with that same level of application who knows? I can't help but think a decent league victory will just make everyone sit up and take notice of us again - I really don't like looking at the table, seeing we're third and kicking ourselves for letting H&Y on top. With luck, normality will resume come 5pm in the Midlands.

Seems like Worcester themselves are in turmoil off the pitch, for reasons I don't quite fathom. Mind you, neither can anyone else. Apparently, everyone's being asked to not use their social club, so at least those who like to find excuses to boycott have a decent one this time (yes, we all know who you are. Don't deny it. And stop trying to turn the "W" for Worcester upside down, finding it makes an "M" and claim you must stay away because they share the same letter with Frenzyville). So for the pissheads, there's bound to be another pub somewhere for you all to use.

Needless to say, with an AFCW side regaining its confidence, and a Worcester side struggling in more ways than one, prepare for a shitty journey back to London.........