View from Kingsmeadow, Volume Five: Sacking the Romans

Terry Brown's AFC Wimbledon rose to the top of the Conference National table after their 2-1 victory over Kettering Town at Rockingham Road.

"A large amount of credit must go to Ismail Yakubu who had been ill since the Newport match and had been unable to keep down any food during the week," Brown said after the match. "He was keen to play despite the obvious weakness and put in a great display of defence for 90 minutes.

"Some of the football we played today was particularly pleasing, with a number of good flowing moves. We should have wrapped up the game long before the end, and if we are going to be successful we must learn to kill off the opposition."

“It was an important win at Kettering and returning to the top of the league puts us in great spirits for next week’s home match against Bath City.”

On Saturday, September 11, the Wombles returned to Kingsmeadow for a clash against Adie Britton's Romans.

"We wanted to have a close look at one or two players' fitness at training today before finalising the squad for tomorrow's game," Brown said prior to the week's match.

"After these late checks, we have only two players out for this game. Brett Johnson is making rapid progress but is not ready for tomorrow—we expect he will be back in full training on Monday and so we hope he'll be available for the Luton game. Ed Harris was a very able stand-in at Kettering so we'll be looking for the same from him again."

"The other player who is unavailable is Luke Moore who has been suffering from a stomach upset. However, Ismail Yakubu is now fully recovered from a similar bug and he has trained all week. Jon Main has recovered from a chest infection and Mark Nwokeji is also fit again so both are available for selection tomorrow. This gives me a nice problem regarding team selection and we will be able to put out a very strong side on Saturday."

"Bath come on the back of a fantastic season that ended in promotion via the play offs. They will no doubt set up stall in a resolute and disciplined way. Our job is to be patient and look to break them down over the 90 minutes so, once again, I hope that the fans can show similar patience and cheer us on to another three points."

Goals from Sammy Moore in the 18th minute, Yakubu in the 35th minute, Christian Jolley in the 66th minute, and Danny Kedwell in the 69th minute paced the Dons to a comprehensive 4-0 shutout win before 3,300 at the Cherry Red Records Stadium.

Wins by Crawley Town and Mansfield Town ensure that the Dons are still two and three points ahead of those teams at the top of the table, respectively.

Up next for the Dons is a match against the Hatters of Luton Town F.C. Kickoff at Kenilworth Road is scheduled for September 17 at 3:45 p.m. ET.