View from Kingsmeadow, Volume Eight: Another Hit, Another Miss

Terry Brown's AFC Wimbledon were at it again in the Football Conference National as they took on Steve Burr's Kidderminster Harriers and Martin Ling's Cambridge United.

With Mansfield Town shutting out York City in emphatic fashion 5-0, it was up to the Dons to respond with a Sunday statement win on the road against the Harriers at the Aggborough Stadium.

"Prior to the kick off I would have certainly settled for a point against a team [in Crawley Town FC] that must be one of the favourites to win the title this year," Brown said earlier in the week.

"I thought the game was fairly even with both sides having the opportunity of winning. Considering we lost not only a great deal of experience but also a great deal of height and power in Ismail Yakubu, Brett Johnson and Lee Minshull, I thought the young players who came in were absolutely fantastic on the night.

"We sat the boys down at half time to reiterate how well they had done and to gee up Ed Harris in particular as he had played exceptionally well before making the error that led to us conceding a disappointing goal prior to the half time break.

"The timing of the Crawley goal wasn't the best as far as the Dons were concerned. However, full credit to [defender] Ed [Harris] in particular who came out and dominated [Crawley striker Richard] Brodie in the second half."

Brown noted three players critical to the success of the Wombles last Thursday at Kingsmeadow in their 2-1 win against Crawley.

"After looking at the highlights today it is evident that Danny Kedwell performed heroics up front against two of the best centre halfs at this level and I would also like to pay particular credit to both Fraser Franks and Chris Bush who came in and played what was undoubtedly the biggest game of their careers to date and acquitted themselves brilliantly on the night."

The AFC Wimbledon manager also had high praise for the ardent turnout in the midweek contest.

"The atmosphere last night was as good as anything I've experienced as a manager and to send the vast majority of the crowd home happy gave everybody at the club a great boost. The players showed once again the ability to bounce back after a heavy defeat at Luton and the confidence and character to bounce back against the league leaders after going 1-0 down at the end of the first half.

"The lads have had a well-earned rest day today with only the injured players coming in for treatment. We plan to do a light training session tomorrow prior to Sunday's trip to Kidderminster. Mike Rayner thinks there may be positive news with both Ismail Yakubu and Christian Jolley and both will undergo fitness tests tomorrow morning."

When asked of the weapons currently as his disposal, Brown literally beamed at the prospects.

"It is a really lovely position for any manager to be in with several senior players looking to come back into the side," he said. "However, I would have no hesitation in playing the youngsters again as and when the opportunity arises.

"My job over the weekend is to ensure that my players' feet are firmly on the ground as I don't expect any favours from Kidderminster. They have, in my opinion one of the best managers in professional football. He took the opportunity to travel down to watch us in person yesterday and will no doubt make life as difficult as he can for us on Sunday.

"The one thing our players must remember is that the reason we have had such a successful start is down to the hard work and effort they have put in as far as the ugly side of the game goes.

"Pressing of opposition teams, especially those which like to play football, has been very impressive and we need to maintain the defensive strength we have shown if we are to achieve anything this season."

Unfortunately for Brown, he failed to see that materialize in earnest on Sunday. Goals from Chris McPhee in the 44th minute and Marc WIlliams in the 84th minute consigned the Dons to an embarassing 2-0 defeat.

While the road has not been kind to the Dons for the second straight outing, the hope was for them to fix it with some more home cooking against Cambridge United on Wednesday evening.

"After Thursday's euphoric victory against Crawley I suppose it was somewhat inevitable that, football being football, it would soon bring you back down to earth with a bump," Brown said on Monday. "I feel somewhat similar to Alex Ferguson who continually claims that a midweek European game has taken the energy out of their following league fixture.

"Looking at our team, they looked totally exhausted and I have to say they never really did themselves justice on the day. It is sometimes difficult as a manager to fully comprehend why sometimes your team doesn't perform and in this particular case I would like to look at the bigger picture and compliment the lads on 22 points from 11 games.

"It would be wrong to point out any individuals who didn't really play as I felt that the whole team didn't really perform on the day. However, I would like to comment that Kiddderminster played really well and thoroughly deserved their victory.

"We came in for a light session today, mainly looking at the injuries and we will be utilising the next couple of days as a rest period. We will run through some tactical information on Cambridge tomorrow and we will try to build the side up to come out firing on all cylinders on Wednesday night.

"On the injury front there has been a gradual improvement among all the injured players and the most likely in my opinion for a recall will be Luke Moore or Christian Jolley. But we will wait until nearer the kick off before making a final decision on them."

Brown was delighted to find that nearly a full squad was available for a match against the U's.

"Having looked at the Cambridge side they certainly possess one of the best squads in our league and as and when they find their form they will certainly be one of the favourites for a play off spot," Brown said.

"As far as we are concerned, we thankfully appear to have got over the various niggly injuries and flu bugs we have suffered of late and apart from Brett Johnson and longer term injury Lee Minshull, we should have everybody fit. Brett's knee is pretty much better now but he has been suffering from flu lately and I see no benefit in risking him before he is 100 percent fit.

"Our home record this season has been very good and we shall approach Wednesday's game against Cambridge and Saturday's game against Forest Green in a very positive, attacking manner. The Cambridge goals against record is equal best in the league and therefore we shall have to work hard and be patient to break them down."

They were prophetic words from the Dons manager, as it took Wimbledon 69 minutes before Fraser Franks scored to break the deadlock. Six minutes later, Christian Jolley made it 2-0 in the 75th minute. And Franks completed his brace in the 89th minute to give AFc Wimbledon a well-deserved 3-0

The Dons remain second on the Football Conference National table after league leaders Crawley Town crushed Tamworth 3-1.

Up next for Wimbledon is a Saturday home tie against Dave Hockaday's Forest Green Rovers FC. Kickoff at Kingsmeadow is scheduled for October 2 at 10:00 a.m. ET.

The Dons will then look to rebound from their road woes when they travel to Field Mill in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire to take on David Holdsworth's Mansfield Town FC. Kickoff is scheduled for Tuesday, October 5 at 2:45 p.m. ET.