View from Kingsmeadow, Volume 25: Will the Dons Ever Win Again?

AFC Wimbledon was struggling to get its act together as its miserable January continued with a couple of midweek matches, starting with a Tuesday jaunt to Fleetwood Town.

“Many congratulations to Woking, who played very well against us on Saturday," said Dons manager Terry Brown, "and I wish them all the best in the next round against Salisbury City. The draw shows how open the competition is this year: Most of the teams remaining in the competition have a realistic chance of making a Wembley appearance.

“I’m not one of those who feel that we’re better off out of the competition, and I’m very disappointed that we failed to get through to the next round, and in the process suffered only our third home defeat of the season.

“Although we are still disappointed, it was back to training as usual this morning. It is important that the players bounce back with a positive result tomorrow against Fleetwood Town, one of the favourites to end the season in a play-off position."

The clubs plans were set in motion soon afterwards.

“We will leave London early tomorrow," Brown said on Monday, "giving us time to prepare properly for what will be a vital game in our efforts to reach 80 points as soon as possible. We presently have 50 points from the 25 league games played, which gives us an average of two points per game, and if we maintain that average it should be more than adequate to secure a play-off spot.

The second half of the season sees us twice play two prospective promotion candidates, Fleetwood and Grimsby Town, who we have yet to meet, as well as York City, who have been on a good recent run. We have had Fleetwood watched, and they play attractive, attacking football.

“For you hardy souls who will be travelling to Fleetwood, we will be able to field a very strong side, and I’m sure you will see a very good game of football.”

Unfortunately, the Dons manager could never be any more culpable of lying to his constituents, as Wimbledon played to yet another draw, this time to the tune of 1-1.

Surely something had to be done as they faced off against Colliers Wood United in the Surrey Senior Cup on Thursday, right? Well, it wasn't going to happen against Colliers Wood due to a waterlogged pitch, so the Dons tried their luck against against Southport at Kingsmeadow.

The match with Colliers Wood would be postponed for Wednesday, Jan. 26.

This time, Wimbledon got off their winless streak in a big way. James Mulley scored a brace in the 20th and 90th minutes, Luke Moore scored in the 50th minute, Sammy Moore scored in the 56th minute and Sam Hatton scored in the 86th minute to pace the Dons to a comprehensive 5-0 victory.

The victory puts them one point ahead of Crawley Town for first place in the Football Conference National, but the team could be on track for playoffs since Crawley have three games in hand over the Dons.

Next week, another gauntlet of matches await Browns's crew.

On Tuesday, AFC Wimbledon travels to Bath to take on the Romans of Bath City. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:45 p.m. ET. The Dons will then play Colliers Wood the following day at 2:30 p.m. ET before facing off against Gateshead on Friday, Jan. 28. Kickoff for that match is scheduled for 2:45 p.m. ET.