The Lounge

[onyadon]

Firstly, put out of your minds AFC Wimbledon’s 2-1 win at Bury a few weeks back as a precursor to Saturday’s FA Cup tie at Gigg Lane. I hope Neal Ardley has insisted on that to his players before they face the Shakers again. To expect the same outcome because of what transpired recently is fraught with danger in the cut and thrust of Cup-tie football. The Dons may be sailing along pretty well in League 1, while Bury have LOST their last six games, but this is a one-off and things can turn around and sharpish. The Dons have a 3-2 W-L record in 1st round FA Cup ties since promotion to the Football League. Last season Bury reached the fourth round after accounting for Wigan, Rochdale and Bradford before going out to Premier League Hull City. Bury will have the motivation to knock the Dons down a peg or two, if there is a whiff of complacency in the Wimbledon ranks they will be brought undone. If Ardley can get the mindset right there is every chance the Dons might come away from Lancashire with a replay or even a win. It will be another sign of Wimbledon’s maturity as a L1 side if they can get the job done and go into the hat for the 2nd round draw.

[liamwimbo]

Cup time again. Would be nice to have a good run but the draw has not been kind to us – again. Impossible to predict as league form goes out the window and a lot depends on team selection. Nightingale should get another run out and some players will understandably be rested. Let’s hope the Dons can get through and get a home draw in the next round. I was lucky enough to be at the 3rd round game v Liverpool two years ago. Another night like that would be fantastic. At the end of the day league performances are more important but I trust Ardley to manage the team so that we succeed in both competitions. COYDs

[Colum]

So we go again in 10 days. I have to admit to fearing the worst before the game, and definitely at half time. Whatever troubles Bury have on and off the pitch, a cup game is a great leveler. It is whichever team turns up on the day, and at 2-0 down you’ve have to admit that was Bury for 45 minutes. But credit to Neil and the team. We turned it around with two clinical finishes.

Just a word about the squad rotation. I know why we do it, but it highlights the difference in quality between certain first choice players and their back up. Until we brought our first choice players on, we were going out of the cup.

[liamwimbo]

Another away draw if we manage to get through. But at least it will not be against a team in the League. And a chance it might be on telly for us Oz-based fans to watch.
The obvious danger is underestimating Bury in the replay but I reckon Ardley is now a good enough manager to prevent that.
In the meantime we have another trip to the northern wastelands on the weekend to look forward to!

[liamwimbo]

Back to league action and another trip to the northern wastelands. Not reading too much into the Mickey Mouse cup during the week. I feel reasonably confident about tonight’s game, as I always do when we are playing away. Assuming we have a fully fit squad to choose from, and both Elliott and Taylor up front, I would expect at least a point. Also looking forward to another Dons game on telly in the Cup should we manage to win the replay v Bury.

[liamwimbo]

Here is a picture of the banner with Dave Kenwery. Hope he is enjoying the cricket at the moment as much as me!

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