Report on last night

[Coffin Ender]

From 'Big Tissue' website (I assume he means Martin not Smith in para five)...

 

Wimbledon 2 Margate 1

 

Captain Jason Goodliffe prodded in the latest of last-gasp winner to snatch a win in what must surely have been one of the most thrilling matches of the season. With 79 minutes gone of a perfectly serviceable but ultimately frustrating 0-0, Rose looked to have sealed the win with a cool, one-on-one, finish. But then the Dons appeared to have thrown it all away by conceding from a corner in the 87 minute.

 

For fans it was an intriguing but slightly alarming glimpse both into our post-Frankie future defensively and a fleet-footed rather than Webb-footed attacking formation.

 

With Frankie due to fly off to the States in April we might have to get used to the defensive pairing of Goodliffe and Gayle. They ooze talent and class but ooze in their own time. Not to a Right Said Fred to degree but they are old and bald. Howard was dropped after his reportedly woeful Heybridge display but we miss his straightforward get the ball and whack it clear simplicity.

 

As the game started the Dons still seemed to have their heads in Heybridge and we were grateful for some poor finishing from the visitors. They wasted a number of good chances, each of which felt like the golden opportunity that they would rue missing - until another came along moments later.

 

First and worst came in the second minute from a low left-wing cross that found Smith (a flicky, tricky showboater, more a***hole than Ursell) unmarked at the far post with, if we are being generous, the keeper to beat. All he could offer though in the way of a finish was some bendy-legged slapstick move and the ball squirted embarrassingly wide, possibly making wah, wah, wah waaah noises as it went.

 

The Dons also needed Pullen to pull off a number of tip-top saves, first after a Hussey back pass had let them in and then a double effort at close range from a header from a right wing cross.

 

There were plenty more Margit shots at goal but eventually the succession of heart-in-mouth moments ceased and the Dons got back into it, Fergie's zig-zag pace and aggression opening up the left side of their defence.

 

On the side line Terrence was a font of relentless and touching positivity. His passion for making sure that everybody felt valued and cherished no matter what their contribution was such that it resembled a 70's left-wing education policy. Indeed Goodliffe was chastised by Brown for having too big a go at Fergie for his failure to track back. "Encourage them Jase, encourage."

 

And he was right in a way. Having put aside his dependence on the non-scoring target man he'd picked a forward line (not ours to keep) of Rose and Cumbers, a pairing as bright and pacy as any we've seen. Once the team got going there was some beautiful passing football played. No long hoofs, but everything to feet or the vicinity of feet. There was a desperate kamikaze romanticism to it - we have to attack because we can no longer trust our defence. But everybody was caught up in it.

 

It was often inspiring to watch but prior to the goals we should ponder how much we actually created from it. The game was full of chances but few of them of any real quality. Judith Chalmer-Stevens in the Margit net barely made a real save all evening. The closest we came to scoring was from the aftermath of a corner when Finn whacked a fierce shot against the crossbar at the end of the first half and an unmarked Gayle header from a free kick that failed to find the target early in the second.

 

At the other end, the Gate were the first to get the ball over the line, having an effort from a corner ruled out midway through the second half.

 

Goals.

 

1-0 - A goal from nothing. After a break in play Rose suddenly found himself racing clear of their defence, finishing low to the keeper's left and sliding the ball calmly into the net.

 

1-1 - I have to admit, even I doubted our ability to rebuff them for 90 minutes. A corner from the left, a flap at the near post and Smith was able to force it over the line. No ref reprieve this time though afterwards a Margate player went down injured and ultimately earned us the time to score a winner.

 

2-1 - The last chance saloon had long called time when a free kick was awarded at on the right wing. Hussey curled it into the middle, met Marcus's head and bounced down for Goodliffe to prod home. The celebrations afterwards were reminiscent of those when Roscoe unlocked a stubborn defence late on in a Tuesday night match last season. Midweek games have an atmosphere all of their own.

 

So overall a thrilling, exuberant, thrilling occasion - but let's not do it again, eh Dons?