The ground soon became swamped in yellow and blue; with AFC Wimbledon flags hung at the goal end. The 50 Bromley fans stood at the other end, silent as we sung and sung. Kick off began, showing a not too dissimilar team from the openings against Dulwich, but having Dean Martin on the attack. Chances were created, but we found our selves back pedalling and defending too deep.
The refereeing was abysmal: every tackle, scrape or nudge was given an instantaneous free kick; this would have been in decorum with the fans if it were given to AFC Wimbledon as well, but it was not. After 20 minutes a penalty was given, for a tackle that looked suitable to be in a Walt Disney film. Sure enough the goal was scored, and sure enough we kept on singing. The Dons were pegged back in the first half, and failed to capitalise on the whole of the pitch until the final 10 minutes of the first half, where the goalie pulled of amazing saves to keep the ball out of the back of his net. A goal was sure to come from Wimbledon. Corner after corner, shot after shot, were all saved by the goalie.
The whistle blew for half time as the Dons fans continued their approval of their team, and of their disappointment with the referee, all met with some very choice chants. The second half saw all the Dons fans migrate to the other end of the stand; to further taunt the Bromley goalie, who took everything in excellent spirit. The Dons seemed to be dominating the run of play, until a shot was taken at goal, only to be deflected back at the attack, to be met with a beautiful left foot volley from outside the area by Dave Mulheam. The ball was struck first time, where it flew into the top right corner, with the goalie on his back. The crowd erupted feverously, and the celebrations lasted more than two minutes. This goal was long in the waiting, but it was undoubtedly worth the wait. The torrent of attack from Wimbledon continued until a counter attack from Bromley.
The goalie had been substituted at half time, and the new keeper seemed ill at ease; almost juggling the ball in the most trivial of situations. The second goal from Bromley was to be expected as the corner flew in to be deflected out, then to be met with an overhead kick, which dribbled over the line, and through the goalie’s hands.
Within minutes the Dons were trying to reply, and definitely showed the “never say die” attitude. The ball was passed from right to the centre, then from the centre was fed to the right, where a player dribbled, then hooked a shot/cross towards goalmouth. The goalie was caught off guard and dipped the shot over the bar. The shot was almost a carbon copy of the Ronaldinho goal against England.
The Dons pushed forward ever more, and saw the Bromley keeper make more brilliant save, to keep his team in the game. Play was suspended for 10 minutes as a Bromley player went down, and had to receive medical attention. The game ended, at to be honest, the Dons looked the better side, especially with their second half performance.
The man of the match has to go to the Bromley goalkeeper, Glen Shimmel, who showed what a great sport he was, and played a sterling role in a somewhat blasé Bromley team that were played off the pitch in the second half. Apart from the poor refereeing in the first half, the game was fairly well controlled.
I feel that there are great things to come from AFC Wimbledon, as they start to show signs of gelling together. Watch out CCL, we’re a coming!