AFC Wimbledon v Torquay United - 21/4/12

[AustrianAndyGull]

Torquay head to Greater London and to Kingsmeadow ( otherwise known as the Cherry Red Records Stadium ) on saturday bidding to give their promotion drive fresh impetus after draws in their last two games has seen them slip a place into 3rd spot. Kingsmeadow has a capacity of 4,720 but this season has seen the club redevelop one of their stands therefore this figure is reduced somewhat. As a result, the Gulls have been given just 650 tickets for the game and i have one!!

Hopefully the travelling Yellow Army can make some noise and spur the lads on to a vital three points.

Terry Brown's men nearly did the Gulls a favour in their last game away at Crawley but conceded in the 81st minute to Graham Alexander and left with a 1-1 draw after playing against 10 men for most of the game. At least they didn't lose i suppose. They currently lie in 17th place on 48 points and have secured league football for another year, a remarkable achievement in their first full season as a football league club. They do generally concede in most games and have gone 12 league games since a 0-0 stalemate and they can be erratic and unpredictable having held Swindon at home and beaten Gillingham away but losing at home to lower placed sides and away at rock bottom Hereford. They started the season really well but tailed off around Christmas time due to being inconsistent. This game is really difficult to call as on their day they can beat us but on the flip side they could quite easily fold, we just don't know what we are going to get really.

They do have some useful players most notably Jack Midson who has been around the non-league circuit and has been prolific. He is their leading scorer with 18 in all competitions. Luke Moore is next best on 9 with Christian Jolley on 7. Kieran Djalili is also a good player and i've seen a bit of him at Chesterfield where he was on loan. Many of their players have a non-league history in terms of clubs played for but have responded well to league football. On a disciplinary note, Sammy Moore has amassed 11 yellow cards thus far so hopefully he will go one better on saturday and get his first red!

Line up last time out at Crawley:

1. Seb Brown (GK)
2. Gareth Gwillim
3. Jamie Stuart
4. Sam Hatton
5. Jack Midson
6. Mat Mitchell-King
7. Christian Jolley
8. Sammy Moore
9. George Moncur ( on loan from West Ham United )
10. Luke Moore
11. Jason Prior

SUBS: Jack Turner (GK), Chris Bush, Kieran Djalili ( on for L Moore on 70 mins ), Rashid Yussuff ( on for Jolley on 70 mins ) , Byron Harrison (on for Prior on 9 mins ).

Jason Prior will not be lining up against us as he sadly broke his leg in the challenge that saw Crawley's Hope Akpan dismissed in last saturday's match.

Well i actually believe that this game is our toughest of the three we have left purely from the viewpoint that we don't really know what we are going to facing. Sure Crewe at home will be tough but we know they like to play passing football and we know what to expect and Hereford away, well if we can't beat them then we don't deserve to go up. I'm going to go for another 1-0 to the Gulls but more in hope than expectation but one thing is for certain, if Shrewsbury & Crawley both win in midweek then nothing less than a win will do if we want to retain hopes of automatic. We are certainly due a sparkling performance after playing with lethargy in all of the last 6 games and escaping pretty much unscathed. The lads are tired and feeling the pressure and we accept that and applaud their herculean efforts this season but we just NEED them to dig deep just for a few more games and if they get a goal then go for more instead of inviting pressure and hanging on.

NOTE: I've never been to AFC Wimbledon before and i know a few of you have when we played them in the FA Trophy was it? Anyway, i would appreciate any info you guys that went can give me regarding parking and what is nearby. I understand there is a car park at the club but it fills up quick. Is it for away fans too? I also know that street parking is severely limited. Any other info about anything that may make the day easier would be very much appreciated as i'm a 'Londonophobe' and when i venture inside the M25 i have bouts of confusion and dizziness as it is all alien to a northerner of Austrian descent like myself! ( not that there can be too many of them i bet ). Seriously, London, Greater London, there are some real whackos about so i guess i'll just be adding one more to the number. :na:

COME ON THE LADS! LET'S NOT ARSE ABOUT NOW AND GET THIS JOB DONE!!!!!!!!!

[Rach]

I'm going too!!

[ferrarilover]

I miss the old, good, match day threads. :na:

Massive car park, but fills up quite fast. Depending on your route, if you come from the north, you'll pass Hampton Court Palace (which is an achingly pretty thing) on the way. We beat them 2-0 in the FAT, left it quite late but Lee Phillips eventually stooped to head a low right wing cross into the Wombles net. Their mascot is good, banging bin lids etc to get their crowd singing. Queue for tea bar was quite long, but that might have been rectified by now.

Matt.

[AustrianAndyGull]

Cheers Matt, i might get off the M25 and go down the A3 towards New Malden instead of going past Hampton Court Palace. I went to HCP a few years ago and you're right, it is a amazing place. Not so sure about Wimbledon being the same though but we'll see!

[Colorado Gull]

I'll be there and it'll be my first time to AFC Wimbledon as I didn't attend the FAT game a few seasons ago. Looking forward to this one

COME ON TORQUAY!!!

[tktufc91]

I'm going too. Quite easy for me, train up to Clapham and change for Norbiton. Wimbledon's home form has been very hit and miss this season. We have to win all of our games now if we want to have any chance of automatic promotion.

0-1 Gulls. Rene.

[GulldenBoy]

As a Wimbledon resident I can help (a bit anyway!)

If you're driving: I would definitely come up the A3 and take the Malden Junction towards Kingston. This will put you on the Malden Road. Follow that until you get a roundabout with a fountain in the middle and then take the first exit onto Kingston Road. Follow this for for 5 min or so and you will see the ground on your left.

Another option to help with parking is that you can take the exit after, Shannon Corner, park up at Raynes Park station and get the 131 bus towards Kingston which will stop right outside the ground. Note: You may have to wait a while to get a bus back as a lot of Wimbledon fans use the bus.

If you're coming by train then you can go to Norbiton but make sure you print out a map (or use smartphone) as you have to walk through a couple of residential estates to get to the ground and it isn't sign posted. About a 15-20 minute walk.

Alternatively, you can get off at Raynes Park and get the 131 bus straight to the ground.

If you want some good prematch boozers then there isn't much at the ground except the club house and few dodgy pubs up the road. Depending which way you're coming from and how much time you have you can stop off at Wimbledon itself (you can also get the 131 from here) or there are a couple of pubs including a weatherspoons at Raynes Park. I wouldn't recommend going into Kingston as it will be packed and you might struggle to get to the ground.

If you stop off at Wimbledon then I recommend the Prince of Wales which is opposite the station and the bus stops.

If getting the bus, allow 30 min from Wimbledon and 20 min from Raynes Park.

[ferrarilover]

Cheers Matt, i might get off the M25 and go down the A3 towards New Malden instead of going past Hampton Court Palace. I went to HCP a few years ago and you're right, it is a amazing place. Not so sure about Wimbledon being the same though but we'll see!

If you're going down the A3, you can stop in at Liphook and head to Forest Mere resort and see where Georgie Best lived his last few years.

Matt.

[cambgull]

If you're going down the A3, you can stop in at Liphook and head to Forest Mere resort and see where Georgie Best lived his last few years.

Matt.

You'll noticed the pub next door to his house has had quite a bit of money spent on it recently.

[AustrianAndyGull]

You'll noticed the pub next door to his house has had quite a bit of money spent on it recently.

Why would i want to visit where George Best was? The man was a total waste of space.

[ROADRUNNER]

and a great footballer

[AustrianAndyGull]

Oh , thats ok then. I'm sure all the other patients who required emergency organ transplants were more than happy for him to have yet another donated organ so he could carry on knocking it back. After all, he was a great footballer.

[bixieupnorth]

I wonder how many we'd have taken of tickets had been unlimited? despite the shameful turnout on Saturday I'd have expected 1000 perhaps to make the trip up to London? what's their average crowd, they could be kicking themselves for not making more space available to us at this important stage of the season.

hoping for an away win but will make my final prediction after tomorrow nights game

[Plymouth Gull]

We could have taken more, Bix, but unlike everybody else in our division, Wimbledon actually sell out Kingsmeadow nearly every game. They have a good amount of ST holders so not many tickets actually reach general sale. They've sold all their tickets before we sold ours, so they won't be kicking themselves.

[Marathon girl]

i'll be there

yellow army