FA CUP 3RD ROUND -- WIMBLEDON vs TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR SUNDAY 7th JANUARY 2018

Happy New Year and that means that it is time for the FA Cup Third round weekend. The draw made last month has given us an exciting trip away to TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR which this season of course means a trip to Wembley for the Dons. 

Great to play one of the big sides as we remember how well we did to run Liverpool close a few years back, but away games in a big stadium would usually mean a decent pay day for us however with ticket prices set surprisingly very low and Wembley unlikely to be fully open we will have to beat Spurs and take the prize money. Sadly no TV income from this one and with Spurs playing West Ham on the Thursday this match has been moved to Sunday afternoon.

FORM GUIDE 
(Last 6 matches in their respective leagues, starting with most recent)
AFC Wimbledon -- WDLWLL
Tottenham Hotspur -- DWWWLW





LAST TIME OUT
AFC Wimbledon 2 Southend United 0

Tottenham 1 West Ham United 1

A Happy New Year to all Dons fans out there, and traditionally the first full weekend of the year is FA Cup 3rd round day. We got drawn at Spurs, so are Wembley bound, and arrive here after a mixed holiday fixture list that started well with a win against a high flying Bradford side, then a disappointing loss to Portsmouth and a draw against Gillingham before the new years day victory against Southend United 2-0 yet we remain in the bottom four albeit only by a point and with a game in hand. Putting the league to one side and the FA Cup gives us a good day out but realistically an upset is unlikely even if Spurs put out a so called weakened team it'll be full of internationals, we did however beat their Academy U23 side 4-3 earlier in the season as part of the Checkatrade Trophy pool games. 

Updates will be published with team news and more news as and when it comes through, Kane starts up front for Spurs with Alli, Eriksen and Son on the bench. Dons have their captain Barry Fuller back and will rely on the threat of Taylor and Barcham who was on the books at Spurs as a youngster. 

Line Ups (Confirmed);

AFC WIMBLEDON

Odds -- 33/1 (Ladbrokes / Corals) 

Long (GK),  Fuller (c),  Charles,  Deji,  Meades,  Francomb,  Abadou,  Soares,  Trotter,  Barcham,  Taylor.

Subs – McDonnell (Gk),  Nightingale,  McDonald,  Forrester,  Kaja,  Kennedy,  Hartigan

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR

Odds -- 1/10 (Generally) 

Vorm (Gk),  Trippier,  Foyth,  Vertonghen,  Walker-Peters,  Sissoko,  Wanyama,  Dembélé,  Lamela,  Kane,  Llorente

Subs – Lloris (Gk),  Nkoudou,  Dier,  Alli,  Eriksen,  Davies,  Son Heung-min

H/T Score – 0 - 0

First Half Comment;
AFC Wimbledon kick off and we are underway at Wembley for the 3rd round, it's a strong Spurs line up with only the change in goalkeeper and couple of outfield players rested, Kane starting is a surprise to me but does show the respect that they are giving us and the competition. Harry Kane linking well with Lamela and Trippier early on but yet to trouble Long in the Dons goal in the early exchanges.

Couple of chances for Spurs as the opening fifteen minutes pass by, Long making a couple of comfortable saves and the only rare forays forward by Wimbledon are quickly snuffed out but it's a good start and we'll find our way into the game yet. The commentary on BBC Radio 5 extra is very patronising even to the point of being surprised how many fans we have .... erm we sold out our allocation in about 30 minutes mate if they had opened up the top tier we would have sold that out too as well. Still all square as Harry Kane skies another shot high over the bar.

Dons at last start to make something happen and win a couple of corners which sadly doesn't amount to much, still annoying to see Lyle Taylor take corners when he is meant to be the main forward. A quick break by Dons and Jimmy Abdou hits the crossbar from the edge of the box, possibly a great save by goalkeeper Vorm, only fifteen minutes till half time and still 0-0 a good effort so far, must keep our composure while continuing to frustrate our Premier League opponents.

While the stats show Spurs have about 80% possession they have only had a couple of shots on target for Long to save, so well done Dons this half and of course came closest to score with that earlier effort hitting the bar not long till half time the fans have also been awesome with non stop support. 

F/T Score – 3 - 0

Match Summary;
Spurs kick off the second half here with the Dons fans still in good voice, haven't heard much from the Spurs fans even when they are on the attack, typical Premier League customers I guess. Lyle Taylor sets up Andy Barcham early on but he makes a mess of that cross then Barry Fuller tries his luck but wins a throw. Good start to the second half from the Dons who must be feeling good after their half time pep talk from Neal Ardley. The first booking of the match goes to Spurs Victor Wanyama and following the free kick another chance for Wimbledon saved from Darius Charles, exciting start with Wimbledon creating chances now as well. 

Sadly Harry Kane manages to deflect a couple of goals in succession to put the game away, we held out for an hour though and still proud of the efforts here against a top quality Premier League side. The Jan Vertonghen scores a screamer from 30 yards his first goal for Spurs in just over 4 years.

My Man of the Match – Harry Kane, always a threat and was bound to score in his current rich vein of form.

Referee -- Our referee for this important third round FA Cup tie has been confirmed as David Coote who hails from Nottinghamshire and has been on the referee's list since 2010.

Attendance – 47,527. (more than 7,000 Dons fans)

Next match:
Saturday 13th January vs Franchise Scum FC (Away)
League One 3:00pm