FA CUP SECOND ROUND - AFC WIMBLEDON vs CRAWLEY TOWN - SUNDAY 29th NOVEMBER 2020

This weekend the Dons will host Crawley Town in the second round of this seasons FA Cup. Having recently returned to Plough Lane, caught Coronavirus and eventually beat Barrow 4-2 on penalties last Thursday night in round one, it's been a busy time. Of course this is a competition that we have fond memories of, and hopefully we can progress once more into the third round draw on Monday night if recent games haven't taken too much out of the squad.

Crawley have been seen by many (not us) as 'rivals' during our tussles in their Steve Evans era, but much has changed since then. They are now managed by John Yems and currently find themselves in 15th place [18 points] in League Two but we all know league form goes out the window in the cup. Crawley come into the game in need of a victory, after suffering back-to-back home defeats. Former Crawley striker Ollie Palmer returns looking for his first goal for the Dons, can he secure that against his old side in the Cup?

FORM GUIDE

(Last 6 matches in respective leagues, starting with most recent)
AFC Wimbledon -- LWDDWD
Crawley Town -- LLDLWW

LAST TIME OUT

Barrow AFC 0  AFC Wimbledon 0
Dons won 4-2 on penalties

Crawley Town 1  Grimsby Town 2

Updates will be published with team news and more as and when it comes through. Wimbledon's recent form is fairly good having picking up some vital points to leave us in midtable and the biggest achievement this season was also completed on Tuesday with the return to football at the new Plough Lane Stadium. Naturally there are no points to be had here today, just cup glory and a step ahead to a big tie later on (maybe) where the aim is Tv money rather than any gate receipt given there are no fans for the foreseeable future. More news nearer the weekend when available, and then the second round draw will be at it's regular time on Monday night. Expecting a number of changes for the Dons having played three times in the past week already including the extra time effort against Barrow and the long trip back home.

Line Ups (Confirmed);

AFC WIMBLEDON 

Win Odds - 11/10 [William Hill]

Trueman (Gk), Heneghan, Csoka,  Thomas, McLoughlin, Chislett, Hartigan, Reilly, Seddon, Palmer, ⚽Pigott (c)

Subs - Tzanev (Gk), Woodyard,  Nightingale,  Alexander,  🟨Rudoni,  Guinness-Walker,  Longman

CRAWLEY TOWN

Odds -- 13/5 [William Hill] 

Morris (Gk),  Sesay,  Craig,  Tunnicliffe,  Dallison-Lisbon,  Tsaroulla,  Hessenthaler,  Bulman,  🟨Powell,  ⚽Watters,  ⚽Nadesan

Subs –  Nelson (Gk),  McNerney,  German,  Frost,  Matthews,  Ashford,  Galach

Selected Bets;
    First half over 1.5 goals @5/2.  YES

    Penalty awarded @11/4.

    Ollie Palmer to score anytime @6/4.

⚽H/T Score – 1 - 1    [Pigott 22']   [Nadesan 30']

First Half Comment;

A home FA Cup tie at Plough Lane against Crawley, live online and its Wimbledon who kick us off to get round two underway and the ball is quickly lumped up to Ollie Palmer, hopefully we will settle and give the ex Crawley Town front man the opportunity to score against his old side. Ball is spending a lot of time being punted up and down the pitch, very little in terms of goal action so far after fifteen mins. Chislett is creating some opportunities for the Dons but the final ball needs to improve, Crawley committing a few fouls (as usual) hopefully the ref can get his cards out soon. Finally the breakthrough as Chislett blocks a Crawley break gets a smashing cross in and Joe Pigott is unmarked in the box to power the header home 1-0 Dons. While we appeared to be on top for a while it only took one decent pass by Crawley to undo our defence Jack Powell slips in Ashley Nadesan to dink home and even it up at 1-1. Strong aerial challenge by Ollie Palmer leaves a Crawley player on the deck, we need to use our strength up front to get into them more few more strong tackles going in as the half begins to come to a close.

⚽F/T Score – 1 - 2    [Watters 50']

Match Summary;

Losing in the cup is bad enough, losing to a crappy team like Crawley is terrible. One shot on goal all game, very slow, very poor and deserved nothing from that. The fact we struggled against Barrow too shows we are a league one side in name only. Fed up with this lack of desire.

My Man of the Match – Chislett, at least he tried.

Referee – Our referee for this afternoon's second round FA Cup tie will be Mr Robert Lewis from Shrewsbury who has been around for a long time and we should be in safe hands. Doesn't show too many cards, that might change today given the so called rivalry, he last took charge of us last December which resulted in a 2-1 win at Bristol Rovers. Will be assisted today by Paul Lister and Christopher Kidd on the touchlines and our fourth official is Gregory Read. 

Attendance – None at present in FA Cup, maybe soon. 

Next league match:
Wednesday 2nd December vs Peterborough United (Home)
League One 6:00pm