EMIRATES FA CUP SEMI FINALS WEEKEND _ SATURDAY 17th _ SUNDAY 18th APRIL 2021

Beginning to reach the final stages of this season and as we've reached the middle of April it's time for the semi final stages of the FA Cup sponsored by Emirates. These matches will be played at Wembley and one of them is being used as a test event for the return of fans, a limited crowd of 4000 will be allowed for the match between Leicester City and Southampton on Sunday 18th April.

These footballing test events, which also includes the EFL Cup Final at Wembley, will be part of the government’s science-led Events Research Programme (ERP) working closely with local authorities and organisers to undertake studies to get fans and audiences back in safely as restrictions are gradually eased.

First of these will be the Emirates FA Cup semi-final between Leicester City and Southampton on Sunday 18 April, which will host an audience of 4000 people, before the League Cup Final on 25 April which will step up to have 8000 spectators. The plan is then to build up to hosting a 21,000 crowd for the Emirates FA Cup Final on Saturday 15 May.

Saturday 17 April 2021
Chelsea 1 - 0 Manchester City (5.30pm BST) – BBC One
[Ziyech 55']

BBC will televise the first of the two semi finals this weekend as Chelsea, last season's beaten finalists, will take on Manchester City who are still fighting on four fronts this season. The Blues are fighting for two cup competitions under Thomas Tuchel and are also firmly in the top four race with the season beginning to reach it's climax. Chelsea made it through to the semi final stage of the FA Cup having beaten Sheffield United 2-0 in the quarter finals six days ago at Stamford Bridge, an own goal from Oliver Norwood and Hakim Ziyech's injury time strike enough to give Tuchel's side the victory in a game where they were not at their best. 

Pep Guardiola's City brushed aside Chelsea 3-1 back in January's league fixture, and will probably be favourites to reach another final this season. Despite last weekend's defeat to Leeds United they still on course to regain their Premier League title, already in the League Cup final (vs Tottenham) next weekend and faced Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday night in the Champions League winning 2-1 on the night [4-2 on aggregate] keeping them in the hunt for four trophies. They reached this semi final tie by overcoming Everton 2-0 with late goals from Ilkay Gündogan and Kevin De Bruyne.

I hope for a high scoring entertaining game and will go for the over 3.5 goals here to mirror the 3-1 game in the league. 

Sunday 18 April 2021
Leicester City 1 - 0 Southampton (6.30pm BST) – BT Sport 1 

Ralph Hasenhuttl's side booked their place at Wembley with a comfortable 3-0 win over south coast neighbours Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium. Nathan Redmond and Moussa Djenepo were on target in the Dorset sunshine while Leicester City caused a 3-1 'shock' against Ole Gunnar Solskaer's United to join them and their manager Brendan Rodgers will be aiming to take his foxes into this season's cup final as they are the only one of the last four to have not yet lifted the famous trophy.

With a few thousand lucky fans able to watch this tie will be strange to see Wembley so sparsely populated. Leicester to win this one for us, while also looking at goals from Jamie Vardy and Kelechi Iheanacho probably back them for the first scorer. 

£900,000 and £450,000 will be distributed from the Emirates FA Cup’s prize fund to winning and losing clubs respectively in the semi-finals.

Good luck to all four teams this weekend, and it's Leicester who will meet Chelsea in this season's FA Cup Final next month.

AFC WIMBLEDON v SWINDON TOWN -- 20/21 LEAGUE ONE - PLOUGH LANE 17th APRIL 2021

Saturday 17th April 2021 5:30pm
AFC Wimbledon will 'host' their next home game back in Wimbledon against Swindon Town at the Plough Lane Stadium this weekend. With the funeral service of HRH The Prince Phillip taking place earlier in the afternoon the EFL have opted to allow matches to be moved to either 12:30pm or 5:30pm and we've opted for the latter. While we are not going to be able to see a game at our new stadium this season but hopefully can get down there soon enough after fans are back later in May and some 'test' events to be organised first. A few fans being allowed in for these test events featuring our youth/academy stars towards the end of May, having seen some pictures taken at the recent Charlton game of the new stadium shows a few things to be completed on the perimeter of the stands it does look like the main stand is ready for action. The Dons played away at Accrington Stanley last weekend and secured a morale boosting 5-1 win there, then on Tuesday faced Ipswich Town where they picked up another excellent win 3-0 as a result of these we are currently sitting above the relegation places in 19th with 42 points. I am delighted to see that we do continue with the pairing of Joe Pigott and Ollie Palmer up front with the attacking options from midfield including the likes of Ayoub Assal and Jack Rudoni who got himself on the scoresheet in that midweek win.

Onto today's game itself this Saturday in League One and our opponents today, Swindon Town, find themselves in 23rd place in the league on 37 points so are also desperate for the three points here. Managed by former Republic of Ireland international John Sheridan who took over in November 2020 after a short spell with fellow strugglers Wigan. Swindon also had a midweek game against bottom of the table Rochdale losing 2-1 there so expecting the bottom four to change with every game till the season ends.

A victory for the Dons would go a long way to reaching safety after a difficult season with only a few more games to go.

Most Recent League Games (Tuesday night)
AFC Wimbledon 3 - 0 Ipswich Town 

Rochdale 2 - 1 Swindon Town

Head to Head
Our head to head form against Swindon Town is quite sparse since our return to the football league. However only the one win out of six matches, two defeats and three draws. That sole win did come in the reverse fixture back in October, 1-0 at Swindon's County Ground with the deciding goal coming from Dons striker Joe Pigott.

Starting XI's [Confirmed]

AFC WIMBLEDON 

Win Odds - 17/20 [William Hill]
Tzanev (Gk), O'Neill, Heneghan, ⚽Nightingale, Guinness-Walker, Dobson, Woodyard (c), Rudoni, ⚽Assal, ⚽x2 Pigott, Palmer

SUBS - Cox (Gk), Alexander,  Oksanen,  🟨McLoughlin,  Longman,  Kalambayi,  Osew

Swindon Town

Win Odds - 16/5 [William Hill]
Camp (Gk),  Broadbent,  Grant,  🟨Grounds,  Caddis,  🟨Lyden,  Palmer,  Twine,  Payne,  ⚽Smith,  🟨Pitman (c)

SUBS - Matthews (Gk),  Garrick,  Grant,  Curran,  Thompson,  Omotoye,  Hope

Selected Bets On This Match;

• Over 1.5 goals in 1st half @5/2.
• Joe Pigott to score first @4/1.
• Penalty to be awarded and scored @7/2.
• Bookings over 45 points @12/5.
• Over 3.5 goals in match @3/1.

⚽Half Time Score - 3 - 0    [Pigott 20' (pen) Nightingale 26' Asaal 44']

First Half Comments;

We are underway enjoying the late afternoon sunshine here at Plough Lane, and it's the visitors who are quickly out of the blocks having the opening shot which is blocked for the first corner of the match. Plenty of threat from both sides, who need the points at the bottom of the table, however the opening exchanges fail to fully test either goalkeeper. Dons begin to look a bit more in control as the half progresses, having more opportunities, corners and possession, Ollie Palmer having another shot blocked, hopefully a goal is not far away. Called it, a penalty is awarded to Wimbledon after 20 minutes and up steps Joe Pigott to put it away 1-0 Dons. Swindon's Jonathan Grounds is booked for the challenge that led to the penalty award. Will Nightingale quickly puts Dons 2-0 up with a header from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner. The game looks settled now even before half time when Ayoub Assal scores the third just before the break. Swindon's captain Brett Pitman becomes the third player into the referee's book just before the half time whistle sounds.

⚽Full Time Score - 4 - 1    [Pigott 54']    [Smith 79']

Match Summary;
Three wins in a row and plenty of goals, where did this Wimbledon side come from, such an improvement when we needed it most. Created plenty, scored when it mattered, goals being shared around and a five point gap to the bottom four now with only five games left to play, far from safe, but the feelings are much more positive now. 

My Man of the Match - Ayoub Assal improves with every game, good to see goal threat from midfield too.

Attendance - Sadly still no one for the time being. Maybe sometime later this year would be nice, after all we've a new stadium to celebrate in 2021.

Today's Referee - Our match referee for this afternoon will be Mr John Busby from Oxfordshire, has been on the national list for the last 5+ seasons, only taken one game for us this season out 1-0 win at Bristol Rovers in the EFL Trophy, average number of cards below three a game but regular number of reds too. His assistants will be Paul Graham and Stuart Butler while our fourth official is the one and only Trevor Kettle.

Dons next league match:
Tuesday 20th April vs Oxford United (Home)
League One Kick off 7.00pm

KEMPTON PARK HORSE RACING 2021 - MEETING #11 WEDNESDAY 14th APRIL

 Welcome to Kempton Park racecourse a season of evening meetings following the events on a Wednesday night on the all weather flat track under the lights. We will be blogging throughout 2021 till the end of the year. Started well this season pleasantly still ahead as we enter April. The sporting weekend was of course over shadowed by the sad passing of HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh at the grand age of 99, but we did see history made at Aintree's Grand National  last weekend by Rachael Blackmore riding Minella Times to victory in the big race and my beloved AFC Wimbledon are out of the bottom four now (up to 19th place in League One) after their outstanding 1-5 away victory against the mighty Accrington Stanley, they also faced promotion chasing Ipswich Town on Tuesday prior to this meeting and picked up another win 3-0 which helps to keep us ahead of the relegation battle with only a handful of games to go.

Returning to the horse racing all results here are reported to 1pt at Starting Prices (SP) we will be keeping a rolling record of profit/loss all the way through from January till the Boxing Day 'King George' fixture in December. A successful opening first quarter in 2021 means we arrive here with a +27.68 profit and will continue to keep a record to SP throughout the season.

Throughout the year we will keep up with our occasional lay opportunities of anticipated short priced favourites too. Naturally we will keep these results separately from the handicap figures we had been fairly successful with our selections throughout last year managed to get plenty of favourites beat so we finished on 33/49 (67.34%). We reset the counters for 2021 and will be continuing this throughout the year again. Currently standing at 11/15 (73.33%) after the latest meeting and we shall see how things progress during the year ahead. 

This week will be our eleventh Wednesday evening meeting of the year although sadly it's still being held behind closed doors even as we begin to see signs of lockdown easing, a roadmap to a more normal life is in progress though I feel we won't be going racing till late May at best. Looking at tonight's meeting we shall expect an eight race card now with the final handicap having been divided, there are now six handicaps for us to review. Our action will now commence a little earlier now at about 16:40 with a seven furlong handicap, then we should end the card around about 20:15 with our final handicap event again over seven furlongs. 

Here's a link to this Wednesday's race card; RACECARD

Going and Weather -- The going on the polytrack surface is described as 'standard to slow' and the current weather forecast for this Wednesday is that it's going to be a cloudy day here and a high of only 12C expected tonight.

Here are our handicap selections for tonight;

16:40  Unibet New Instant Roulette Handicap (3yo)
7f  [Class 6  14 runners]

Plenty of 3yo action this evening our opening handicap has a max field of fourteen runners, COSMOS RAJ [2nd 10/3] placed a couple of times in his opening three runs, now in a handicap against his own age group should have a good chance here off a fair mark. 

KODIAC BROWN BEAR [WON 7/1] has had plenty experience, more than most here, having started off in handicaps on a mark of 70, now rated 57 this looks more suitable for his three year old campaign ought to be close again if he can repeat his runner up effort at Southwell, now has 3lb claimer Connor Murtagh although it's his first run on the surface.

17:15  Unibet 3 Uniboosts A Day Fillies' Handicap (3yo)

1m 3f 219y  [Class 4  6 runners]

Short price runner here with Nellie Moon (Mrs A Perrett) looking to go favourite now, so we'll chance two bigger price selections against that one. LIVIA THE EMPRESS [4th 9/2] a Chelmsford winner and placed elsewhere on the all weather tracks for trainer George Scott, looks consistent with her weight allowance plus Laura Pearson's 5lb claim bringing her into the equation. 

SECRET SHADOW [3rd 13/2] has run three times so far and enters her first handicap so could have a lot to say for her top trainer Andrew Balding and 16/1 against the potential short odds shot looks an attractive option.

18:45  Unibet Extra Place Offers Every Day Handicap

1m  [Class 4  11 runners]

Nice and open contest the betting shows about 5/1 the field, SILVER DUST [9th 16/1] represents Richard Fahey and is a course winner over the trip last March, has continued to run well even off these higher handicap marks and should be running well once more here

A winner here more recently TOMMY ROCK [5th 11/1] is often held up for a run and if allowed to kick for home a bit sooner should be involved in the finish again even in this slightly higher grade and 16/1+ looks a decent place option too.

19:15  Wise Betting At racingtv.com Handicap (3yo)

1m  [Class 6  14 runners]

The filly Final Fantasy looks like a short price favourite for this handicap event so we'll try a pair elsewhere against her, they are all three year olds, TOKYO CHIC [Non Runner] was runner up here to Final Fantasy a couple of weeks ago and is worth a chance once more in this low grade appeared to be running on at the end of that race and might be able to reverse fortunes with only half a length to make up. 

Also looking at DEVIL'S CLUB [3rd 5/2f] who has placed here before in nursery events last year, has had a break since and if ready to roll as a 3yo would be interesting in the market.

19:45  Try Our New Super Boosts At Unibet Handicap (Div One)

7f  [Class 6  14 runners]

Our final handicap tonight has been separated into two divisions, the opening event sees our regular VIOLA PARK [Non Runner] at the head of affairs, won twice not long ago and returns to the scene of the latter win with a strong chance in this grade. 

Regular Wolves runner UNAPOLOGETIC [WON 6/1] has dropped down to a nice mark and is 4lb lower than her runner up effort in December, with jockey Connor Murtagh taking off a further 3lb must be in with a chance over this trip she seems to stay on and might be worth a look over a mile later too.

20:15  Try Our New Super Boosts At Unibet Handicap (Div Two)

7f  [Class 6  14 runners]

The second division also has a maximum field STREET POET [3rd 11/1] does appear to be a Wolves stalwart, but when seen here last finished runner up to Viola Park (late non runner in previous race) and a multiple winner off higher marks too. 

Sir Mark Todd trains filly KYLLINGA [Non Runner] and while she remains a maiden the trainer has had some success and her last three efforts over this trip haven't been too shabby, it's a low mark to exploit and a decent price as a result.

Staked -- 12 points.       Returns -- 18 points.
Results will appear here later during Wednesday evening. All results are accurate and recorded to SP returns to a 1pt win stake only and updated each meeting. Our winning start to 2021 continues and these first few months have proved to be successful our overall profit stands at +27.68 pts after meeting #10. We will update tonight's meeting #11 during the course of this evening. Another profitable week with few nice winners and places, profit of +6 points to SP taking us to +33.68 pts.

Lays -- 11/15 We had a good season last year again with the lays, aiming at favourites and not afraid to take on short odds on shots too. The plan will be for at least one or two each meeting and we will keep those results separate from the handicaps. Successful lay selection tonight so now 12/16 overall.

Tonight's Lays;

17:45 - Isola Rossa  [6f Novice Stakes]. Lost 3rd 4/1

Our next midweek floodlit meeting here will be held on Wednesday 5th May so keep well and hopefully we can have a successful 2021.