Luton Town v AFC Wimbledon 26/9

[Kenneth E End]

Old adversaries from the First Division go head-to-head on Saturday, with the biggest grudge match being the must watch 'clash of the titans' - Messrs McNulty and Akinfenwa having a battle of the bulge!

Luton have come off their first home win of the season against Mansfield, whilst AFC Wimbledon have been equally inconsistent. Where the Hatters have been masters of conceding late goals, the Dons have been doing the opposite; two thirds of their points coming in the last 15 minutes of games.

Luton have a couple of availability concerns. Pelly Ruddock, Nathan Doyle and Paul Benson aren't expected to play and key defender Scott Cuthbert also an injury doubt. Scott Griffiths may not play either as his wife is due to give birth any minute.

AFC Wimbledon defender Will Nightingale is out after sustaining a groin injury with Karleigh Osborne expected to take his place.

Referee is Brendan Malone.

 

[Kenneth E End]

Fancy this to be close to the team we put out tomorrow:

Subs: Elliot Justham, Magnus Okuonghae, Curtley Williams, Alex Lawless, Danny Green, Ryan Hall, Jack Marriott

Going for 2-0 Luton - attendance 8211.

 

[Wombletom]

Crap performance by the Wombles, only to nick victory with a late winner.
Ryan (c***) Hall to get dogs abuse from the travelling Dons fans.

Luton Outlaws to go into further meltdown.

 

[Wombletom]

Just in case any Luton fans are wondering why we hate Ryan (c***)) Hall.
Here you go..... This is why. 19.13 in

 

[Wombling Kiwi]

not too sure about this one, 1-0 loss is what I am thinking.

 

[djs]

No-one going to bite on Kenny's opening line, or just treating it with contempt?

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

No doubt McNulty/Akinfenwa will be much hyped up but last year he did most of his work up against Wilkinson rather than McNulty and i would expect the same again to be honest. Think it will be quite a tight 1-1.

 

[Kenneth E End]

I didn't even remember that AFCW did the double over us last season. I now remember that we recovered from 2-0 down and robbed in injury time by having an absolute blatant penalty turned down to win it. And then the Dons go down the other end and score the winner.

 

[Judge Dredd]

No doubt McNulty/Akinfenwa will be much hyped up but last year he did most of his work up against Wilkinson rather than McNulty and i would expect the same again to be honest.

Yup, Akinfenwa is smart and knows Wilko is a softer touch. I like Wilkinson's passion but he really, really struggled with Akinfenwa last season.

 

[Kenneth E End]

Like last week, AFCW are going to be another side focusing on set pieces and getting those high balls in. We lack height all over the pitch and has been our downfall this season. Tom Elliott is another playing alongside Akinfenwa, who has been equally dangerous against us in the recent past.

 

[oakroader]

kenny,in my mind's-eye i see you wearing a sheepskin jacket and a flat-cap keeping one finger in left ear??

 

[womble76]

Oops down to 10 men.

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

Wimbledon much the better side for me, our ball retention and attacking play was absolutely pathetic to be frank. Apparently we practice this stuff, but could have fooled me.

Despite being under next to no pressure the Wimbledon centre half got himself booked for 2 very silly and needless fouls, they looked pretty comfortable until then. Hopefully the red card galvanises us a la the Cambridge match.

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

Not hugely convincing but ground it out.

Wimbledon where very deep so just had to be patient, although still very sloppy in possession. Bit fortunate with the goals perhaps, especially the 2nd which McGeehan tried desperately hard to screw up, but Marriott was in the right place for both his goals so pleased with him. Probably going to be calls for him to start but I don't want us to try and shoe horn him into the formation alongside Mackail Smith at the expense of going to 352 or something like that as it doesn't work.

Felt for O'donnel, he's had a difficult start and he really couldn't do anything right today just about. Might be worth taking him out of the firing line as he is clearly very frustrated with himself and looking out of his depth.

 

[Kenneth E End]

Think we just about deserved to win that.

It was always going to be difficult for Wimbledon to be anything other than conservative, having to defend a man light away from home for nearly an hour. Not convinced that the second booking for Osborne was justified, but it wasn't particularly clever just 3 minutes after his first.

We were OK; nothing special. Although against a 10-man brick wall it was always going to be a grind. The first goal actually came from an Akinfenwa mistake as he got in the way of James Shea who could've claimed the original cross. 4 goals in 7 appearances now for Jack Marriott - most of which have come from the bench. Very impressive start to his Luton career.

Stephen O'Donnell was horrendous today both attacking and defensively, albeit he was left exposed with no help in front of him against an impressive Barcham who caused problems in the first half. He seems bereft of confidence; would expect either Lawless or Cuthbert to play in that position next Saturday.

We're getting better as a side. Quietly, we've actually won 4 of our last 5 games.

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

Unfortunate loss, for me. We played well and had the better chances, even with ten men. We'll certainly play worse and pick up points...

Despite having an impressive side on paper Luton were better last season from what I saw. Very slow in the buildup and all a bit lateral I thought

Definitely agree with your last paragraph. McCourt is clearly a very talented ball player but he does slow down the game and want too long on the ball at times. 9 games in and it still feels like we aren't all on the same page yet but hopefully it will come as on paper it's a decent side.

Thought you were unfortunate and i wouldn't want to be Osbourne tonight, Ardley will be pissed that he commited essentially the same foul 2 times within a matter of minutes of each other and no needing to both times, especially the second as McGeehan was never getting it after a heavy touch. Perhaps a bit harsh but he's given the ref the opportunity to send him off. With 11 I thought you looked very comfortable.