Kedwell Nets Again To Send Dons Top
Kettering Town 1 v Wimbledon 2
Wimbledon returned to the top of the Blue Square Bet Premier on Saturday (September 5) following a battling 2-1 win at Kettering Town.
With previous leaders Mansfield surprisingly losing at home to Tamworth and Crawley being held at home to Fleetwood Town, Danny Kedwell’s strike 10 minutes into the second half was enough give the Dons victory and send them top.
Kedwell had come through a pre-game fitness test to take his place in a starting line-up that saw full league debuts for Ed Harris and Ryan Jackson. And Ismail Yakubu took his place in the starting line-up despite suffering from illness throughout the week.
The Dons took the lead after just 13 minutes when Sam Hatton fired a free kick around the wall and past home keeper Nathan Abbey.
But moments later the home side were level when Iyseden Christie’s shot took a deflection of a Wimbledon man and left Seb Brown helpless.
It was left to Kedwell to get the winner, getting on the end of Christian Jolley’s pass, cutting inside a defender and unleashing an unstoppable shot past Abbey.
The Dons had several chances to extend their lead in an end-to-end encounter and afterwards, manager Terry Brown indicated to the club’s official website that he was frustrated at not killing the game off.
"Some of the football we played today was particularly pleasing, with a number of good flowing moves," he said.
"We should have wrapped the game up long before the end, and if we are going to be successful we must learn to kill off the opposition."
The Dons entertain Bath City at Kingsmeadow on Saturday September 11.
Attendance: 1,727
Kettering Town: Abbey, Graham, Westwood, Dempster (Ashikodi 79), Boucaud, Marna, Kelly (Makofo 67), Taylor, Dance (Solkhon 71), Christie, Noubissie. Subs not used: Davis, Cooper.
Goalscorer: Christie 18.
Booked: Taylor 6, Graham 12, Dempster 74.
Wimbledon: Brown, Hatton, Blackman, Gregory (Wellard 46), Yakubu, Harris (Franks 81), S. Moore, Minshull, Kedwell, Jolley, Jackson (L. Moore 86). Subs not used: Turner, Yussuff.
Goalscorers: Hatton 13, Kedwell 56.
Booked: Hatton 36, Blackman 84, Minshull 90.
Referee: Richard Wigglesworth (South Yorkshire).
• Four Dons games have been rearranged to allow for television coverage. The game at Luton Town will now be shown live on Premier Sports at 7.45pm on Friday September 17, as will the home game against Crawley on Thursday September 23. Although they won’t be shown live, two other games have been moved to give the team sufficient recovery time: the game at Kidderminster now takes place on Sunday September 26 and the home game against Cambridge United is on Wednesday September 29.
The club have said they appreciate a number of fans will already have booked non-refundable train tickets for the game at Kidderminster and they will be offering free coach travel as a way of compensation. Full details of how this work will be announced shortly.
Rob Crane
September 10, 2010
