After drawing Ebbsfleet United in the 2010-11 FA Cup First Round Proper, Terry Brown's AFC Wimbledon were back in action to take on Darlington.
"As with all FA Cup ties, the result is more important than the performance and although we never reached any heights on Saturday I would point out that Basingstoke is a very difficult place to win and I am really delighted to have overcome what was a really good Basingstoke performance on the day."
"Sunday's midday draw paired us with Liam Daish's Ebbsfleet, a team that is on a twelve match unbeaten run," Brown said on the draw.
"It will also bring back to Kingsmeadow last year's skipper, Paul Lorraine, along with Derek Duncan and Callum Willock, all of whom will no doubt relish the opportunity to take us on in what should be a very exciting FA Cup tie. Our games against Ebbsfleet last year were very tight and you always know you are in for a hard game against any of Liam Daish's teams."
"The bad news for Ebbsfleet is that Luke Moore saved some of his best performance against 'The Fleet' and I must say he looked very sharp in training today."
"As far as Saturday's game is concerned we picked up slight knocks to Ismail Yakubu, Ryan Jackson and Seb Brown. All are expected to be fit and available for our up-and-coming league fixture with Darlington on Saturday."
"Meanwhile, Brett Johnson had a cortisone injection in his knee on Friday. He needs a rest period of three or four days and he hopefully will be able to resume training in earnest in Thursday."
Optimism was high for the Dons as they resumed practice on Thursday.
“This week’s training has gone very well and the players have been flying in a couple of the sessions," Brown said. "We’ve got one or two problems with injuries but I don’t particularly wish to go into too much detail about them unless and until I have to. Having said that, I am sure that with a squad of 22 we should be OK for Saturday."
"On a positive note both Luke Moore and Rashid Yussuff have excelled in training this week and will both be pushing for a starting place this week."
“Mark Cooper brings his Darlington side on the back of a good win in the FA Cup last week. Having looked at the scout’s report of last week, they are certainly going to pose some problems in the box as Mark’s teams play bright, quick attacking football and they have a lot of height in the team for set pieces."
“Darlington have only lost one away fixture this year, so we know we are going to be in for a difficult game. But, our home form has been very good this season and so long as we stick to our game plan I am confident that we can continue the run. When we played Gateshead it took over 70 minutes to get a breakthrough but the crowd was very patient. Believe me that really helps, so we’ll be looking for the same again, please, if necessary.”
Scoring-wise, the Quakers are led by former Altricham ace Chris Senior and Liam Hatch. However, central midfielder Paul Terry has been lost due to a torn ACL and the failure to sign center back Sean Gregan and Northern Irelan international winger Keith Gillespie has left Darlington limping into Kingsmeadow.
Up until the weekend, Darlington had not won outside the Northern Echo Darlington Arena. That all changed in the 14th minute, when Senior made it 1-0 Darlo. A follow-through by Marc Bridge-Wilkinson in the 62nd minute made it 2-0 Quakers. Overall, the Dons just failed to impress on Saturday.
Combined with Crawley Town's 2-1 victory over Mansfield Town, AFC Wimbledon wobble down to second on the 2010-11 Football Conference National table.
The Dons will return to FA Cup action on Saturday, Nov. 6 when they face Ebbsfleet. Kickoff is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. ET.
Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/505505-view-from-kingsmeadow-volume-13-a-quaker-shakedown
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