Cobblers Past

History Never Forgotten

PREVIEW: AFC Wimbledon (H)

Ethan Grande

ByEthan Grande

Sep 10, 2020

The Cobblers and AFC Wimbledon face each other at Sixfields Stadium in the opening match of the League One season. The Cobblers aim to build on the impressive Carabao Cup win over Cardiff City, and they are likely to stick to their attacking style of play. The Cobblers impressed in the League Two last term.

AFC Wimbledon, on the other hand, were beaten by Oxford United on penalties in their League Cup opener. The Dons are not regarded as good travellers, and seeing that Northampton Town are eager to shine on their return to the League One, we believe that there is a big value in betting on the home side.

Getting to know AFC Wimbledon.

AFC Wimbledon formed in 2002, they play their games at Plough Lane where last season they finished 20th. However this season thanks to boss Glynn Hodges their pre-season was a good success. With 4 wins and 2 loses. There latest game in the League Cup where they lost on penalties against Oxford.

Head to Head

Here’s a look at the Cobblers head to head vs AFC Wimbledon with booth clubs only playing 14 Competitive games against each other the Cobblers are on top with winning 7 games and drawing 6 and on,ky having lost 1.

Last Time Out

Daniel Powell’s second-half goal sealed three vital points as Northampton claimed victory on the road over fellow League One strugglers AFC Wimbledon.

This was the Cobblers’ fourth win in six games and it allowed them to move three points clear of the relegation zone and above the Dons, who are now just one point above fourth-bottom Oldham.

Northampton were awarded an early penalty when John-Joe O’Toole was judged to have been brought down by Dons goalkeeper George Long, with Matt Grimes slamming his spot-kick into the top corner.

The home side drew level just two minutes into the second half when Lyle Taylor’s corner found its way to Deji Oshilaja, who headed in at the far post from close range.

But Northampton restored their lead just after the hour mark when O’Toole flicked the ball back for Matt Crooks, who finished neatly into the bottom corner.

The Cobblers then gave themselves breathing space as excellent move up the pitch ended with O’Toole finding Powell, who passed a precise effort past Long.

Played for both

His youth career began with the Hertfordshire-based professional football club ‘Watford’ in 2000.In 2001, Akinfenwa joined the Lithuanian football team ‘FK Atlantas’ on the advice of his agent. This marked the beginning of his senior career.

He was on the ‘FK Atlantas’ roster during the ‘Lithuanian Football Cup’ of 2000–2001 and led the team to win the Lithuanian annual football tournament by delivering the only goal against ‘FK Žalgiris’ in the final match held on May 19, 2001, at the ‘Aukštaitija Stadium’ in Panevezys. Akinfenwa, however, faced racial abuse from fans in the country and described the experience as “just brazen.”

In early 2003, he returned to the UK and joined the ‘Barry Town United Football Club.’ He helped the club win the ‘Welsh Cup’ and the ‘Welsh Premier League.’ He had a rather short stint with the club, which was facing a financial crisis at that time, resulting in it releasing its professional playing staff.In October 2003, he joined ‘Boston United’. He netted a last-minute goal in his debut match with the club.

This resulted in a 2–1 win by the club in the ‘Football League Trophy’ match against ‘Swindon Town.’He had brief stints with ‘Leyton Orient FC’ and ‘Rushden & Diamonds FC’ before he joined the ‘Doncaster Rovers’ in February 2004. In July that year, he signed with ‘Torquay United’ as a replacement for Scottish footballer David Graham. He netted a total of 16 goals for the club during the 2004–2005 season and became the ‘Torquay United Player of the Year’ in 2005.

He joined ‘Swansea City’ in July 2005. The club was instructed to pay £85,000 as compensation. His debut match for the club took place at its home stadium, the ‘Liberty Stadium,’ located in the Landore area of Swansea. The match saw him net a goal against the ‘Tranmere Rovers.’ This marked the first competitive goal scored at the stadium.The 2006 ‘Football League Trophy’ final, played between ‘Swansea City’ and ‘Carlisle United,’ on April 2 that year, at the ‘Millennium Stadium,’ Cardiff, Wales, saw ‘Swansea City’ win 2–1. The winning goal was scored by Akinfenwa. During his first season with the club, Akinfenwa also helped ‘Swansea’ reach the ‘League One’ promotion play-off final.

The following season, he played regularly until he suffered from a broken right leg. Akinfenwa refused to sign a new contract with the club after the end of the second season.Although he gave his consent to sign with the professional football club ‘Swindon Town’ on June 29, 2007, he could not clear the medical test. Following this, in November 2007, he agreed to play on a month-to-month contract with the ‘Millwall Football Club.’He signed with ‘Northampton Town’ on January 18, 2008, for the rest of the 2007–2008 season and scored a total of 7 goals that season.

After the end of the season, he signed a fresh year-long contract with the club on May 30, 2008. He scored 15 goals during the 2008–2009 season and 17 goals during the 2009–2010 season, ending his tenure with the club in May 2010. In 2010, he became the ‘Northampton Town Player of the Year.’

He signed a year’s contract with ‘Gillingham FC’ on July 29, 2010. He scored 11 goals for the club during the 2010–2011 season and formed a strong partnership with striker Cody McDonald.On May 25, 2011, he returned to ‘Northampton Town.’ His career’s first and only hat-trick to date was for the club in a match against ‘Accrington Stanley’ on November 10, 2012.

He auctioned the shirt he had worn in this match 3 years later, when the club faced a financial crisis. The proceeds of this auction, amounting to £440, were donated to a supporters’ trust. He was released by the club at the end of the 2012–2013 season.On July 2, 2013, he re-signed with ‘Gillingham.’ He scored 10 goals for the club during the 2013–2014 season, apart from building another partnership with McDonald. Following the end of the 1-year contract, Akinfenwa left ‘Gillingham.’He signed with ‘AFC Wimbledon’ on June 20, 2014, and scored 15 goals during the 2014–2015 season.

He had a contract extension with the club on June 8, 2015, and was released from the contract on May 30, 2016, after he scored a penalty against ‘Plymouth Argyle’ in the ‘League Two’ play-off final. ‘AFC Wimbledon’ sealed a 2–0 win in the match. He scored 8 goals for the club in the 2015–2016 season and became the ‘AFC Wimbledon Player of the Year’ in 2015.

Akinfenwa then signed a year-long contract with the ‘Wycombe Wanderers.’ He currently plays with them as a striker. He scored 18 goals in each of the 2016–2017 and the 2017–2018 seasons for the club and became part of the ‘PFA Team of the Year: 2017–18 League Two.’ He was also named the ‘Wycombe Wanderers Player of the Year’ in 2017.

Stat Preview

Northampton have only lost one of their 14 league games against AFC Wimbledon (W7 D6), a 1-0 defeat the last time they hosted the Dons in the league.

AFC Wimbledon have failed to score in half of their league encounters with Northampton, netting just nine goals in total.

Northampton have lost their opening league game of the season by a 1-0 scoreline in each of the last three seasons, with the previous two campaigns also starting at home.

AFC Wimbledon have only won their opening league game of the season in one of the last seven campaigns (D3 L3), a 1-0 victory against Fleetwood in 2018.

Match Officials

Today’s Referee is Mr Ollie Yates. Ollie’s last game was Derby v Barrow in the EFL Cup the result of the game was a 0-0 draw.

In the 2019/20 season Ollie managed 30 competitive games awarding 105 yellow cards and 7 red cards.

Ollie’s last Cobblers game was Over a year ago on the 24th August 2019 in League Two in the Cobblers 1-0 lose to Colchester.

Ollie last AFC Wimbledon game was on the 12th March 2019 in League One and AFC Wimbledon beat Peterborough 1-0 with 1 red cards in the game.

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