Reserves - Arsenal v Wimbledon 03/09/97

Arsenal reserve match

Avon Insurance Combination, September 3 1997

Arsenal 1 Wimbledon 1

AFC v Wimbledon 1-1 (1-0)

Arsenal Team: Lukic, Mcleod, Taylor, Marshall, Mendez, Selley, Shaw, Hughes, Wreh, Anelka, Black.

Not 100% sure of the team as arrived late and though I got a team sheet it was very wrong and noone seemed to have heard the announcements. Add to that I am not sure of some of the new faces as I haven't been to the reserves this season. Wreh could've been rankin but I am assuming it was Wreh cos he looked good! Also not sure if it was Black on the right wing as he looked a bit tall, but it certainly wasn't Selley as his number suggested.

Anyway we played a 4-4-2 with Selley/Marshall as centre backs and Mcleod (according to team sheet) and Taylor (nutty in disguise) as fullbacks. Hughes was on the left and in the middle Shaw and Mendez with Anelka and Wreh up front. We were a bit sluggish at first though ended up dominating the last 15 mins of the second half, and Anelka scored a cheeky goal by lobbing the ball over a rushing keeper, nipping behind and putting it in the back of the net.

Second half we dominated almost totally, and if a few easy chances had not gone wanting would have been 4 or 5 up (sounds familiar). Hughes in particular missed a golden opportunity by blasting it over when a simple placing shot would've been enough. Wreh went close a couple of times and hit the post once whilst Mendez tried a few shots from way out which almost came off. Then as I think we all had feared, Wimbledon equalised from a bit of head tennis and we had only ten minutes to get the result we deserved. The last ten minutes were very exciting with both sides going for a win (are you listening Spurs) and it really could've gone either way although we were still on top (just).

As for the players:

Lukic - mixture of good and bad (as usual)

McLeod - didn't see much of the game

Taylor - very much like Winterburn, and good going forward as well as defending, cleared the ball from the line once.

Marshall - I admit to a bias here as I like him, but in all honesty not a spectacular perfomrnace.

Selley - Very solid at the back, good cover for centrebacks maybe

Shaw - Didn't really get forward much which is his strength - a bit dissapointing

Mendez - odd mix of class and rubbish ( a la Parlour). Happy to shot from anywhere, and chases well. Did one surpeb run from the centre to goal, beating 3 or 4 players then fluffing an one on one with the goalie.

Black(if it he) Good little runs and gets in amongst it - should've scored Hughes - good in first half, faded a bit in second - looks class in patches.

Wreh - Runs a lot, and dives far too much (didn't get a thing). Unlucky not to score. Has a bad habit of dummying or backheeling without checking to see if someones there!

Anelka - Saved the best til last. The man just oozes class. Excellent composure to score the goal and set up so many chances that if Dennis or Wright had been playing we would've seen double figures. Lovely skills particulary dumming and back heels, but only does it when someones there!

Report by Peter Swingewood

It finished Arsenal 1-1 Wimbledon but, much like Spurs on Saturday for the first-teamers, it should have been a whole lot more. The woodwork denied our boys twice - and you'd never guess which end they were shooting at... Am I alone in leading a campaign to have the clock end goal replaced? (or at least investigated!).

The teamsheet was not accurate, and as this was only my second reserve match, only the relatively familiar faces were recognisable to me - ie. Anelka, Hughes (Stephen), Black, Mendez, Lukic, Shaw and Rankin. If anyone else was there, please fill in the blanks!

We started brightly enough, but some good saves by experienced keeper Paul Heald of the Wombles kept Arsenal out, that is, until Anelka decided to remind Wenger that WWW does not have a divine right to first team football. A good pass played him in, he calmly trapped the ball, spun and knocked it cleanly into the net on 26' to give us a 1-0 advantage.

Black played very well throughout and looked a class above the Wombles, who it must be said, look like they have a few youth prospects of their own. The second half was much more memorable. We were attacking the clock-end and the boys gave the Wombles a statement of intent as Anelka turned on the ball and smacked it from 25 yards out giving the keeper some work to do to save it.

Isaiah Rankin reminded me of Kevin Campbell the number of times he squandered the ball in good goalscoring positions. He was unlucky though - the clock end woodwork denied him twice. Once when he rounded the keeper and it skidded off the outside of the post, and once again on 70' from inside the box when he smacked it against the inside of the post and it skidded out.

There were a few long range efforts from Mendez, but his main contributions were some lovely long distance passes to the feet of Black, Rankin and Anelka, all of which produced panic amongst the Dons defence. He started on a 70 yard run late in the game that brought him to the edge of the Don's area where he was finally dispossessed.

All seemed to be progressing smoothly until a shot from outside the box on 77' was misread by Blind John Lukic, who dived over it in conceding the Wombles equaliser.

The other first teamer who had a howler (to put it mildly) was Stephen Hughes. After some lovely work between Black and Anelka, Hughes was presented with a tap in at the edge of the six yard box only to welly it into Row Z of the Clock End. He wasted another good chance on 85' with the goal at his mercy. His passing was wayward and he was well out of sorts - he looked like he was asleep.

On this evidence, Mendes looks like an uncut diamond, wheras Anelka looks as close to a first team start as is possible. He does have some flaws, but they are disguised by a veneer of class every time he is on the ball. If anything, he was expecting too much of his below par teamates, but with the likes of WWW, Bergy and Overmars to accompany him, his solo performance could well be transformed into a magnum opus of a symphony.

Overall, it was a match that we dominated, but like Saturday, chances went begging. This was my last reserve match before starting work. The gossip around the ground went along the lines of "How the heck do we get to Salonika?!"

report by 'Spud' R. Raffi Varoujian

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