Part 2 of 2025/26 Season: From great start we have reached the shitty end...

Squad:

Goalkeepers

1 Nathan Bishop Games Played 24 Average Rating = 7.33

20 Joe McDonnell Games Played 6 Average Rating = 7.67

Defenders

2 Nathan Asiimwe Games Played 22 Average Rating = 6.73

3 Steve Seddon Games Played 30 Average Rating = 7.10

5 Sam Hutchinson Games Played 3 Average Rating = 6.67

6 Ryan Johnson Games Played 26 Average Rating = 7.65

15 Patrick Bauer Games Played 14 Average Rating = 7.29

26 Riley Harbottle Games Played 10 Average Rating = 7.30

Left the Club

25 Ethan Sutcliffe Games Played 1 Average Rating = 7.00

31 Joe Lewis Games Played 17 Average Rating = 7.12

33 Isaac Ogundere Games Played 30 Average Rating = 7.67

Midfielders

4 Jake Reeves Games Played 25 Average Rating = 6.60

7 James Tilley Games Played 9 Average Rating = 6.89

8 Callum Maycock Games Played 25 Average Rating = 7.00

12 Allistair Smith Games Played 29 Average Rating = 6.52

18 Delano McCoy-Splatt Games Played 1 Average Rating = 5.00

21 Myles Hippolyte Games Played 24 Average Rating = 7.30

24 Harry Sidwell Out on Loan

29 Aron Sasu Games Played 14 Average Rating = 5.64

37 Zack Nelson Games Played 10 Average Rating = 6.60

Forwards

7 Danilo Orsi Games Played 13 Average Rating = 6.00

Sold

9 Omar Bugiel Games Played 24 Average Rating = 7.04

10 Josh Kelly Games Played 1 Average Rating = 6.00

Out on Loan

11 Marcus Browne Games Played 23 Average Rating = 7.43

14 Matty Stevens Games Played 17 Average Rating = 7.00

16 Antwoine Hackford Games Played 23 Average Rating = 6.35

19 Osman Foyo Out on Loan

Youngsters

22 Riley Horan Out on Loan

23 Leo Young Out on Loan

27 Ed Leach Out on Loan

30 Junior Nkeng Games Played 11 Average Rating = 7.18

32 Kai Jennings Out on Loan

REFEREES: 6.27

CONTRACTS:

Ending June 2026

Steve Seddon, Jake Reeves, Sam Hutchinson, Callum Maycock,

Omar Bugiel, Josh Kelly, Myles Hippolyte, Leo Young,

Harry Sidwell, Ethan Sutcliffe, Riley Harbottle joined Bristol Rovers,

Aron Sasu, Joe Lewis, Kai Jennings,

Nathan Asiimwe (On Loan from Charlton Athletic)

Ending June 2027

Ryan Johnson Danilo Orsi sold to Crawley Town Marcus Browne

Allistair Smith Matty Stevens Antwoine Hackford (1 Year Ext Option)

Delano McCoy-Splatt Osman Foyo Joe McDonnell

Riley Horan Ed Leach Junior Nkeng Isaac Ogundere,

Ending June 2028

Nathan Bishop

 Update #30 - We are staying up say...

 Saturday 26th April 2026

OK I am home and not fully processed the meaning of todays result. I should be ecstatic and when the goal went in and at full time I was properly mental and completely over the moon. I think the general consensus for me which can be summed up in one word. Phew!

Latics 0      V    Dons 1

Staying much further north is currently becoming a great plan and seemed to be working much better. What we did differently is not booking breakfast and sleeping longer getting dinner before heading to the game. What a world of difference between the friendly warm welcome from Wigan Athletic compared to the bloated and full of themselves and downright disrespectful welcome from our trip to Huddersfield Town. Friendly stewards and the fans were ok as well.

That said what was served up was slightly better than watching paint dry for the first half. The Latics had all the possession and were looking to create chances. The Dons who couldn’t seem to string two passes together looked to sit deep and invited pressure which is exactly what they got. However the best chance of the half fell to new striker Layton Stewart who needed a perfect ball and got a heavy pass that took him away from goal he had to turn and strike with the keeper given time to close him down. He blocked Layton’s effort which took some effort.

Second half was a more competitive affair with the Dons soaking up some pressure before growing into the game and looking to attack. The fans got louder and louder the longer the game went on. Hearing Burton Albion’s equaliser was spread around the fans whilst my phone failed to connect to anything!!

Without a real clear cut chance created the attitude become one of hold on to the point we do have. The table looked like this..

Pts (Goal Diff)

Peterborough United    52 (-2)

Leyton Orient                  52 (-12)

Wombles                    51 (-18)          

Exeter City                       49 (-8)

And then it happened, passing around the left edge of the opposition penalty area some neat passes and Nelson put Hackford through who helped the ball into the back of the net and the away end into ecstasy. Me included. The Dons were surprisingly successful at keeping the ball in the corner and burning out the remaining couple of minutes and the sound of the referee’s whistle was a joy to behold. The joy continued with the three cheers before heading back to the car.

Two extra things this was ground number 79 for me but based on the bottom two going down and teams coming up this could be 79 or back to 78 with the two changes. Also, when driving home an aggressive Ambulance driver cut me up then brake tested me and then put his blue lights in an attempted to piss me off. Home safe now but WTF!!

To be official here we are safe from relegation now and go into the final game in this position

Wombles                         53 (-18)              

Peterborough United    52 (-2)

Leyton Orient                  52 (-12)                            

Exeter City                       49 (-8)

Here’s the players score for today and I will update the contract details up there as well by the end of the season.

GK 20 Joe McDonnell 8

DEF 33 Isaac Ogundere 8

DEF 15 Patrick Bauer 9

DEF 6 Ryan Johnson 8

MID 7 James Tilley 6 (Subbed off 85th min)

MID 8 Callum Maycock 7

MID 21 Myles Hippolyte 9 (Subbed off 76th min)

MID 3 Steve Seddon 6

MID 12 Alistair Smith 6

STR 36 Layton Stewart 7 (Subbed off 65th min)

STR 30 Junior Nkeng 7 (Subbed off 76th min)

Substitutes

SUB 1 Nathan Bishop Unused

SUB 2 Nathan Asiimee 7

SUB 4 Jake Reeves Unused

SUB 5 Sam Hutchinson Unused

SUB 16 Antwoine Hackford 8

SUB 29 Aron Sasu 7

SUB 37 Zack Nelson 7

Officials

Referee (Matthew Corlett) 6

Assistants 6

WE ARE ALSO OUT OF THE POOP NOW!!!

 Update #29 - And another one goes by...

 Saturday 18th April 2026

I am angry and cannot truly tell you why exactly. Before the kick and speaking to friends some were saying some things that just rang true to me. The person that said that he feels sorry for this squad as they don’t deserve to be relegated and I have to agree with him. He also said that today would be good if Exeter drew and we lost. Well shit, guess what happened.

Dons 1      V     Pilgrims 3

This is going to be about feelings as there are a lot of them swirling around the ground. For me we went into this game without a prayer of getting anything out of it and to concede the goal we did just minutes into the game summed up that feeling perfectly. Hoping and praying to keep a clean sheet until half time gone in seconds of the start. No way of eliciting any pressure on them which would grow with the scores level.

With the news coming through that the other Devon side (Exeter) was losing by 2 goals against Stockport [See earlier game below]. Hope was somewhat renewed as it always appears to happen at half-time. Well, the optimism was rewarded when the ugliest goal since their opener was scored by Alistair Smith. Levelling the score, I celebrated strongly and felt so optimistic about the defence digging in and the result desperately needed was in out grasp with twenty minutes remaining. No, we never held the level scoreline until the 70^th minute. It went with a sweet volley into the bottom corner leaving Bishop no chance.

Heads around the stands started to drop and all hope slowly drifted away. All opportunity of any hope was extinguished eight minutes later when a ball into the box was chased down by Hackford who didn’t want to challenge the keeper instead side stepping and the keeper cleared his lines. Moving the ball down the right side swiftly and well worked into the box and the game was done and dusted in the 76^th minute. 1-3 and we accepted it like a team of 18 year olds playing a first team. Well, we did well and tried really hard didn’t we. At least Exeter was 2 down aren’t they. No, Its 2-2! Oh no wait Stockport have taken the lead its 3-2 going into injury time. They couldn’t do that could they. Well yes, their keeper scores a 95^th minute equaliser.

They are now 2 points behind and two games to go. We have a massive game at Wigan Athletic next week who should be safe now. Hopefully they have their flip flops on and their minds on the beach. Before the Judgement day of doom at home to Huddersfield Town. After the disrespectful visit to them I am sure they’ll happily send us down.

We are deeper in the shit now and the genuinely sad and frustrating thing is that with the squad on its knee in terms of numbers and starters. For example, if you take the back-up keeper off the list our bench today was all under 22. We are stuck together by Blue-tac and even then, its stretching. However, this is the position we are in, and I cannot see where the next goal let alone point is going to come from.  With that in mind all we can do is hope Burton Albion care enough to beat Exeter City next week and Bradford City have something to play for when they travel to Exeter City the week after. As for me both games are winnable for the Devon side. We are in the shit for real.

GK 1 Nathan Bishop 6

DEF 33 Isaac Ogundere 6

DEF 6 Ryan Johnson 7

DEF 3 Steve Seddon 6

MID 4 Jake Reeves 6 (Subbed off 70th min)

MID 7 James Tilley 6 

MID 12 Alistair Smith 6

MID 8 Callum Maycock 7 (Subbed off 80th min)

MID 2 Nathan Asiimwe 6 (Subbed off 70th min)

STR 36 Layton Stewart 6 (Subbed off 64th min)

STR 30 Junior Nkeng 6 (Subbed off 83rd min)

Substitutes

SUB 16 Antwoine Hackford 5 (Subbed on 64th min)

SUB 19 Osman Foyo 6 (Subbed on 80th min)

SUB 20 Joe McDonnell Unused

SUB 22 Riley Horan Unused

SUB 29 Aron Sasu 5 (Subbed on 70th min)

SUB 32 Kai Jennings 5 (Subbed on 83rd min)

SUB 37 Zack Nelson 6 (Subbed on 70th min)

Officials

Referee (Darren Drysdale) 7

Assistants 4

 Update #28 - The next one...

 Wednesday 15th April 2026

Well here I am again, an evening in the shed in a stupid looking yellow and blue striped darts top and struggling to find the words for yet another inept performance in front of an almost silent fans. We spoke after the Burton game that we cannot see where the next points were coming from and equally, I cannot see where the next goal is coming from. Then we move onto tonight and with a squad on its arse with sheer numbers of available starters to a team with abysmal form and an opponent flying high in the table but lacking numbers as well. Could we get anything from today?

Dons 0      V     County 2

Could we? Fuck!

Ten minutes before kick-off the ground appeared empty. There were no bums on sits and empty hallways sometime before that. Ten minutes into the game it sounded like it was an empty stadium. One of the weirdest atmosphere’s I’ve experienced. There was a buzz all around the ground, but it was a buzz of background chatter of 7,332 people chatting, there was the odd sporadic laughter here and there, as well as the odd chanting now and again. This includes the away fans as well. Seeing as they had just got back from Wembley on Sunday and sitting in the Play-Off places I would expect some noise from the away fans. There was some but not much (considering).

The first half showed that the Dons could actually attack and even looked like they might even make a fist out of this game. Defending stoutly and finishing off the first half with a flourish of attacks making us think there was some hope of a minor-miracle of taking some points from this game. OK a point but I am allowed to dream, aren’t I?

Slow play and praying for the end of the game seemed to be the tactic tonight which went up in a puff of smoke in the 59^th minute when a weak free kick was given on the Stockport left and a curling cross was met by an unmarked Stokes who headed past the stranded Bishop in the Wimbledon net and the game was over.

The best we could hope for was gone and the huffing and puffing with no result was about to start. Edun doubled the lead in the 72^nd minute with a low shot past Bishop and people were leaving their conversations behind and heading for the bus stops, train stations and cars. I was tempted to join them, but that little piece of hope remained, and I set the deadline at 85 minutes. I last until the 87^th before the open road called me and I was marching out the stadium safe in the knowledge we were not going to score again and no way troubling the points tally for this season again.  

We are really up against it now with one recognised centre back fit and one other held together with sticky backed plastic. With tough games remaining against Plymouth Argyle and Huddersfield Town at home, both of which fighting for the play-offs and then Wigan Athletic away a side who has moved away from the bottom of the table with a bit of the old classic of actually winning games and playing well. We on the other hand have lost five on the bounce, a run that was only ended six games ago when we drew. It all seems a bit desperate and to be brutally honest shambolic in recalling 18 year olds from loans and playing anyone they can find in different positions.

I think its time I introduce a 'in the shit' depth chart, here we go!

Here's the players scores -

GK 1 Nathan Bishop 6

DEF 2 Nathan Asiimwe 5 (Subbed off 68th min)

DEF 33 Isaac Ogundere 7

DEF 15 Patrick Bauer 6 (Subbed off 83rd min)

DEF 3 Steve Seddon 6

MID 7 James Tilley 6 

MID 4 Jake Reeves 6 (Subbed off 68th min)

MID 12 Alistair Smith 6

MID 8 Callum Maycock 7

STR 16 Antwoine Hackford 4 (Subbed off 77th min)

STR 29 Aron Sasu 5 (Subbed off 68th min)

Substitutes

SUB 19 Osman Foyo 6 (Subbed on 77th min)

SUB 20 Joe McDonnell Unused

SUB 22 Riley Horan Unused

SUB 30 Junior Nkeng 6 (Subbed on 68th min)

SUB 32 Kai Jennings 6 (Subbed on 83rd min)

SUB 36 Layton Stewart 6 (Subbed on 68th min)

SUB 37 Zack Nelson 6 (Subbed on 68th min)

Officials

Referee (Darren Drysdale) 5

Assistants 6