Cheltenham home 25th Oct

The return of former manager Martin Allen gave us an exciting afternoon.

Won 3-1, two of our goals coming after Gueret had been sent off and we were down to 10 men.

At one point Allen was seen man-handling one of is own player back on to the pitch - clearly not accepting that the guy was injured. The ref then directed him off again.

It later transpired - so it was reported via the Moocamp - that this player had a broken wrist!

Allen contributed some things to the Dons in his season here (Winkelman says in the matchday programme that he gave us the determination to win), but I'm really glad he's gone. He was and is a bully.

Stockport home 21st Oct

An exciting evening match. Got the first goal but lost 2-1. We did all the attacking, but sometimes luck doesn't go your way. We conceded right at end, when pushing all-out for the win. It was pretty frantic, passionate stuff. I'd rather that than settling for the draw.

Crewe away, 18th Oct

A is away to uni, so it was just V & me. Travelled up on the train early and met with R, who took us to his house, then for a pub lunch. R has a wonderful house in the countryside.

Crewe struggling near the bottom of the league so we went in thinking it should be ours, and when we got an early goal it looked promising. But when theu equalised Crewe rallied and went in 2-1 up at half time. Meanwhile we hear that Liverpool are also losing 2-1 (to Wigan) at half time.

The dons equalise near the end, while Liverpool win 3-2. Crewe played better than their position in the league might suggest, though it was based very much on their tall strikers and 'the long ball'.

Carlisle home 11th Oct

A, V and I, but A brought along friends and sat apart from V and me. This was live on Sky - hence the cheap tickets for A's friends. Comfortable 3-1 win for the TV.

Bournemouth (Johnstone Paint Trophy) home 7th Oct

A,V and I loyally turned out for a somewhat miserable evening, to watch us go out 1-0 to a team near the bottom of league 2.

RdM was clearly playing some of this second-rank players which was fine, but it is a little irritating to read in the programme his claim that he takes the competition very seriously, wants to retain the cup, and that he will play his strongest team.

These players DO need to get competitative match experience, but don't claim this is the strongest team.

Millwall away 4th October

A, V and I went on the train, though some people thought we were mad, given the reputation (for violence) of the Millwall fans.

Glad we did. Winning 4-0 away to Millwall - who are above us in the league. It doesn't come much better than that! The first goal - in front of us - was nothing special, but the second was a delight. Baldock rounding the goal-keeper and calmly slotting it in from a tight angle. Our third was an embarrasing (for them) own goal, and the Millwall fans were non-too-happy by then. A small group of youngsters who'd been trying to intimidate us now took to keeping the ball when it went out (or maybe they didn't start that 'till we'd got our 4th?). Time wasting when your team is losing!

Part of the experience of going away to Millwall is the intimidation, and they didn't disappoint! There's a fenced walkway from the station to the ground, so it is pretty intimidating even when the Millwall fans are not there. On the way out, they let us know how they felt, from behind a line of police, making it clear they intended to 'get us' on the train. In the end I wasn't aware of anything actually taking place - except that one of them threw a coin at us - and I expect for most of them it is all part of the theatre.

Still, it was nothing like I've encountered anywhere else. Contrary to what might be the not-football-watching-public might expect, I've never felt seriously threatened anywhere else, and at most places felt positively welcomed ("hope you have great day but lose").

Looking in on one of the Millwall fans forums though, they did not come across at all pleasant. Stuff like the damage they'll do to our stadium on the return match, and some thinly-disguised racism. The club itself have obviously been working hard to move on, but 'unreformed' still seems a good label for at least some of their fans.

Peterborough home 27th Sept.

This feels like a local derby, somehow there's more rivalry between us and Peterborough than Northampton, so losing was a bit painful (2-1).

Again, though, I didn't feel we were out-played (as we were at Leicester, for example), we conceded through mistakes which we ought to be able to learn from.