It might be AFC Wimbledon this weekend, but it’s Wimbledon in my eyes. Always has been, always will be.
I remember the 1987 and 1988 FA Cup Finals. Coventry City, then little old Wimbledon getting the wins in a competition that truly meant something. The Crazy Gang set the country alight in the summer of ’88, with the first penalty save in a Wembley FA Cup final, and a win against the seemingly invincible Liverpool. The Reds dropped the Anfield Rap, but Wimbledon dropped a Lawrie Sanchez header into the net to make history.
Fast forward 40-ish years, and we’re facing Wimbledon from Plough Lane, and in my eyes, they’re Wimbledon. Just eight years before the FA Cup win, we’d faced them in the league, with the two sides having been promoted from Division Four the season before. Given that Wimbledon come to the Bank tomorrow, I thought I’d look back at when we beat them 5-1 at the Bank in October 1981.
It was City’s first home win of the Third Division campaign, and Colin Murphy’s Lincoln were an upwardly mobile side full of confidence after promotion, while Dave Bassett’s Wimbledon, who had come up alongside City, were still trying to find their feet in a division that would eventually become a stepping stone rather than a ceiling. City had grabbed a big win at Notts County days earlier, but Murphy pressed into the player not to let this become “some sort of anti-climax after the Notts County match”.
City began like a side determined not to let the occasion drift. After some early Sincil Bank nerves in previous home fixtures, there was an urgency about them here, and it paid off inside seven minutes. Tony Cunningham flicked the ball on brilliantly around halfway, Glenn Cockerill surged clear, and although Dave Beasant came out bravely, the midfielder forced his effort home to give the Imps the lead.
That set the tone for a first half in which City looked sharper, quicker and more purposeful. The second goal arrived in the 26th minute and again carried a real cutting edge. Gordon Hobson was flattened in the challenge, but the move continued, the advantage was played, and Cunningham burst between Dean Thomas and former Lincoln defender Mick Smith before finishing. It was his third goal in five matches, and City looked firmly in control.
Wimbledon were not without fight. They had enough about them to suggest why Bassett would later build something formidable at Plough Lane, and before the break, they gave City a reminder that nothing came easily in the Third Division. John Leslie pulled one back in the 38th minute after a corner, and for a spell either side of half-time the visitors threatened to make a contest of it.
That possibility disappeared once City found another gear.
On 65 minutes, Steve Cammack restored breathing space, driving in after a half-cleared corner. Two minutes later, Cunningham was involved again, heading Trevor Thompson’s clearance into Hobson’s path, and the striker ran straight through to make it 4-1. By then Wimbledon were stretched, and City were enjoying themselves.
The fifth goal was the pick of the late moments, if only for the crowd’s enjoyment. Derek Bell, on as a substitute, broke down the left and fed the ball in for Cockerill, whose low shot went in off the far upright to complete his second of the afternoon and wrap up a comprehensive win.
Teams
Lincoln City: Felgate, Thompson, McVay, Cockerill, Peake, Carr, Cammack, Shipley, Hobson, Cunningham, Neale
Sub: Bell
Wimbledon: Beasant, Jones, Thomas, Galliers, Smith, Boyle, Ketteridge, Hodges, Leslie, Downes, Lazarus
Sub: Joseph
Scorers: Cockerill (7, 77), Cunningham (26), Cammack (65), Hobson (67): Leslie (38)
Attendance: 3,160
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