AFC Wimbledon out of Carling Cup Before it Began

The first round of the Carling Cup provided a whole host of entertainment this week with 108 goals being scored and six ties decided by penalties.

However, one side who weren’t able to join in the festivities were AFC Wimbledon who lost in the first preliminary round to take place since 2002. Wimbledon went down 3-2 to fellow promoted side Crawley Town on Friday 29^th July and were subsequently knocked out of the 2011-2012 Carling Cup before it even began.

This was only the second time that a League Cup preliminary round has been necessary and was so because of Birmingham City’s relegation to the Championship. As current holders of the League Cup, City are seeded through to the third round meaning that one less side was required for the first round draw.

As the two sides promoted from the Blue Square Conference and therefore the lowest seeded sides, Wimbledon and Crawley were required to play each other in a single match to be decided on the night. Having lost the match AFC Wimbledon will, barring relegation, have to wait one more year in order to make their first ever appearance in the League Cup.

AFC Wimbledon celebrating their promotion – Photo: rockinpaddy

After the disappointing result, Wimbledon manager Terry Brown was keen to take the positives and work towards a successful year.

He added: “We have four days’ preparation to learn the lessons of last night and make sure we start our time in the Football League with a positive performance and result.

“I won’t be drawing too many drastic conclusions from this as I do feel that this was a particularly difficult fixture played at a ridiculously early time of the season.”

Indeed Wimbledon fans can consider themselves unfortunate as the requirement to play a League Cup preliminary round is a rare event. This was only the second time in the cup's history that the round has been necessary. The first resulted in a 2-0 victory for Boston United against Bristol Rovers in a year that saw Liverpool win the then-named Worthington Cup.

Unfortunately Wimbledon were unable to get the positive result Brown had hoped for after a late Adam Virgo penalty allowed Bristol Rovers to run out 3-2 winners on Saturday. Despite a disappointing first two games, Wimbledon will still be confident of cementing their place in league football, which if successful, will guarantee them a first round spot in the League Cup next season.

Namibia Hoping to Improve on Last Time's Last Place

With Rugby World Cup preparations well under way and the first of many pre-tournament friendlys beginning this week, the sports media has turned its attention to the preparation and prospects of many of world rugby’s top teams.

However, one team due to be in New Zealand this autumn that you won’t see much of in the sports pages is Namibia. The African side are ranked 20^th in the IRB rankings and were the only side in the 2007 World Cup in France not to gain a group point. They suffered heavy defeats to Argentina, France and Georgia while putting in a better performance in a 32-17 loss to Ireland.

Things certainly won’t be much easier this time round for the Namibians as they face defending world champions South Africa in Pool D as well as Fiji, Samoa and Wales. Despite this, captain and Saracens flanker Jacques Burger remains confident that his side will be able to pick up their first World Cup win.

He admitted in an interview with Namibia Sport: “I believe we can come off with one win, we’re not going to target any side but I think we’ve got what it takes to win a match in the World Cup.”

However, he certainly wasn’t getting carried away as he added: “It’s going to be tough to win any games. We’re playing against top sides so if we can win any game it would be amazing.

“If we don’t, we want to perform well, we’re not going just going to be looking at results, we just want to perform at our absolute best and make our country proud.”

Burger has just finished a highly successful season with Saracens where he was named the club’s player of the season and featured in their Premiership Grand Final win over Leicester. While Burger’s the only name likely to be known among English rugby fans, he’s not the only player playing in the professional game. Ruan Kitshoff and Danie Damens play for the Western Province and Leopards Currie Cup sides respectively while scrum half Ryan de la Harpe plays for Birmingham side Moseley and has made a number of appearances for Sale.

Namibia Rugby – Photo: ozjimbob

Besides these and a small number of other players, the Namibian rugby squad is made up of amateurs with the sport receiving very little funding – a fact that Namibia Rugby Union (NRU) CEO Christo Alexander is all too aware of.

He was forced to cancel two of the sides World Cup warm up matches against an Argentina Pumas Invitational side due to a lack of money.

He explained: “We would have had to cover all their costs. We do not have that kind of money, especially since we are going to the World Cup.”

Instead the side is having to make do with just a friendly against a South African Universities side this week at the teams stadium – the Hage Geingob Stadium.

Alexander emphasised the importance of this match by saying: “We are using the match as preparation for the World Cup and it is much needed game time.”

Despite their financial restrictions and having less than 1,000 players to choose from, the NRU remain hopeful of a first World Cup win. Under the leadership of one of the Premiership’s leading players, Namibia will be hoping that 2011 is the time for it.