Blackman earned his sponsor’s man of the match award with a devastating spell early in the second half. He set up the home side’s first goal and netted the second against a well-organised group of talented Arsenal youngsters, watched by the Gunners’ legendary midfielder Liam Brady, now the club’s head of youth development and academy director.
Brown has long admired Arsenal’s easy-on-the-eye, fluent passing football, and his own side’s ability to shut down this Gunners line-up had him purring a week before the league opener at Southport. What’s more, the win was achieved in the absence of key players Ismail Yakubu at the back and Lee Minshull in midfield. Brown’s plan to let the side just go out and play their game produced a confident Wimbledon display in an entertaining pre-season encounter.
The Dons went into this meeting having won all but two of their pre-season games (not that pre-season form matters more than fitness, formations and avoiding injuries). Those defeats were narrow ones against League opposition in the form of Millwall and Exeter. This group of Arsenal players - who arrived after being delayed by traffic problems, with kick-off put back to half past three - had just recorded victories over Dagenham & Redbridge and Boreham Wood.
The early afternoon humidity gave way to a heavy pre-match downpour, making for more pleasant, cooler conditions by the time the match kicked off, following a well-deserved lap of honour by the all-conquering Under-14 squad. The first team lined up with Seb Brown in goal, a back four of Sam Hatton, Ed Harris, Brett Johnson and Blackman, and in keeping with the now favoured 4-3-3 formation, a midfield trio of Sam Moore, Steven Gregory and Ricky Wellard, and a forward line of Luke Moore, captain Danny Kedwell and Jon Main.
After five minutes, Gavin Hoyte and Arsenal skipper Ignasi Miquel combined to close out Main’s assault on goal through the middle. Wellard floated over the resultant free-kick from just right of centre. An interesting battle developed down the left between initially Blackman and Wellington Silva and then, after half-time, Blackman and another flying winger, Rio Miyaichi. Ultimately neither got the better of the defender, who was clearly motivated against the North London giants who let him go.
Arsenal had their chances to take an early lead. After nine minutes Chuks Aneke found Silva, who put his shot wide of Brown but also the far post. Four minutes later Benik Afobe had a chance presented to him in the middle, but he headed tamely wide of the Dons keeper.
Wimbledon responded on the quarter-hour. From outside the box on the left, Main curled a shot just wide of James Shea in the visitors’ goal. A couple of minutes later, Harris put in a great tackle to stop Miyaichi after he was put through by Mark Randall. Harris immediately turned attacker down the other end but headed wide from a corner.
Wimbledon then enjoyed a good spell of pressure. After 22 minutes Kedwell picked up a loose ball in the middle and Luke Moore almost caught out Shea, who flapped at a clearance. Kyle Bartley had to stop Main from pulling the trigger five minutes later.
Kedwell then had two powerful shots, the first unleashed from the right, which Shea took in front of a strong away following at the visiting end; the second attempt, which was more central, Shea got to grips with. Blackman proved a handful for Hoyte, Arsenal’s most effective defender of the afternoon, in the build-up to the effort.
Arsenal hit back after 36 minutes when Silva let fly, sending the ball whizzing just over Brown’s goal. Their best chance to take the lead came from Oguzhan Ozyakup three minutes from the interval when he bounced the ball off Brown’s crossbar from range.
Kedwell and Luke Moore again tried, but unsuccessfully, to give Dons the advantage. Although goalless, the first half was good value. Arsenal had edged it, and Blackman, despite requiring some attention from physio Mike Rayner, was clearly relishing the occasion.
Five minutes after the restart, Shea had to punch clear a cross-shot from Hatton on the right, and just afterwards the Dons took the lead from a move down the other flank. Hoyte blocked an advancing Main, but a minute later Blackman charged down the left and found Sam Moore in the middle, who fired emphatically into the net.
Just four minutes after that, Blackman turned scorer on the edge of the box. After Main had caused problems for Arsenal in the box on the left, Blackman fired low, and the ball ricocheted off the post and in for a second. With the bigger picture in mind, Terry Brown promptly subbed the attacking wing-back, replacing him with Christian Jolley.
Arsenal quickly attempted to pull one back, but as the half drew on they were shut out by Seb Brown, who pulled off a superb one-handed save from a long-range right-sided effort by Hoyte on 65 minutes. When Afobe went through five minutes later, Brown got down to help divert the ball wide.
Johnson impressed his manager in denying substitutes Roarie Deacon and later Rhys Murphy. Delano Sam-Yorke made life difficult for the Gunners defence towards the end, but the final goal, a consolation for Arsenal, came from virtually the final kick of the game. In time added on, Brown failed to hold a shot by substitute Nico Yennnaris, and Afobe pounced to finish with power and ease.
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