Three vital home games on the trot for Crawley Town after a wonderful weekend - opinion

Train, tram, bus and Shansky's pony saw us to the pub, where we were soon joined by other Reds fans, all of whom were confident about getting a result, at Plough Lane, later in the day.

The confidence ebbed just a little, when the teams were posted on twitter, as Kellan Gordon was missing through illness, but Joel Lynch and Ben Gladwin were on the bench.

The other bit of news that stoked the fires was the rumour that AFC were going to parade Super Dannie Bulman on the pitch before kickoff.

On the walk to the ground, I chatted to some Wimbledon supporters who clearly thought they were going to beat us, but you can never take anything for granted with Crawley Town, and so it proved.

After going through airport-style security to enter the ground, it was clear that the numbers of Crawley fans present had been affected by either the industrial action on the railways, the ridiculous cost of tickets to watch a League 2 encounter or the mis-reporting of the train strike.

Here’s a tip, if you want to enter a ground quickly, carry a walking stick, and preferably one where the black paint has rubbed off leaving it looking like a blind person’s aid. I am only joking, of course.

The rumour about the Icon, that is Bulman, was almost right, but he was in civilian dress and not wearing the colours of any of his clubs.

He was received warmly by all in the stadium, but it was the Crawley fans who serenaded him in song with “One Dannie Bulman, there’s only one Dannie Bulman”.

From the start of the game, it was obvious that the Crawley coaching team had managed to get the Reds in the right frame of mind for the battle.

Before Ashley Nadesan blasted a James Tilley cross into the back of the Wimbledon net on six minutes, he had already been put through on goal, only to hit his shot over the bar.

There were a few tense moments at the back for the Reds, but generally the defence played well, which was borne out by Wimbledon not having a single shot on target and only gaining one corner kick.

The only downside of the game was injuries to both Jordan Mutch and Ludwig Francilette, but their replacements, Ben Gladwin and Joel Lynch, proved to be more than adequate substitutions and saw us through to a famous win which was greeted with rapturous applause from the fans in The Cherry Red Records stand.

The trip home, with police escort, proved a little more difficult and thanks must be given to Rees Hopcraft for not giving up on this geriatric fan.

So, survival chart filled in and three home games on the trot to come, we could be on the survival line by 10pm on Tuesday March 28.

Only Doncaster, Rochdale and Grimsby stand in our way and then it is up to us to maintain that form to the end of the season.