Sport

Wimbledon bubble blown away

So we'll no more go a'wombling, at least not in the Premiership for the moment, and maybe not for some time to come

By DAVID LACEY
Mon May 15 2000 - 01:00

So we'll no more go a'wombling, at least not in the Premiership for the moment, and maybe not for some time to come. The manner of Wimbledon's relegation at Southampton yesterday did not suggest a swift return. Given one and a quarter hours to respond to the news that Bradford were leading Liverpool at Valley Parade, Wimbledon began to fade once Wayne Bridge's free kick put Southampton ahead early in the second half and all but disappeared after Marian Pahars added a second.

Thus the Premiership's most enduring fairytale has reached a dark denouement worthy of the brothers Grimm. Elected to the Football League in 1977 and promoted to the old First Division nine years later, Wimbledon were living proof that given team spirit and consistency, plus more than a few able players, a small club could survive among the big spenders.

However, Wimbledon's decline towards the Nationwide League set in last season following the heart attack which eventually ended Joe Kinnear's tenure as manager.

Yesterday Southampton announced their intent as early as the first minute, when Pahars saw a shot beaten out by Neil Sullivan. Pahars's readiness to run at defenders increasingly unsettled Wimbledon and 11 minutes into the second half the Latvian was brought down by Alan Kimble near the penalty arc. Up stepped the 19-year-old Bridge to score his first goal for Southampton.

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From then on Wimbledon were looking to Liverpool for salvation. Their hopes of saving themselves vanished in the 79th minute when two successive shots from Trond Andersen were blocked, the second rebounding to Pahars who proceeded to sprint three-quarters of the length of the pitch before turning past Dean Blackwell and shooting low past Sullivan.

"We didn't send Wimbledon down, Bradford did," said Southampton's manager Glenn Hoddle.

Southampton: Moss, Dodd, Tahar, Lundekvam, Bridge, Tessem, Oakley, Soltvedt (Marsden 77), Kachloul (Rodrigues 84), Pahars, Davies. Subs Not Used: Monk, Benali, Bevan. Goals: Bridge 57, Pahars 79.

Wimbledon: Sullivan, Jupp, Hreidarsson, Blackwell (Francis 82), Thatcher, Andersen, Cort, Ardley, Kimble, Gayle (Badir 74), Euell. Subs Not Used: Willmott, Lund, Heald. Booked: Euell, Kimble, Blackwell.

Referee: S Lodge (Barnsley).