Well, well, well. An away win.
I had forgotten what these felt like! Despite the long wait for a Bolton Wanderers victory away from home ending yesterday, there were only a few standout performances: Jamie Proctor can count himself desperately unlucky not to be picking up his first MOTM award of the season for another committed and hardworking performance, as can centre halves Beevers and Wheater, who played very well together in the centre of defence. However, this week's MOTM award is chosen on the back of a real captain's performance from Jay Spearing.
In a midfield diamond that certainly did not get the best out of Josh Vela and Mark Davies, Spearing found the space in the holding midfield role to spread the play and break up any Dons attacks.
When the going got tough in the second half and the pressure was building, Spearing rose to the fore with some crunching tackles and steady distribution.
He did get caught dawdling once or twice in possession, but overall, Spearing led by example both with and without the ball. It was far from a perfect performance, but it displayed the grit we need to bring to every fixture at this level.
The first few games in this league are going to be hard work. They're going to require more than quality on the pitch. We need a strong mentality to see out difficult situations - Spearing's performance as captain led the way yesterday.
Well done, Skip.