Dublin dream dead

Wimbledon remain unbeatable on the pitch but the tenants are restless and the sweetest victory for Joe Kinnear would be to scratch away their seven-year itch of ground-sharing with Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.

A hard-fought draw against Leeds United on Saturday did little to quell the Wimbledon manager's frustration at the lack of help from Merton Borough Council to re-house his team.

"It's a nice stadium but I wish it were ours. I wish the borough would put their hand in their pocket and spend a few quid," Kinnear said. "It doesn't seem to matter who gets into power, whether it's the Conservatives or the next mob, still nothing happens. I just don't know what we've done wrong not to deserve our own stadium."

The FAI put paid to plans for Wimbledon to move to Dublin, a proposal to take over Wimbledon greyhound track went to the dogs and Plough Lane, though it still belongs to the club, is redundant as a stadium.

A return to the spiritual home on the Lane would thrill the fans but a place to call home is the top priority and a site near Gatwick Airport in Horley seems to hold the most promise.

"We get on this pitch to train if we're lucky twice a year," Kinnear said. "Last year we weren't allowed to use it at all. If we owned a stadium and a pitch we could train on it when it suited us. You can practice set plays and corner kicks and the players can get to know the shape and contours of the pitch," knowledge sadly lacking in the first half on Saturday when only the agility of Wimbledon's goalkeeper, Neil Sullivan, kept Leeds at bay.

If Leeds achieve their reported aims of signing Tottenham's Darren Anderton and Newcastle's German midfielder Dietmar Hamann they could be title contenders.

Wimbledon are more concerned about the challenge from the leafy suburbs of Merton and Wimbledon, for the tennis championships in SW19 do not help their cause. "God knows how much the borough spends on tennis," Kinnear said. "It's a fortune for about a month a year. I don't know if any of that tennis mob has ever won the FA Cup."

On this showing, silverware will be the last thing on Wimbledon's minds come May and it always looked likely that Leeds would end their run of not scoring on their league trips to Wimbledon since September 1995. The goal that came was worth the wait, Lee Bowyer latching on to a clearance to volley high past Sullivan. Michael Hughes, not to be outdone, struck a 25-yard drive to level things.