Following the 3-0 defeat at Hendon, Dave Anderson sent out a strong side to face Brimsdown Rovers in the London Senior Cup. Antony Howard, Jon-Barrie Bates and Richard Butler stepped down to the bench and were replaced by Steve Gibson, Gavin Bolger and Martin Randall. The match eventually kicked off at 8.30pm after the Brimsdown coach got stuck in a substantial amount of traffic en route. But it was the visitors who looked to erect a roadblock in the face of one-way traffic, sneaking into a shock lead before the interval but eventually making their delayed departure on the wrong end of a 3-1 scoreline.
All the chances of note in the first half fell to Wimbledon. Everard headed narrowly over from a corner and Brimsdown survived a loud shout for a foul when Randall was felled in the act of shooting. Gary Prigent then took the ball past his man and fired in a low shot. Daley did well to beat it away and Bolger could only backheel the rebound back into play before Rob Ursell's follow-up was blocked.
Brimsdown seemed content to defend high up the pitch and rely on the linesman's flag for offside. It was a flag which was raised all too often in a scrappy opening period. Daley produced another fine save and claimed a cross off Bolger's head but there was little doubt the visitors were finding the match hard-going. Prigent raced clear of the defence again but sent a shot wide of goal. Durrant then received only a lecture for a late lunge on Woolner on the halfway line.
Steve Gibson forced another good save from Daley before Milton was finally booked for yet another late challenge on Woolner. Smith was then booked for throwing the ball in Bolger's face. Prigent ran through on goal but tried to dummy the keeper who grabbed the ball from his feet. Gell then had his name taken for an alleged foul on the halfway line which seemed less of an infraction than several earlier unpunished Brimsdown challenges. Worse was to follow as Bolger tracked back well during a rare away attack and won the ball cleanly, but the referee gave the visitors a freekick. Justice was done as it was blazed over the bar.
Matt Everard stormed over the halfway line in a manner reminiscent of Hermann Hreidarrson and sent Gibson scampering down the right wing. His cross was met by the head of Randall, but it flew over the bar. Prigent limped off to be replaced by Richard Butler with five minutes of the first half remaining.
Then, agonisingly, in injury time, Brimsdown took the lead utterly against the run of play. They won their first corner. Danny Naisbitt looked to have it claimed but somehow dropped it. Pelley prodded it home and celebrated gleefully. Given the battering his team had survived, well he might.
The Dons roared into action in the second half. Bolger stormed down the wing in the first minute and Richard Butler was just unable to dig the low cross out from under his feet. Everard then narrowly missed connecting with a corner. Brimsdown were content to try to hit on the break and Woolner had to be alert to clear when two attackers were on the overlap. It was a brief respite for the visitors as they conceded another corner with only four minutes gone. Two shots were blocked in the goalmouth scramble before the ball was cleared.
Gray was tripped as he looked to get a cross in. Ursell's freekick was half-cleared, Bolger fed Woolner and his cross sat up invitingly for Everard, but somehow the Caveman screwed his header wide from two yards out. Brimsdown then won two corners in a row and after good work on the left wing, Milton found himself in yards of space in the box. Fortunately for the Dons he snatched at the chance and drove it over the bar and so the paradise of a two-goal cushion was lost to the visitors. Gray then lost the ball on the edge of the Dons' box but the chance was driven over.
Ursell set off on a jinking run in which he beat three men, one of them twice, but his final shot was weak. Butler then stormed down the channel again and found Randall in the area. His chip beat Daley but dropped wide of the post. Gibson then won a corner after having two crosses blocked. Daley flapped to punch it off his line, a bunch of players missed the second header and as it dropped on the edge of the six-yard box Randall pounced to stab it home for the equaliser with 69 minutes played.
Randall then connected with a volley on a great diagonal ball from Howard. Daley produced a fine touch to ensure it went for a corner, jogged back to face it and was as surprised as the rest of the ground when the officials gave a goal-kick. With Brimsdown defending ever deeper, Keogh was booked for fouling Gell as the Dons' midfielder looked to run onto a through ball. The free-kick was headed clear.
With 12 minutes remaining, the Dons finally took the lead. Gray sent an another great corner into the box and Everard pushed substitute Antony Howard out of the way to head it into the back of the net. The Dons then strung together the move of the match as Gray passed to Ursell. He teased his marker in the corner before finding Gell with a chip. Gell exchanged passes with Butler in the area and finally hammered a shot goalwards which was well-saved by Daley.
Ursell then finally combined a trademark run with the end product the crowd craved to put the match beyond doubt in the next minute. In a manner reminiscent of a slalom skier, he beat one man, went round another, sidestepped a third man, then dragged it back to deceive both that man again and the hapless goalkeeper before sidefooting into the empty net for a classy, if cheeky, third.
Butler stormed all the way from the halfway line and laid the ball back to the newly arrived McDowell, but he sent the shot over the bar. In fairness, it was his first touch. Daley then saved more once well from Gell and even more impressively from Randall's header from the resultant corner. Without him, the scoreline would certainly have been more emphatic. McDowell then held his man off well on the edge of the area but his shot looped over the bar.
Brimsdown nearly gave the scoreline a flattering tinge in injury time, but Naisbitt got down well to save.
And so three goals in ten minutes gave the Dons the victory and sent them through to the Fourth Round. It also allowed the players to lay the ghost of Hendon before the trip to Bromley on Saturday, when they will look to set a new English League record for unbeaten matches.
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