Having been held to a fractious if overshadowed draw in Kent last Saturday, the Dons were determined to go one better against a tough and physical Ramsgate side in the Kingsmeadow FA Trophy replay. They made life hard for themselves with some wayward finishing, but were more than good value for the eventual 2-1 victory, achieved with ten men after the late dismissal of Simon Sobihy.

The only change from Dave Anderson's Saturday selection saw Wes Daly preferred to Barry Moore in midfield, with Rob Ursell considered fit enough to join Moore on the bench for the first time since his pre-season injury. The home side enjoyed the better of the first-half chances and possession, but spurned the most clear-cut opportunities. Dwayne Plummer was the biggest culprit as he blazed a penalty kick high over the crossbar after Finnie had been hacked down in the box. Chris Gell also had a shot saved, but otherwise outright chances were at a premium.

Just when a goalless first half beckoned, Wimbledon broke the deadlock. Plummer's cross was nodded past Wild by Richard Butler for a one-nil lead with just two minutes to go before the interval. But the Dons' joy was short-lived, as poor-to-non-existent marking allowed Warren Schulz to steer a precise low shot across Little for 1-1 barely 60 seconds later. Shortly afterwards, the referee brought the first instalment of proceedings to a halt with the score after 45 minutes matching the 1-1 after 90 minutes at Princes Avenue.

There's nothing Dave Anderson hates more than conceding a sloppy goal after finally going ahead, so one can only imagine how colourful the language was in the home team's dressing room during the tea-and-orange-slices-laden intermission. Galling is I think the word for throwing away such a hard won lead so soon.

The manager opted to shuffle his pack for the second period, with Michael Harvey replacing Farr on the left wing. Shane Smeltz produced his first contribution of note just after the restart, curling a shot just over the bar from the edge of the box. His second contribution was rather further away from the target, sending a shot significantly the wrong side of the near post after being teed up by Richard Butler.

Having already pulled the missed penalty out of the locker, Dwayne Plummer delved deeper into his Robert Pires bag of tricks to pull out the woefully underhit 'surprise' pass. From a freekick about 25 yards out, his barely discernible touch left Daly stranded, and a defender raced in to clear the danger. The first outbreak of what would be termed argy-bargy in a rugby union context broke out on the left touchline shortly afterwards, but a short spate of pushing and shoving was separated without any disciplinary action ensuing.

Ramsgate managed the tricky feat of conceding several further freekicks without having a single name taken by the referee. Smeltz failed to punish the visitors, sending one deadball effort from the edge of the box harmlessly into the wall. As the Dons wasted their third freekick of the second half within striking distance, this reporter cannot have been alone in wishing Barry Moore's unerring shooting boots weren't languishing on the bench.

Smeltz twisted and turned his way down the right flank and cut the ball back for Richard Butler. His scuffed shot fell to Plummer, who could only slide the ball wide of the post. That proved to be the last action of a frustrating game for the midfielder, who made way immediately afterwards for Moore.

But the frustrations were not confined to the Dons' number seven. Howard's chipped pass set Harvey racing away on the left wing and his cross found Smeltz racing into the six-yard box, but the Kiwi striker managed to send the ball over the bar. Frustrations deepened as, after a half in which Ramgate fouled consistently without ever seeing yellow, Simon Sobihy was shown a second yellow card and dismissed for the first Wimbledon infraction in about 20 minutes.

By that stage, the second half had belonged almost entirely to the home side and, despite going down to ten men, the Dons were rewarded for their forward persistence with fourteen minutes remaining. Mark Munday punched a cross off the head of the waiting Steve Butler and a clear second penalty was awarded, but in keeping with the frustrating tone of the evening so far, the referee produced just a yellow card for deliberate handball.

But finally something went right for the Dons, as Smeltz managed to do what the referee had failed to, and punish Ramsgate for their latest infraction, calmly stepping up to place his penalty low into the bottom right corner of the Tempest End net.

Some shonky shooting wasted opportunities to make the game safe and Ramsgate made a double substitution in a last-ditch attempt to restore parity. Morris' long throw into the Dons' area in the last minute was easily claimed by Little. Schulz's shanked shot caused the keeper more problems in injury time, but he managed to deflect it clear despite the close attentions of two Ramsgate players.

Copious injury time followed ' one can only assume the referee was enjoying the lacklustre encounter rather more than the assembled thousand. But the final whistle eventually came and the Dons won the right to travel back to Kent on November 26 to face Dartford in the next round, who play at Gravesend & Northfleet's ground.