For the latest in a long run of December home games, the Dons took the field as holders of the Surrey Senior Cup against old CCL foes Ash Ash Ash Utd at Kingsmeadow.

Despite a number of suspensions and knocks, the Dons 11 at kick off was surprising strong for this competition, with the youth of Josh Lennie in goal and Nick Beasant making his home debut complemented by the experience of Howard, Finnie and Sargent.

New signings Nas Richardson and Mark Peters featured in central midfield and up front respectively, with Richard Butler and Wes Daly rested and Chris Gell on the bench.

The game's opening quarter passed off quietly enough for the famous Ash-Ash-Ash Utd fan to be easily audible from his vantage point of the John Smith Stand.

The torpour was broken in the 17th minute by Kiwi international Shane Smeltz who was far too quick for a static Ash defence when latching onto a loose ball to slide the ball past keeper Fitzpatrick from a narrow angle.

Buoyed by the goal the Dons looked quite comfortable with Smeltz and captain Barry Moore pushing Ash back regularly.

Ash took almost half an hour to fashion a decent chance but that laid on for them by Dons keeper Lennie, as he shanked a clearance straight to Gavin Evans, who could only drag his shot wide.

Out of nothing the Hampshire CCL side soon equalised, as Lee Rawlings was given far too much time and space to turn and shoot past Lennie on the half hour.

The equaliser spurred the visitors to push on, leaving lots of space in midfield - Barry Moore was closest to exploiting this but sent a right foot shot wide on 35 minutes.

Mark Peters's movement was impressive throughout, without creating any goalbound efforts before he sent a long range shot well over in the closing minutes of the half.

As the half came to an end, it would have been Ash who were the happier oufit, as they looked confident in possession and not all inferior to a Dons side two levels above them.

The most positive note to the evening thus far was the excellent reception given to Matt Everard in a half time pitch presentation done by chairman Kris Stewart.

A half time switch for the Dons saw midfield dynamo Chris Gell replace Smeltz, with Nas Richardson joining fellow debutant Peters up front.

Before the Dons could get any pattern in the second period, big defender Matt Morris did " an Everard " and turned goal scorer, as he was left in acres of space to fire low past Lennie on 49 minutes.

The Dons 4-4-2 formation has looked quite innocuous until finally they took a grip on midfield briefly. Richardson and Gell showed good feet to put Dwayne Plummer in the clear to slot home the equaliser and reawaken the Tempest End.

Finally the Dons began to keep hold of the ball and consistently press Ash back, resulting in two corners in quick succession, the second of which saw Richardson notch a debut goal as he glanced a header past Fitzpatrick on 64 minutes.

Richardson ended an impressive debut limping off with 15 minutes left, to be replaced by youth product Niall Connery

In the final quarter alas the Dons dropped off the pace again and Beasant came mightly close to slicing a clearance into his own goal .

Somehow the Dons failed in a crazy two minute period to notch a conclusive fourth goal. Firstly a long range Peters shot was allowed to bounce and hit one post, with Barry Moore diverting the rebound on the other post.

From the very next attack, Connery latched onto a Sargent cross and was equally unfortunate to see his shot rebound off the bar to safety.

To their credit Ash did push forward to the last, without too many alarms in the Dons defence. This inevitabky left gaps at the back , which Peters almost exploited as his long range shot stung the hands of keeper Fitzpatrick.

Finally after at least 4 minutes of injury time, the Dons held out to earn a 3rd round tie against either the Met Police or Colliers Wood Utd.