Going into the game on the back of two handsome victories - against promotion rivals Walton & Hersham and Staines - the Dons had plenty of reasons to be optimistic. Four times Player of the Year Richard Butler was on the bench, having been sidelined at the last minute by the broken hand he'd suffered at Staines, but this gave much-hyped new signing Mark Peters a chance to prove his worth against a side struggling near the foot of the table. In the two sides' previous meeting, on the opening day of the season, the Dons had run out 4-1 winners and around 1,000 fans had flocked to the coast in hope of a repeat performance.

And, despite a sluggish start, the Dons could have been ahead as early as the 7th minute. Robert Ursell - who had opened his Dons account for the season with a 25-yard screamer the previous week - sent Dave Sargent clear down the left and his cross in turn picked out Shane Smeltz in the middle. Smeltz unleashed a shot from 1 O-yards out and, as home keeper Kessell instinctively dived the wrong way, many fans were off their seats in celebration. But it wasn't to be, and Kessell's trailing leg somehow managed to deflect the ball out for a corner.

Minutes later, Ursell tried his luck himself, from the edge of the area, but this week his volley dipped narrowly the wrong side of the crossbar. But the boggy pitch ensured that neither side could establish any semblance of free flowing football with Moore and Ursell particularly suffering from ball-stuck-in-the-mud syndrome.

Nevertheless, it was the visiting dons who carved out the best chance of the half, when Wayne Finnie's long ball down the right flank sent Peters clear of the defence. As he latched onto the ball on the corner of the box he looked up and shaped to chip the keeper. However, his shot lacked both the pace and the height to beat the man in green, who was able to take two steps back and catch the ball with relative ease.

The Dons were made to pay just moments later. Folkestone's rotund playmaker Stuart Myall had looked to be the Invicta danger-man in the home fixture, and so it proved in the return. As the ball ran loose on the edge of the Dons' box, he unleashed a fierce curling shot off the outside of his boot and it rocketed past Andy Little and inside the far post.

With the Dons in shock, the rest of the half proved uneventful and saw the home side content to sit back and look to break on the counter.

But the game looked far from over and, early in the second period, Moore went close twice - first shooting over from distance, before seeing a tame shot held by Kessell. A period of sustained pressure followed, where the Dons won three corners in succession, but no clear chances could be created as a result. As the Dons became increasingly desperate, Peters tried his luck from the edge of the box, having latched onto a long clearance from Little, bringing a fine save from the home keeper who then somehow beat out Smeltz's follow-up from close range.

At the other end Invicta were creating chances of their own, and when Matata hit the post Wimbledon could count themselves lucky to still be in the contest.

In a bid to shake up the Dons attack, Richardson came on for the largely ineffectual Ursell, with Sohiby replacing Peters and Steve Butler being pushed up front in a last throw of the dice. Sargent pushed on, leaving three at the back and the reshuffle nearly paid dividends when a Folkestone defender, under pressure from Richardson, could only clear a Sargent cross as far as the feet of Butler. However, with the goal at his mercy, the Dons skipper sliced his shot wide and the visitor's fate was effectively sealed.

Following the Dons impressive recent form, there's little doubt that this result could be viewed as a disappointment. To be fair, it was a game that never looked likely to feature many goals and, in the end, was settled by an individual piece of brilliance.