The match began in the best possible fashion for AFC Wimbledon as Richard Butler ran onto an Ursell pass down the left, which was inadvertently flicked on by Chandler. Butler showed great control before turning Honeyball inside out, leaving him watching helplessly from the turf as the Dons hitman squeezed the ball across Hassall into the far corner of the Leyton goal to open the scoring with less than a minute gone.

The away team remained ensconced in Leyton's half for the first quarter, enjoying three corners, one of which resulted in a mad scramble near the goal line after Woolner sent in a powerful header. The same player tried a speculative lob from distance which had Hassall back pedalling, but landed on the roof of the net. At the other end, a free kick played through the middle to Bajada saw the Leyton number nine already going to ground with his hands in the air under a tame challenge, and the referee showed no interest. A Honeyball throw in reached James Bunn in the area with 3 Dons defenders in close attendance, and his lunge to get the ball goalwards cannoned off the approaching Ursell, causing Andy Little to extend himself for a decent save near his post.

Bajada and Bass somehow contrived to wriggle the ball around three Dons players by the corner flag and allowed Alderton to fire towards goal, where Little looked favourite until Woolner elected to stick a foot out and diverted the ball past his own keeper. The ground was practically silent as the announcer mistakenly credited Alderton with the goal. By this stage things were getting combative and Scott Curley was booked for clipping Sargent. Gell was next into the referees notebook as he relied on fair means or foul to regain the initiative.

A Leyton cross from the right wing found Bajada totally unmarked with only Little to beat but his control was poor and in attempting to round the Dons stopper, succeeded in putting the ball out of play instead. More back post chaos ensued after Finnie skewed an easy clearance to present Leyton with a corner, but Little's goal survived again. Curley was lucky to escape further censure after chopping down a Dons player.

The Dons tried hard to make progress at the other end, and Ursell tried an overhead kick after good approach play by Sargent, George and Brennan, the chance going wide. The debutant Dons combined again to put Richard Butler in but his shot came back off the crossbar. George had a close range finish ruled out for an infringement before Leyton had a promising attack torn apart by Gell. As the interval approached there was time for one more moment of Ursell trickery, as he teased his marker before firing in a curling effort which went wide of the far post.

The second half proved a robust contest on an average playing surface. Leyton won an early corner and generally played the better football initially, showing why they are gradually climbing the Ryman Premier League. The Dons eventually regained some possession and some more Ursell magic helped force an ineffectual corner on 55 minutes. Leyton cleared a a Dons free kick which Steve Butler headed on into the danger area, before the Leyton bench decided to make a personnel change, sending on Thomas for Bass.

A lovely threaded pass from Ursell sent Richard Butler clear of his marker and after twice being thwarted by Hassall, he squared the rebound for the onrushing Liam George to sidefoot home and stir the frozen Dons fans behind the goal.

Immediately after the lead was regained, Dave Anderson replaced Richard Butler with Smeltz, and the latter wasted no time in setting up Brennan with a beautiful pass which the debutant unfortunately blazed over the bar from short range.

Again Leyton sent on a substitute, Tenkorang replacing Curley, which may have inspired Soteriou to unleash a dipping shot Andy Little proved equal to.

At the other end Ursell bested Hassall in his quest to keep the ball in play and minimal body contact caused the Dons magician to stumble, though a penalty award would have been harsh, none was forthcoming.

The Dons were clearly back in the ascendancy and Smeltz set up Brennan for a shot which came back off the upright, after previously having headed wide himself, having been set up by good work from George. Leyton tried again to redress the balance by sending on Frank Curley for Parkyn, and Tenkorang headed over shortly afterwards whilst well placed. Wimbledon controlled the final minutes with some slick passing, interspersed by a booking for Wes Daly which frankly only the referee can explain. The final whistle went and most of the 718 spectators went home satisfied by a victory which blessedly keeps the Dons on target for a potential play-off place.

Author's Man Of The Match: Chris Gell