It was the afternoon after the night before, and several of the sore heads amongst the crowd of just over 1,000 were hoping to see some of the battling qualities demonstrated by the previous evening's honoured guest, Dave Bassett, during his playing days, but it didn't turn out like that.

Fisher Athletic, second in the table and unbeaten in eight games provided the opposition and, with Richard Butler, Simon Sweeney, Simon Sohiby, Dean Brennan and Kim Grant all injured and Shane Smeltz jet-lagged after his international sojourn, only the true faithful would have predicted a comfortably win before kick-off.

Chris Gell, Rob Ursell, Dwayne Plummer and Wayne Finnie all stepped up from last week's bench, with Mickey Woolner making the reverse journey, and the bench saw the return of Sonny Farr alongside youngsters Mark King and Jon Boswell, himself a late replacement on the team-sheet for Joe Paris.

Wes Daly on the attack.The Dons kicked off into a strong wind with Dave Anderson selecting a Christmas tree formation, with Ursell and Plummer playing behind George. The opening stages were cagy, and it wasn't until the 16th minute that the visitors created the first real opening, Ursell threading a ball down the left for George to run on to, but Pullen spread himself well to deny the chance. Fisher hit back immediately with a cross from the left that Hearn could only direct wide with his head. AFC Wimbledon did well to force the tempo against the conditions, with two Wes Daly free kicks almost producing the required opening goal. His first, from the left, curled a foot over. The second, from the right, found Antony Howard, but the central defender's header flew wide of the post. On the half hour mark Ursell was involved in the move of the match, linking up three times with team-mates before shooting wide from twenty yards. Minutes later George set Dwayne Plummer free down the right to beat a man before crossing low, but Ursell scuffed his shot and the Fisher keeper grabbed hold at the second attempt. The half-time whistle came with Fisher creeping back into the game, but the Dons were good value for the even score.

The second half continued as the first had left off, apart from the wind now favouring the away team. Fisher pressed, but their pretty passing was confined to midfield as the Dons' back four stood resolute. On the hour Wayne Finnie and Plummer combined down the right to set up another chance for Ursell, but the mercurial midfielder's shot was charged down, and this was the trigger for a spell of ascendancy for the Dons that culminated in the winner. It was a winner worthy of any game. A quick break out from defence on the left side found George, his head found Plummer who raced down the wing before cutting inside six yards from the touchline. The Fisher defenders closed down the square ball across goal, but Plummer pulled the ball back to Wes Daly, twenty-five yards out on the edge of the box. Daly struck the ball on the run and it crashed into the goal off the cross-bar. Chris Gell tried his luck from a similar range shortly after, but his shot was deflected and Pullen was forced to pluck the looping ball from under his bar. And that left the Dons with the simple matter of holding on for the last ten minutes, which they accomplished with relative ease, despite some crunching challenges from the increasingly desperate Fisher players.