The Dons came from behind to scrape into the Second Round of the FA Trophy thanks to two goals in the last ten minutes of a largely forgettable encounter.

Anyone who listens to Radio 5 live’s post-match reports will be familiar with Stuart Hall’s often bizarre summaries, but a couple of seasons ago even he was left speechless by a particularly dreadful game at Ewood Park. When Mark Pougatch handed over to the ebullient reporter, Hall said, “Ahh … Blackburn Rovers 0, Sunderland 0.” And then silence. “We seem to have lost Stuart,” said Pougatch. “No,” said Hall. “That was it - nothing happened.”

And so it was, after Luis Cumbers dragged a shot wide of the far past after 50 seconds of this FA Trophy First Round game, nothing (well, hardly anything) happened. Boreham Wood’s Watters volleyed wide from 18 yards with 25 minutes gone, but other than that there was precious little action to speak of at either end before the half-time whistle blew.

Terry Brown’s perfectly reasonable plan to give some of the Dons squad valuable game time while still fielding a team capable of beating a hard-working Ryman League Premier side looked in danger of backfiring. Ponderous in possession in midfield, wasteful with long balls out of defence, and with Cumbers and Ross Montague making very little headway against the visitors’ steadfast rearguard, Wimbledon had to be thankful that Ian Allinson’s side looked just as unlikely to break the deadlock.

That they did manage that, eight minutes into the second half, was almost entirely down to Wimbledon keeper Seb Brown. Coming out to clear an aimless punt upfield, Brown misjudged the bounce and was forced to head the ball away, but instead of sending it into an area wide of the centre circle he accidentally picked out Leon Hunter, and the midfielder simply lofted the ball back over Brown’s head and into the unguarded net from 40 yards.

Terry Brown had seen enough, but just as he was preparing to make a double change, Montague, one of the players who was set to be withdrawn, was involved in a sickening clash of heads with Boreham Wood’s Ryan Kirby. Kirby came out of the collision with a cut head, but Montague lay motionless for eight minutes and was then carried off on a stretcher, wearing a protective neck brace and breathing through an oxygen mask.

Jon Main and Danny Kedwell’s joint introduction for Jay Conroy and the stricken Montague provided the impetus that the game, and the Dons in particular, needed, but for 25 minutes their extra class failed to produce an equaliser. Sam Hatton dragged a great chance wide from eight yards, and Lewis Taylor found the same advertising hoarding with a more difficult chance, but despite the best efforts of Ricky Wellard and Kennedy Adjei, it seemed that last season’s First Round defeat to Uxbridge was going to be repeated.

However, Wood’s Jamie Richards fouled Adjei just inside the visitors’ half with seven minutes to go, and from Derek Duncan’s free-kick Ben Judge headed the ball across the box for the unmarked Kedwell to calmly put the ball in the net with a side-footed volley. With Wood looking out on their feet, Main, Hatton and Taylor all missed takeable chances, and despite the home side’s pressure a replay was looking the more likely outcome.

But three minutes into the eight added on for Montague’s injury, the Dons clinched the tie. Adjei’s ball down the line found Kedwell in behind Moran, and the striker ran on to it, rounded Tucker, steadied himself and picked out Luis Cumbers, who fired high into the roof of the net from six yards for his first Wimbledon goal since that extraordinary day at Staines 19 months ago.

And so AFC Wimbledon progressed, and Boreham Wood could count themselves a little unlucky.