1945
Saturday, 19 January 1946
F.A. Amateur Cup - 1st Round
Plough Lane
Attendance: 1,700
 
Wimbledon
Frank Lemmer, Norman Smith (2)
3 - 1
Crittall Athletic
?
First home gate of the post War era

Fennell returned, with Smith selected at half-back in place of Gill, who was ineligible to play, and Fuce was recalled instead of the injured Head, but with Richfield and Neil fighting influenza and Head injured the committee were forced to reshuffle further for the visit of their London League opponents, who had beaten Tooting & Mitcham in an earlier qualifying round. Smith again pushed forward, with Clarke deputising, and Iles appeared at centre-forward for his one and only game.

The Dons had the better of the first half and Jenkins - the Athletic keeper - was forced to concede several corners, which came to nothing. Lemmer hit the foot of a post with a free-kick and Fuce was adjudged offside after scoring. A flurry of attacks from the visitors was repelled by Blanche and so half-time arrived with no score.

After the interval Iles had a goal disallowed, for no apparent reason, after the keeper had fallen over while attempting to clear Viard's cross, but the Dons finally took the lead with twenty minutes to go when Fuller converted a penalty. Stung into action, Crittall created several chances but were unlucky with the run of the ball. Wimbledon appeared to have sealed the win when Iles tapped Fuce's cross to Smith, who scored with a rising shot. There was a scare when Fuller, challenged by Hamnett and Thompson, attempted to pass back to the keeper but, to everyone's surprise, only found his own net, but Smith immediately restored the two goal advantage after a one-two with Fuce.