Dons rout The Rams 5-0 in FA Cup 2nd round to set up tasty tie with high-flying Ipswich
By Paul Lagan at Plough Lane
AFC Wimbledon v Ramsgate
6,894, 1,400 away fans
FA Cup 2nd Round
There were two sets of winners at Plough Lane tonight as AFC Wimbledon routed their Kent coast opponents from Ramsgate 5-0 - the impressive home side and the 1,400 away fans who simply never stopped cheering on their eighth-tier team in the Cherry Red Records End stand, as their FA Cup journey of eight games came to an abrupt end.
Granted one of their tribe won't be watching any live football for a while and will face a banning order for invading the pitch in the second half, when The Rams were already 5-0 down.
He raced down the length of the pitch to where the home fans were housed and taunted them.
Stewards and the police did their bit.
As a contest there basically wasn't one, the League Two outfit were determined that they were not going to be on the end of an FA Cup shock.
Their Blue kit with a yellow horizontal strip gave them the illusion of being Boca Juniors and for the 90 minutes they might very well have been the Argentine giants, such was their dominance.
Any expectations of an FA Cup shock were put to bed on eight minutes, when, following an error at the back for Ramsgate, Jake Reeves was quickest to react and he picked the ball up before smacking it home from 25 yards, giving Thomas Hadler no chance.
The visitors had started brightly and were worthy equals up to that point.
Number two should have followed on 15 minutes when a regulation free-kick to the far post was met on the head by Ryan Johnson. It looked like a goal in the making but Hadler produced a fine right-handed parry the ball away from the line and to relative safety.
The Rams kept to their game plan, which involved winning all the physical duels and this kept them in the game and gave the Dons the occasional heart flutter, especially from set-pieces.
But the home side were always the dominant force.
Dons' Armani Little attempted an edge of the area right-footed curler, but the curl wasn't as curly as expected and it zipped away for a goal kick.
But number two was close behind on 27 minutes when a deep cross from the left took Hadler a bit by surprise. He could only get a hand to it and Ali Al Hamadi was at the far post to nod home.
Josh Neufville almost made it three with a lovely piece of skill, but this time Hadler was equal to it and tipped the ball away for a corner.
It soon became shooting practice for the Dons who were determined to kill the game as quickly as possible.
Hadler was soon in action again on 38 minutes, this time blocking a venomous 30-yarder by Little that had 'goal of the month' written all over it
A wayward effort by Connor Evans summed up the state of play – Dons on top, but not massively clinical in finishing – that needed to change – and it did.
Four minutes from the break and The Rams had a glorious chance to reduce the deficit. Alex Bass made a great save before Lee Martin blazed over the crossbar from close range.
Seconds later and they were punished as Josh Neufville hit a piledriver from just inside the box to make it 3-0.
Tijan Jadama had a scuffed effort well saved by Bass as the visitors sought, once again to score following a set-piece free-kick.
There were no changes by either side at half-time but the Dons were quickest off the mark with Reeves trying his luck from range, Hadler pushed the effort away for a corner.
But two minutes later and it was all over as a contest with intense pressure seeing the Dons push The Rams back and Evans drilled a low drive in to the far corner of Hadler's net.
On 54 minutes it was number five as Al Hamadi smashed home after a Sunday League error at the back saw the ball basically given away.
If this was a boxing match, the referee would have stopped it for fear of inflicting too much punishment and an inability to defend oneself.
Give credit to the Dons, their attitude was never to give an inch and it served them well.
Hadler was player of the match for the visitors as once again, he attempted to stem the flow, tipping over Evans' angled blaster for a corner on 61 minutes.
On came Josh Davison for Al Hamadi and Issac Ogundere came on for Hus Biler – both on 64 minutes for a nice, tension-free run out on a chilly evening.
Ramsgate's post was then hit, Hadler produced another fine save, and the ball was hacked off the line as the seven minutes of added time were played out.
AFC Dons now face high-flying Ipswich Town in the 3rd Round.
Teams: AFC Dons: Bass, Biler, Reeves, Johnson, Al Hamadi, Neufville, Little, Bugiel, Evans, Currie, Lewis
Subs: Tzanev, Brown, Tilley, Pell, Davison, Pearce, Ball, Sasu, Ogundere
Ramsgate: Hadler, Young, Porter, Ellul, Anidugbe, Bioletti, Taylor, Green, Martin, West, Jadama
Subs: Johnson, Paxman, Procopi, Elito, Hennessey, Christie, Oliver, Holdon, Simmonds Referee: Christopher Pollard
READ WHAT YANN TEAR HAD TO SAY ABOUT THE CLASH AT PLOUGH LANE HERE
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