AFC Wimbledon 1-3 Ipswich Town: Championship high-flyers avoid slip-up at League Two Dons with an own goal, Axel Tuanzebe and Jack Taylor sealing progress for the visitors

Many in attendance this afternoon will have been at the old Wembley Stadium the day that Wimbledon – a team that had only been in the First Division two seasons – triumphed over League champions Liverpool to produce one of the biggest FA Cup shocks in the history of the competition to this day.

It was memories from days like that that undoubtedly inspired the fans to reclaim the club as their own when unpopular owner Peter Winkelman and Inter MK Group relocated the club 56 miles north to Milton Keynes.

So inevitably occasions like this, the chance to take on one of the top-performing teams in the Championship, are amongst the most highly-anticipated for the reborn, fan-owned south-west London club. 

Attendance at Plough Lane is often 2,000 short of capacity for its League Two matches. Days prior to this match, the club had announced it was a sell-out.

But Kieran McKenna’s side, as they have proved relentlessly this season, are incredibly good. 

While the Northern Irishman said that his focus was on the league before this match - with the Premier League hopefuls still sitting in an automatic promotion spot - he also said he’d ‘be more than happy to progress in the competition and have that extra fixture’.

McKenna made six changes to the team that drew against Stoke on New Year’s Day, most notably giving star striker Conor Chaplin a much-needed break.

Wimbledon probably put in the best showing in the first half; they looked positive going forward, particularly through the attacking quality of full-back Jack Currie linking up with Lemonheigh-Evans and Davison on the left.

And they were unfortunate to go behind in the 8th minute after Jack Taylor’s corner took a heavy deflection in a congested box and found the back of the Dons’ net, which was ruled as a Josh Davison own goal.

The home side managed to equalise less than ten minutes later through a Wimbledon corner coming off Jack Taylor’s hand in the penalty area. The referee didn’t hesitate and pointed at the spot and captain Jake Reeves coolly converted.

And the team from south-west London looked to have the better opportunities with scores level, if only lacking some quality in the final third. 

With two of their best players in the league this season - Ali Al-Hamadi and Omar Bugiel - away at the Asian Cup representing Iraq and Lebanon respectively, they didn’t seem to be the same attacking threat that had scored 11 goals in the previous two rounds on aggregate.

Ipswich’s second goal came from another corner kick, this time finding Axel Tuanzebe at the near post, his first for the club. 

Going behind once again seemed to suck the life out of the stadium. What had been a pretty fractious first half - with neither team particularly dominating play - ended with the Norfolk outfit beginning to find their stride.

Wimbledon’s towering midfielder Harry Pell received his marching orders after picking up a second yellow not long after the break. The 32-year-old had gone clattering into Ipswich defender Edmundson who went down clutching his head. 

A highly-anticipated debut for Brighton loanee Jeremy Sarmiento minutes prior and there was a sense that the Tractor Boys were starting to rev their engines.

Ipswich’s third came through Jack Taylor a minute before full time. A neatly-worked team effort which ended with a right-footed shot from Taylor, confirmed victory for the visitors.

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