Millwall end AFC Wimbledon's dream run to reach FA Cup quarter-finals for second time in three years

Murray Wallace of Millwall scores their first side goal during the FA Cup Fifth Round match between AFC Wimbledon and Millwall
Credit: OFFSIDE

They may proudly sing no-one likes them, but Millwall have certainly struck up a special relationship with the FA Cup.

Murray Wallace, hero of the fourth-round victory over Everton, secured a fourth quarter-final appearance in 15 years for Millwall with the winning goal against AFC Wimbledon.

It was no more than the Championship strugglers deserved, as Neil Harris’s team squandered a number of good chances to win by a more comfortable margin.

But just as they do not care what opposition fans think of them, Millwall’s travelling supporters will not be too bothered how they got to the last eight yet again.

“What an achievement for a club our size,” said manager Harris. “Four times in 15 years. That is an unbelievable achievement.

Despite fan optimism it turned out not to be AFC Wimbledon's day - Despite fan optimism it turned out not to be AFC Wimbledon's day
Despite fan optimism it turned out not to be AFC Wimbledon's day Credit: Reuters

“Why does the FA Cup bring the best out of us? We know what is needed in these Cup ties and it is not always about being the best footballing team.

“It is about the team with the biggest heart and the right footballing mentality, who can win first and second balls and set plays. That is why they have done so well under me in this competition. I am a very happy manager.”

It might all have been so different if Joe Pigott had given Wimbledon, conquerors of West Ham United in the previous round, the perfect start, but the striker hit the post in the third minute.

Shane McLoughlin played in a dangerous cross from the right, Pigott poked the ball against the post from close range and Wimbledon were quickly punished.

Just a couple of minutes later, Wallace showed Pigott how it should be done as he put the visitors ahead. Ryan Leonard found him unmarked with a cross from the right and the left back made no mistake with his header at the far post.

The goal was Millwall’s first since Wallace had won the fourth-round tie in stoppage time against Premier League Everton last month.

On Millwall’s Cup hero, Harris said: “He is a wonderful fella and a top, top professional who leaves no stone unturned in the way he conducts himself on and off the pitch. He deserves the adulation and attention. I said to the lads before game I needed a hero and someone had to step up and be a match-winner – and he did that.”

Wimbledon were full of spirit and endeavour, but the League One side lacked the quality to take their chances and were grateful to goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale that they were able to keep pushing until the final whistle.

Striker Michael Folivi and right-back Toby Sibbick were the danger men for the hosts during the first half.

Folivi almost capitalised when a throw-in bobbled all the way through to him in the penalty area, but he shot wide of the post.

Disappointment for the home side - Disappointment for the home side
Disappointment for the home side Credit: PA

Sibbick caused Millwall problems with his deliveries. One cross had goalkeeper Jordan Archer scrambling to touch the ball over his own bar. And another found Deji Oshilaja in the penalty area, but the Dons defender headed over.

Wally Downes made an attacking change at the break, sending on Andy Barcham to replace Tyler Garratt. The substitute quickly encouraged the home crowd by driving at the Millwall defence before Sibbick sent a hopeful shot well over.

Wimbledon were almost caught by a sucker punch that would have killed the tie in the 57th minute.

Lee Gregory did well to chase down a long punt and hold the ball until Aiden O’Brien could catch him up. But having received his team-mate’s pass, O’Brien could not beat Ramsdale.

Folivi then had the entire home dug-out appealing for a penalty when he went down in the area, but referee Jonathan Moss signalled for a free-kick outside the box for an earlier foul.

Downes made his last roll of the dice by sending on both Dylan Connolly and Mitchell Pinnock, while former Dons striker Tom Elliott stepped off the bench for the visitors.

Jake Cooper squandered a great chance to ease Millwall’s nerves, as he headed wide after goalscorer Wallace had turned provider, and they also survived a penalty appeal when Barcham went down.

Midfielder Scott Wagstaff had dyed his beard for the tie - Midfielder Scott Wagstaff had dyed his beard for the tie
Midfielder Scott Wagstaff had dyed his beard for the tie Credit: Getty Images

Moss ruled that Barcham was offside when the ball came through from Folivi, but it looked as though it may have taken a slight touch off a defender.

Barcham’s influence was not only in an attacking sense for the hosts, as he made a superb goal-saving challenge to stop Gregory just as he was preparing to pull the trigger inside the area.

There was a late chance for Connolly to send the tie into extra-time, but he sliced his shot wide at the back post and that was the end of Wimbledon’s Cup run.

“I was very pleased with the way the lads applied themselves,” said Dons manager Downes. “We were a match for Millwall and it was only a set-piece between us. It was the set play.

“We’ve itemised all week that Millwall are very strong and studious on their set plays. There were no surprises for what they did to us. Unfortunately there was a lapse and we got punished for it.”

Asked what might have been if Pigott’s early effort had hit the net and not the post, Downes added: “But it didn’t. If you’re playing a team in the division above you and you create a chance early you have to take it. You know they’re going to be efficient at what they do. If they get a chance they’re going to punish you, which is exactly what happened.”

Match details

AFC Wimbledon: Ramsdale, Oshilaja, Nightingale, Garratt, Sibbick, Hartigan, McLoughlin, Wordsworth, McDonald, Folivi, Pigott
Bookings: Wordsworth
Subs used: Barcham 46 (Garratt), Connolly 63 (Pigott), Pinnock 63 (Hartigan) 

Millwall: Archer, Romeo, Pearce, Cooper, Murray Wallace,  Jed Wallace, Williams, Leonard, Ferguson, O'Brien, Gregory 
Bookings: Wallace 75
Subs used: Elliott 65 (O'Brien), Hutchinson 93 (Gregory)

Attendance: 4,795

Referee: Jonathan Moss 

                                                                                                    

Full time everywhere

And that's the end of Saturday afternoon football. Aberdeen run out of time against a resilient St Mirren, who hang on for a vital point. And now... it's Newport vs Man City!

FULL TIME CHAMPIONSHIP

Aston Villa 0 West Brom 2

Bolton 0 Norwich 4

Ipswich 1 Stoke 1

Preston 0 Nottm Forest 0

Sheff Utd 4 Reading 0

 

Late equaliser!

Ipswich have grabbed a late - as in Late - equaliser through Will Keane! He scores in the second minute of injury time to earn a point against Stoke.

MILLWALL REACH THE QUARTER-FINALS!

That's full time! Wimbledon just didn't have it in them to find an equaliser, Millwall are through to the quarter-finals for the second time in three years.

FULL TIME SCOTTISH PREMIERSHIP

Big result for Dundee! A fine win for Hibs and Rangers have dropped points with a 0-0 against St Johnstone!

Hibernian 2 Hamilton 0

Livingston 1 Dundee 2

Rangers 0 St Johnstone 0

There's a goal coming in Wimbledon vs Millwall

You can feel it in the air. Wimbledon have naturally opened up as a result of chasing the equaliser, Millwall enjoying the space they're leaving. A big finish to come!

GOOOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLL!

Great game at Pittodrie! It's been all Aberdeen this half and St Mirren are defending along their 18 yard line the entire time. Aberdeen work it forward, again, the cross comes in from Shinnie after good work from Stewart and - who else? - Sammy Cosgrove scores the equaliser.

Aberdeen 2 (Cosgrove 77') St Mirren 2

Else where in Scotland... DUNDEE HAVE THE LEAD! Scott Wright, on loan from Aberdeen, has scored in the 83rd minute to grab a goal which could prove crucial to Dundee's survival hopes!

Livingston 1 Dundee 2 (Wright 83')

And Rangers have hit the post! Gerrard's side are in long ball mode but still can't find a way past that stubborn St J defence.

Rangers 0 St Johnstone 0

Wimbledon go close again

Jed Wallace smashes a shot at goal which pings around the Millwall box. Wimbledon should have the momentum and be going for an equaliser - they might as well go for it now! - but it's all Millwall at the moment. Except that Wallace shot, of course.

GOOOOOOAAAAAAAALLLLLL!

Aberdeen 1 St Mirren 2 (McAllister 61')

St Mirren have the lead! Greg Tansey is on as a sub against the team he left for free in January, gets onto a terrible pass from Devlin and plays in Kyle McAllister. He runs in behind the defence, lollipops, then slams a shot on his left foot into the far corner. Brilliant finish!

Score updates

Championship

Aston Villa 0 West Brom 2

Bolton 0 Norwich 4

Ipswich 0 Stoke 1

Preston 0 Nottm Forest 0

Sheff Utd 4 Reading 0

 

Scottish Premiership

Aberdeen 1 St Mirren 1

Hibernian 2 Hamilton 0

Livingston 1 Dundee 1

Rangers 0 St Johnstone 0

Shocking scenes at Wimbledon

The home side have used all three of their substitutions, meaning Scott Wagstaff - who dyed his beard for this match - won't get on the pitch. 

Credit: GETTY IMAGES

Is there no magic left in this cup? Wimbledon need to step things up. 

Norwich absolutely flying

 They are now 4-0 up away to Bolton, which will leave the home side stuck in 23rd position. Well, unless they're about to pull an amazing four goal comeback out of somewhere. It's not happening.

Chance at Wimbledon

The second half is no different to the first but Wimbledon go close to an equaliser as Anthony Hartigan shoots wide of the far corner. The whistle had already gone so it wouldn't have counted.

Wimbledon 0 Millwall 1

Scottish GOOOOOAAAAAL!

Dundee have scored! Can you even believe it? Andrew Nelson has applied the finishing touch to a Dundee attack and made it 1-1 at Livingston.

St Mirren have missed a massive chance against Aberdeen.

Rangers still can't find a way past a stubborn St Johnstone

AND

Hibs are still winning 2-0.

GOOOOOOAAAAAALLLL!

Sheffield United are at it today. That's them 4-0 up on Reading as Scott Gibson scores inside the opening five minutes of the second half. Reading could do with paying attention after the referee's whistle.

Teams are back out in the FA Cup

There's a lot of energy and aggression but no quality so far. Both sides could do with calming it down and keeping the ball on the deck. One shot on target all game.

Championship roundup

Stoke have the lead thanks to James McLean's 42nd minute strike... and everything else is at it was the last time I updated. 

HALF TIME SCORES

Aston Villa 0 West Brom 2

Bolton 0 Norwich 3

Ipswich 0 Stoke 1

Preston 0 Nottm Forest 0

Sheff Utd 3 Reading 0

Sad times at Pittodrie

Aberdeen's on-loan defender Tommy Hoban has gone down screaming in pain with what looks like a reoccurance of his knee ligament injury. The Irishman is on a season long loan from Watford but after a fairly innocuous looking slide tackle has been stretchered off. Change of shape for Aberdeen, Gleeson on for Hoban, who is in floods of tears as he leaves the pitch, and eight minutes added time.

Elsewhere in Scotland, Rangers still haven't found a way past St Johnstone and 10 man Livi are holding their own against Dundee!

Aberdeen 1 St Mirren 1

Hibernian 2 Hamilton 0

Livingston 1 Dundee 0

Rangers 0 St Johnstone 0

GOOOOOAAAAAAALLLLL!

Hibs 2 (McNulty 39') Hamilton 0

"Good player," says Neil Lennon about a forward you'd imagine he had a say in signing before leaving Hibs. Hamilton's new-look attacking style doesn't seem to be working in Edinburgh today.

FA Cup ACTION

One shot on target between Wimbledon and Millwall so far. That shot turned into a goal. It's tight. 

GOOOOAAAAAAALLLLLL

Norwich are 3-0 up now! Emiliano Buendia adds a third. Bolton are not having a nice Saturday afternoon.

Chance at Ipswich

 

GOOOOOAAAAAAAAALLLL!

Another goal in Scotland and Aberdeen are level! St Mirren have conceded ANOTHER set piece, which takes their total conceded up to about 2900 this season.

Lewis Ferguson wins the header from a corner and beats the goalkeeper. St Mirren cannot defend set pieces.

Aberdeen 1 (Ferguson 32') St Mirren 1

And it should be 2-1! Niall McGinn has missed an open goal chance inside the area. St Mirren falling apart after that promising start.

The Norwich goal is pretty sexy

And they've just made it 2-0 away to Bolton. Marco Stiepermann adds a second in the 25th minute.

FA Cup update

Wimbledon go close with a move from a throw-in but there's not too much goalmouth action. Two shots each after 30 minutes. 

Championship update

Sheffield United are 2-0 up and in to the top two as Gary Madine scores from the centre of the box. Liam Kelly has gone off for Reading with an injury. John Swift on in his place.

Aston Villa 0 West Brom 0

Bolton 0 Norwich 1

Ipswich 0 Stoke 0

Preston 0 Nottm Forest 0

Sheff Utd 2 Reading 0

GOOOOOOOAAAAAALLLLL(S)

Hibs have the lead over Hamilton thanks to Flo Kamberi in the 17th minute and Livingston, down to 10 men, have gone 1-0 up on Dundee after Craig Halkett finds the back of the net.

Hibs 1 Hamilton 0

Livi 1 Dundee 0

PENALTY!

St Mirren have won a penalty! Sam Cosgrove loses the flight of the ball from a corner, tries to win it back and grabs then pulls Paul McGinn to the floor! It's a bizarre thing to do and now the away team can take the lead.

Here comes Duckens Nason....

GOOOOOAAAAAAAALLLLLLLL!

Aberdeen 0 St Mirren 1 (Nazon 20' Pen.)

RED CARD!

Livingston 0 Dundee 0 

Shaun Byrne puts his foot shoulder high while going for the ball. The referee has a wee chat with his assistant and doesn't have a particularly difficult decision to make! 

The Millwall goal

Credit: AFP

 

GOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLLL!

Bolton 0 Norwich 1 (Pukki 8')

Teemu Pukki is having some season at Norwich! That's his 22nd goal this season!

Neil Lennon on BT Sport Score

Neil Lennon's been having a bit of a laugh with the Hibs fallout. Chris Sutton says "let's hope [Hibs] get a manager in who plays attacking football!", Lennon reacts with "that's a bit harsh on Eddie May!". The joke is that Paul Heckinbottom is actually the new manager and May was a coach while Lennon was there. I think. It's not actually very funny. 

Chris Sutton has also upped the banter levels by saying "everyone loves a sausage". No goals in Scotland yet.

GOOOOAAAAAAALLLLL!

Another early goal! And it's Millwall who have opened the scoring in the FA Cup.

Wimbledon 0 Millwall 1 (Wallace 5') 

Murray Wallace has scored a header at the back post to put the Championship team ahead.

GOOOOOAAAAALLLL!

Sheffield United 1 (Freeman 1') Reading 0

And after only one minute, Sheffield United score the first goal of today. Kieron Freeman has scored in the opening moments of the game.

KICK OFF

Around the country(ies) everybody is playing football!

Scottish Premiership starting lineups

 Aberdeen vs St Mirren

 Hibs vs Hamilton

 Livingston vs Dundee

 Rangers vs St Johnstone

 

FA Cup team news

 

John Green is at Wimbledon

Author of Looking for AlaskaThe Fault In Our Stars, and lots of other successful novels, is at the game having sponsored either it or the home side. 

Credit: GETTY IMAGES

 

Busy day

Hello there! Have you ever seen a man liveblog 10 football matches at once? Well you're in for a treat because that's what I'm about to try and do. 

Millwall travel all the way across London (takes about 30 minutes) to Wimbledon in the 3pm FA Cup kickoff, while up in Scotland Aberdeen should put a few goals past St Mirren, Rangers have an absence of strikers for the visit of St Johnstone, Livi vs Dundee is tough to call and Hibs' new manager Paul Heckingbottom has his first game in charge.

And then there's the second division in England, or Championship as it likes to be called. Aston Villa still have a chance to reach the playoffs but host a West Brom side 12 points closer to that goal, Norwich could go top with a win over Bolton, Sheffield United could go second with a win against Reading, Preston vs Nottingham Forest is a bit meh for the neutral and Ipswich want to avoid another defeat this season against a disappointing Stoke. More unpredictable matches!

This blog will (hopefully) focus on the FA Cup action in south west London first of all with goal updates from all the rest of the matches mentioned. If at some point the page appears to be on fire, that's a result of friction from me typing too fast. Do not panic. 

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