WILL the wonders of Wimbledon never cease? At Hillsborough yesterday an instinctive and undying sense of opportunism took them to the FA Cup semi finals, where an encounter with Chelsea will guarantee London a presence at Wembley on May 17th.
Ruud Gullit's side may he the Cup favourites but who would bet against Wimbledon now? Quite apart from anything else they have already beaten Chelsea, admittedly the pre Zola Chelsea, 4-2 at Stamford Bridge. They have also knocked out the FA Cup holders, Manchester United, and yesterday they beat David Pleat's ever improving Sheffield Wednesday team, beaten just once in its previous 22 fixtures, after looking the stronger side overall.
Thus Wimbledon, like Middlesbrough, can still reach two finals this season. And fatigue could be their biggest enemy. Tomorrow night they meet Leicester City at Selhurst Park in the second leg of their League Cup semi final having forced a 0-0 draw at Filbert Street. That will be their eighth match in 25 days and their 41st competitive game of the season.
Not that there was much sign of tiredness in Wimbledon's legs yesterday. They were always matching Wednesday's for pace and once Robbie Earle had given them the lead in the 74th minute, eight or nine men withdrew behind the ball to present the opposition with a well nigh impenetrable barrier of bodies. Dean Holdsworth's goal in the final minute was a bonus which, by that time, was far from Wimbledon's minds.
For Sheffield Wednesday's attack the afternoon became smothering Sunday. But Pleat had another description for it - "Sunday, bloody Sunday" - and justifiably so.
Wednesday lost Jon Newsome, the loftiest peak of their defence, after 14 minutes and Graham Hyde, the lungs of their midfield, after 36. Both suffered ankle injuries which will keep them out for the rest of the season; Newsome a dislocation, Hyde ruptured ligaments.
In the ensuing reshuffles, Peter Atherton withdrew alongside Des Walker in the back four and David Hirst came off the bench to join Andy Booth up front while Ritchie Humphreys, the other substitute, and Benito Carbone augmented the midfield. Defensively, the loss of Hyde proved the greater burden, given Wimbledon's propensity for the sudden counter attack.
Yet Sheffield Wednesday wasted two outstanding opportunities to put the tie beyond Wimbledon's reach. In the 65th minute Humphreys sent Hirst careering away on the right. Wimbledon, taken unawares, could not get back and after Hirst had laid the ball low into the path of Booth a goal beckoned. Booth, however, slipped at the crucial moment and shot wide. Five minutes later Guy Whittingham had an even better opportunity, but he also dragged his shot wide.
Earlier Booth had gone close with a couple of headers. With 11 minutes remaining and Sheffield Wednesday straining for an equaliser, Booth was brought down by Vinnie Jones after he had turned towards the 18 yard line and was about to shoot. Jones, already cautioned for a first half foul on Carbone, was fortunate to escape his second dismissal of the season.
Joe Kinnear reckoned that giving Oyvind Leonhardsen three games' rest had proved crucial to the outcome and certainly the Norwegian's tireless work in relieving the defence and setting up attacks contributed much to Wimbledon's win. But equally, as Pleat pointed out, the constant threat up front of Marcus Gayle and Efan Ekoku meant that Wednesday could never be completely at ease with themselves when they moved forward, for fear that one of these two players would find the backdoor ajar.
In fact this is precisely what happened.
After Robbie Earle and Neal Ardley had completed a double exchange of passes on the right Ardley's cross was met by Gayle, who controlled the ball deftly before clipping it over his shoulder to Earle. Earle's shot into the roof of the net gave Kevin Pressman no chance.
Wimbledon would have settled for that but in the closing seconds Ian Nolan's mishit pass was pounced on by Leonhardsen, who calmly sent in Holdsworth, one of Wimbledon's two late substitutes, for the goal that has promised the Premier League's cottage industrialists their second appearance in an FA Cup final and further enhanced Kinnear's claim to be voted Manager of the Year.
