HE MAY HAVE CHANGED THE NAME, redesigned the badge and altered the colours, but Pete Winkelman, the prime mover in the relocation of Wimbledon to Milton Keynes two years ago, still refuses to relinquish the club’s past. Asked in the October issue of FourFour Two, the football magazine, whether he would consider returning the replica of the FA Cup that the former top-flight club won in 1988 to the fans of AFC Wimbledon, the non-league club created by supporters opposed to the move, the chairman of Milton Keynes Dons made it clear that it would remain in Buckinghamshire, where he intended to establish a Crazy Gang Hall of Fame.

So while one group of AFC Wimbledon supporters continues negotiations to reclaim the history of a club formed on Wimbledon Common in 1889, the remainder are left to take solace from the fact that few in football see it Winkelman’s way, least of all the members of the Liverpool team that lost to Lawrie Sanchez’s goal at Wembley. Six of them will take part in a rerun of the match on Sunday, with Wimbledon players from the same era, to raise money for the club in their bid to purchase Kingsmeadow, the ground they share with Kingstonian.

In the meantime, the Ryman League first division leaders are left to make their own mark on the FA Cup and did so with a comfortable victory at home to Ashford Town in the preliminary round on Saturday. The Kent club are nicknamed the Nuts and Bolts, but despite the input of Terry Fenwick, the former England defender, who has stepped in to coach a team that has shipped 21 goals in six league games, AFC Wimbledon breached their rearguard almost at will.

That said, thanks to some sloppy finishing and the heroics of John Whitehouse in the Ashford goal, the home team had only Richard Butler’s close-range volley to show for their supremacy until Robert Ursell added two late goals, one from the penalty spot, to secure a visit to Dover Athletic in the first qualifying round. Ursell’s second goal was a delight. Taking down a long goal kick, the midfield player turned and raced towards goal, fooling a defender with an audacious feint before dragging the ball back on to his left foot and curling a low shot home.

A Liverpool supporter, Ursell will be an interested onlooker at next weekend’s game for the FA Cup veterans. His sharpness is not restricted to the pitch. He revealed that he had already rejected the overtures of one Football League club — Milton Keynes Dons!

AFC Wimbledon (3-5-2): D Naisbitt 6 — M Everard 6 (sub: JB Bates, 76min) , A Howard 5, S Butler 6 — M Woolner 7 (sub: S Gibson, 61 6), C Gell 6, G Bolger 5, R Ursell 8, R Gray 7 — R Butler 6, J Taylor 6 (sub: J Sheerin, 60 5). Substitutes not used: P Smith, L McDowall. Booked: Sheerin

Ashford Town (4-4-1-1): J Whitehouse 9 — T Adlington 5, P Kingwell 4, C Holmes 4, A O’Leary 4 (sub: D Hunwick, 76) — Y Dada 4 (sub: S McRobert, 71), M Bower 4, P O’Brien 5 (sub: D White, 83), T Evans 5 — J Thorogood 5 — P Jones 5. Substitutes not used: L Blackman, W Taol. Booked: Holmes, Adlington, Evans, Bower

Referee: A Field 7

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