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AFC Wimbledon secured their place in the League Two playoff final as they defeated Notts County 2-0 on aggregate. An early strike by Josh Neufville gave the south London side a 1-0 second-leg victory at the Cherry Red Records Stadium. The Dons will face Walsall at Wembley on Monday 26 May for a place in League One.
With the veteran striker David McGoldrick ruled out because of injury, and Alassana Jatta missing through suspension after being dismissed in the first leg, the Notts County manager, Stuart Maynard, was forced to make changes with Maï Traoré coming in to lead the attack.
AFC Wimbledon took their first step to Wembley after just eight minutes. Neufville controlled the ball on the left of the area and was able to lob the goalkeeper Alex Bass to put the hosts two goals up on aggregate.
Needing an early response to get themselves back in the tie, Notts County started pressing the resolute home defence. However, the Dons repelled the pressure on their back line in the Plough Lane sunshine. The hosts had the perfect chance to wrap proceedings up 10 minutes after the restart. Matty Stevens fed Marcus Browne, but his effort was heroically blocked by Lewis Macari.
Browne himself was testing the energy of the Notts County back line, using his pace to excellent effect. In their first real effort of the contest, Notts County tested Owen Goodman, when a Jodi Jones shot from outside the area was palmed away by the Crystal Palace loanee.
Stevens looked set to put the tie beyond any doubt on 69 minutes, when he found space in the area from a deep James Tilley cross. However, Bass denied him with an excellent one-handed save.
Wimbledon kept searching for the second goal of the afternoon, with Tilley testing Bass again on 72 minutes with a long-range effort. Perhaps needing some extra energy for the closing stages, the hosts subbed Stevens and Myles Hippolyte for Aron Sasu and Callum Maycock respectively.
To their credit, Notts County kept pressing for any opening they could carve out, but the home side continued to stay firm. Sasu shot straight at Bass late on, and the celebrations at full-time were the result of a well-earned trip to Wembley.
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Walsall secured their place in the final on Friday night, beating Chesterfield 2-1 at the Bescot Stadium to complete a 4-1 aggregate victory.
Having eased to a 2-0 win in the first leg, the hosts had to be patient to secure their trip to Wembley as the second leg stayed goalless past the 80-minute mark. Two substitutes then combined for Walsall as Albert Adomah set up Charlie Lakin to score and put the outcome of the tie beyond doubt.
Armando Dobra scored a consolation for Chesterfield in added time, before Adomah provided another assist, this time for Levi Amantchi in the 95th minute. Walsall fans poured on to the pitch after Amantchi’s goal, and after they returned to the stands, the final whistle signalled the Saddlers’ first Wembley visit since 2015.
