Myles Hippolyte celebrates with the League Two play-off trophyGetty Images

Myles Hippolyte scored the winner as AFC Wimbledon beat Walsall at Wembley

Chris Peddy
BBC Sport at Wembley Stadium

AFC Wimbledon beat Walsall at Wembley to win promotion to League One after three years in the fourth tier.

Myles Hippolyte scored in first-half added time with a crisp low finish to seal a 1-0 win for the Wombles.

Saddlers captain Jamille Matt had an effort cleared off the line as the side who were 12 points clear at the top of League Two in January chased the game.

The result sees Johnnie Jackson's team promoted to the third tier alongside Bradford City, Port Vale and champions Doncaster Rovers.

The Saddlers will now prepare for a seventh-straight campaign in the fourth tier, while AFC Wimbledon return to League One for the first time since relegation in 2022.

Best defence overcomes most clinical attack

AFC Wimbledon players celebrate after beating Walsall in the League Two play-off final at WembleyGetty Images

AFC Wimbledon finished fifth in League Two this season

AFC Wimbledon went into the final having twice shut out Notts County in the semi-finals and holding the best defensive record in the league having conceded 35 goals.

So when Hippolyte struck at the end of the first half, it was always going to take a mammoth effort for the Saddlers to find a way back.

In a rare moment of quality up to that point, Marcus Browne chested the ball down following a clearance from a corner and smashed a volley goalward.

The ball was blocked and came to Hippolyte, who struck it first time along the ground and into the bottom corner past Tommy Simkin.

Browne had earlier tested the Walsall keeper from distance, drawing a diving stop low to his left.

Wimbledon's heart-in-mouth moment came soon after the break as Walsall went in search of the equaliser, with Matt beating Owen Goodman to the ball and nutmegging the Dons keeper at his near post.

The Saddlers supporters willed the ball in as it trickled towards the line but defender Riley Harbottle got back to the line just in time to clear.

Simkin made an excellent late stop, saving Josh Neufville's near post shot with a strong left palm to keep Walsall in it.

But League Two's top attack, albeit with a lot of their goals scored during their incredible start to the season, ultimately could not penetrate the division's best defence.

Walsall surrender 15-point cushion

Myles Hippolyte scores for AFC WimbledonGetty Images

Myles Hippolyte gave AFC Wimbledon the lead in first-half added time

Walsall must now regroup after a 2025 to forget.

A record-extending ninth league win in a row when they beat MK Dons 4-2 on 18 January took them 12 points clear at the top of the table.

Mat Sadler's side also had a 15-point cushion to fourth-placed Wimbledon and automatic promotion seemed almost inevitable with less than half the campaign left.

However, a run of 13 matches and two months without a victory between February and late April saw that lead disappear.

Their misery was compounded on the last day of the season when Bradford City scored in the 96th minute to climb above the Saddlers and finish third.

A final day win at Crewe and two victories over Chesterfield in the play-off semi-finals sent them to Wembley with a return to some form.

But they fell short in the capital, becoming the first team since Opta began recording data in 2012 to fail to record a single shot in the opening half of an EFL play-off final.

They managed five efforts in all with just two on target and only looked like breaking through the Dons' defence with Matt's chance early in the second half.

Dons emulate play-off heroes of 2016

AFC Wimbledon players celebrate with the League Two play-off final trophyGetty Images

Johnnie Jackson's side have now emulated the 2015-16 League Two play-off winning team

Despite a strong start to the campaign, AFC Wimbledon were rocked when flooding ruined their pitch and left the turf at the Cherry Red Records Stadium looking more like a golf course.

Football fans from around the UK donated to help pay for the repairs and the Wombles kept pace in the automatic promotion race with their games in hand.

A shaky end to the season saw the Londoners drop out of contention for the top three as the goals dried up, with top-scorer Matty Stevens scoring just once in the final 19 matches.

But three consecutive 1-0 play-off wins has sent them back up to League One.

Jackson and his team have now emulated the Wimbledon side of 2015-16, who beat Plymouth Argyle 2-0 at Wembley, when Barry Fuller lifted the trophy as captain.

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