FA Cup: AFC Wimbledon thrash Ramsgate to cruise into third round - as it happened

1. League Two AFC Wimbledon beat eighth-tier Ramsgate 5-0 in FA Cup second round
2. Iraq striker Ali Al-Hamadi scores twice for Dons
3. Dons will host Championship high-fliers Ipswich in third round
4. Eighth-tier Ramsgate were the lowest-ranked side left in the competition

'It's poor from a Ramsgate point of view'

Matt Gerrard

BBC Radio Kent

I don't understand Ramsgate's tactic of playing the ball out from the back

They have given that goal away to the home side after a very promising start.

At this level you are going to get punished unless you make those passes perfect.

GOAL: AFC Wimbledon 1-0 Ramsgate

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Rams defender Alfie Young plays an ill-advised ball across his area which Dons forward Ali Al-Hamadi intercepts before sliding across to skipper Jake Reeves who has time and space to rifle past Tom Hadler and into the top corner from the edge of the box.

A nightmare goal for the visitors to concede after such a bright first few minutes.

Fairly level first five minutes

Matt Gerrard

BBC Radio Kent

I think you'd have a job to work out which side is the professional club, and which is four divisions lower so far.

Mike West whips in a teasing free-kick after Ramsgate wide-man Jordan Green was brought down on the right but the Dons manage to clear their lines.

Encouraging start from the Isthmian South East side. No signs of stage-fright.

Get Involved

Jonno: Ramsgate: I was at Priestfield when the Rams hammered high flying Maidstone to win the Kent Senior Cup. Up the Gate!

TJ Jadama wins a Ramsgate free-kick in the Dons half giving the visitors an early chance to get the ball towards the box, but they can't take advantage, trying to spread play instead and losing it.

They are not nearly as direct as you might expect from a non-league side.

KICK-OFF

Here we go... the final second-round tie on the slate is under way.

Is there any FA Cup magic left for Ramsgate to sprinkle on proceedings?

We'll find out in the next 90 minutes.

Ipswich at home awaits one of these sides.

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The 1,500 Rams fans who have travelled up from east Kent on 20 club-subsidised coaches are making an almighty racket as the teams head out of the tunnel.

There are going to be some very sleepy primary school children tomorrow morning too, by the looks of it. What an occasion for the club and the town.

Kick-off is moments away...

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Team news

Johnnie Jackson names a strong Dons team, just two changes from the side which lost 1-0 at Gillingham in League Two last Tuesday.

Ten-goal top-scorer James Tilley drops to the bench along with Isaac Ogundere with Huseyin Biler and Josh Neufville coming in. One player keeping his place is Iraqi striker Ali Al-Hamadi, 21, who has nine goals and has been linked with a move up the ladder.

Ramsgate have bags of experience through the spine of the team with keeper Tom Hadler and centre-back Joe Ellul summer arrivals from Maidstone, already in the third round, while Lee Martin, once of Manchester United, Rangers, Ipswich and Charlton is in centre midfield and Joe Taylor up front.

Spare a thought for the suspended Alfie Paxman, whose brother Jack is on the bench, and Craig Stone, who is cup-tied.

Rams keeper aiming to keep Dons at bay

With League Two AFC Wimbledon playing at home against eighth-tier Ramsgate, a side 85 places below them in the ladder, you might expect Rams keeper Tom Hadler to be a busy man tonight.

The Dons have won four straight at home and put five past Cheltenham in round one. However, it doesn't faze Hadler, who began his career in League One at Gillingham, who told BBC Sport: "We are quietly confident - we enjoy playing big teams and big games."

Four of Ramsgate's seven wins in the competition thus far have come against higher division opposition, including the 2-1 win over Woking, a mere 62 places further up the pyramid, which set up this tie.

Hadler added: "We'll try to impose ourselves and give it a go. Through our whole FA Cup run we have played teams generally at a higher level than us, so it's just another one of those. It's the FA Cup - who knows what might happen?"

Hadler's size 11 right boot has unlocked opposition defences in each of the past two rounds to set up crucial goals, certainly something for the Dons to be wary of tonight...

Haven't we met before?

This might be the first meeting between the sides in the FA Cup, but these sides have played before in the league.. just not in the past 16 years.

As AFC WImbledon worked their way up the ladder following their formation in 2002, they faced Ramsgate in the Isthmian League Premier Division in both 2006-07 and 2007-08.

Both games at the Rams' Southwood home were drawn 1-1, however, the clashes at the Dons' former home of Kingsmeadow ended 0-0 and then 2-0 to the hosts.

Can the Rams upset all the odds and break that run tonight?

Who exactly are Ramsgate?

Glad you asked...

Football has been played in the former port town, located on the Isle of Thanet in east Kent, for around 140 years, but Ramsgate in their current form have been around since 1945 when the ban on football during World War Two was lifted.

This is the third time the Rams have reached the FA Cup proper, losing 5-3 in the first round at Watford in 1955 and then 2-0 at Nuneaton at the same stage 50 years later.

Local hero and 25-goal leading scorer Joe Taylor sells safety equipment on building sites by day, but tonight he's seeking his 10th goal of this fairytale FA Cup run - one which will give him a share of the lead in the race for this season's Golden Ball with Jonathan Lacey of Biggleswade, who are already eliminated.

No butchers or bakers but among their ranks are 33-year-old midfielder Medi Elito, who once played alongside Danny Welbeck at the under-17 World Cup for England, being knocked-out by a Toni Kroos-led Germany. He's also a music producer who has had his talents showcased on the Instagram story of Beyonce, no less.

Forward Jordan Green dropped four divisions to sign for Ramsgate this summer and has 3.3m TikTok followers who revel in his updates about raising his son Zion.

Ramsgate's match-winner against Woking, Lee Martin was once bought by Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United for £1m and is now at his 17th club. He was a team-mate of AFC Wimbledon boss Johnnie Jackson at Charlton Athletic during a 20-game loan spell in 2010-11.

And of course boss Ben Smith is a PE teacher turned assistant head teacher - as well as the mastermind of a Cup run which is extended to nine games this evening.

Cup history in abundance at Plough Lane

It's fair to say the Dons have had their share of FA Cup glory down the years.

The original Wimbledon, of course, famously saw-off Liverpool to win the final at Wembley in 1988 and reached the semi-final as recently as 1997, while since 2002 the phoenix club flew through the leagues and into the world’s oldest cup competition once again.

Who could forget Wimbledon giving Liverpool an almighty scare in a third round tie in 2015, taking on Tottenham at the same stage three years later and then ousting West Ham 4-2 to reach the fifth round in 2019 before being edged-out by Millwall.

Ramsgate will be aware the Dons have gone out in the past two seasons to non-league opposition, losing 2-0 at National League Boreham Wood and then at home to Chesterfield of the same division in succession.

Can the Rams make it an unwanted hat-trick and write a bit more history of their own?

Third-round draw

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A home tie against Championship high-fliers Ipswich awaits the winners of tonight's tie in the FA Cup third round.

Premier League leaders Arsenal will host Liverpool in one of the standout ties thrown up by Sunday afternoon's draw.

Elsewhere, Sunderland will face Newcastle in a Tyne-Wear derby at the Stadium of Light and holders Manchester City will entertain Huddersfield Town.

Manchester United will visit 2013 winners Wigan Athletic, Tottenham will host Burnley, and Everton will travel to Crystal Palace.

Maidstone, of National League South, can look forward to a home tie against either Stevenage or Port Vale.

The third round will be played between 5 and 8 January.

See the draw in full here.

Round two round-up

FA Cup: Maidstone 2-1 Barrow Bivesh Gureng scores subline winner to send Maidstone into

So what's already happened this weekend?

Maidstone is less than an hour up the Kent roads from Ramsgate and is where a couple of the Rams' key players plied their trade in recent seasons.

The Stones provided the surprise of round two on Saturday to reach the FA Cup third round for the first time since being reformed, coming from behind to beat League Two Barrow - 47-places above the National League South side.

Co-owner Oliver Ash told BBC Radio Kent: “It's what you dream about. The league is our bread and butter, and we're doing well, but this is something special. The FA Cup strikes the imagination of everyone in the country who loves football."

The shocks continued on Sunday as National League Eastleigh stunned League One crisis club Reading while non-league Chesterfield toppled Leyton Orient and Aldershot earned a replay against League Two high-fliers Stockport.

Barnet are another non-league side with a shot at the third round after salvaging a replay with a late goal against League Two Newport on Saturday.

Seventh-tier Horsham were ousted 3-0 at Sutton while League One sides Charlton and Wycombe were dumped out by League Two sides Gillingham and Morecambe respectively.

League One Bolton thrashed Harrogate while Cambridge United hammered Fleetwood and Oxford and Peterborough also progressed against Grimsby and Doncaster.

Wrexham cruised through against Yeovil on Sunday while Stevenage and Port Vale face a replay and Alfreton and Walsall must try again after their tie was called off six minutes before kick-off due to a frozen pitch, going the same way as Crewe v Bristol Rovers. Forest Green’s trip to Blackpool was postponed due to an FA probe into the eligibility of a player fielded by Rovers in the first round.

Good evening...

PA Media

Thought the FA Cup excitement was over until the new year? Think again. The 20th and final scheduled second-round match is mere moments away.

There will be rearranged fixtures and replays to come, of course, but for now all eyes turn to Plough Lane where AFC Wimbledon and Ramsgate will be the last teams to lock horns in this second round weekend.

We'll bring you live text coverage and analysis right here while you can also accompany that with your choice of available radio commentaries by clicking up there.

What an evening in store!