Extra-strength Dons End Venables Run

Wimbledon's never-say-die spirit won them the remaining place in the last 16 last night and finally burst the bubble that Terry Venables blew at Boro in mid-December. Five minutes into extra-time Jason Euell rounded off a double exchange with Peter Hawkins by blasting in his 16th goal of the season.

Ugo Ehiogu, who had flung himself to stop Euell's first attempt, was sent off moments later for laying out Mark Williams in the jostling at a Boro free-kick. By the time Jonathan Hunt scored another the game was up for Boro, and Wycombe's manager Lawrie Sanchez will have the pleasure on Saturday of entertaining the side for whom he scored the Cup final winner in 1988.

This was the first time Venables had been back to Selhurst since, as manager of Crystal Palace, he departed in a puff of melodramatic smoke and familiar suspicion. Now he came trailing clouds of glory, unbeaten in a dozen games as Boro's emergency savior. He also came without a fair number of first-team regulars, most notably Christian Karembeu suffering an eye injury. Alen Boksic, nursing a groin strain, started on the bench.

But Venables still had a solid-looking back three and it is the defensive discipline he has drilled into the side that has turned morale and results round. They needed it from the outset as Wimbledon came at them strongly. Gianluca Festa was forced into a sequence of diving headers to clear crosses.

Wimbledon had passed their time since earning the goal-less draw at the Riverside last week sharpening their sights with four goals on Saturday that disposed of Sheffield Wednesday, manager and all. They had also disposed of the man, John Hartson, whose penalty knocked Boro out of the Worthington Cup on Halloween. But that was when Bryan Robson was in charge.

Boro had a couple of bright moments at the start, first when Hamilton Ricard turned near the penalty spot only to meet a firm tackle by Williams as he was poised to shoot. Then Brian Deane dummied past Darren Holloway on the left, making room for a run and cross. But there the brightness died.

The pitch quickly became poached and neither side found it conducive to constructive play. In fact, both resigned themselves to the hopelessness of playing decently on it. One-touch foot ball ruled - one touch by Wimbledon, one by Boro.

Just past the half-hour there was a flurry of excitement after a stunning block by Ehiogu that saw Damien Francis carried off. Before he was replaced, Curtis Fleming centered for Phil Stamp to head firmly at Kelvin Davis, and in the next minute Gareth Ainsworth provided Mark Schwarzer with his first taste of action.

The breakthrough owed most to Paul Ince's determination to win a bouncing ball 25 yards out. He slipped it to Ricard, who found the top corner of the net from 20 yards.

The goal not only brought a storming response from Wimbledon, who mustered three corners in succession straight after the interval and saw Gianluca Festa again at the heart of the resistance, it also persuaded Boro that the air was not the only way to progress.

It was looking as if their new policy might pay off but with 16 minutes to go and Wimbledon throwing men forward, Ehiogu pulled back Euell, Neil Ardley converted the penalty and the game was level again.

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