Ron Head dropped back to full-back, displacing Pat Field to make room for talisman Harry Stannard, who came through a fitness test with the strollers and declared himself fit. Field and Derek Clarke were the travelling reserves who journeyed with the team on Friday evening. In the previous round Sheffield â€" the oldest team in the world â€" had beaten Yorkshire Amateurs, engendering receipts of just £40, but with no professional game in the city and the game switched to Wednesday’s Hillsborough it was hoped a crowd of around 20,000 would attend and receipts of nearer £1,200 would be raised. With British Rail providing special excursion tickets at 34s from Wimbledon, Wimbledon Park, Haydons Road and Earlsfield it was anticipated a decent number of Dons fans would help boost the numbers. A coach-load made the journey overnight and another followed at 5.30 in the morning. One intrepid enthusiast even bicycled all the way, a round trip of just over 400 miles! The hoped for attendance proved rather enthusiastic, but 10,663 was still the highest gate of the round and a share of £663 was a considerable boost to the coffers of both clubs.

Starting on a frozen surface it was the Dons who settled down first and they took the lead after twenty minutes, Charlie Smith capitalising on a defensive error and setting up Stannard who made no mistake from close range. A breakaway by Sheffield resulted in Jim Haydock dropping the ball in the goalmouth, but the danger was cleared and six minutes later the visitors increased the lead when a cross-shot from Jim Smith found the net. Although not as technically gifted as Wimbledon, the home side caused the defence many anxious moments, but the break arrived with no further scoring.

It didn’t take long after the interval for an anxious moment to turn into a goal, Copley netting after only four minutes and, spurred on by that success, Sheffield stormed the Dons’ goal from all angles, only a steady defence preventing the visitors from being over-run. As the tide slowly turned back the way of the southerners Jim Smith should have increased the lead, but hit the post from an easy chance and Charlie Smith scraped the crossbar. Sheffield were ever dangerous on the break and hit the post themselves with a long shot but, after a spell of midfield parity, Charlie Smith settled the tie with a glorious shot from twenty yards that left Skinner helpless. A few minutes from the end Copley scored a second for the home team, but they were unable to find an equaliser and Wimbledon held on for their first ever victory in Yorkshire.