Weymouth manager Bobby Wilkinson revealed he was on the verge of substituting Ahkeem Rose before his superb free-kick earned the National League side a 1-1 draw at home to AFC Wimbledon.

Rose struck emphatically 20 minutes from time to earn the Dorset club a replay at League Two Wimbledon’s Plough Lane ground.

Wilkinson said: “Being brutally honest, I was about to take him off because he was struggling with cramp, but he asked me to keep him on for another five minutes. We had a little giggle about that after the game.

“It is a special day for everyone at the club today. We made it a fortress. The fans were unbelievable, and my boys deserved the result.

“There were a few heated discussions at half-time but if you believe, you never know what can happen.

“I am quite emotional about this result, but I want to go there now and compete again. I honestly thought we were going to win it at the end.

“We were underdogs today and we will be even bigger underdogs when we go there, but we are going to try and achieve something that no one expects.”

Wimbledon took the lead with only five minutes played as Ayoub Assal raced onto Harry Pell’s through ball before calmly lifting his shot over onrushing Weymouth goalkeeper Zaki Oualah.

Wimbledon boss Johnnie Jackson said: “I am very disappointed with the result, especially after taking an early lead.

“We approached the game really seriously and put out a strong team.

“Any team I put out there, I expected to win the game and get us through to the next round.

“We brought a lot of fans down for the game and the FA Cup has always been a big deal for this club.

“We will have to get the job done in the replay now.”