Ardley to fulfil childhood dream

AFC Wimbledon boss Neal Ardley will fulfil a childhood dream when he manages at Wembley later this month, though he had feared floodlight failure would spoil his club’s passage to the Sky Bet League Two play-off final.

The Dons took a one-goal first-leg advantage to Accrington, yet found themselves 2-0 down with 31 minutes to go in east Lancashire following a penalty from Josh Windass and Piero Mingoia’s brilliant 30-yard effort.

Substitute Adebayo Akinfenwa’s header forced extra time and Lyle Taylor’s 104th-minute effort had the Dons on course for a final against Plymouth courtesy of a 3-2 aggregate victory.

However, there was still drama to come as two floodlights at the Wham Stadium went out, forcing referee Eddie Ilderton to halt proceedings for 10 minutes while Ardley panicked about a possible abandonment.

“My main concern was that the referee would try to abandon it,” Ardley revealed.

“I thought that would have been the most ridiculous thing. …

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