By Rob Cornell
The young Dons booked a second round tie at Plymouth Argyle in the FA Youth Cup, but only after they'd made hard work of seeing off Marlow.
Tyler Burey (pictured) opened the scoring, before a Great Nii-Okai Evans penalty, and a fine strike from Ossama Ashley wrapped up a 3-0 victory at the Alfred Davis Memorial Ground, but coach Mark Robinson, felt his side over-indulged at times when they could have finished off the Buckinghamshire side sooner.
The hosts made it awkward for the young Dons to take command of the game to begin with, putting in plenty of early effort to break up the play. There were no opportunities for the Dons strike pairing of Evans and Bobby Mills for the first 20 minutes.
Burey then broke the deadlock with a header at the far post from a well-delivered Ossama Ashley cross. Three minutes later, the Dons had control of the game when Osaze Urhoghide was brought down in the area and Evans beat Marlow keeper David Turner from the penalty spot.
Following a lengthy stoppage for treatment due to an injury to Urhoghide, who sustained a cut to the head from an elbow, Marlow looked to reduce the scoreline from a couple of set pieces, but in truth they rarely troubled a well-organised Dons defence all game.
Three minutes before the break, Evans had the chance to put the match beyond Marlow's reach, but he failed to capitalise from close range.
The Dons had to settle for a two-goal cushion at the break, but lost Urhoghide, with Reuben Collins coming on at the start of the second-half. Dean Perana reverted to right back, with Collins partnering Archie Procter in the centre of defence.
Wimbledon went in search of a third for the opening quarter of an hour of the second period, with Burey and Mills offering an increasing threat down the left, backed up by man-of-the-match Jack Currie.
Donte Lodge-Francis replaced Mills up front for the young Dons, as they looked for more of a physical presence to break down Marlow's resistance. Ashley struck powerfully from distance to finally put the tie beyond Marlow's grasp with the last quarter of the game to go.
Jamil Awoyejo came on for Tyrique Spencer-Clarke with 12 minutes left. Lodge-Francis set up Evans with a nice move close in on goal, only for the striker to put the ball over the crossbar.
With Marlow's players going down with cramp, Wimbledon's superior fitness and strength showed by the final whistle, but they'll need to focus harder and be less over-elaborate when they travel to Devon for the next round.
AFC Wimbledon: Miles Urhoghide (Collins) Perana Procter Currie Spencer-Clarke (Awoyejo) Ashley Nelson-Roberts Burey Evans Mills (Lodge-Francis).