SWINDON Town Under-18s exited the FA Youth Cup at the second-round stage on Wednesday night after losing 4-2 away at AFC Wimbledon.

Lee Peacock’s boys were 3-0 down at the break after goals from Jola Lahan, Paris Lock, and Aaron Sasu, but showed excellent spirit and resolve to set Dons nerves jangling near the end.

Shyam Tank dispatched a second-half penalty before Town’s Hamilton brought Swindon to within one.

It was not to be the Young Robins’ day though as Morgan Williams’ successful spot-kick in the final minute of normal time for the home side confirmed the result.

In the early moments, Town wasted a decent chance to take the lead after Wimbledon’s goalkeeper Harry Griffiths spilt an over-hit through ball, but Abu Kanu poked narrowly wide.

AFC Wimbledon responded to the scare by taking the lead in the 16th minute following a set-piece. Lahan scrambled the ball into the net from close range after Swindon failed to clear.

Shortly after Hamilton had headed wide from 12 yards out, Swindon thought they had levelled when Kanu slipped past a couple of Dons defenders before squaring the ball to Keyes who rolled it into the net. Celebrations were cut short though as the linesman had raised his flag for offside.

The hosts then made it 2-0 in the 33rd minute as Lock plucked the ball out of the air and showed great skill before firing into the far corner.

Town went close through Kanu, but it was Wimbledon who found the net once more prior to the break. Sasu burst away from his marker and blasted a powerful shot low past Swindon’s stopper, Evans.

Swindon emerged in the second-half full of fight and set about burrowing their way back into the contest. After a long-range strike from Boulden was tipped wide by Griffiths in the 59th minute, the visitors won a penalty for handball from the ensuing corner. Taank calmly rolled the penalty into the net to begin the fightback.

A loose back-pass was seized by Kanu with 16 minutes to play, and he squared for Hamilton to slide home as belief continued to rise in the Swindon camp.

Inside the final 10 minutes, Swindon were inches away from squaring the game up after substitute McGregor turned and cracked a fierce shot off the bar.

But with two minutes to play, Wimbledon clinched their spot in round three after being awarded a penalty. Williams placed into the corner to secure the London side’s progress.