February 21, 2001 11:18: GOALKEEPER Martin Taylor was ten-man Wycombe's hero as they reached the FA Cup quarter finals after a dramatic penalty shoot-out in their replay with Wimbledon.

Wimbledon 2 - Wycombe Wanderers 2 (Wycombe win 8-7 on penalties) FA Cup fifth round replay at Selhurst Park

The 4,500 Blues fans who travelled to Selhurst Park were treated to a roller-coaster game which proved to be the most memorable match in the club's history.

First they saw the team go one nil down, equalise, then Michael Simpson got sent off. The Blues held on until the final minute of normal time, then heart-breakingly conceded a penalty. But goalie Taylor saved the penalty, forcing the game into extra time.

Just 34 seconds into extra time, the Blues conceded another goal but when all looked lost in the final minute of extra time, Paul McCarthy jabbed in the equaliser.

More drama was in store in the penalty shoot-out. Brown scored first for Wycombe, Wimbledon's Cunningham hit the post, Cousins (Wyc) scored, Euell (Dons) scored, Ryan (Wyc) put it over the bar, Gayle (Dons) scored, Bulman (Wyc) scored, Hunt (Dons) scored, Parkin (Wyc) scored, Ardley (Dons) scored, Vinnicombe (Wyc) scored, Holloway (Dons) scored, Townsend (Wyc) scored, Gray (Dons) scored. Then Wycombe's Bates was saved but then Hawkins (Dons) was saved too, McCarthy (Wyc) scored, Davis (Dons) scored, Taylor (Wyc) scored and Williams (Dons) missed.

Goalie Taylor was engulfed by his teammates after a fantastic personal performance.

Taylor saved Neal Ardley's spotkick in the final minute of normal time to take the match into 30 minutes overtime, he scored Wycombe's eighth penalty, then watched in delight as Mark Williams blazed the ball over his crossbar to give Wanderers a dramatic 8-7 shoot-out victory and send Wycombe into a quarter final tie at Premiership Leicester City.

The Blues were up against it almost from the start of the match. Wanderers, who fought back from 2-0 in the first game, found themselves behind again after just 12 minutes.

The Wimbledon opener came after Steve Brown was just a whisker away from giving Wycombe the lead with a speculative lob, which keeper Kelvin Davis tipped over the bar. From the resulting corner, Wimbledon cleared and Gareth Ainsworth streaked away to finish low beyond Wycombe keeper Martin Taylor.

But, just like on Saturday, Wycombe came roaring back and levelled on 32 minutes.

Dannie Bulman's shot was blocked and then Andy Rammell's follow up was parried into the path of Dave Carroll who tucked the ball home from close range.

Manager Lawrie Sanchez, who used three subs in one go on Saturday, had to use two in six first half minutes.

Injured striker Andy Rammell was replaced by Andy Baird on 39 minutes, and then Baird himself was stretchered off and replaced by Sam Parkin after a clattering challenge in the 43rd minute from Mark Williams.

After Taylor's heroics in taking the match into extra time by saving Ardley's penalty and keeping the score at 1-1, Wycombe hearts were broken when just 34 seconds into the extra period, Dons substitute Wayne Gray gave the First Division team the lead again.

Wanderers looked to be heading out until on-loan Sam Parkin went on a mazy run down the left in the final minute of extra time. His cross was sliced by Dannie Bulman and Paul McCarthy was on hand to jab in a 120th minute equaliser.

The victory was made all the more remarkable because Wycombe were down to ten men from 69 minutes when Michael Simpson was sent off for his second bookable challenge on Gareth Ainsworth.

Hundreds of Wycombe fans missed the start of the match after a crash on the M25 caused traffic chaos.

Wimbledon: Davis, Cunningham, Holloway, Ardley, Euell, Anderson, Williams, Ainsworth, Agyemang, Hawkins, Karlsson. Subs: Gayle, Feuer, Willmott, Gray, Hunt.

Wycombe: Taylor, Vinnicombe, Cousins, McCarthy, Bates, Carroll, Ryan, Rammell, Bulman, Simpson, Brown. Subs: Baird, Townsend, Parkin, Lee, Westhead.

By.Dave Peters