Eddie Howe apparently wasn’t exaggerating when he described AFC Wimbledon as “well organised” on the eve of kick-off.

If anything, that proved to be quite an understatement as Johnnie Jackson’s League Two players not only prevented Newcastle from scoring in open play but also managed to silence St James’ Park frequently.

It took Fabian Schär’s coolly missed penalty to give Howe’s team a thrilling fourth-round home game against Chelsea, at the end of a night in which the excellent Wimbledon captain Joe Lewis proved the personification of stubbornness at the heart of his team’s central defensive trilogy. Not that any of his similarly dedicated teammates were remotely shabby.

As recently as last Saturday, Pep Guardiola suggested that it would be “impossible” to control Newcastle for a full 90 minutes, but although Howe’s players dominated possession and were never in real danger of defeat, Wimbledon managed quite well to prove Manchester City’s manager incorrect.

This tie was due to have been played at Wimbledon a week ago, but when torrential rain caused the River Wandle to flood and a sinkhole formed on the sodden Plow Lane pitch, a postponement was inevitable.

This resulted in a change of venue almost 300 miles north, but Jackson’s team were buoyed not only by a promising start to the League Two season, but also by the memory of being eliminated from the Premier League by Ipswich in the preliminary round .

Despite making eight changes to the eleven that started last Saturday’s draw with City, Howe named a strong side based on the talents of Joelinton, Joe Willock and Harvey Barnes, among others.

Given that it was complemented by an even stronger bench of Bruno Guimarães, Sandro Tonali and Anthony Gordon, Wimbledon had reason to look a little daunted. Instead, they were largely able to hold their own and looked rightly disallowed in a first half where Newcastle struggled to create clear chances and Miguel Almirón was clearly offside.

With the visitors’ back three morphing into a defensive quintet every time Newcastle attacked, Will Osula was often second choice in his first start in the black and white striped shirts following his move to the north-east from Sheffield United in the summer.

A big part of Osula’s problem was Wimbledon’s intelligence in cutting duty to Newcastle’s new centre-forward. Admittedly, Jackson’s players were too busy trying to eliminate their hosts to mount too many attacks of their own, but for a long time it was hard to believe that these two were 60 league places apart at kick-off.

Although the moments in which Schär’s brilliant through ball to Almirón Jackson’s defense almost fell apart and a swerving shot from Barnes’ right foot that went narrowly wide served as a reminder that Newcastle could still play a bit, they were stern isolated.

Indeed, an uncompromisingly direct Wimbledon could have taken the lead when Joe Pigott played a lovely low pass to the onrushing Omar Bugiel, only to be denied by a brave save from Martin Dubravka, leaving Newcastle’s goalkeeper hobbled.

However, Dubravka soon celebrated after Schär was knocked down in the penalty area and then Almirón was thrown to the ground by Huseyin Biler. Since Biler was probably lucky enough to only be warned, Schär stepped up and took an uncontested penalty in flawless, textbook style.

As the former Swiss defender casually placed the ball out of Owen Goodman’s reach, Howe barely smiled. The home coach’s increasingly manic gum-chewing had signaled some dissatisfaction with his team’s performance, and he attempted to improve the tone by using Guimarães in place of Barnes at the start of the second half.

Former Nottingham Forest goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos made his Newcastle debut after replacing Dubravka, but with his teammates having more than 80% possession, he had little opportunity to show off his reflexes against opponents looking to limit the damage and were determined to keep their five defenders as a safety net.

Perhaps it was more coincidence than design, but Riley Harbottle proved a symbol of Wimbledon’s collective defiance when Willock’s volley hit him square in the face. If this was really intentional – albeit quite often – blockades are rarely braver.

Kudos also to the otherwise well-protected Goodman for his brave late save that prevented the hard-working, if rough-around-the-edges Osula from scoring his first goal. But Newcastle will need to step up their game significantly if they are to beat Chelsea at the end of this month.