Tuesday, September 05, 2000

Aldershot Town 1 Dulwich Hamlet 0

Dulwich slipped to their first defeat of the season in controversial circumstances against one of the title favourites last Saturday. The game was a bad tempered affair settled by a controversial penalty after 28 minutes, converted by Gary Abbott, but the game was marred by two red cards for Mark Garland and Veli Hakki and some ugly crowd scenes reminiscent of some of the darkest days of English football. Both teams now seem likely to suffer the wrath of the FA.
This was always going to be a tough game and a chance for Dulwich to measure their progress this season. With four draws behind them, a trip to the Recreation Ground is always a test for even the most seasoned of campaigners. A large vociferous crowd in attendance, a team managed by the tempestuous George Borg, once much feared by committee members at Champion Hill, and in their forward line Gary Abbott, a player who despite, advancing years still knows where the goal is. In addition, the Shots have recruited further experience such as Colin Fielder from Kingstonian and Mark Blake once of Southampton. All this with a budget Dave Garland can only dream of. Today he was deprived of Dean Palmer, whose inch perfect cross had supplied Matt Fowler with his late equaliser at Basingstoke, but that apart the team was unchanged.
Right for the start the abuse of Peter Garland began, but it on the field the players concentrated on their game. Both sides seemed nervous in the opening exchanges, utilising the wide-open spaces but let down by weak finishing. Wayne Andrews was proving to be a handful from the start, but his shooting was more comparable to that of Julie. The ease with which he crumpled under tackles should have been a prescience of things to come. Neither of the two veteran keepers, Les Cleevely and Andy Pape, had much to concern them at the start. Sheldon Brown hammered one good chance wide of the post whilst Abbott’s attempt at a long-range shot was more of a danger to passing traffic. When Dulwich were awarded a free-kick in the seventh minute, fans expected a Peter Garland special that might silence the boo-boys but he curled it just wide.
The game swung from end to end with Andrews snap shot just wide of the angle, but an overlapping Fowler first time effort forced Pape to stretch ageing muscles. Straight on the attack, Aldershot went and when Jason Chewins skipped down the left to deliver a pinpoint cross, Dulwich hearts were in mouths as Abbott rose to meet the ball. Untypically the header was well off the mark.
A fine move that saw Michael Ebanks feed Brown, before the midfielder cheekily nutmegged Owen Coll and slipped the ball across the box, seemed ended when Mark Blake nipped in ahead of Peter Garland. Pape hacked the ball out but only to Gary Hewitt who returned it to sender only for the venerable custodian to punch the ball off the head of Brown.
Aldershot’s defending seemed increasingly desperate as they conceded yet another free-kick just outside the box. Peter Garland blasted the ball into a crudely constructed wall, picking up the rebound. A melee of legs, maybe a foul, maybe a penalty, but instead the referee waved play on. Tony Chin pounced on the ball, only to slam the ball into Pape’s midriff, Fortunately a linesman’s flag spared his blushes.
Dulwich survived a penalty appeal of their own in the 21st minute when Andrews went down under a challenge from Mark Garland, then Richard Gell forced Cleevely into a full length save to preserve parity. However it was not to last much longer. In the 28th minute, Dulwich found themselves caught out as Andrews latched on to a long ball. Cleevely came out to narrow the angle, but as he pushed the ball away from the striker’s feet, Andrews tumbled over him. Straight away linesman, Steve Tyler, indicated a penalty. Up stepped Abbott and hammered the ball straight down the middle, leaving Cleevely helpless as he dived to his right.
Bolstered by this breakthrough, Aldershot attempted to add to their lead. For a few minutes, it seemed as if they might achieve this. Lee Protheroe’s fine run ended with a wild shot that blazed over the bar, but Andrews forced Cleevely into another sharp save after winning a tussle with Chin on the edge of the box. Protheroe missed another chance on the halftime whistle after he sneaked in behind Ebanks to meet a cross only to direct it straight at Cleevely.
Fired up for the second half Dulwich came out convinced that a positive result was within there grasp. A move that began with Ebanks’ surging run down the wing, saw four players combine before Pape claimed Brown’s deflected shot a nanosecond before Peter Garland could nip in.
Aldershot were hanging on with their only real threat coming from Andrews forced one fine save out of Cleevely and missed another gilt edged opportunity. Sensing a chance Dave Garland sent on Danny Cecil to add pace. Although accustomed to playing in the centre, he slotted in neatly on the right, providing some tempting crosses from the wing.
Then, on 69 minutes, the wheels started falling off, Mark Garland, booked for a heavy challenge 10 minutes earlier received a second yellow, after complaining of a piece of shirt-tugging at a corner that Mr Tingey had chosen to overlook. Particularly galling as moments earlier the man in black had chosen not to book Protheroe for a boot that struck Ebanks in the head.
The pressure cooker was reaching boiling point and, with ten minutes left on the clock, the lid blew off. Gary Bowyer’s crude challenge on Ian Hathaway, on as a substitute for just 8 minutes, seemed worthy of red, but Mr Tingey though otherwise. An ugly confrontation ensued with a number of players squaring up to one another. From the terraces the vitriol spewed, followed by a cascade of stones, coins and coke cans. ‘Wild animals’, was the description used by one Aldershot supporter. Four minutes passed before order was restored. As a result of the melee, Cleevely and Coll’s names were added to those in the box, although it seemed they were trying to calm the situation rather than inflame it. As the unfortunate Hathaway was helped from the field with a suspected broken ankle, a prudent decision was taken to replace Bowyer with Bobby George.
Even with nine men on the field, Dulwich could have come close to snatching a point, both Peter Garland and Fowler going close. In the last minute of normal time, a weaving run from substitute Hakki, saw Peter Garland sweep the ball across the face of goal. In slid George, only to miss connecting with ball by inches for what would surely have been the equaliser. Almost at the death, Hakki became the second Dulwich player to be red carded after a late challenge on Ben Abbey that might normally have merited a mere caution.
On the footballing front, the news is perhaps good, only losing by that ‘dodgy’ penalty. However, this pales into insignificance when both the on-field and off-field incidents are taken into consideration. Many people prefer non-league football because of its perceived safe atmosphere and gentlemanly behaviour. Hopefully the damage can be repaired, before we sink in a mire of our own making.

Man of the match: Dave Richards: kept a cool head in defence and was instrumental in restricting the Aldershot attack to sporadic, mainly unsuccessful raids.

Team:
1. Les Cleevely
2. Gary Hewitt (12: Danny Cecil 55 minutes)
3. Michael Ebanks
4. Dave Richards
5. Mark Garland
6. Tony Chin
7. Sheldon Brown
8. Peter Garland
9. Matt Fowler
10. Gary Bowyer (14: Bobby George 88 minutes)
11. Phil Barber (15: Veli Hakki 69 minutes)