Dulwich entered two teams in last Saturday’s annual Wivenhoe Supporters Five-A-Side Tournament in deepest Essex but were unable to repeat their success of 4 years when they claimed the first ever Shield. Since those early days the competition has swelled its ranks and clubs from across the country were represented, including teams from as far afield as Woking (who came via Ipswich for reasons known only to themselves!), Shrewsbury and Nuneaton.
The ‘A’ Team finished 2nd in their group behind Enfield ‘A’ with 10 points from 5 games, Kevin Holt getting 4 goals and Danny Prescott, the obligatory ringer getting a brace of hat-tricks.
Meanwhile the ‘B’ Team started off with a scoreless draw against Nuneaton Borough, before being hammered 4-0 by Sutton ‘A’. Injury to goalkeeper Dave Berry caused a reshuffle with Paul Griffin taking over between the sticks and Dave going into attack. An inspired decision as the B's were not to concede another goal as they went through in 3rd Place in their group, with Steve Rickerby’s goal clinching victory over Harlow and two scoreless draws wrapping up the group games.
As all teams qualified for the KO stages, the group matches were used to determine how far in the competition a team was exempted. The ‘B’ team came in at the second round stage and caused a major upset beating Colchester ‘B’ 1-0 thanks to a Pele-esque goal from Phil Doyle, whose silky skills left the keeper prostrate before he tucked the ball home from an almost impossible angle. Inspired goalkeeping ensured another clean sheet. This meant the ‘B’ Team joined the ‘A’ Team in the last 16 and with both sides avoiding each other in the draw, hopes of regaining the Shield were still high. Unfortunately it was at this stage that Dulwich interest in the silverware was ended. Seconds from kick-off of their match with Billericay 'A' the 'A' Team were caught out at the back and despite the best efforts of Matt Hammond between the sticks, they were behind. They had chances to pull level, pressing forward were caught out once again to make it 2-0. Lawrence Marsh did pull one back 90 seconds from time but it was too little too late. Hopes now rested with the ‘B’ Team, but in their way stood Sutton ‘A’. A spirited performance from Dulwich restricted Sutton’s chances and when they did manage a shot, Paul Griffin playing like a man possessed kept everything out. No goals and so it went to a penalty shoot out. Sutton scored their first, as did Dulwich through Steve Rickerby. 1-1 it stayed as the next four penalties were saved. Sutton scored, Dulwich’s fourth was missed and the Hamlet were out as Sutton converted their fifth for a 3-1 victory. Ironically the two Dulwich sides would have met in the quarterfinals as Sutton beat Billericay for a place in the semi-finals. The tournament was eventually won by Billericay ‘B’ beating Hertford on penalties in the final. Watch out for a double page spread in next weekend's Non League Paper.
Squads:
A Team: Matt Hammond, Matt Smith, Lawrence Marsh, Kevin Holt, Danny Prescott
B Team: Dave Berry, Paul Griffin, Steve Rickerby, Andy Tucker, Phil Doyle
The ‘A’ Team finished 2nd in their group behind Enfield ‘A’ with 10 points from 5 games, Kevin Holt getting 4 goals and Danny Prescott, the obligatory ringer getting a brace of hat-tricks.
Meanwhile the ‘B’ Team started off with a scoreless draw against Nuneaton Borough, before being hammered 4-0 by Sutton ‘A’. Injury to goalkeeper Dave Berry caused a reshuffle with Paul Griffin taking over between the sticks and Dave going into attack. An inspired decision as the B's were not to concede another goal as they went through in 3rd Place in their group, with Steve Rickerby’s goal clinching victory over Harlow and two scoreless draws wrapping up the group games.
As all teams qualified for the KO stages, the group matches were used to determine how far in the competition a team was exempted. The ‘B’ team came in at the second round stage and caused a major upset beating Colchester ‘B’ 1-0 thanks to a Pele-esque goal from Phil Doyle, whose silky skills left the keeper prostrate before he tucked the ball home from an almost impossible angle. Inspired goalkeeping ensured another clean sheet. This meant the ‘B’ Team joined the ‘A’ Team in the last 16 and with both sides avoiding each other in the draw, hopes of regaining the Shield were still high. Unfortunately it was at this stage that Dulwich interest in the silverware was ended. Seconds from kick-off of their match with Billericay 'A' the 'A' Team were caught out at the back and despite the best efforts of Matt Hammond between the sticks, they were behind. They had chances to pull level, pressing forward were caught out once again to make it 2-0. Lawrence Marsh did pull one back 90 seconds from time but it was too little too late. Hopes now rested with the ‘B’ Team, but in their way stood Sutton ‘A’. A spirited performance from Dulwich restricted Sutton’s chances and when they did manage a shot, Paul Griffin playing like a man possessed kept everything out. No goals and so it went to a penalty shoot out. Sutton scored their first, as did Dulwich through Steve Rickerby. 1-1 it stayed as the next four penalties were saved. Sutton scored, Dulwich’s fourth was missed and the Hamlet were out as Sutton converted their fifth for a 3-1 victory. Ironically the two Dulwich sides would have met in the quarterfinals as Sutton beat Billericay for a place in the semi-finals. The tournament was eventually won by Billericay ‘B’ beating Hertford on penalties in the final. Watch out for a double page spread in next weekend's Non League Paper.
Squads:
A Team: Matt Hammond, Matt Smith, Lawrence Marsh, Kevin Holt, Danny Prescott
B Team: Dave Berry, Paul Griffin, Steve Rickerby, Andy Tucker, Phil Doyle
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