Horsham FC 2 Dulwich Hamlet 0

Horsham FC 2 Dulwich Hamlet 0
Saturday 1st September 2001
AXA FA Cup Preliminary Round

Dreams of Cup glory were dashed as Dulwich found themselves dumped out of the FA Cup by lower division opposition in the shape of Division 2 side, Horsham FC. Hamlet’s nemesis was former striker Marcel Dennis who created the first goal and scored the second as Gwynne Berry’s side were outclassed in almost every department, with few players gaining any credit.
Perhaps the very first move of the game should have given an indication to the travelling fans of the afternoon ahead, Luke Edgehill’s dribble taking him into the penalty box but when the opportunity came to set up Joel Rogers the pass was woeful and was easily mopped up by a relieved defence.
The bulk of the early chances fell to the home side and Dennis capitalised on an error at the back to lob keeper James Mercer only to see the ball bounce inches wide.
Three minutes later a towering header at a corner from Sheldon Brown forced a good save out of Ian Chatfield in the home goal, but it was to be a rare oasis in a first half desert.
Dulwich failed to heed the earlier warnings and as the Hornets attacked down the famous Queen Street slope. Dennis scythed through the defence, although several Dulwich players should hang their heads for failure to produce a tackle of note, and pulled the ball back across goal to set up Gary Charman to knock the ball past a cruelly exposed Mercer. Two minutes later Mercer’s heroics prevented the Hamlet going further behind he twice denied Horsham, blocking a header from the unmarked Dennis then somehow turning over a close range drive from Charman.
Just after the half-hour a mistake by Rob French allowed Horsham to double their lead, the Dulwich midfielder losing possession and letting Charman gallop away to return the favour for Dennis to find the back of the net.
Two goals to the bad, Berry threw caution to the wind, replacing himself with attacker Landry Zahana-Oni just before the break, then removing the unimpressive Ryan Pacey at the break for Mark Coyle. The second half brought some improvement, an intricate passing move ending with a tempting cross from Coyle but French’s header was off target. Luke Edgehill too missed a good chance, but again Mercer came to the Hamlet’s rescue tipping over an effort from Steve Payne.
Zahana-Oni twice came close to giving Dulwich a lifeline, screwing a shot horribly wide when put through then seeing a header from a corner hooked off the line by Luke Gedling. The rebound fell to Brown but he could not get a header on target. A minute later Brown again went close with a stinking volley from a corner but again it was wide of the mark.
As time ticked away, Dulwich looked beaten and Horsham unlined their superiority with further chances to add to the humiliation, Jason Lillis heading wide, Steve Flain first time drive striking the base of the post and Mercer pulling another fine save out of the hat to deny James Bird at the death.

Team: James Mercer; Oliver Hunt; Sheldon Brown; Gwynne Berry (12: Landry Zahana-Oni 43); Nick Leach; Rob French; Julian Old; Ryan Pacey (16: Mark Coyle 46); Joel Rogers; Luke Edghill; Ryan Gray (15: Danny Ward 81)

Subs not used: 14: Al-James Hannigan; GK: Andy Harris