Chipstead 1 Dulwich Hamlet 0

Chipstead 1 Dulwich Hamlet 0
Ryman Isthmian League Division One South
Saturday 24th November 2007

I know a bank whereon the wild thyme blows,
Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows
Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine,
With sweet musk-roses, and with eglantine:
There sleeps Titania some time of the night,
Lull’d in these flowers with dances and delight

Rustic thoughts amid the Surrey Hills as Dulwich rolled through the russet and gold of late autumn, making their trek through the byways and country lanes to Chipstead’s bucolic High Road ground for the two clubs’ maiden competitive clash in Isthmian opposition. Once mighty Hamlet might have favoured their country cousins with a pre-season challenge match, or perhaps the Chips might have doffed the cap as they welcomed lofty guests into the fold but that is the land of lost content, I see it shining plain; the happy highways where I went and cannot come again. Now the boot is on the other foot, the genuflecting knee replaced with a hefty one in the groin as Liam Oxley first half stoppage goal settled a match that at times numbed the mind as much as the harsh, icy winds whipping across North Downs, the hardy band of locals unfazed, used to extremes of weather to match the mountainous Highlands of Scotland.
With his charges unchanged from the Croydon Athletic demolition of a week earlier, Dulwich manager Craig Edwards was keen to carry on where that game had ended, to stamp the Hamlet’s mark upon humbler hosts from the off and maintain the charge towards the play-off party and promotion. Barely 30 seconds from the off, a crunching tackle from Meshach Nugent left Stephen Boswell motionless on the turf. A cursory glance from referee Mr Smith, anonymity guaranteed, at the prostrate Boswell and play drove on, Dulwich attacking as a war of words erupted and a stream of invective flew between the dugouts. With Boswell still immobile, play finally was halted, the seriousness of the injury becoming apparent as four minutes of therapy failed to rouse the stricken defender and stretcher bore the fallen hero from the field of combat. From the wings came an understudy to steal the show, young Wayne Hibbert with the unenviable task of shackling the serpentine runs of Sebastian Schoburgh on the right.
Beneath saturnine skies scrappy, disjointed football produced few chances. The Chips threatened first with a brace of free kicks pumped into the six yard box but first Oxley then Scott Simpson were denied by Sheikh Ceesay as their efforts from close range were battered out by the young Hamlet custodian. Pace from the mercurial Schoburgh saw an opening self-created for the artful dodger of the wing but its finishing flourish was wide of the mark.
With the Hamlet next raid, a cross field ball picked out Nugent galloping away from his marker on the left, nicking the ball past Andy Parkinson as the ‘keeper sprung from his line to narrow the angle, but Parkinson had recovered his ground to block the ball as it was rifled in from an acute angle. The rebound was latched on to by Billy Chattaway, a stinging shot through a thicket of defenders but straight into the waiting midriff of Parkinson. But then the man with the gloves for the Chips had a point to prove for still the nightmarish Pink and Blue flashbacks of encounters past with the men from Champion Hill must still haunt his waking hours, ten times did Dulwich put the ball past him when he plied his trade under the Godalming standard.
Back and forth the ball pinged from pillar to post and back again but the game lacked cohesion as Dulwich struggled for rhythm and style against opponents prepared to hassle and harry for every ball. The stratagem brought with it added perils, Andrew Wareing the afternoon’s first caution as he lumbered into Shawn Beveney out on the flank, Beveney unable to heap punishment upon punishment as he rose almost unchallenged at the near post only to glance his header wide of the back stick. A swift rapier raid from the Chips suddenly had Dulwich on the back foot, Simpson sauntering beyond the last line of defence but thwarted as Ceesay did enough to block as he prostrated himself at the feet of the onrushing striker.
As if to further exorcise his Dulwich demons, Parkinson extended the shivering supporters wait for a goal as he stretched and twisted to imperiously brush away from beneath his crossbar a swirling cross cum shot from Chattaway away on the left. Then Beveney was his victim, the Chips ‘keeper blocking with his body as the Hamlet skipper preferred precision over his customary power have outstripped the last defender.
If the balance had swayed marginally more in Dulwich’s favour as the half wore, it would swing wildly on the side of the hosts as the curtain slowly came down on a protracted 45 minutes and more. A clumsy challenge might have been punished had not an alert Ceesay shovelled away a deflected effort at the base of his right-hand post as Simpson slammed his free kick against the wall. The corner brought further threat but the siege was lifted after Richard Williams unleashed a strike from the text book of horrors into the darkening skies and towards the bar, perhaps for a relieving pint of best. The watch clicked into those added minutes, Dulwich mentally already in the changing room as Simpson hit the accelerator pedal, almost embarrassing Ceesay who’d rushed from his line only for the ball to be curled over him but, mercifully, wide of the far upright. Dulwich would not be so fortunate a moment later as the deadlock was cracked at last. From the middle of the park Daryl Coleman supplied Craig Pitterson on the right, Ricky Dobson left for dead as Pitterson slid past him before pulling the ball back across goal to the waiting, predatory Oxley, a grateful recipient of the pass as the ball was drilled under the diving Ceesay from 12 yards out.
Harsh words rang through the rafters of the Hamlet dressing room at the break but it was the Chips who on the boil from the start of Act II. Barely three minutes had elapsed as the lively Simpson went hunting again in Dulwich territory, slamming a shot past an exposed Ceesay but only able watch powerlessly as the ball wide of the far post. Though Benson Paka looped an awkward shot over Parkinson’s crossbar following an excellent Schoburgh cross, the winger making a rare escape from the manacles of his constant shadow, Hibbert, Ceesay was back in the thick of things once more as he battered out a strong effort from Aaron Cole-Bolt.
Frugal in defence, frustrating at every turn, Chipstead were in miserly mood, unwilling to share let alone surrender their hard-earned points. Nary a chance for the Hamlet save Paka’s flicked head of the mark as Chattaway lopped the ball in from the left. Soon the livewire Simpson was at it again, dancing past Dobson before unleashing the exocet, Ceesay its match as he got down smartly to batter out the ball before a rapid reprise saw he deny Williams as the loose ball was swiftly latched on to. As if anchored in quicksand Dulwich’s attack seemed impotent. Even when Schoburgh fired the fuel injection to scoot into the penalty area, a tackle out of top drawer saved the Chips as Ashley Reid dived across to poke the ball off the toes of the flying winger. Even better the chance that fell to Chattaway, a long throw flicked on by Beveney, the young midfielder stretching to the ball 8 yards out ahead of a defender but only succeeding in firing the ball over.
The smoke curled from that luscious woodbine as the lifeblood was squeezed out of the Hamlet threat, augmented now by a corvette from the bench in the shape of Henry Darko but to no avail. Triumph is just try with a little umph added!

Teams
CFC: Andy Parkinson; Ashley Reid (Wayne Hibbert 3); Stephen Boswell; Fred Fleming; Andrew Wareing; Richard Williams; Craig Pitterson; Daryl Coleman (Joe Garner 86); Aaron Cole-Bolt; Scott Simpson; Liam Oxley
Substitutes not used: Steve Eggleton; Michael Lidbury

DHFC: Sheikh Ceesay; Sol Patterson-Bohner (Henry Darko 84); Ricky Dobson; Benson Paka; Shayne Mangodza; Steve May; Shawn Beveney; Sebastian Schoburgh; Meshach Nugent; Stanley Muguo; Billy Chattaway
Substitutes not used: Gbenga Sonuga; Scott Edgar; Junior Luke; Nej Hussein (GK)

Attendance: 134

Officials:
Referee: Mr G M Smith
Assistant Referees: Mr P B Wright & Mr T Burnan

Goalscoring:
1-0 CFC Liam Oxley 45th minute (+3)