Whitstable Town 0 Dulwich Hamlet 2

Whitstable Town 0 Dulwich Hamlet 2
Saturday 10th November 2007
Ryman League Division One South

Those looking warily out over the waves as Neptune threatened to send his watery children crashing over the defences to wash the streets of Whitstable with his salty liquor might have done better to turn their attention inland to Belmont Avenue where Craig Edwards’ Dulwich horde was continuing its inexorable climb up the table to within touching distance of the play-off positions. Miserly in defence, fast and on the attack the Hamlet might well have rattled home a round half-dozen on more fortuitous days but with every man jack of ‘em adding their bodies to the rearguard when the threats of the Oystermen arose, the hosts who’d rediscovered the art of goalscoring in a midweek spree against the Rams of Croydon constantly found themselves frustrated on the route to goal.

Though injuries restricted the choices of the hosts, Whitstable boss Marc Seager sent out the same XI that had gone to town in midweek, whilst his opposite in the opposition dugout, Edwards, made but a single change from the disappointing draw a week previous with Walton Casuals as Jermaine Hinds was once more available to reclaim the right back slot from Gbenga Sonuga.

The albatross of treading the Kent League Champions path to a debut Division One championship may weigh heavy around the necks of the Oystermen but these are no neophyte Christians to be snacked upon by the old lions of the Isthmian League. Early on a cute Danny Tipple throw picked out Marcos Perona, the young Spaniard hooking the ball towards goal from the edge of the penalty box but too high to trouble Sheik Ceesay between the sticks for the Hamlet. The dangerous Perona was soon looking for openings once but having been supplied with the ball courtesy of a precise Sam Denly pass the opportunity went to waste as the drive skewed off in the direction of the corner flag.

Skipper Shawn Beveney provided the first Dulwich threat as he took the game in with a powerful run only to sit back as he shot sending a screamer over the crossbar as the red shirted defenders circled around him. An spirited charge, deceptively languid, from Sebastian Schoburgh carved out an opening for the mercurial winger but the shot failed to match the approach work as the ball dribbled tamely back to the waiting hands of ‘keeper Kevin Fewell.

Pressure again from the Hamlet as a corner almost cracked open the Oysters. First delivery cleared Benson Paka pounced on the ball to swing over a delicious, deep delivery to the back of the area. Beveney almost collided with Scott Edgar in his eagerness to reach the cross, but a little ungainly he managed to hook the ball down into the path of Shayne Mangodza 8 yards out only for the big centre-half to crash his strike into the hoardings behind the goal. Almost instantly Whitstable were sailing serenely forward, almost to score themselves as they were to profit from a freakish bounce as Ceesay made to collect a docile cross, the ball slipping from his grasp and in the mêlée that ensued Jon Neal was first to reach it only to unleash a crooked drive wide of Ceesay’s near post.

A rapier thrust from Hamlet, a flash of Pink and Blue as Schoburgh burst between two defenders down the middle but Fewell was alert prostrating himself at the feet of the young winger and blocking a stabbed shot at the edge of his area.

Launched from the boot of Fewell like a maroon into Hamlet territory, the ball fell into the net of Perona. One quick pass later and Danny Stubbs was in position to fire off a rocket in the direction of goal but no need to call out the coastguard as the ball spun off into the arboreal wilderness behind Ceesay’s goal.

Once more leading his men over the top into Whitstable territory, it was the redoubtable Beveney who would find the net for Dulwich’s opener as the half hour drew near. But it was one of his foot soldiers who would pave the way the big Guyana’s goal; Schoburgh, the wind on the wing, cantered majestically down the wing like a fine thoroughbred, slipping through tackles like a phantom before slipping the ball to his captain on the edge of the box. The artist’s brush pasted from open to the other, Beveney’s strength and pace puncturing the last line of defence before he unleashed an irresistible rising drive from 15 yards out that gave Fewell not a ghost of a chance as the roof of his net ballooned.

Deflated the hosts might have been but they soon found their rhythm once more but a anaemic header from Denly caused little concern as it flopped on to the top of the net. More frustrating though for Seager’s band was a opportunity spurned by big striker John Akinde, the forward latching on to a hoofed clearance from Fewell, turning the obdurate Hinds inside and out but watching in disappointment as his low drive rumbled wide of the far upright.

There was a chance for Beveney to repay his debt to Schoburgh as a fine pass played the tricky winger through on the right of the area but with diminutive defender, Tipple, sticking to his opponent like a burr, harrying him like a hawk, Schoburgh could not find the moment to pull the trigger on a shot.

Whitstable’s best two chances, however, came later in the first half. Half time was almost upon us when Beveney spotted a chink in Fewell’s armour, a snapshot from distance leaving the Oystermen’s custodian leaden footed but relived as the ball cannoned back off his right hand post.

There was no let up in the action come the start of the second half, perhaps Seager had searched for a silver bullet in his half time sermon that would rally his charges to the Kentish standard. A annoyance in defence, a pocket battleship in attack, Tipple drew cheers and groans in equal measure as he joined the vanguard, picking up a flicked pass inside from Denly before cracking a drive low towards the bottom corner, denied only by the agility and alertness of Ceesay as he flung himself low to tip the ball into the side netting. A ferocious drive from the giant Akinde stung the fingers of Ceesay soon after, the Hamlet ‘keeper clutching the ball to his bosom at the second attempt with red shirts massing like hyenas in search of scraps.

Had the scales fallen from the assistant referee’s eyes on the hour mark, Fewell might have been embarking on the lonely walk to the dressing room, the Whitstable ‘keeper impatiently waiting for an overhit wide pass to roll into his box before snatching the ball back in as Edgar hovered over him. The man in black was once more the subject of the Hamlet faithful's opprobrium as Schoburgh zipped past him in a cloud of dust to scoop up the ball laid out wide by Steve May. For once Tipple had no answer to the pace of Dulwich’s real-life roadrunner as Schoburgh ran on to stab the ball under the advancing Fewell. Celebrations were short-lived for Wile E. Coyote had a linesman’s flag and the “goal” was chalked off. Conspiracy theorists might have suspected a vendetta was brewing as Beveney was flagged offside within a minute, though the voice of reason came down in favour of the benighted official this time. Seconds later Schoburgh continued his duel with Tipple, this time holding the tricky defender at bay but denied by Fewell, springing from his goal like the cuckoo from a clock to block.

A cracking half-volley from the dangerous Akinde soon after might have punished the Hamlet for lost opportunities had he struck his effort a safe distance either side of Ceesay but the Dulwich number one battered the shot down, May completing the clearance as Perona made to snatch at the fallen crumbs.

"Oh cruel fate, why do you mock me?!?", 13 minutes left and the game was surely won but the woodwork was having none of it. Sent scampering away before Whitstable’s rearguard, Beveney drew Fewell into commitment, dragging the ball around him and firing the ball towards the now unguarded net. Horrors of horrors, the ball found not the net but the post crashing back into play. As the Oystermen trawled Hamlet territory in a vain search for an equaliser they left themselves exposed behind, something Hamlet were all too happy to exploit. Beveney galloped through as the defence melted away but with the goal at his mercy lingered too long on the ball, allowing defender Steven Lloyd left lumbering in his wake to recover ground and hook the ball to safety off Beveney’s toes. Tipple might see Schoburgh in his nightmares, the defender brushed aside as the winger made for goal, only the feet of the overworked Fewell thwarting him as the ball as knocked behind. Hinds joined the attack, zipping down the right, an acute pullback met by the ubiquitous Beveney with a smart volley but a fraction wide of the far post. The single goal looked to have decided matters but Whitstable’s understaffed defence left them vulnerable to the lightning raids of the ebullient Hamlet. The referee’s watch had just slipped into stoppage when a pass down the middle rent a chasm through the core of Whitstable fortifications, the stake slammed through their heart as Paka, having mesmerised Fewell, unselfishly slipped the ball right to substitute Meshach Nugent. Not the best of finishes but the aim was true and the ball made a nest in the back of the net.

Teams:
WTFC: Kevin Fewell, Jake Gess, Danny Tipple, Michael Adcock, Steven Lloyd, Tommy Martin, Danny Stubbs (Steve Marshall 83), Marcos Perona, John Akinde, Jon Neal, Sam Denly.
Substitutes not used: Daniel Lawrence, Gary Sayer, James Duffy, Joe Smith.

DHFC: Sheikh Ceesay, Jermaine Hinds, Ricky Dobson, Benson Paka, Shayne Mangodza, Steve May, Shawn Beveney, Sebastian Schoburgh (Gbenga Sonuga 90), Scott Edgar (Meshach Nugent 76), Sol Patterson, Billy Chattaway.
Substitutes not used: Junior Adeniyi, Helder Valdez, Nej Hussein.

Attendance: 250

Officials
Referee: Mr Paul Harris (Maidstone)
Assistants: Mr Nolan Wilde (Maidstone) & Mr Mark Huggins (Tunbridge Wells)

Goalscoring:
Shawn Beveney 29th minute
Meshach Nugent 90th minute