Leatherhead 1 Dulwich Hamlet 2

Leatherhead 1 Dulwich Hamlet 2
Ryman Isthmian League Division One South
Saturday 1st December 2007

Barely had the last dregs of the fine Freedom Ale on sale behind the Tanners' bar slipped down the throat than Dulwich were in front as Sebastian Schoburgh's pace on the right proved fatal for a flat-footed defence seemingly strangers to one another. A precise drive low in the bottom corner of the net and with just 38 seconds on the watch Dulwich had the lead. That advantage was doubled on the quarter hour when Henry Darko controlled an excellent long crossfield pass and with green shirts in abeyance, took the ball under his spell and struck the sweetest of drives that had Tanners' custodian Aaron France beaten once more.
Though Leatherhead had the ball in the back of the net almost instantly from the restart as a mishit shot from Ben Shannon struck Ryan Rummery standing in an offside position, the centre-forward brazenly tucking the ball past Sheikh Ceesay though his muted celebrations suggested he knew the inevitable flag would follow.
That rare chance for the hosts served only to sandwich further chances for the Hamlet with skipper Shawn Beveney twice going close to extending the lead, first with a rasping drive that shaved the crossbar as the ‘keeper stretched as if on the rack. The overworked France back in the thick of it when a quick throw from an on the ball Billy Chattaway made its way to Beveney, a fierce drive taking an awkward bounce on the chewed turf ahead of the ‘keeper who did well to get down and shovel the ball past the far upright.
Early pressure from the Tanners, now on more intimate terms with their colleagues after 45 minutes of solo dancing, was comfortably dealt with by the Dulwich defence, paving the way for a lightning breakout down the right by the fleet-footed, skating across the ragged turf with ease before hammering a low ball into the six yard box that was almost turned into his own net by a stretching Ryan Palmer. Moments later and Schoburgh was scampering away again on the flank, a young colt with carthorses in his wake, whipping the ball deep, too deep perhaps until Stanley Muguo rescued the situation, pulling the ball back to Beveney whose close range effort was blocked at the last by a desperate tackle.
The torture continued for the Tanners left flank, probed then breached by Schoburgh once more. Chattaway on the left, chipped back his wing twin’s back into the six yard box where Muguo made the ball with a muscular header that had goal sewn into every stitch of the ball until France diverted himself in the air to somehow turn away the ball at the very top corner of his net, a save to savour indeed.
Aided and abetted by a pernickety referee who saw fouls where others could not, the hosts began to enjoy a spell of territorial domination, but with only the incisive, lively Alex Tiesse rising over the mediocre in the Leatherhead vanguard, Dulwich seemed content to soak up the pressure. the paucity of chances gave Ceesay little of note to trouble him, the young Hamlet custodian confidently plucking Leatherhead corners from the heads of taller Tanners with the ease of gardeners lopping the heads of weeds. Best chance came the industrious Tiesse twisted tortuous turns past the limpet-like Ricky Dobson, clipping the ball in towards Rummery but though the centre-forward rose highest his header possessed neither the power nor the precision to give Ceesay anything but a routine save to pull off.
The second half was dying like the embers of woodman’s but then the misfiring Rummery finally made way for local lad Billy Marshall, the young whippersnapper adding a bite to a toothless attack and breathing life into the corpse of Tanners’ hopes.

“I had fed the fire and stirred it, till the sparkles in delight
Snapped their saucy little fingers at the chill December night;”

However the rescue mission had all but failed in its objective but then, as 90 minutes had almost ticked by, that troublesome terrier, Marshall, threw a lifebelt in the direction of his drowning team. Gbenga Sonuga’s rash challenge on his teenage tormentor giving Leatherhead a penalty and the chance to narrow the deficit with still time to rescue an unlikely point. Marshall himself stepped up to the spot, lashing a ferocious drive straight for the top corner, Ceesay stretching every sinew to somehow turn the ball against the upright but fortunate favoured Marshall as the ball bounced back out to where he waited and he had the prescience of mind to slot the ball away into the opposite bottom corner.
Clearly roused Hamlet marched back across the half-way line and deep into Tanners’ territory. Like a juggernaut hurtling through the night, Muguo battered a path down the left, powering his way to the backline. A clipped pass back was met by Beveney, streamrolling through a green-shirted barricade, to hammer the ball home despite the best efforts of a diving France who could only divert the ball into his own net. As the officials ran back to the half-way line for the restart, the assistant referee was treated to a flow of industrial inventive from Leatherhead’s skipper Scott Bennetts but it seemed as it that was that until referee Mr Lennard chose to consult his colleague. What transpired provoked rage in the Hamlet camp, inspired last-gasp hope in that of their opponents as the man in black reversed his original decision and instead awarded a free kick to Leatherhead back in their own penalty area for reasons unbeknown to all but himself. Clearly rattled Dulwich found themselves on the back foot for three minutes of a concerted green barrage but if luck had favoured Leatherhead in defence, in attack it would forsake them.

Teams:
LFC: Aaron France; Carlo Castrechino; Steven Elliott; Ryan Palmer; Asher Hudson; Alfie Kamara; Ellis Conroy; Scott Bennetts; Ryan Rummery (Billy Marshall 75); Alex Tiesse; Ben Shannon (Scott Forrester 64)
Substitutes not used: Matt Jones; Tony Martin; Adam Bernard

DHFC: Sheikh Ceesay; Sol Patterson-Bohner (Gbenga Sonuga 60); Steve May; Shayne Mangodza; Ricky Dobson; Benson Paka; Stanley Muguo; Billy Chattaway; Shawn Beveney; Sebastian Schoburgh; Henry Darko (Scott Edgar 79)
Substitutes not used: Junior Luke, Jefferson Jackson, Tim Roberts (GK)

Officials:
Referee: Mr Harry Lennard (Eastbourne, Sussex)
Assistant Referees: Mr Gary Dodd (Walton-on-Thames, Surrey)

& Mr Stefan Malczewski (Ashtead, Surrey)

Attendance: 193

Goalscoring:
1-0 DHFC Sebastian Schoburgh 1st minute (38 seconds)
2-0 DHFC Henry Darko 14th minute
2-1 LFC Billy Marshall 90th minute