Dulwich Hamlet Youth 1 AFC Wimbledon Youth 2 (AET FT1-1) FA Youth Cup - First Round Qualifying

The Youth Team showed magnificent fighting spirit against their counterparts from AFC Wimbledon in a pulsating FA Youth Cup tie at Champion Hill on Thursday night but eventually the rigours of extra-time took their toll on young limbs as the young Dons squeezed their way through to a 2nd qualifying round trip to the Hare & Hounds, home of Leyton FC.
The Hamlet showed no fear of their academy opponents and might well have been ahead had the pacy Alex Chambers managed to tuck away two well worked openings before the visitors had got into full gear. Unfortunately tight angles conspired against the lightning fast Hamlet striker and both chances flashed wide of an upright with the ‘keeper beaten. Hamlet were left ruing these chances were a generous free kick award saw AFC presented with a free kick a yard or two inside the Hamlet delivered in a manner reminiscent of those Dons that once plied their trade at Plough Lane. The hurtling ball was missed in flight by Hamlet’s number one Kyriakos Tornaritis, a rare blip on a solid night, and arriving like the Brighton Express at the back stick Tommy Hutchings met the ball with a bullet drive, hammering the ball low into the opposite corner.
That lead would not last long as Chambers made has mark with an equaliser that would send the home support into raptures as amidst a scramble of bodies in the penalty area he stuck out a leg to turn a loose ball past Liam Poupact, stranded out of goal, and despite the valiant attempt of the last defender to clear the ball Chambers finish had the legs to cross the line.
Barely two minutes after that equaliser Champion Hill was plunged into darkness as the floodlights failed but any Malaysian betting syndicates hoping to pick up their winnings were sorely disappointed when light was restored some quarter of an hour later.
The second half continued to produce pulsating entertainment but neither side could find that differentiating goal, so dispensation for a stop out on a school night as battle was rejoined in extra time. Five minutes of that had elapsed and with Dulwich struggling to clear their lines; the loose ball was pounced on, a bouncing shot from Luke Pigden beating Hamlet’s 'keeper inside his right hand upright. The goal seemed to give AFC added impetus as they put the lock down on the game and though Hamlet had a good shout for a penalty waved away by an unusually lenient referee when Jonathon Dickson was chopped down in the box, they could not make that all important breakthrough for a second equaliser.

Teams:
DHFC:
Kyriakos Tornaritis; Josh Murphy; Tom O'Reilly; Sean Richard; Billy Chattaway; Jon Hosking; Joshua Gonzalez; Jason Hawes; Alex Chambers; Matthew Steer; Lewis Cashin
Substitutes: Billy Thomson; Jonathon Dickson; Santiago Sarcone; Andrew Mante; Felix Mann
AFCW: Liam Poupact; Godfrey Asare; Femi Ilesanmi; Dan Dean; Edward Bell; Luke Pigden; Stevie Gilbert; Michael Kyere; Bill Dunn; Lee Davison; Tommy Hutchings
Substitutes: Aaron Snelling; David Fianyck; James Stenning; Matty Martin

Referee: Mr Ben Wright
Assistant Referees Mr Robert Redman & Mr Leonid Raihunan
Attendance: 106

Chatham Town 1 Dulwich Hamlet 4

Chatham Town 1 Dulwich Hamlet 4
Ryman Isthmian League Division One South
Tuesday 25^th September 2007

The woes of that K’s defeat paled away as Hamlet put together a fine second half rally to record their most comprehensive victory of the season so far. Work commitments robbed Hamlet of Steve Aris but the game saw the debuts of Dulwich’s new recruits from crisis-racked Walton Casuals, Jermaine Hinds in the centre of defence and the crafty Sol Patterson-Bohner added some much needed graft to the Hamlet midfield.

Caution was cast to the wind in a nail-biting opening exchange with defences constantly on their toes as both sides attacked at will. Will was not happy! As early as the second minute a sweeping Dulwich move saw the ball swept out to the left wing, an excellent low delivery catching Henry Darko unawares as it bounced in front of him allowing the alert John Whitehouse to claim. A swift riposte from the Chats as a chance was carved open for the home side but Tyran James but lifted his shot over both 'keeper Sheikh Ceesay and the crossbar. Steve May, making the first of several incisive sallies into the opposing penalty-area, saw his strike tipped onto the post by agile custodian Whitehouse. Darko tenancy would later create the chance for Stanley Muguo to unleash a sizzling strike from 25 yards out but the drive, always rising, zipped a fraction too high over Whitehouse’s crossbar.

Fancy footwork from Helder Valdez threatened to open up the home defence until a crude challenge two yards outside the box curtailed the run but the free kick came to naught as Shawn Beveney cannonball drive was charged down by the Chatham wall.

Steven Best also spurned an excellent chance for Chatham as a low cross in from the left was allowed to run as far as the Chatham man lurking on the far side of the box. With just Ceesay to beat, Best snatched at his chance lashing the high into the night sky. Once more the lithesome Whitehouse would prove to be the nemesis to the Hamlet as he stretched every sinew to get his fingertips to a rising shot from Benson Paka which crashed off the top of the crossbar. That save was to prove crucial for the hosts as Chatham struck on the break in first-half stoppage time to snatch the lead. Overplaying the ball in the middle of the park, Dulwich lost possession and found themselves quickly on the back foot as Chatham swept imperiously forward. James took possession of the ball hard left, turning inside a wrong-footed Shayne Mangodza before striking a low drive tucked tight inside the far post of a diving Ceesay, the ball bouncing in off the far post.
Strong words brought their reward and the second half saw Dulwich turn that domination at last into goals. 55 minutes and it was all square as a deep corner was headed back across the goal and in the land of the giants in the six yard box, Henry Darko snuck in through the undergrowth to nod the ball home after Patterson-Bohner's comer from the left was nodded back from beyond the far post by Mangodza.

Two minutes later and the Hamlet were ahead, an timely throw out from Ceesay picked out Muguo in space on the left and the latter's forward pass was latched on to by Beveney. With the Chatham defence trailed in his boot prints Beveney charged forwards before dancing past the 'keeper and hammering the ball home.

The overworked Whitehouse kept Hamlet at bay as they threatened to run riot, blocking a close range strike from Stanley Muguo after Darko's refusal to give up on the ball despite being surrounded by red-clad defenders had created the opening. Darko's pace was to the fore as a third goal in ten minutes cemented the Hamlet advantage, the ball pumped out of defence by Ceesay, the diminutive striker in hot pursuit before unleashed a fearsome drive a la Bobby Charlton to leave the net rippling as Whitehouse leapt in vain.

Chatham found a second wind but Ceesay proved a rock in the Hamlet goal with a couple of crucial saves including a breathtaking point-blank stop to keep Dominic Elmes from cutting the deficit. On an evening where ‘keepers shone, Whitehouse, Horatio defending Pons Sublicius albeit with less success, denied Darko a much deserved hat-trick with a well-timed block before flinging himself low to his right to batter away Beveney's glancing header. However Whitehouse heroics could not deny the Hamlet a further goal. Ceesay’s inspired ‘keeping had built the foundations for Dulwich to add a fourth three minutes from time. An intelligent cross-field pass from Patterson-Bohner picked out Paka who slipped the ball into the box. As the ball squirmed loose from a crowd of players on the edge of the Chatham penalty area into the path of May, the fullback crowning an industrious performance as he nimbly sidestepped a defender and tucked the ball past the exposed Whitehouse from 6 yards out.

CTFC: John Whitehouse; Bradley King; Danny White; Daniel Larkin; Robert Goodger (Capt.); Steven Best (Mark Murison 61); Matthew Solly; Mark Brooks; Dominic Elmes (Gavin Schulz 76); Sam Groombridge; Tyran James
Substitutes not used: Adam Boots; Tom Binks; Craig Govey

DHFC: Sheikh Ceesay; Steve May; Ricky Dobson; Benson Paka; Shayne Mangodza; Jermaine Hinds; Shawn Beveney (Capt.); Stanley Muguo; Henry Darko; Sol Patterson-Bohner (Rene Regis 88); Helder Valdez (Phil Williams 76)
Substitutes not used: Craig Braham; Billy Chattaway; Nas Hussein (GK)

Attendance 114

Goalscoring
1-0 CTFC: Tyran James 45th minute (+ 1)
1-1 DHFC: Henry Darko 55th minute
2-1 DHFC: Shawn Beveney 58th minute
3-1 DHFC: Henry Darko 65th minute
4-1 DHFC: Steve May 87th minute

Match Officials:
Referee: Mr Paul Harris
Assistant Referees: Mr Andrew Carter & Mr Jeff Lengthorn

Dulwich Hamlet 0 Kingstonian 1

Dulwich Hamlet 0 Kingstonian 1
Isthmian League Division One South
Friday 21st September 2007

Thank heavens for nostalgia; for as your humble scribe nurses a tumbler of Scotland’s finest, the memories of fabled past encounters with the fellow fallen giants of Kingstonian cloud the mind through the mellow mists of memory. The desired effect of the malt does not work its magic and all too soon the history is pushed aside by the evening’s disjointed encounter, all harum-scarum football seemingly with an goal, as aimless as a blinded archer, as rushed and muddled as the last scrum of inebriates as the bell sounds for last orders.
Had Hamlet’s play been stilted, drained one might have looked to the sapping, extended FA Cup battle with Deal just three days earlier but with the adrenaline of that victory still flowing in their veins, their was no doubting that Hamlet were wound up for this game like a clockwork toy. Unfortunately in which direction they would shoot off was anybody’s guess.
Kingstonian came to the Hill top of the pile, defeat at Tooting the single blemish on an otherwise perfect league record, their success built on twin pillars of a miserly defence and the interchangeable triumvirate in attack, the scoring prowess of Bobby Traynor and Saheed Sankoh supplemented by James Rose. Though K’s fans would see the former in the ascendancy, one freakish goal would make up for the absence of the latter.
As fast and furious as any Friday night disco the game sprang into action from the opening whistle, but the tunes being on the pitch grated as much as a Bobby Crush Techno crossover. Unsurprising then that the goal when it arrived would be as mellifluous as a post-operative tomcat bemoaning the loss of his manhood. Quarter of a hour had slipped by when referee David Buck spotted a foul where none else could and when the free kick was pumped into the box Dulwich 'keeper Sheikh Ceesay seemed to lose the ball in flight, a mighty bounce leaving him leaden-footed and allowing the predatory Dean Lodge to exploit the unfortunate custodian mishap, beating Ceesay to the ball and sliding it into the unguarded net.
Dulwich were caught at the restart and Lodge was allowed to make a penetrative run trough the middle of the park, slipping a pass behind the defence for Sankoh to gallop on to. It took a strong tackle from the alert Shayne Mangodza to take the sting off the shot of the K’s striker as it dribbled back into the hands of Ceesay.
Galvanised Hamlet upped the pace but though the football was played at breakneck speed at times, it was play of the lemming, disjointed, not knowing the final goal - too often final passes went astray or were overhit. Shawn Beveney went close with a early second half free kick that shaved the upright whilst an alert Luke Garrard rescued Simon Huckle after a wild slash at a cross sent the ball spinning in the path of onrushing Hamlet attackers Anton Innocent and Serge Musungu, dragging the ball back into his body at the second attempt as it threatened to squirm away from him.
A rare chance for K’s saw the talismanic Wes Goggin found on the corner of the six yard box but his close range effort was blocked by the body of defender Ricky Dobson. Garrard once more proved the bête-noire of the Hamlet as a series of corners midway upped the pressure on the K's goal, making a stunning block from a rasping Stanley Muguo strike from 10 yards out. Though Hamlet's football had moved into a higher gear, the K's rearguard refused to be breached, Dulwich bereft of ideas, openings and opportunities until the final throes of the game when late substitute Craig Braham made inroads on the right. An awkward pass and an acute angle combined to thwart one chance but loosed again on the wing three minutes into stoppage he picked out Beveney on the fringes of the six yard box but a flicked volley a foot wide of the upright encapsulated Hamlet's poverty in front of goal.

Teams:
DHFC: Sheikh Ceesay; Steve May (Craig Braham 90+1); Ricky Dobson; Benson Paka; Shayne Mangodza; Steve Aris; Shawn Beveney; Stanley Muguo; Anton Innocent; Serge Musungu (Sol Patterson-Bohner 61); Billy Chattaway (Phil Williams 74)
Substitutes not used: Rene Regis; Nas Hussein (GK)

KFC: Luke Garrard; Aaron Goode; Liam Cockerill; Simon Sobihy; Gavin Cartwright; Simon Huckle; Dean Lodge; Jason Turley; Bobby Traynor; Saheed Sankoh (James Rose 86); Wes Goggin (Danny Summers 76)
Substitutes not used: Tommy Moorhouse; Nick Rundell; Luke Naughton

Attendance: 475
Match Officials:
Referee: Mr David Buck (Istead Rise)
Assistant Referees: Mr Barry Lynch (Camberley) & Mr Richard Hailstone (Ash)

Goalscoring:
1-0 KFC: Dean Lodge 16th minute