Dulwich Hamlet 5 Croydon Athletic 2

Dulwich Hamlet 5 Croydon Athletic 2
Ryman Isthmian League Division One South
Saturday 17th November 2007

Dulwich went nap against their local rivals to continue their climb up the table. Hamlet’s whippet of wing, Sebastian Schoburgh opened the scoring on the quarter hour with a low drive from 18 yards that crept inside the near post of Rams' 'keeper Sam Mott. Five minutes later and it was skipper Shawn Beveney on the scoresheet for the ninth time this season, collecting a defence-splitting pass before calmly rounding a grounded Mott before tucking the ball into the now unguarded net. Though Jordan Kiffen tested Sheikh Ceesay, between the sticks for the Hamlet, with a smart drive that was scooped away by the young custodian at the base of his right hand post, the pressure was very much on the visitors goal as dogged defending kept the score down. Then a cracking goal out of nothing threw the Rams' a lifeline as a deep throw picked out the lively Moses Ademola, the young striker holding off his marker before turning sharply to rattle an acutely angled drive across the face of Ceesay's goal and into the face corner of the net.
A last-ditch hack to safety from Bradley Duke rescued the Rams as Shawn Beveney, sent scampering through once more, tucked the ball past Mott from a tight angle, Duke's clearance denying the lurking Billy Chattaway. The overworked Mott was in action once more as he was down smartly to save from Beveney as Dulwich heaped on the pressure. A speculative long distance curling effort from Liam Shirley punctuated Dulwich's dominance, the ball swinging on the breeze but dropping on to the roof of Ceesay's net. As the half drew to a close Beveney again went close, oblivious to the presence of a trio of defenders as he spun on the edge of the penalty area before drilling a low shot wide of the diving Mott's near post.
There was no let up from Dulwich after the break and Meshach Nugent, a constant thorn in the side of the Athletic defenders, served notice with a cracking volley after a throw in was flicked into his path. Intention turned to execution before the hour when the battling Chattaway mugged a dithering Matthew Way for the ball, pushing it back into the path of Nugent and a guided missile of a drive left the shell-shocked Mott once more plucking the ball from the back of the net. He had barely five minutes to recover when Schoburgh added a fifth, the nifty winger’s slight frame a blur as he zipped through a forest of yellow and blue shirts before unleashing a pinpoint low drive from the edge of the area, Mott beaten for a fourth. Number five was not far away. Still a quarter hour remained but Hamlet’s foot was still hard down on the accelerator. A left wing cross from the single-minded Benson Paka, Beveney rising on a column of belief, the connection perfect and a header flying past a leaden footed Mott. “Oi’ll give it foive”. Poor Mott seemed to be wishing he was elsewhere so perhaps a kindly spirit looked down on him as Nugent connected with Schoburgh’s low ball in from the right, the strike crashing back off the underside of the crossbar, rapping Mott on the back of the head to rouse him, the fortunate custodian turning to find the ball bobbling on the line behind him.
A trio of Hamlet subs as Schoburgh, Nugent and Chattaway left the field to a rapturous ovation that rang loud around Champion Hill. One of those replacements, Henry Darko, came close to making sexy football “six-y” football but after a long throw had instigated chaos in the Athletic six yard box, he somehow making to clip a close effort up against the underside of the crossbar when to score seemed easier. Right at the death a deep Croydon cross struck a hand in the Hamlet penalty area to present the Rams’ with a late opportunity to add a modicum of respectability to their nightmare afternoon. Kiffen’s spot kick was straight out of the textbook and straight into the net but only the ultimate visiting optimist or Dulwich pessimist could anything but a Hamlet triumph and so it was. Victory lifts Dulwich up to 9th, four points away from the play-off zone.

Teams:
DHFC: Sheikh Ceesay; Sol Patterson-Bohner; Ricky Dobson; Benson Paka; Shayne Mangodza; Steve May; Shawn Beveney; Sebastian Schoburgh (Gbenga Sonuga 82); ; Meshach Nugent (Scott Edgar 82); Stanley Muguo; Billy Chattaway (Henry Darko 82)
Substitutes not used: Jermaine Hinds; Tim Roberts (GK)

CAFC: Sam Mott; Matthew Way; Michael Harney; Bradley Duke; Richard Blackwell; Liam Shirley; Martin Debrah (Tomiwa Oni 45+1); Reis Aslan (Arafat Kabuye 61); Moses Ademola (Austin Gacheru 72); Jordan Kiffen; Luke Adams
Substitutes not used: Ryan Watts; Nathan Campbell

Attendance: 376

Officials:
Referee: Mr Ian Regan (Ashford, Kent)
Assistant referees: Mr Michael Argile (Guildford, Surrey) & Mr Ian Kitchen (Otterhsaw, Surrey)

Goalscoring:
1-0 DHFC Sebastian Schoburgh 15th minute
2-0 DHFC Shawn Beveney 20th minute
2-1 CAFC Moses Ademola 32nd minute
3-1 DHFC Meshach Nugent 59th minute
4-1 DHFC Sebastian Schoburgh 65th minute
5-1 DHFC Shawn Beveney 76th minute
5-2 CAFC Jordan Kiffen 90th minute (penalty)

Walton and Hersham 1 Dulwich Hamlet 0

Walton and Hersham 1 Dulwich Hamlet 0
Tuesday 13th November 2007
Ryman Isthmian League Division One South

Look not back on this contest save but to inspire not to despair. A point claimed but then victory pursued and ultimately a dagger through the heart as the Swans claim triumph late on an chill, autumnal eve as a goal executed with the swift stroke of the master, or perhaps laced with luck, only the hour of the night Adam Moriarty will know for sure. Ah Moriarty, the Napoleon of Crime, nemesis to Sherlock Holmes, and purloiner of the points to end Dulwich’s long run of invincibility but amidst the gloom of Stompond Lane and the gloom of defeat, Hamlet’s dejected players will find the strength to start again.
One might have been forgiven for a swift call to the old turf accountant for a hefty wager on a scoreless night. Dulwich as frugal as Harpagon grudgingly giving away goal, the Swans ferociously protecting their nest – in the League only the Nuts’n’Bolts of Ashford Kent had cracked the locks of their miserly defence more than once in a game. Such then was the surprise that Dulwich began carving through the home defence from the early exchanges with the lightning pace of Sebastian Schoburgh slashing through in the 7th minute only to hammer a drive wide of the exposed Stuart Searle’s left hand post as he let rip from the edge of the penalty area. Showing a lightness of touch on the ball soon after Shawn Beveney danced away from a crowd of Swans to set up Benson Paka who in turn fed Schoburgh overlapping down the right. A change of gear swept him past an ineffectual challenge but his cross from tight to the goalline smacked into the face of Aaron Nowacki and after a moment’s worry the ball was hoofed to safety.
Little in the way of riposte from the hosts, challenging in the league but not on the pitch. Smothered by a host of defenders Billy Chattaway won a free kick 25 yards out, though Beveney’s strike had the power the wall failed to buckle. Half a half had almost elapsed before the Swans would the ruffle the feathers of the Hamlet rearguard as Tommo Carter machine-gunned in a freekick, a Dulwich header repelled the first thrust, but Walton piled forward in the pursuit of the ball only to leave themselves short of number behind as a long clearance relived the pressure. That pressure was suddenly upon the shoulder of Searle as Ryan Bernard’s back-pass proved too hot to handle for the Swans’ custodian, the ball snaffled from his feet by a rampaging Beveney. With Meshach Nugent, replacing Scott Edgar in attack, waiting in the middle to deliver the killer flourish, Beveney, having rounded the struggling, lingered too long as he seemed to ponder whether to stroke the ball inside the near post from the acutest of angles or to feed his teammate. The latter option came too late as his pull back was intercepted by Bernard, galloping back to larrup the ball behind for a corner. A magic twist on Chattaway’s delivery sent the corner curling low towards the near post but Will Jenkins on sentry duty there did his job.
The pedantic refereeing that seems to blight the Hamlet’s venture into the milds of suburbia bared its polished teeth when a clumsy, innocuous challenge from Sol Patterson-Bohner saw the first flourish of yellow amid the falling golden leaves. It would not be the last.
Nugent’s, fast and powerful down the left, had defenders gasping for air as he left them in his wake but as he cut the ball back to waiting colleagues, a flailing foot stretched out, a defender’s touch enough to turn the ball back to a relieved Searle. The lacklustre Swans attack, muzzled by Hamlet’s defensive Rottweiler’s, were gifted a glimmer of light as the half hour drew near, winger Carter overlooked in space on the left whistled in a peach of cross, Dan Nwanze unable to do the necessary with a header before Jenkins was hassled off the ball at the ball by Ricky Dobson at the expense of a corner. As the guided missile failed, the big bombers came in. Searle launched a clearance up field; Rob George nodded on with the master goalpoacher, Phil Ruggles, hotfooting in a futile quest to reach the ball before Sheikh Ceesay. Williams’’ bombing raid five minutes before the break was likewise fruitless but at least this time a red-shirt reached the ball first, Jenkins flicking a close range header harmlessly into the side netting as Ceesay watched impassively. Having held the upper hand for the bulk of the first 45 minutes Dulwich were almost undone at the death as a rapid counter saw George charge pell-mell from behind his own lines deep into Hamlet territory slipping a pass down the throat of Dulwich defence as Ruggles galloped on. Ceesay called but Steve May had other ideas; cool as chilled snow, sweeping the ball from the foot of Ruggles before calmly clearing the ball to safety.
Parity at the break but portentous omens of a Walton revival could be read in that late home flourish. Harsh words must have spouted from the lips of Les Cleevely at the half for Walton seemed re-imbued with self-confidence. Peppering the Hamlet goal in the early exchanges, the Hamlet were shaken not stirred, even when the man in black reached for the card twice more in the opening five minutes to book both May and Jermaine Hinds for purported dissent, offending the sensibilities of suburbia with their raised voice presumably. Moriarty hammered in a shot that was blocked into the path of Jenkins, the ball catching under his feet when the goal loomed. A deep delivery to the back post from Moriarty’s freekick was sent zipping over the cross by Nowacki, the fullback flinging himself courageously at the ball to connect a flying header at the back of the box. The pressure was mounting, but for once fate had a twinkling in her eye and a kindly glance for the Hamlet. It would not last. Macavity, Macavity, there's no one like Macavity; there never was a Cat of such deceitfulness and suavity – Moriarty wheedling his way his way through the Pink and Blue swarm. A ball tapped into the six yard box where his henchmen waited to pounce, George stabbed the ball goalwards, Ceesay swiftly down to turn the point blank effort against the box but with Ruggles in waiting a goal seemed inevitable but none had reckoned on the valiant Ceesay, who amidst the muck and bullets, smothered the ball on his goalline as awestruck applause rippled around the running track.
A quarter hour under the cosh was at last broken as the siege was lifted and Dulwich threatened once more. A freekick broke to Beveney standing in the D but his snatched at his stabbed strike on the turn and Searle was little troubled by the save. Walton responded with a creamer of drive from big Dan Nwanze, fully 30 yards from goal, but like his experienced counterpart young Ceesay was ready and pouched the ball. Almost a hero then a villain for Nugent, first a scuffed effort from Chattaway’s delivery had Searle stretching to snuff out then an overzealous challenge landed his name in the book.
Like London buses no sooner had a Hamlet chance manifested itself than another appeared on the horizon. Walton’s had waned away to that of the Surrey County Bus Company, once a day, with the dawn special on market days. Released left Chattaway slipped the ball inside to the goal-focused Paka, his sizzling low drive too hot for the hands of Searle, the ball slithering through his seared fingers but cannoning back off the inside of the post, bouncing across the face of goal but first to it was a red-clad shape, the ball lashed to safety for a corner. Territory belonged to the hosts, chances to the Hamlet. Next up was Beveney, scampering down the right, bulleting in another screamer that left Searle for dead but fizzed wide of the top far corner of the next by a fraction. Patterson-Bohner soon followed but his 40 yard strike was from the Johnny Wilkinson School of finishing.
Five minutes from time, Dulwich signalled their intentions to go for victory as Henry Darko made a welcome return from injury. Hamlet pushed forward in search of that elusive winner, a corner deep in stoppage time, had the Hamlet pummelling the Swans goal but then the ball was lost. A hurried clearance and the ball was back in the possession of Dulwich. Lost again, not once but twice and suddenly Dulwich were backpedalling, struggling to regain ground. A grateful Glenn Boosey latched on the loose ball in the middle of the park, fed the ubiquitous Moriarty in full flow down the left. What happened next is a matter of conjecture. Some might say a stroke of genius, a well pitched chip out of the rough that left Ceesay stranded as the ball looped and curled over his head, dropping just below the crossbar behind him. Others less charitable might have seen a shank, a cross aimed for Boosey who’d continued his run to the back post. It mattered not a jot, nor did the yellow card brandished at Moriarty as he and his colleagues piled into the crowd to celebrate. If the assassin’s dagger had pained Hamlet, a final twist of the handle left Hamlet was ten men as Nugent flung himself after the ball, the assassin now the victim as Moriarty crumpled under the challenge. A flurry of red shirts around the prostrate was followed by a flurry of red as Nugent was sent for a slightly early bath but not by much.

Teams:
W&HFC: Stuart Searle; Devon Williams; Aaron Nowacki; Lee Richardson (Capt.); Ryan Bernard; Dan Nwanze; Adam Moriarty; Rob George; Will Jenkins (Jay Richardson 77); Phil Ruggles (Mark Peters 87); Tommo Carter (Glenn Boosey 71)
Substitutes not used: Richard Thompson, Gibrilla Kargbo.

DHFC: Sheikh Ceesay; Jermaine Brown; Ricky Dobson; Benson Paka; Shayne Mangodza; Steve May; Shawn Beveney; Sebastian Schoburgh (Henry Darko 82); Meshach Nugent; Sol Patterson-Bohner; Billy Chattaway
Substitutes not used: Gbenga Sonuga; Scott Edgar; Vitor Tavares; Nej Hussein

Attendance: 133

Officials:
Referee: Mr M P Webb
Assistant Referees: Mr A Mawby & Mr M Argile

Goalscoring:
1-0: W&HFC: Adam Moriarty 90th minute (+4)

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