Molesey 0 Dulwich Hamlet 3
Ryman Isthmian League Division One South
Wednesday 26th December 2007
Good King Craig looked out, on the Feast of Stephen, when the mud lay round about, deep, thick and uneven; brightly shone the Hamlet that day tho’ the ref was cruel….
The seemingly unstoppable express train that is Dulwich continued their inexorable stampeded up the Division One South table as a fifth straight league victory propelled them into the play-off positions for the first time this term. Against a Molesey side, buoyed by a rare victory before the interruption of Christmas Day, bedecked with the masks of industry as if to camouflage fragile spirits, Dulwich started slowly as if weighed down by an excessively rich plum pudding but once into their stride they were rarely troubled by a side for the albatross of relegation seems to be slowly dragging them below the waves into the Davy Jones locker of Combined Counties oblivion.
One change for the Hamlet since they began the long pre-Christmas hiatus following the come-from-behind triumph at Horsham YMCA as Steve May switched from defensive duties, forming one half of Dulwich’s wing pinchers with Sebastian Schoburgh. His place at right back went over to the less silky if less sympathetic Sol Patterson-Bohner. For the Moles, victory at Croydon Athletic the previous Saturday had let a few faint rays of hope into an otherwise bleak season but injury had robbed them of debutant hero that afternoon, Steve Omonua, and his goalscoring colleague, Bobby Hooper. Still the spectre of the former player curse hovered with the Moles picking a strikeforce boasting not one but two former prolific Hamlet hitmen in the respective shapes of Matt Fowler and Luke Edghill.
A sluggish start on glutinous ground for Dulwich and much palpitations as with almost the first Molesey raid, Hamlet custodian Sheikh Ceesay plucked a right-wing cross casually out of the air only to charged to the floor on the way down. “Fair shoulder charge”, might have been the cry in days of yore, that nostalgia surely clouding the eyes of the Man in Black as he allowed play to continue, the ball squirming loose and almost tucked home in the mêlée that ensued, Marc Cumberbatch scrambling the ball wide as Edghill attempted to shuffle the ball into the back of the net. A taste as sour as leftover turkey as Ceesay was treated but Mr Pinto Nunes was unmoved; Blind Justice indeed!
A steady slew of free kicks towards the struggling hosts seemed to unnerve the Hamlet but once they got into gear, it would only be a matter of time before their laid into the Moles goal, cautiously guarded by the curiously tonsured Jon Ashwood. Such is the torment for Moseley this season that the phrase “clean sheet” might as well be carved in Ancient Greek, so long since it has been used by those that frequent the Herds. Sometime a little skill, most times more than a modicum of commitment, but a defence that exposes itself like a Streatham Common strumpet.
The twin terrors of May and Schoburgh were beginning to wheedle their way down the wings of the Moles, desperate measures called for in home efforts to stem the tide but with the referee favouring defensive tactics more given to the Dark Side, Molesey held firm by hook or by crook. However the dyke could only be plugged for so long and, with 19 minutes elapsed, the waters at last broke through. Hamlet forced a corner with yet another attack down the flanks, only the last-ditch tackle of Phil Caughter sparing his ‘keeper a shot from the boot of Schoburgh. The tricky young winger himself slung the corner into the heart of the penalty area. As Moles were cast aside Hamlet skipper Shawn Beveney came crashing through to meet the ball with an uncompromising, albeit ungainly, header and with Ashwood glued to the spot as the ball flashed by him into the bottom corner of the net, goal number one had arrived for the Hamlet.
Schizoid Moles, suddenly ragged and in disarray, found themselves cut at again and again by galvanised Dulwich, at last fully awoken from their post-festive reveries. Having conceded a first, the Moles were within inches of surrendering their goal once more as Schoburgh went into overdrive down the right, bulleting a low drive across the face of goal, past a moribund Ashwood but zipping across the toes of both Meshach Nugent and Lumumba Amena as they chased down the delivery like coursers with the scent of the hare in their nostrils.
A brief relapse from the Hamlet allowed Moles the rare gift of dominance, in territory at least. Yoda-like, their manager Steve Webb barked his orders from beneath the bench as Moles went close not once, not twice but thrice in quick succession. A deep leftwing cross looped high and harmless from the head of Fowler as he outclimbed Patterson-Bohner at the back of the box. The Dulwich Old Boys linked up in the area as Edghill and Fowler combined to set up Andy Davidson but an insipid drive from the edge of the penalty box failed to trouble the wounded Ceesay. Edghill to Fowler once as a powerful run down the left saw a tempting cross into the area, but with Shayne Mangodza on door duty there was no admittance for Fowler’s wayward header. Patterson-Bohner’s venture deep into enemy territory might have borne fruit but Ashwood was alert to the danger of the shot at his near post. However it was Molesey who would fling away a glaring opportunity of their own as the half grew old, Edghill too fast for a tardy offside trap but his opportunism, topped with the perfect pullback, unrewarded as Grant Keywood, perhaps unused to such openings in so barren a season lashed the ball high over the crossbar. Stung by these audacious attacks from the league supposed whipping boys, Dulwich hit back almost instantly, a crude challenge curtailing a threatening charge into the area from Schoburgh and earning a caution for Doug Ford, one almost doubly punished as Mangodza got his head to Schoburgh’s delivery, flicking the ball a fraction wide of the back stick.
Having teased the Moles with dreams of resurgence in those latter stages of the opening half, the curtain rose on Act Two with Dulwich swooping down again and again upon hapless hosts as if Wagnerian Valkyrie. Eight minutes of torment for tortured home souls came to a head as a second goal arrived for the Hamlet, a cushion if one was truly needed. Schoburgh, the Sorcerer’s Apprentice, wove his magic, threading runs, interspersed with bursts and balletics, twists and turns, skipping across the centre of the park, piercing the fragile flesh of Molesey’s right flank before hammering a ball across the face of goal from an acute angle. Amidst the flailing feet, the twisted agonised bodies of valiant defenders, there was Nugent sliding in to drill the ball over the line.
A chill wind rattling the doors of the Herds, Dulwich in full flow and bringing a save of quality out of Ashwood as Benson Paka, sparking the Hamlet engine room as always, spotted a chink in defence to presage a fearsome drive from distance. Paka again tested the two-tone custodian as he latched on to Nugent’s flicked header from a long throw, cracking a drive that bounced into the embrace Ashwood’s arms at the near post.
More worries for Dulwich as Ceesay sank to the floor in need of treatment to sustain his participation, though goalkicking duties passed to Mangodza. Sides less impoverished of ability and fortune might have exploited the situation to their advantage but even when Fowler and anodyne Rob Wilkinson made way for Matt Jordan and Jamie Findlay, cast aside in early season Edwards’ purges of Champion Hill, the Moles could make little inroads into a solid wall of a Pink and Blue ahead of their crocked custodian bar a shot from Glen Harris that flashed across the face of goal after he had cut inside Ricky Dobson.
Frustration at their impotence, boiled over in full-scale aggression as the fragile humour of Edghill dissipated as he tangled with Patterson-Bohner over an uncontentious throw-in before the Molesey dug-out. A minor spat threatened to become something uglier as combatants spilled from the benches but calm was soon restored. The cantankerous Edghill made way for the Moles’ last card, Paul Cross but it would be Dulwich and Nugent who would have the final say, the centre-forward signing off before suspension with his third goal in as many games, his strength proving too much for the Mole marking him though Ashwood might have been left a trifle red-faced as a precise drive from 25 yards out low into the far, bottom corner of his net had him scrambling across goal in vain.
Brave Ceesay finally succumbed to his injury, helped from the field to proud applause from supporter and teammate alike. Understudy Tim Roberts stepped into the breach. Almost instantly put to the test as Molesey swung in a corner to the back post. Flicking the ball out only as far as Paul Cross but when the substitute hammered the ball back in Paka spared any blushes, blocking a fearsome drive on the line.
Teams:
MFC: Jon Ashwood; Jon Boswell; Phil Caughter (Capt); Doug Ford; Andy Davidson; Glen Harris; Ben Beswick; Rob Wilkinson (Jamie Findlay 73); Matt Fowler (Matt Jordan 73); Luke Edghill (Paul Cross 87); Grant Keywood
Substitutes not used: Peter Ruggles; Freddie Myers
DHFC: Sheikh Ceesay (Tim Roberts 90); Sol Patterson-Bohner; Ricky Dobson; Benson Paka; Shayne Mangodza; Marc Cumberbatch; Shawn Beveney (Capt) (Junior Baker 87); Sebastian Schoburgh (Henry Darko 90+3); Meshach Nugent; Steve May; Lumumba Amena
Substitute not used: Stanley Muguo
Attendance: 80
Officials:
Referee: Mr L Pinto-Nunes (West Ealing)
Assistant Referees: Mr J Ryan & Mr A Williams
Goalscoring:
1-0 DHFC Shawn Beveney 18th minute
2-0 DHFC Meshach Nugent 53rd minute
3-0 DHFC Meshach Nugent 89th minute
