DULWICH HAMLET 1 CRAY WANDERERS 2

DULWICH HAMLET 1 CRAY WANDERERS 2
Ryman Isthmian League Division One South
Tuesday 23rd September 2008

“There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of people you love. When you learn to tap this source, you will truly have defeated age.” The Crays are the old lags of the Isthmian league, players perhaps not as fleet of foot or as slender of girth as in their salad days but possessed of minds as sharp as that of any young ragamuffin and like the George Dixons of yesteryear only too willing to administer the proverbial clip round the ear when said scallywags play them for the doddering fool. Once like the Peelers of old such a clip might pass without a word, now adolescent officials, not yet ripe in experience, will admonish such behaviour with cards of flaxen hue or crimson red. A full fist of cautions for the Crays this evening as challenges, as honest as they were robust, kept the Hamlet at bay in a game full flowing, played at full throttle and which seemed to belong to Dulwich until a piece of magic conjured not by a young wizard but an old warlock won the points for Wanderers.
Injury and suspension had wrecked havoc upon Craig Edwards’ strategy for the evening. Skipper Ryan Bernard was missing through injury and Dulwich suffered further when leading scorer Laurent Hamici failed a fitness test before kick-off. Cray boss Ian Jenkins too had his headaches taking to the field without Danny Chapman and Jamie Kempster in midfield. Refreshingly he choose an out and out attacking formation with former Hamlet striker Shawn Beveney wide on the right and Tyrone Sterling taking up the respective position on the opposite wing.
The first chance of the game fell to Scott Simpson, whose powerful shot was charged down by a defender. One of the old lags, Steve Aris, whose dastardly departure from Champion Hill still rankles with the Hamlet faithful, played a key role in thwarting the Hamlet offence as part of a triumvirate completed by the equally venerable Colin Luckett and Ryan Royston. On ten minutes Junior Kaffo, understudy for Hamici, looked to have broken through only for Aris to halt him in his tracks. 17 minutes Cray custodian Glen Knight punched thin air as he came for a Charlie Howard free kick, Cumberbatch unable to punish the error as the ball grazed his head to slip wide of the back stick.
With Cumberbatch in the thick of it, a header at a corner from the centre half struck the back of a defender, the Dulwich skipper follow-up blocked again. The ball ran to Daryl Plummer, his shot cannoning around the area like a loose ball upon the baize, only to fall at a Cray boot and be hacked to safety.
As the half progressed Cray enjoyed their best spell of the match. Luckett pumped in a free kick, Royston meeting the ball with a bullet header that crashed down from the underside of the crossbar and out. A moment later and Tommy Whitnell latched on to a nodded on free kick, turning and sending an angled drive flashing over the top. Cray's main threat had seemed to come from the set-pieces and in the 38th minute they paid off when they snatched the lead as a comer from Luckett was nodded in by Royston, the ball appearing to strike a Dulwich player en route to help it over the line.
As the half drew it dying breaths Dulwich came so close to snatching back a goal. Scott Simpson impulsive charge up field was unceremoniously halted but the referee waved play on and Benson Paka took advantage with a squiggling low drive that Knight had to be smartly down to gather. The same player posed the threat once more, Paka finding space out right cracking a cross into the six yard box, Aris providing a telling head at the near post as Kaffo threatened.
Cray went close right at the start of the second half as Tony Atkins got in front of his marker to loop a header over the crossbar but it was Dulwich who drew first blood in the half, just five minutes in. The equaliser arrived courtesy of a free-kick from Howard nodded on towards the back post by Cedric Ngakam where Plummer was lurking to slip the ball past custodian Knight. With Tyran James and Tom Bolarinwa on as substitutes Hamlet’s play began to show greater zest up front and Cray, found wanting in the middle of the park, were hard pressed to keep us out, struggling to come to grips with the darting Dulwich raids, conceding an abundance of free kicks and a surplus of cautions as hook, crook and a few other things in the book were used to thwart the Dulwich assaults.
Beating the offside trap on 64 minutes, Plummer cut in and clipped the ball over the diving Knight, only to cringe as his effort sheared the outside of the near post. Shortly afterwards substitute Bolarinwa zipped into the box but with only Knight between him and goal dragged his shot wide of the far upright. Dulwich had a narrow squeak in the 71st minute when Sheikh Ceesay fumbled an inswinging corner from Luckett against the inside of the back stick, the Cray faithful convinced the ball had crossed the line. Benson Paka beat Knight from a narrow angle, only to see defender Arran Day clear the ball to safety. As the sands of time drifted away a corner saw Ngakam unable to force home in the six yard box, the rebound running to Simpson who cracked in a fine shot from 18 yards which Knight plucked out of the air at full stretch.
It seemed as if the points would be evenly allotted come close of play, but Dulwich had reckoned without the legendary boot of Tony Dolby. Since he had forsaken the pipe and slippers and bench 16 minutes pervious, his wily teammates had been attempting to lure the Hamlet defence into conceding free kicks around the penalty area. Two minutes into stoppage time this subterfuge paid off as Scott Kinch went to ground under a less than gentle challenge. Having sent a similar effort wide some four minutes earlier, Dolby had clearly found his range and this time the old fox winged in a peach of an effort that beat Ceesay low at his far post.

DHFC: Sheikh Ceesay; Steve May; Billy Chattaway; Benson Paka; Cedric Ngakam; Marc Cumberbatch; Daryl Plummer; Charlie Howard (Mohammed Coly 79); Junior Kaffo (Tom Bolarinwa 63); Gary Noel (Tyran James HT); Scott Simpson
Substitutes not used: Robert Bartley; Danny Baldwinson (GK)

CWFC: Glen Knight; Arron Day; Colin Luckett (Capt.); Dean Morris; Steve Aris; Ryan Royston; Scott Kinch; Tony Atkins; Shawn Beveney (Tony Dolby 74); Tommy Whitnell (Jamie Wood 90+5); Tyrone Sterling
Substitutes not used: Andrew Callaghan; Matt Lee; Jack Bradshaw (GK)

Goalscoring:
1-0 CWFC: Ryan Royston 37th minute
1-1 DHFC: Daryl Plummer 50th minute
2-1 CWFC: Tony Dolby 90th minute (+2)

Officials:
Mr Charles Breakspear
Assistant Referees: Mr Andrew Mawby and Rod Chatfield

Attendance: 241