Dulwich Hamlet 1 Metropolitan Police 1

Dulwich Hamlet 1 Metropolitan Police 1
Ryman Isthmian league Division One South
Tuesday 26th August 2008

Some may decry the Met Police as Mock Coppers (Moppers?), mercenaries will little connection to Sir Robert Peel Boobies or the Bow Street Runners other than the odd run in with a speed camera or a D&D in Kingston Town Centre on a Saturday night but the XI who wore the shirt of the constabulary had certainly been trained in all the finest forms of riot control as Dulwich, rampant at the weekend, were stymied at every turn. Although Hamlet took the lead late in the first half, it went against the grain for the Police had held the whip hand for the bulk of the contest prior to then. An early equaliser broke Hamlet hearts, a lapse of concentration, though a goal not undeserved for all the Met’s belligerence in attack and even when reduced to ten men, though injury rather than dismissal, the Coppers still had the energy, the aggression and the sheer bloody-mindedness to thwart the Hamlet’s ambitions of taking a third win from four. Still against a side bristling with Isthmian League experience a Hamlet side slashed through the middle by injury and the duplicity of rival managers could hold its head up high for surely either side should amongst the title chasers come the dénouement of the campaign.
The fates had once more conspired against Craig Edwards as he prepared his starting line, the poor unfortunate must have crashed his car into a lorry load of black cats on the way to the ground before dumping seven millennia worth of mirrors upon the stricken felines. Star of the Merstham demolition, JP Collier was limping about on crutches, victim of a cruciate ligament injury whilst midfielder Stanley Muguo had been disquietened by a tapping up from a rival manager, alerted by Dulwich’s straightened circumstances in the current climate. Also out was Daryl Plummer still suffering the side-effects of his gallant goal at Merstham that saw him concussed and suffering kidney damage. It meant of the four musketeers who had lined up across the middle for Dulwich at the Moatside only Alex Fiddes survived to be joined by Dan Nwanze, Tyran James and Fas Koroma.
Excused league duty for the Bank Holiday, Notting Hill and all that old bean, and glowing fluorescent yellow the Met Police arrived at Champion Hill all sirens blaring and ready for action decked out in their hi-viz jackets as if newly arrived from that Edwards’ traffic accident, then began the game as if hell-bent on causing one. Numbers all a jumble, number 11 at right back, the stocky yet strutting Rob George, bedecked in the number three shirt but orchestrating his team’s finest moves from a roving role behind a twin pronged attack. In flurry of early chances, George would come closest as he pirouetted in the box, a low drive beating Jamie Lunan only to smack back off the base of the far upright. On hand was Steve May to larrup the ball to safety as Scott Forrester hovered. Dulwich had a strong shout for a penalty as a Scott Simpson was felled on the very brink of the box but referee Mr Wilde was having none of it. The tenacious George again found the target with a strike from distance but this time found Lunan waiting for the ball.
For every roe there is a thorn and the Police plans were disrupted when midfielder James Greenaway had to be pulled off after just twelve minutes, though in his stead came Michael Cobden, a fiery young left-back, a point he would prove when he scythed through James to earn the evening’s first booking seven minutes after his arrival. Prior to that Dulwich had threatened when Marc Cumberbatch met a corner with a header of fearful force that flew a fraction too high.
A Dulwich free kick had Met Police defenders working overtime as Steve Sutherland hacked away the deflected drive, only for Dulwich to pile the pressure on with a series of stabs at goal only for the thin yellow line to hold firm. Best was yet to come and on 27 minutes Billy Chattaway launched a deep, deep cross from the left wing to the back of the six yard box where Laurent Hamici was lurking. The striker waited, waited for the ball to drop. “Let it have it” as Hamici cracked a full-blooded drive towards the bottom corner of the net only for the first reacting Mo Maan to scramble down to block at his post.
The Met’s rejoinder was rapid with Forrester dragging a shot across the face of goal, then the same player guilty of a wasteful finish as he drove straight at Lunan after Craig Carley’s sideline salsa had set up the chance. The luckless Forrester would be denied once more as his header was spectacularly clawed away by Lunan but Dulwich momentum was building. James found Maan in the way of his strike but as 45 minutes ticked past, Hamici found a chink in the Met’s armour, turning on a sixpence to drill a searing shot low inside the near post with Maan undone.
A riveting second half was given its overture by a rousing start from the Rozzers, though Hamlet’s defence must have been wondering how they could have lost their quarry given the luminous attire of the marked men s Hamlet were caught napping three minutes after the restart. Gary Drewett, latterly recruited to the cause of the Boys in Blue, marauding down the right wing to dump a deep cross on the far side of the area. Skipper Sutherland stretched out a limb to drag the ball back across the face of goal and in the ensuring scramble it was the itinerant George ion the right place to prod the ball in the back of the net.
In the trenches battle was joined, if blood serves but one purpose it is to be spilt in battle and battle this was for neither side would cede early season honours to the other. The Police can’t stand losing, they can’t stand losing, habitual play-off failures rankle at Imber Court and were Jim Cooper’s employers of a commercial bent, his success-free spending might have been curtailed by now. By contrast Craig Edwards is Baron Hardup, his cupboard bare but his soldiers hungry for victory. The Police felt that hunger, Tommy Moorhouse was the first to drop, a crunching collision with Simpson his undoing. Forrester followed replaced by Saheed Sankoh, gun for hire and for a moment the Police woke up. But the injury jinx stuck once more as Sutherland clattered into the far upright in a failed attempt to brush home Sankoh’s drive across the face of goal. Shorn of a man, the Police’s attacking ambitious were stemmed but determined not to surrender a hard-fought point already in their grasp they pressed hard on the Hamlet who looked to exploit the advantage but to no avail. Even the addition of an extra wide player could not provide the impetus to wheedle through the solid wall of yellow that sprung up whenever Hamlet dared to attack, leaving manager Craig Edwards frustrated but not unhappy.

Teams:
DHFC: Jamie Lunan; Steve May; Billy Chattaway; Alex Fiddes; Ryan Bernard (Capt.); Marc Cumberbatch; Tyran James (Junior Kaffo 86); Dan Nwanze; Laurent Hamici; Scott Simpson (Gary Noel 88); Fas Koroma (Erron Dussard 79)
Substitutes not used: Peter Martin, Gary Baldwinson (GK)

MPFC: Mo Maan; Steve Sutherland (Capt.); Rob George; Stuart Harte; Tommy Moorhouse (PC Robinson 65); James Greenaway (Michael Cobden 12); Gary Drewett; Craig Carley; Scott Forrester (Saheed Sankoh 70); Steve Sargent; Ron Edwards
Substitutes not used: Danny Platel; Will Packham (GK)

Goalscoring:
DHFC: 1-1 Laurent Hamici 45th minute
MPFC: 1-1 Rob George 48th minute

Officials:
Referee: Mr Nolan Wilde (Maidstone, Kent)
Assistants: Mr Mark Ford (Cheam, Surrey) & Mr Dave Sheldrake (West Molesey, Surrey)

Attendance: 251