Leyton FC 1 Dulwich Hamlet 4

Leyton FC 1 Dulwich Hamlet 4
The FA Trophy – Preliminary Round
Saturday 4th October 2008

As one road to Wembley is blocked off the diversion signs go up and Dulwich Hamlet set off on a new course to the fabled land, a trek that would commence at the ancient manor of Leyton FC, oldest football club of our fair city. Tucked behind the Hares and Hounds pub lies the Leyton Stadium though the E10 nightspot, home of Essex’s finest podium dancers according to the flyers, now dominates and bankrolls once proud Leyton. Down an alley and through turnstiles that once graced our national stadium and a hidden treasure of the amateur game emerges. Though the arena is still dominated by the twin rickety stands, mini versions of the giant that once dominated lost Green Pond Lane, home of the Lilywhites East London rivals Walthamstow Avenue, new terracing has cropped up at one end, perfect for the Hamlet hoards who arrived en masse, augmented by new blood, an itinerate band of students having adopted the Hamlet for an FA Trophy trek. ‘Twas the first time your scribe has seen crowd on class basis since the Trotskyites met the Stalinists in the old IFL, Ideologues Football League, a game that ended in farce when the Anarchist referee decided to leave the players to sort out their differences themselves.
So to the afternoon’s cast list, blue pencil overworked as the changes rang out. Dulwich manager Craig Edwards’ pre-match plans thrown into disarray with the absence of defender Steve May and the late arrival of Benson Paka and Fasineh Koroma. Interestingly he chose to leave leading scorer Laurent Hamici and loanee midfielder Charlie Howard on the bench, restoring Cedric Ngakam to the starting XI after his enforced absence from the FA Cup. Also returning and reclaiming the skipper’s armband was Ryan Bernard, having shaken off his injury that has kept him out since Ashford. Rehabilitated to the team was Peter Martin, putting in an excellent display at right back in May’s stead.
The Lilywhites made several changes in response to a poor performance in midweek as a mini-revival was stopped in its tracks by a fifth defeat in seven matches. With both leading scorers Paul Killick and Denis Maharjan missing, the management unleashed the beast as Greg Ngoyi was added to an impotent attack.
Bowdlerised cast list in hand, to overture and beginners please. With a howling wind ripping around the field of play, come three o’clock or thereabouts a mighty blast from the trump and to the fray, Dulwich in ascendancy in the initial clashes. “Gentlemen of the free-and-easy sort, who plume themselves on being acquainted with a move or two, and being usually equal to the time-of-day, express the wide range of their capacity for adventure by observing that they are good for anything from pitch-and-toss to manslaughter; between which opposite extremes, no doubt, there lies a tolerably wide and comprehensive range of subjects”. Ready for the sport, fey Lilywhites the prey, Dulwich had the hosts upon the back foot in a lively opening spell, former colleague Gbenga Sonuga and his defensive partners shredded like the finest Teutonic slaw and reduced to blustering rage directed at ‘keeper Rob Blackburne, suffering both a heavy cold and a heavy onslaught. Poor Rob for all his sufferings he got no word of praise for his heroics, some fine saves keeping the Hamlet at bay a particular fine reaction battering out a Marc Cumberbatch header on the quarter hour despite his bedazzled defenders blocking his view.
Flustered by their failure to convert their dominance, Dulwich’s platy began to fray. The Lilywhites threatened when Fabio Jesus’ cross was nodded on to Ngoyi at the back, the well-placed striker blazing the ball over the crossbar. The beast had served warning, a shot across the bows and a precursor to the opener. 26 minutes and the beast bit. The ball was whipped in from the left, Stuart Blackburne provided the service nodding down the cross and Ngoyi spun to larrup the ball low past the diving Lunan. But the beast was down, felled by the once notorious turf. He hobbled to the sidelines, gamely returned to the skirmish cut his courage was not enough and 6 minutes later he was replaced by Kevin Chakaodza.
In the meantime Hamlet began the hunt anew. Scott Simpson battled with Sonuga, the centre-half hanging to him limpet-like as the striker surged into the area, his tormentor’s close attentions preventing him getting in anything more than a shot that tickled the ‘keeper’s gloves.
A collective wince from the Hamlet hoard as Mo Coly was felled by Jackie Chan nee Andy Jones, looking like Savage, Robbie, tackling like one, the Dulwich man prostrate as the physio went to work. The expected caution for Jones never arrived as the miscreant siddled away from the scene of crime, though on the flag of the assistant his teammate, the outfield Blackburne had a yellow card flashed in his face for rash words. Barrack room language from the South London battalions at the escape of Mr Jones from castigation, but the wrath of the Erinyes would manifest itself as the hands of the watch crept over into time added on. The 45 had just ticked by when Lunan dropped a leviathan free kick into the heart of the penalty area; Ross Edwards rose above Bernard to head the first assault away but only the pugilistic Gary Noel, lurking in the D. The ball squirmed through to Cumberbatch 14 yards from goal, Junior Koandu throwing himself into the tackle but too late to prevent the centre half rifling a Winchester crack of a shot that nestled deep and low in the bottom corner of the net.
The mist of unreason descended upon Jones, a crude lunge and a booking. The free kick larruped in once more, Cumberbatch denied a second in as many minutes as he flicked on a header only for Blackburne to fling himself low to the base of his post and turn the ball behind, fans of all persuasions purring in appreciation, though that was lost upon his bickering rearguard. Protracted stoppage time gave Dulwich time to turn the contest once more in their favour. Five minutes in and Cedric Ngakam launched a booming throw into the near post, Jones’ hell intensified as, under pressure from Junior Kaffo, he succeeded not in clearing the threat of the throw but only in flicking the ball across the face of goal and into the far corner of the net.
With the whip hand, Edwards slipped a couple of aces into the game with Laurent Hamici and Charlie Howard replacing Kaffo and Coly for the second half. Fired-up Hamlet ripping and slashing at the ramshackle Lilywhites. Hamici tormented the defence time and again before setting up Daryl Plummer for the third. His marker left trailing in his wake, the substitute striker swept down the right, driving the ball across to his teammate who let rip with a fiery drive from the brink of the box that smacked into the back of the net.
A caution for Hamici put a dampener on things soon after, booked as he attempted to turn in a leftwing cross with a surreptitious hand that might have gone unnoticed but for the dark gloves he chose to don. A rally from the hosts, Lunan stretching to tip a buzzing shot from Jones, blustering but not threatening as a trio of quick fire corners came to naught. Ngakam left the field of battle to a peal of applause, Tom Bolarinwa added as Dulwich went for the jugular. Blackburne continued to defy, another fine save keeping his side within touching distance on scoreboard if not on pitch. Then with 8 minutes left came an academy award-winning goal from Hamici, orchestra stall and gods' bravos ringing in his ears, a superb one man show. He escaped on the left, zipped inside, poised and purposeful, he dragged the ball past defender after defender, dancing and darting as weighed up his options, finally leaving Valenti baffled and bemused and with a handful of shorts, as he drove a looping shot into the top corner, Blackburne’s despairing dive all in vain.

Teams:
LFC: Rob Blackburne; Steve Brady (Fabio Valenti 68); Junior Konadu; Craig McKay; Gbenga Sonuga; Ross Edwards; Paul Marks (Capt.); Andy Jones; Stuart Blackburne; Greg Ngoyi (Kevin Chakaodza 32); Fabio Jesus (Des Thomas 90)
Substitutes not used: Jordan Lockie; Tom Lewis
DHFC: Jamie Lunan; Peter Martin; Billy Chattaway; Mohamed Coly (Charlie Howard HT); Ryan Bernard (Capt.); Marc Cumberbatch; Daryl Plummer; Cedric Ngakam (Tom Bolarinwa 70); Junior Kaffo (Laurent Hamici HT); Gary Noel; Scott Simpson
Substitutes not used: Kyle Graham; Sheik Ceesay

Goalscoring:
1-0 LFC Greg Ngoyi 26th minute
1-1 DHFC Marc Cumberbatch 45th minute
2-1 DHFC Andy Jones (own goal) 45th minute (+5)
3-1 DHFC Daryl Plummer 60th minute
4-1 DHFC Laurent Hamici 82nd minute

Officials:
Referee: Mr. P Kelly
Assistant Referees: Mr. K Welsh & Mr. S Kay

Attendance: 83