West Ham Supporters 1 Dulwich Hamlet Supporters 2

West Ham Supporters 1 Dulwich Hamlet Supporters 2
Internet Football League
Saturday 17th April 2004

Hard by the concrete ribbon that is the Eastway lies Hackney Marshes, spiritual home of parks football since time immemorial, a Cathedral of Sunday football that regularly echoes to sound of dockyard obscenities as a thousand hangovers are run off amid its jigsaw puzzle of pitches. Famous names have graced it along the years but when was the last time the names of Cottee, Stewart, Brooking, Hurst, Devonshire and their ilk lined up alongside each other there. Alright it was only the legends on the back of the West Ham supporters shirts that bore these names although Cottee, a lanky bespectacled chap, lived up to his icon with the headed goal that gave the Happy Hammers a first half lead. As for some of the others, Brooking was actually interesting whilst Devonshire seemed a model of decorum following his outbursts during and after the Hamlet’s victory at Hampton the Saturday before. Could not tell if the keeper bore a legend upon his back but from his performance, one would guess it was not McKnight!
With a long unbeaten record behind them, Dulwich were hoping to extend that against a West Ham side that had lost all four previous games in the league but with an early start in the hinterlands of East London, a number of players were unavailable but those 12 who dragged creaking knees on to the pitch were to do the Hamlet proud as a goal deficit was overturned to ensure victory.
Shambolic defending at a corner allowed an unmarked Cottee to glance a header past Matt Hammond to give West Ham the lead. However Dulwich were back on level terms when Larry Marsh powered into the box and drawing the keeper, unselfishly laid the ball across the box for Jack McInroy to score from close range.
Enduring some hairy moments in the second half as West Ham made full use of the wind at their backs to pin Dulwich back in their half, forcing but not profiting from a series of corners. For this they paid as Marsh scored a magnificent goal reminiscent of that cracking Gazza goal against the sheep rustlers from North of Border, flicking the ball past his marker before smacking the ball past a defenceless keeper for number two. Again the Boys in Pink and Blue came under the cosh, but held firm although with less than a minute left breaths were held as the ball threatened to bounce over the head of Hammond, the corpulent custodian just tipping the ball on the crossbar as Dulwich breathed a collective sigh of relief.

Team: Matt Hammond; Paul Vinnell; Ian Wright; James O’Shaughnessy; Paul Griffin; Andy Tucker; Gareth Taylor (Mark Hutton); Mishi Morath; Lee Shailer; Jack McInroy; Larry Marsh