Dulwich Hamlet 2 Corinthian-Casuals 2

Ryman Isthmian League Division One South

Saturday 19th August 2006

A comfortable lead let slip from their grasp at the hands of a side allegedly destined for the basement and the trapdoor into oblivion. Welcome to the new season at Champion Hill where the terraces resemble reruns of Dad’s Army, the Private Frasers, “We're doomed, I say. Doomed”, competing with the Corporal Joneses, “Don't Panic Mr Burnett, don't panic!” Already some naysayers are sounding the death knells for Hamlet’s hopes of promotion with a mere 41 games left. Then again expectations were high, amateur Corinthian-Casuals expected to be steamrolled as a gentle precursor to massive midweek trip to title favourites Dover. All was going to plan, a brace of goals for the goal machine Chris Dickson, the odd scare but dealt with; then the visitors decided to tear up the script as Andre McCollin bagged a brace of his own within three minutes and might have won the game for his team had his finishing been more accurate.

The seasons alter, the summer’s muggy damp presaging dank autumn but upon the newly refurbished Champion Hill turf, a carpet where beauteous football can be played thoughts of the long, hard months ahead were put to bed as the two combatants swept the ball around with gay abandon. The whip hand lay with the Hamlet but already the warning signs were there as McConnell and his diminutive strike partner, the nippy Jamie Byatt threatened to break through the rearguard as Dulwich proved vulnerable to lightning counter-attacks.

On the quarter hour, Dickson outmuscled his marker to set up Carlton Murray-Price, a well-struck effort from the edge of the area too close to keeper Colin Harris and comfortably pouched. From the feet of Dickson, three minutes later came a master class in the art of finishing, David Moore’s sliderule pass into the path of the rampaging striker. Too fast for his pursuers, Dickson ran on to smoothly slot the ball into the near corner of the net as Harris vainly tried to narrow the angle.

“C'est magnifique, mais ce n'est pas la guerre”, the passes following like fine wine, the fans drunk on the beauty of a passing game so long absent from the Hill but in the heady atmosphere of this connoisseurs’ football, the thrill of goals was missing. An intricately worked free kick gave Kenny Beaney a shooting chance from a tight angle, Harris agile to batter the ball behind for a corner. From this the ball pinged its way to Murray-Price a pirouette on the ball setting his marker adrift, but a cruel deflection sent his close range strike lopping over the crossbar. For the Casuals a deep left wing cross was met with a thumping header at the back stick, James Pullen well placed to palm the ball behind. Then Dulwich were breaking out, Dickson’s impudent back heel setting up Beaney to drive a cross low into the six yard box where Williams awaited only for a contorting defender to somehow flick the ball away with his head.

Touché came the Casuals response as Byatt’s pace saw Pullen’s goal open up in front of him but a rash shot on the run failed to test the keeper as the side netting rippled. Back came the Hamlet, Jason Turley providing an overlap on the right, his cross nodded weakly out to Dickson but from the edge of the area, he snatched at the chance sending the ball sailing harmlessly over the bar. Moore chanced his arm from distance, a deflection failing to trouble Harris but from the boot of McCollin came a silent warning as on the stroke of half time, he made space for himself and let fly with a bullet of an effort that had Pullen pulling out all the stops to batter it away.

Four minutes after the restart the Hamlet gained themselves a modicum of security with a second goal as Dickson doubled the lead with a carbon copy of the opener. This time the subtle pass came from the feet of Williams, Dickson kick-starting the motor as he slipped fluently into his rhythmic stride, inexorably bound goal and a sweet blockbuster of a finish. Surely the victory would now be assured even though Dickson would be denied a much merited hat trick, first when Moore’s chip into the six yard box was headed out to him, a stinging volley acrobatically tipped on to the crossbar, substitute Jamie Cheeseman beaten to the rebound. Another athletic Dickson run agonisingly ended with the side netting billowing as Harris did just enough to make the angle too acute. Sandwiched between these chances, Williams struck a venous shot from distance wide of the mark.

Not that the Casuals had retired from the scene, far from it. The electric Byatt caught the Hamlet defence in deep snooze, rounding Pullen and only denied a goal by the intervention of skipper Jamie Coyle slipping back to put the ball behind. Two minutes later and Byatt repeated the trick; this time the Hamlet’s saviour was Nicolas Plumain echoing his captain’s heroics. The somnambulant Dulwich defence had not heeded these alarm call when McCollin came calling to reduce the arrears soon after. 74 minutes on the clock, in snuck the big striker and Pullen found himself beaten for the first time. Three minutes later and McCollin was there again, catching the defence napping once more from a position of safety, Hamlet now found themselves staring down the barrel of an embarrassing defeat.

In redemption of defence lapses, Coyle came close to restoring Dulwich’s lead with a powerful header from a corner but McCollin could, nay should, have laid claim to the match ball as he punched a hole in the Hamlet rearguard, only to blaze wildly wide of the goal as Pullen flung himself at his feet. Try as they might Hamlet could not recover the lost points, a shot out of nothing from Moore comfortably held by a flying Harris, the keeper also reacting acrobatically to tip over an effort from Cheeseman as a late, late free kick caused pandemonium in the Casuals’ box.

At the final whistle, delighted, the Casuals danced a jig of joy more in tune with cup winners than point sharers while disconsolate Dulwich trooped off to a post-mortem. For the pensive Wayne Burnett, Herculean tasks await. Already he has cleaned out the stables of Augeus, populated them with young colts. The golden apples of Hesperides glinting in the promised land of the premier, but other tasks await before he and his charges get there, not least to inject a spine of steel to complement the sleek and silky football.

DHFC; James Pullen; Jason Turley; Nicolas Plumain; Daniel Nwanze (Ohran Stewart 75); Jamie Coyle (Capt); Lewis Tozer; David Moore; Kenny Beaney; Carlton Murray-Price (Jamie Cheeseman 59); Chris Dickson; Phil Williams (Danny Moore 67)

Subs not used: Sol Pinnock; Billy Warner

Attendance: 256