Raynes Park Vale 1 Dulwich Hamlet 2

Tuesday 1st August 2006

Pre-Season Friendly

Next stop on the Dulwich Hamlet pre-season tour of suburbia and the outlying districts took in the rather inaptly named Grand Drive, but do not let appearances fool you for one of the great laws of Non-League, or “proper football” as it is known to the aficionados, is that the more ramshackle the surroundings the more hospitable the welcome. Not that hat often extends to the field of play for the hosts have made a habit of upsetting loftier aspirants playing a call on their wilderness ground tucked behind the edifices of suburban Commuterland. Two weeks previous it had been the AFC Wimbledon Football Special pulling into this pre-season branch line prior to the next step on its railroading, express ride back to the lofty peaks once scaled by Wimbledon FC before they decamped to the identikit conurbation of Milton Keynes, replete with its concrete cows. Then they had come within an ace of pricking the fledgling Dons balloon, racing ahead before being pegged back to an honourable draw. Hamlet’s heights would be set higher that. In Wayne’s World, each game is treated the same, victory is victory no matter the opposition, the philosophy handed down.
Hard pitches and hard work had taken its toll and Dulwich were unable to call on the services of Carl Emberson, whose athletic performances between the sticks in previous outings had peeled back the years. Injuries also ruled out midfielder Daniel Nwanze and striker Luke Cornwall, whilst Jason Turley had managed to find a rare window in the football calendar to take a holiday. Among those on show was an old familiar face as Tony Houghton returned at left back in an attempt to reclaim a place in the Dulwich squad.
Snapping at their opponents like young terriers, the tyros of Dulwich could have had this game sealed within mere minutes of the kick-off such were the chances that were created, yet spurned. Two minutes in and the galloping Carlton Murray-Price was sent sprawling in the penalty area as he chased an incisive pass from midfield, his legs slashed from under him by the crudest of slow challenges. Nicolas Plumain took on the responsibilities of penalty taker but though the power was present the ball was always rising as it cannoned to safety off the crossbar. A couple of minutes later and but for a magnificent one-handed save from home keeper Cornwell, changing direction in midair as he flung himself right to batter out a screaming shot from Lee Hynes, letting loose with a cannonball from 25 yards out. The custodian was a little less flustered when dealing with a similar long range effort from Cedric Meeko, the midfielder making room for himself, but his drive cushioning itself in Cornwell’s midriff.
On 18 minutes came the breakthrough, a deserved one for the Hamlet and for livewire striker Murray-Price as his electric pace allowed him to get the better of the defence in a chase for Meeko’s threaded pass and angling the ball home past the keeper.
Chances to add to the slender lead came and went like fleeting dreams. Gavin Dayes rose unchallenged to meet a corner but flicked a header agonisingly wide. Kenny Beaney’s long range effort took a benevolent deflection into a relieved keeper’s arms. A tasty chase from Murray-Price set up the chance for Plumain to atone for his earlier miss from the spot, the ball running to him as defenders converged on the Hamlet striker, but Plumain’s hurried effort was in vain as the ball was lashed high over the goal from a few yards out.
Murray-Price continued to torment the home defence, red boots on fire as he danced past the keeper in the six yard box but from the tightest of angles, his attempt to tuck the ball home was thwarted by a backtracking defender at the post. No such denial for Phil Williams soon after as Lee Hynes snapped the offside trap to canter away down the right wing, his low cross whizzing unchallenged across the face of goal to Williams at the back post only to be drilled wide with the goal at his mercy.
It was only to expected that all these spurned opportunities the hosts would grab one of their own before the break, history teaches us nothing more so. Six minutes remained of the half when Dulwich’s defence were caught cold. The ball was latched on to in the space behind Houghton and with young Chris Lewington, deputising for Emberson in goal, caught in No Man’s Land, an unselfish centre found Poulter who bravely launched himself between two defenders to nod the ball into the unguarded net.
With Dulwich dominant but lacking incision, the first half had been one-way traffic in all but scoreline. The second half would be less so, though Hamlet did at least claim a winner before the hour was up as Murray-Price cemented his claim to start the season, adding a second goal in determined fashion. Running on to a slipped pass into the area, his chance to seem to have evaporated when the keeper rushed from his line to block the first opening but the striker’s instinct kicked in and there was no reprieve for the hosts as Murray-Price stretched a leg to stab the rebound past the prostrate custodian.
Soon after came a raft of changes as five replacements took the field to add to Lewis Tozer who entered the fray in the stead of Gavin Dayes 10 minutes in. Others would later join as a total of eight changes were made in the course of a second half that started to become a bit scrappy particularly in the Hamlet defence which might have been penetrated once again had Raynes Park not baulked at a number of chances that fell their way.
The threat abated though as Dulwich steadied their ship and the lead might have been added as dusk settled over suburbia. Even El Supremo, Wayne Burnett, sporting a severe new tonsure, got in on the act with some whimsical footwork in the heart of the pitch, an elegant chip deserving more than to sail harmlessly over a leaden footed keeper and his crossbar. Add to that a Joel Greaves chance at the end of a flowing move where the dreadlocked striker hooked up with Jean-Serge Musungu to produce a first time snap shot that whistled a fraction too far the wrong side of the upright and victory might have been more comfortable than the scoreline suggested.

DHFC: Chris Lewington; Nicolas Plumain; Jamie Coyle; Gavin Dayes; Tony Houghton; David Moore; Cedric Meeko; Kenny Beaney; Phil Williams; Carlton Murray-Price; Lee Hynes

Subs used: Lewis Tozer; Joel Greaves; Jean-Serge Musungu; Wayne Burnett; Ohran Stewart; Yinka Salaam; Billy Warner; Chris Hurst