Dulwich Hamlet 2 Burgess Hill Town 2

Ryman Isthmian League Division One South

Tuesday 28^th November 2006

The seasons turn; leaves turn russet and plummet to earth. Lazy autumnal evenings make way for brisk breezes as the chill bite of winter makes its presence, the Hamlet fans looking forward to a winter of attrition and wistful gazes towards the promotion pack, a fast-growing log jam behind the Hamlet becoming ever more compact. But this year something different is happening at the Hill, the faithful congregation find themselves glancing back down at a chasing pack, a novel feeling for all but the most venerable of supplicants at the Pink and Blue Shrine. All this despite a moribund month of November, two more points cast away tonight in a game full of alarums and excursions to compound the pain of Saturday's Hastings hammering.

That defeat elicited some creative thinking in the management department. Centre-half Gavin Dayes, stand-in striker at the death on Saturday, returned to the starting line-up but in a holding midfield role. One would not be too surprised if the versatile Dayes enters the arena clad in the green and gloves of goalkeeper before the season is out to ensure he completes the set. Returning too was Lewis Tozer, sidelined with an ankle injury, but back to partner Justyn Roberts at the heart of defence, Jamie Coyle sliding across to right back. Wholesale changes were completed as Daniel Jones took over from Sol Pinnock in attack and David Moore returned to midfield. Ten league games unbeaten and fresh from wiping the floor with Leatherhead, the Hillians saw no reason to change; a starting XI matching that had tanned the hide of their last opponents.

14 seconds from the kick-off and Dulwich found themselves in arrears as the fast-starting visitors rocked the Hill with a crackerjack of a goal. A quick hoof forwards. Coyle winning the header but the ball lost and Mark Pulling furnish with a perfect pass to wallop a swooping volley that looped beyond Lewington's acrobatic leap and find the top corner with deadly accuracy. At least the concession of a early goal allows the victims the maximum time to recover their ground though Burgess Hill, already scenting a victory that might move them within a point of the leadership, were in no mood to allow the goal hungry Hamlet more then the merest scent of goal.

Six minutes in and Chris Dickson's pace opened a window of opportunity but his attempt at a cheeky chip failed to trouble keeper André Foster. Soon after Pulling managed to sneak in between defender and keeper but stretching to the ball, he hooked his effort wide of the Hamlet goal. Feisty the game was, a rare booking for the ebullient Dickson as he protested at refereeing inconsistency, a foul on Dayes waved away only for Hamlet to be punished in the blink of an eye for a copycat offence.

14 minutes and Hillians' resistance broken. Moore flattened. A free kick wide right half cleared straight to Kenny Beaney who lashed a low daisycutter goalwards. Down went Foster to parry the ball to safety or so he thought for skulking unmarked was Coyle and with precision and power he drilled the ball firmly between diving keeper and upright. Burgess Hill's lackadaisical defenders found a ready scapegoat in the assistant referee but naught came of their vociferous grumblings.

If Dulwich now held the upper hand it was still the Hillians who carved open the better chances, built on a defence and midfield who by fair or foul did all in their power to stifle the Hamlet raids. A caution for Neil Watts, failing to retreat at a free kick but his delaying tactics proved more painful for him eventually forced from the field before the half-hour was out. A quickly taken free kick supplied Ashley Jarvis for spectacular looking bicycle kick but it proved little more than an irritant for Lewington as he gathered the ball in. A yellow card soon followed for goalscorer Pulling as he rapped Moore across the kneecaps with a cynical late tackle, but his emotions were soon channelled in more productive efforts as he flashed a left wing drive across the face of the Hamlet goal.

The not-so-silent assassin, Dickson, mounted a one man raid, a powerful run to the edge of the box, a nick past a defender but Kevin Joyce across to slash the ball to safety. Intricate passing from the Hamlet swept the ball across the park but it all ended fruitlessly as Jones' shot from 20 yards out trickled just wide of the upright. The raids continued to mount up. A quick breakout, Dickson fed on the right of the area but too tight an angle as Foster spread himself at his feet. Coyle failed to repeat his scoring heroics as Moore's cross was headed out to him only for the volley to be lofted over the bar. The pacy visiting attack still posed threats, Pulling chancing his arm with a speculative effort from distance but always too high. The last minute saw a lightning quick Hamlet counter, Beaney released on the left but a tempting curling cross proved a foot too far for Dickson, Foster grateful to cut out the danger.

Dulwich opened the second half on a high, the mercurial Phil Williams dancing and teasing his way down the right wing but finding all avenues blocked as he searching for a chink of light in the Hillians' rearguard. A corner won by more Williams magic saw Tozer leap the loftiest but a flicked header fizzed just wide of the far top corner of the net. Injured by a hefty challenge, Williams was forced limping from the field to be replaced by Sol Pinnock, the substitute's first contribution to unleash his stallion speed and tear down the left to pull the ball back on to the feet Dickson, only for the hotshot to misfire, rifling the ball wide of the back stick.

Schoolboy exuberance ruled, attack followed counter in quick succession but a cornucopia of furious football failed to reap a harvest of goals. 20 minutes remained when Dulwich finally got their noses in front and once again the hero was captain Coyle, an officer leading his men out of the trenches across enemy lines rather than sip G&Ts back at the mess. A Hamlet corner lashed into the heart of the six yard box, Dayes stretched a lithe limb but only for the merest of glances, to enough to divert the ball to Coyle once more lurking at the back and a crisp drive through the massed ranks of white and green finished the job.

Scent of victory wafted on the air but wasteful finishing and luck would conspire against the Hamlet. Moore let loose a humdinger of a drive that brushed the bar as it flew over. Nick Fodgen entered the bad boys' book with a caution for hauling Dickson to the ground on the lip of the area, Foster lashing the resultant free kick away from the toes of the Hamlet striker. Gliding through the middle of the park Dayes laid the foundations for yet another chance. Substitute Billy Warner and Dickson got in each other's way but the former managed to get in a deflected strike that looped over a stranded Foster only to rebound off the bar. Pinnock might still have tucked the ball home but, stretching, he hooked the ball against the bar and Burgess Hill travelling band breathed a sign of deep relief. The cost of that miss became all too evident three minutes later as the Hillians clawed their way level, a free kick pumped into a crowded box and at the second attempt a Hillian head connecting to bullet the ball home, Kevin Joyce claiming the goal.

Still the three points might have gone the way of the Hamlet. 44 minutes, Dulwich pressure on the six yard box but at the last Warner just over. Stoppage time and Dickson released, Foster out to narrow the angle and blessed with good fortune as Dickson attempted to stab the ball through his legs, only for the keeper's trailing foot to deflect the shot away from goal.

The hearty celebrations of the visitors at the whistle are testament to the winds of change that have swept through the Hamlet of late but this will be of little consolation at the thought of two more points thrown away. Nor will the news from Fleet that the Hastings revival had claimed the scalp of the erstwhile leaders allowed Dulwich to creep a further point clear at the head of the pack.

Teams:

DHFC: Chris Lewington; Lewis Tozer; Gavin Dayes (Cedric Meeko 86); Justyn Roberts; Jamie Coyle (Capt); Jake Daniel; David Moore; Kenny Beaney; Daniel Jones (Billy Warner 67); Chris Dickson; Phil Williams (Sol Pinnock 53)

Substitutes not used: Jason Turley; Nicolas Plumain

BHTFC: André Foster; Tom Edmonds; Lloyd Cotton (Glen Matten HT); Nick Fogden; Kevin Joyce; Joe Bye; Shaun Grice (Capt); Mark Pulling; Adam Pullin (Jordan Hall-Pike 59); Ashley Jarvis; Neil Watts (Owen Hill 30)

Substitute not used: Dan Turner

Attendance: 218

Officials:

Referee: Mr Alan Black (South Croydon)

Assistant Referees: Alex Neil (Woodmansterne, Surrey) & Mr Chris Breakspear (Walton-on-Thames, Surrey)

Goalscoring:

0-1 BHTFC Mark Pulling 1^st minute (14 seconds)

1-1 DHFC Jamie Coyle 14^th minute

2-1 DHFC Jamie Coyle 70^th minute

2-2 BHTFC Kevin Joyce 88^th minute