Burgess Hill Town 3 Dulwich Hamlet 2

Ryman Isthmian League Division One South

Saturday 3^rd February 2007

The Full English laid before the football hungry fans of Leylands Park, sizzling rashers of goals, goals, goals, meaty morsels of winch-inducing tackles, all topped off with steaming dollops of controversy in the shape of disallowed "goals", contentious penalty decisions and flurry of cards all brandished at a host side desperate wipe away a long barren spell, triumphless since late November last. Fine fare indeed for the ravenous neutral but the promotion famished travelling fans of the Hamlet, a sixth game away from fortress Champion Hill and still just a single point in return for their heroes' efforts. For the Full English they would happily have substituted nouvelle cuisine, less substantial in the tasting but more aesthetic to the eye, all topped with the final flourish of victory. Instead they were served haute cuisine prepared by a McDonald's burger flipper.

This was afternoon frustrating in the extreme as Dulwich were knocked from their perch at the top of Division One South. In defeat they handed the baton of leadership to Dover Athletic whose 3-0 victory at Kent rivals Ashford Town allowed them to leapfrog the Hamlet into top spot. However the battle for the championship remains one of the tightest ever with a blanket of a single victory thrown over half-a-dozen, whilst the likes of Leatherhead, Tooting and Cray all wait in the wings to pounce should clubs falter.

Enforced changes for the Hamlet as suspensions robbed Wayne Burnett of both Nicolas Plumain and Cedric Meeko both out for a trio of games. The treatment room brought better news though with both Leigh Bremner, mugged out of the game on Corinthian fields, and Lewis Tozer, whose appearance in Pink and Blue saw him wheeled from the Champion Hill arena unconscious on a stretcher. Back too, for his first start since the Dover demolition, was sharpshooter supreme Chris Dickson.

Dickson was soon in the fray, charging forwards in pursuit of a long ball forward, only for rangy Burgess Hill custodian to beat him in the chase. However his header was gathered by Bremner but despite gathering the ball well, his strike was off the mark, hammering into the hoardings behind the goal. A minute later and Tozer's cushioned a header into the path of Bremner but again his compass was off as the ball was volleyed over.

Winless since late November and coming into this game on the back of five straight defeats, the hosts might not have been the bookies' favourites but they received an almighty helping hand from the fates when Dulwich had a seemingly legitimate "goal" chalked off after 11 minutes as Leigh Bremner buried the ball in the net after brushing aside his marker to run on to Chris Dickson's slipped pass. At first referee Mr S Lewis awarded a goal but then his attention was drawn to his assistant vigorously flagging for some offence unseen by all but himself. Consultation between the officials and the goal was invalidated. This body blow was quickly added too as the Hillians grabbed the lead with their first attack of note barely 90 seconds later. The ball, won on the left wing, eventually made its way via the feet of the experience Geoff Pitcher and regular goalscorer Ashley Jarvis into the path of Dan Turner who squirreled his way into the Hamlet penalty area before unleashing a cracking strike that sneaked inside Simon Overland's right-hand post as the giant custodian leapt across his goal in a vain effort to keep the shot out. Seven minutes later and disaster struck once more as an Overland cleared was head back towards the Hamlet goal, Gavin Dayes missed the intercept and Jarvis was left free to run in on goal. Overland attempted to narrow the angle but to no avail, number 13 of the season for the Hillians main marksman as the ball was casually slipped home.

A lifeline was thrown in the direction of the Hamlet within three minutes as Mazin Ahmad produced an individual goal of the sweetest variety, weaving his way in from the left touchline, yellow shirts waved in surrender as he swept past before pulling the trigger and hammering a low drive into the bottom corner of ‘keeper André Foster's net. Barely a quarter of the match gone and Dulwich were back in it. Not long after and the wiry Foster was somehow keeping out Shawn Beveney's strike from the edge of the area as stretched out a spidery leg to divert the ball past the base of his far upright. However Hamlet might well have slid further adrift had Turner not blazed horribly high and wide after Dayes had lost his footing leaving the young striker with the goal at his mercy.

With the clock ticking away, a scramble in the Burgess Hill six yard box gave Dickson a chance to kick-start his scoring spree but he hammered the ball over from close range. Then inexplicably in the first minute of stoppage time, Ahmad handled the ball in his own penalty area as the Hamlet defended a corner and the resultant penalty gave skipper Shaun Grice the chance to restore his side's cushion, one he took with aplomb sending Overland the wrong way.

Barely had the players emerged from the dressing room and Dulwich were offered the chance to shave the gap once more, as amidst a penalty box mêlée, the assistant linesman spotted a yellow shirted hand pushing away the ball. Up stepped Dickson and the ball was despatched ruthlessly to set the stage for a rambunctious second half, full of fire and fury, but much to the frustration of the Hamlet bereft of goals. Mere minutes after the goal, Dickson again threatened as a quick of quick injection of pace allowed him to reach a long ball forward before the closing defenders but his volley cleared Foster's crossbar.

Young David Milton was replaced by the wise old head of Serge Musungu, up against one of his former clubs. One of his first touches set in motion a cracking move that saw Ahmad denied by a fine covering tackle from Champion Hill nemesis Kevin Joyce on the fringes of the six yard box. Ahmad kept the ball in play, setting up Dickson to hammer a fierce cross shot across the face of goal, one that a leaping Beveney was mere millimetres away from connecting with a header. A second disallowed goal for the Hamlet on 63 minutes as skipper Jamie Coyle scrambled the ball home at the back stick, though in a less than legitimate manner, at least in the eyes of the assistant referee.

A last ditch tackle of the illegitimate kind as Bremner was unceremoniously brought to ground on the edge of the penalty area brought Hamlet a free kick and an unrepentant Paul Clarke a caution but the opportunity was wasted as Kenny Beaney curled the ball over the crossbar. For Beaney, an uncharacteristically uninfluential performance marked possibly his last game in Pink and Blue for as the Call of the Fishes sees him join the Champion Hill lodgers on a month's loan this week.

With time swiftly evaporating a free kick found Tozer unmarked 15 yards from goal, a fierce strike on the volley too close though to Foster, the tall ‘keeper knocked back by the recoil but still battering the shot away. A brace of bookings for Joe Bye in stoppage time, both for fouls on fellow replacement Phil Williams, though the second more for the intention than the impact, Williams having wisely taken evasive action, saw the Hillians' substitute given his marching orders. Time though was the Hamlet's greatest foe, too many passes sent astray, and points had slipped from their grasp.

Teams:

BHFC: André Foster; Neil Watts; Lloyd Cotton; Paul Clarke; Kevin Joyce; Owen Hill (Joe Bye 75); Shaun Grice; Geoff Pitcher (Nick Fogden 45); Dan Turner (Adam Pullin 90); Ashley Jarvis; Matt Piper

Substitutes not used: Jake Philpot, Aaron Stenning

Cautions: Dan Turner (Unsporting Conduct 38), Neil Watts (Unsporting Conduct 52), Paul Clarke (Foul 83), Joe Bye (Foul 90+1, Foul 90+2)

Dismissals: Joe Bye (Second Cautionable Offence)

DHFC: Simon Overland; Jason Turley; Lewis Tozer; Shawn Beveney; Jamie Coyle; Gavin Dayes; David Milton (Serge Musungu 60); Kenny Beaney; Leigh Bremner; Chris Dickson; Mazin Ahmad (Phil Williams 82)

Substitutes not used: Sol Pinnock; Matt Dean; Billy Manners

Attendance: 185

Officials:

Referee: Mr S Lewis

Assistant Referees: Mr C Phillips & Mr S Potter

Goalscoring:

1-0 BHTFC Dan Turner 12^th minute

2-0 BHTFC Ashley Jarvis 19^th minute

2-1 DHFC Mazin Ahmad 22^nd minute

3-1 BHTFC Shaun Grice (Penalty) 45^th minute

3-2 DHFC Chris Dickson (Penalty) 46^th minute