Three Bridges 1 Dulwich Hamlet 2
Saturday 4th August 2007
Pre-Season Challenge Match

New outposts may have been added to the Hamlet’s summer itinerary but one thing remains constant, Dulwich’s annual trip to Jubilee Field where Three Bridges await. First of a testing regime of a trio of matches in four days, the Sussex County Leaguers would provide stern opposition for an XI, more possible than probable but with openings in that starting XI at Walton Casuals still up for grabs there was still an opportunity for players to impress the watching management. Also too for new faces and old to prove their mettle against a side who had already claimed Conference side Crawley as an early pre-season scalp and were slavering at the prospect of adding another victim from loftier climes to their trophy wall.
Azure skies and that rare visitor, the Sun, greeted the cast of players as they took the field, the searing conditions matching by the early pace of the game. One of Hamlet’s triallists, Albanian striker, Izzy Harusha might have made his mark with the first few moments as he latched on to the ball 15 yards out only to chip the ball gingerly into the hands of gargantuan custodian, Stuart Robinson. A corner soon after had the goliath in goal beaten as Stanley Muguo looped a header over home from 10 yards out, only to be denied a goal as a defender’s head cleared the ball from under his own crossbar.
The hosts responded with commitment, muted aggression then a goal sweetly dispatched by central defender Gary Anderson, as he made Hamlet pay for a poorly cleared free kick, sending a blazing drive arrowing into the far corner of the goal as Sheikh Ceesay flung himself in vain. Dismissive of reputation, boisterous in attack, Bridges ensured this was no summer’s stroll for the Hamlet defence, an old head in Justin Bowen amongst the ranks. Not that the home defence went untested but with Anderson returning to defensive duties after his successful sortie in Hamlet territory, the avenues and alleyways to goal became of maze through which Dulwich struggled to navigate.
Shawn Beveney, a prestidigitator with the ball, swiftly conjured openings first for Mutui Lamidi, whose stroked shot beat the giant Robinson only to cannon back off the base of the upright. A corner ensued, Lamidi free to head the ball but sending the ball harmlessly over the crossbar. More magic from the Guyanese as he took on all comers weaving a tortuous trail through the Three Bridges rearguard, but his tricks had a Tommy Cooper outcome as the ball was slipped back into the flight of Harusha, only for the ultimate shot to graze the wrong side of the near upright.
Elegant football failed to bring reward as Hamlet strained for the equaliser. Lamidi collected the ball wide right, slipped it outside to Beveney powering down the flank, Muguo the beneficiary of his pass but the net remained unsullied as Muguo watched, head in hands, as his drive was lifted high over the crossbar. With the break mere moments away, left-back Peter Lyall let fly with a decent drive from 25 yards out but an unflustered ‘keeper was in perfect position, the ball cushioned in his midriff.
Barely had the half-time rallying calls subsided than the man in black had incurred the wrath of the Hamlet contingent as he pointed to the spot. Galling indeed for moments earlier Dulwich were threatening, Robinson plucking the ball from the head of Bowen after Dave Waters had nodded on a free kick. Caught short though Dulwich were soon facing a corner and though the first delivery was cleared, the redelivery struck the hand of Stuart Boothe and Bridges had their penalty. However, as at East Thurrock, Ceesay outfoxed the kicker, smartly down at his right hand post to smother the kick of Jack McNab, this time ensuring there were no crumbs for hungry forwards to peck at.
Renewed heart and Hamlet were back in full flow once more. Beveney danced into the box, jinking one way then the next, but a phalanx of amber shirts swarmed around him and the chance was lost. A howitzer of drive delivered by Alex Watson from the edge of the penalty area truly tested Robinson for the first time, every inch of his leviathan frame in the air as he sprung lithely to turn the ball away for a corner.
65 minutes, penalty to the Hamlet but no, Harusha’s rapier run into the box curtailed unceremoniously as his legs were swept from under him. Raising the whistle to his lips the referee appeared in the act of blowing but no sound came and Bridges turned to attack once more. Chagrin forgotten, Dulwich rejoindered with more assaults, Harusha thwarted as Robinson smothered the ball at his feet, Beveney firing off a wild volley after Watson’s left wing cross had been punched out to his feet.
A dashing finale ensued. Anderson withdrawn from the hosts’ defence, Samson shorn of his hair. Six minutes remained when a long arching throw bounced awkwardly up against the hand of a defender allowing the man in black to atone for his previous timidity; the spot kick more in tune with the letter of the law than its spirit. Any sympathy Dulwich might have had was not evident in Beveney’s penalty, the ‘keeper’s extra inches serving him for naught as the ball was expertly dispatched into the bottom corner.
An honourable draw it might have been but for Harusha, the impish forward gliding past static defenders, glancing first at each other than in vain to the assistant referee. Latching on to Beveney’s perfect pass, the foot was drawn back like a trigger, the ball despatched beyond a crestfallen Robinson for a late, late winner four minutes into stoppage time.

DHFC: Sheikh Ceesay; Stuart Boothe; Peter Lyall; Stanley Muguo; Dave Waters; Justin Bowen; Shawn Beveney; Cedric Kobongo; Izzy Harusha; Mutui Lamidi (Alfie Bonsu 66); Alex Watson