Dulwich Hamlet 1 AFC Wimbledon 3

Dulwich Hamlet 1 AFC Wimbledon 3
London Senior Cup – Fourth Round
Tuesday 11th December 2007

But for the heroics of Horsham chasing glory and the Old Tin Pot, the Champion Hill faithful might have found themselves gazing upon the lesser lights of the renascent Dons. Instead, having been in stasis for more than a week, AFC were itching for action and so Dulwich found themselves ranged against a strong, perhaps the strongest, starting XI the Dons could muster boasting the bulk of their Isthmian title-chasing squad. Amongst that number one Richard Jolly, a rare soul for whom play-offs and the Hill bring happier memories, returning to the starting XI after flu had laid him low and with an illustrious striking partner in Marcus Gayle, once of the “other” Wimbledon. Strange then that Dons’ supremo Terry Brown should be absent from the dugout, leaving the managerial reins in the hands of number two Stuart Cash but then neither manager had made progression in this competition a priority, Brown looking to regalvanise his players ahead of a Trophy trip to Maidenhead, his opposite number Craig Edwards, never keen to lose but with more than a weather eye on the weekend. Fortunately any managerial indifference to the famous old cup failed to convey itself to combatants who rushed hither and thither across the frosty turf in search of victory. A crisp, chill winter’s eve, a slippery pitch white with hoar, but the football from visitors AFC Wimbledon white with heat as an early onslaught from the reborn Dons gave them an unassailable two goal lead before the quarter hour was up.
Early alarm bells as Steve Ferguson, darting through the middle of the park, set up Gayle for a shooting opportunity from the edge of the area but the old warhorse failed to connect with enough venom to trouble Tim Roberts in the Hamlet goal, standing in for the rested Sheik Ceesay. However those alarums went unheeded and once more the electric Ferguson pierce the Hamlet rearguard, his penetrating run in from the right wing ended prematurely by a clumsy lunge from Shayne Mangodza. Spot kick duties to Mark de Bolla and for the children watching, a masterclass in the art of penalty taking, de Bolla crashing the ball down the middle as Roberts was sent diving to his left.
Picked at and probed by their quicksilver opponents, Dulwich were struggling to come to terms with the frequent raids of the Dons. 12th minute and the ball was swept wide to Michael Haswell rumbling up the left. His deep cross somehow made its way into the towering Gayle, an awkward pass running to de Bolla but this time Roberts had the upper hand making a fine close range bloke from his opponent’s strike. Hamlet made a quick response with Scott Edgar released behind a stolid defence but ‘keeper Danny Knowles kept patient, waiting and waiting, dragging his man wider and wider before a precise tackle an outfield player would have relished took the ball of the toes of Edgar.
On the quarter hour AFC doubled their lead with a wondrous goal, fit to grace the highest stage. The danger seemed minimal when perfidious Ferguson gathered the ball some 30 yards from goal. One might have expected another trenchant charge but instead he released a full-blooded drive, dipping, swirling, setting the air alight as it whistled past the despairing dive of Roberts, crashing into the net off angle of post and crossbar.
Less motivated teams might have crumbled but with orders barked from Sergeant-Major Edwards on the sidelines, surrender was not an option for the Hamlet. A deep Edgar cross from the right wing dropped to Benson Paka, lurking at the back of the penalty area. A neat turn inside his man but from the edge of the area a shot curled a fraction too high. Soon after a long throw saw Henry Darko win a David and Goliath battle for the ball with Antony Howard, the ball trickling along the edge of the six yard box where Stanley Muguo beat a brace of defenders to it, only to stab a close range shot the wrong side of Knowles’ far upright.
A third Dons’ goal was averted as by the dexterity of Roberts, though fortune to played a part. De Bolla’s powerful run into the area, capped by an angled rising drive, saw Roberts stretch to tip the ball away from goal only for it to drop at the feet of Jolly mere inches from the line. Somehow the chance went begging as the ball was clipped against the outside of the upright and harmlessly behind. The frame of the goal would once more deny the Dons when a stunning strike from distance by de Bolla had Roberts beaten all ends up, but half-uttered celebratory cheers died on the breeze as the ball cannoned back off the base of the post. Dulwich’s response came in the form of a smart angled strike from Sol Patterson-Bohner following Haswell fluffed clearance, the Hamlet man drilling the ball low, hard and sweet towards the near bottom corner of the net but, to his misfortune, Knowles was alert to the danger grabbing the ball at the second attempt as it recoiled from his chest.
Lukewarm from the red hot Schoburgh, perhaps still feeling the effects of the injury that had forced him from the field Saturday last. Maybe that was why Haswell was almost able to keep pace with him as he set off on a fizzling stampede down the right. A low centre needed just the final brushstroke from the marauding Edgar, but the angle was just too tight, the ball nestling in the side netting.
The second half began brightly for the Hamlet as Paka went close with a crisp low drive from the brink of the box that skidded just wide of Knowles’ left hand upright but then lackadaisical defending allowed AFC a third goal that would drive a final nail in the Dulwich challenge. A smart save from Roberts to deny the Dons saw a corner conceded, lofted deep into the penalty area. Arriving late, a juggernaut is the shape of Rob Quinn met the delivery with a mighty thump, the header ripping through the Pink and Blue wall on the line to stretch that lead even further.
Victory all but assured Wimbledon eased the pace, controlled the game, sat back and invited Hamlet upon them. An invitation not to be spurned Dulwich quested for an opening that would let in the light of hope. Schoburgh thrusting run into the box was curtailed by the well-weighted tackle of Howard. A deep throw reached Muguo mere feet from the line but defensive smothering snuffed out the chance. When grit failed, the Dons turned to luck to deny Dulwich, a booming Billy Chattaway cross, mishit by Schoburgh 10 yards out, cannoning goalwards off a defender but into the hands of a grateful Knowles on the line. The Hamlet blitz continued as Mangodza’s close range effort from an acute angle skimmed the face of Knowles and went behind off the post.
As time ebbed away, the burning embers of a late Hamlet rally began to dim. A chance here, a chance there but rugged Wimbledon defence kept the artful dodgers of the Hamlet attack at bay. The pair combined when Schoburgh, released on the right, whipped the ball cunningly into the six yard box but his young cohort was thwarted as Will Salmon dived in to beat Chattaway to the ball. Come the final throes though Chattaway would have a modicum of revenge as he larruped home a fine goal after Lumumba Amena had neatly lobbed back in a half-cleared corner. Mere consolation perhaps but with weightier assignments galloping over the horizon for both Hamlet and Don, the night had been one when performance mattered more than result. Never mind the width, feel the quality!

Teams:
DHFC: Tim Roberts; Sol Patterson-Bohner; Ricky Dobson; Benson Paka; Shayne Mangodza; Steve May; Henry Darko; Sebastian Schoburgh; Scott Edgar; Stanley Muguo; Lumumba Amena
Subs: Billy Chattaway (for Henry Darko HT); Daniel Jones (for Sebastian Schoburgh 90); Jason Hawes (for Lumumba Amena 90); Justin Fevrier (not used); Sheikh Ceesay (GK) (not used)

AFCW: Danny Knowles; Will Salmon; Michael Haswell; Mark Beard; Antony Howard; Rob Quinn; Steve Ferguson; Sam Hatton; Marcus Gayle; Richard Jolly; Mark de Bolla
Subs: Daniel Webb (for Marcus Gayle 64); Jon Main (for Richard Jolly 64); Tony Finn (for Mark Beard 80)

Attendance: 341

Officials:
Referee: Mr Richard Jaye (Waltham Abbey)
Assistant Referees: Mr Peter Georgiou (Wandsworth) & Mr Jeff Lengthorn (New Eltham)

Goalscoring:
1-0 AFCW Mark de Bolla 5th minute (Penalty)
2-0 AFCW Steve Ferguson 15th minute
3-0 AFCW Rob Quinn 51st minute
3-1 DHFC Billy Chattaway 88th minute

Dulwich Hamlet 1 Ashford Town 0

Dulwich Hamlet 1 Ashford Town 0
Ryman Isthmian League Division One South
Saturday 8th December 2007

"Fair is foul, and foul is fair: Hover through the fog and filthy air". Hustle, bustle, tussle, scuffle as in conditions more akin to the Eton Wall game Dulwich squelched and squirmed their way across more suited for galoshes to a third straight triumph; one that leaves them knocking at the door of the promotion party, invite in hand. Autumn had finally seceded to dank winter as foul tempest laid siege to Champion Hill but amid the mud and muck, under the mantle of wind and rain, Dulwich played the lead, though bumptious Ashford were keen to steal the limelight in the twilight. That the conditions would play a key role in the afternoon’s only goal would perhaps be inevitable.
But to rewind. An hour and a quarter before kick-off, the skies foul contagion had eased briefly as the afternoon’s officials marched across the Champion Hill sward to determine its suitability. Consistent bounce, the odd splash of water from puddles notwithstanding, a true run of the ball and the men in black departed from the field happy. Battle could be joined, unless the metrological gods had mischief in mind.
A single change for the Hamlet as Billy Chattaway and Henry Darko swapped positions on field and bench respectively whilst a new name, if not to the Nuts’n’Bolts nor those who knew his father when he trod the turf here, one Marc Cumberbatch became the latest additions to the Edwards Army. The guests had been even busier on the acquisition front as a season that promised much as rapidly turned sour. Not since late August had they prevented the opposition scoring bar a clean sheet against the Montserrat National XI, world ranked 201st in Browne-speak or last in English. To that end they had have brought on board Hastings United’s talismanic defender Sean Ray, a centre-half carved from the rock upon which this island is built. Should an attacker be foolhardy or determined enough to shake off his shackles then Ashford had maverick custodian Jamie Riley whose safe hands would prevent Hamlet turning narrow victory into comfortable triumph. As early as the first minute the hands of Riley were getting dirty as Chattaway swept a low ball into the penalty area, the big number one sliding though the spray to nick the ball off the toes of Meshach Nugent, then getting a second grab as Sebastian Schoburgh went hunting for the loose ball. Cloying mud failed to manacle the feet of the flying Schoburgh and soon after a powerful run into the area saw a shot blocked, the ball looping into the path of Shawn Beveney but a strike pouched itself in Riley’s midriff.
The shot-shy Nuts’n’Bolts, goals rationed in recent weeks, found a threat of their own with an excellent move on the quarter hour. Surfing the tide down the right wing Ryan Briggs, another of the November infusion of fresh talent, skated his way to the corner flag before hammering a low ball back behind the retreating Hamlet rearguard finding Mitchell Sherwood arriving late on the fringes of the area. Sherwood, another new bug, met the ball first time with force, a drilled drive smartly blocked on the line by the boot of Sheikh Ceesay.
A quick fire Schoburgh scamper down the flank was matched stride for stride by Danny Lye, the Hamlet winger holding off his shadow into the box but dragging his shot wide of the mark as he stretched to stab the ball past Riley.
The conditions almost embarrassed Ceesay as a hopeful cross field ball meant from Walid Matata skidded out of the box as the Hamlet custodian came for it allowing Matata the chance to pull the ball back across the unguarded goal. Sol Patterson-Bohner had other ideas though, a crunching tackle on his opponent, forfeiting a free kick at the minor expense of a talking-to from whistler Mr Power, a noble sacrifice, the lowly foot soldier who would throw himself upon a grenade to spare his battalion. The free kick came to naught and Patterson-Bohner could afford a sardonic smile.
Mad, scampering runs from the mudlarks of Dulwich. Chance, not once but twice, fell the way of Ricky Dobson, the tenacious full-back up in attack as Dulwich piled on the pressure with corner upon corner. First opportunity slammed shut the door as Benson dithered a fraction too long, weighting up the options as flicked a ball from foot to foot in the D, his eventual strike battered down up by an Ashford footslogger. Later chance would come again but though he met Schoburgh’s deep, deep corner with a ferocious wallop of a volley, the angle was too tight, the shot too imprecise to worry the net.
As the heavens drizzled the chances flowed. Beveney slipped a precise pass into the path of Meshach Nugent, the reborn striker hitting a venous effort on the move but with Riley on guard at the near post there few crannies for the ball to squeeze past the Ashford custodian.
Biffo tackles on a pitch so sopping. Yet not one that might warrant much beyond a reprimand. A stern word. To the surprise of none, the pugnacious Ray would claim the honour of the afternoon’s first caution, though he cut it fine as half time drew closely. Schoburgh his prey, an apparently unwary gazelle bounding down the flank, a sliding tackle his weapon but Schoburgh had a weather eye on the juggernaut lumbering in search of quarry, skipping over Ray’s lunging challenge only to run into a one of his cohorts. Mr Power though called back play and Ray carded, he appeared wronged, perhaps not as much as Hamlet fans would wanted stronger punishment.
A second wave of precipitation swept in from the Greendale wastes as the second half got under way, sending all but the bravest or most indelible supporters scuttling for cover. No such respite for the participants performing upon their sodden stage. Yet even with the mud clinging to ankles, weighing down boots, rain lashing into every pore, neither side let up. Chances though were rare as the two combatants wrestled through the slough. With the downpour relenting, fans poked out from under the lee of stand and shelter. As if to greet them Nugent responded with a cracking run down the right, slipping away from his marker, before pulling the ball back to a charging Beveney whose powerful strike on the angle was on target, but on target too for Riley alert on his line. Consistent, well-placed Riley was again on duty when a practiced header from Nugent, standing on the edge of the area, bulleted towards goal, the Ashford ’keeper unfazed as Stanley Muguo ducked in front of him.
With a quarter hour remaining Ashford’s head honcho, Steve Lovell, had run the full gamut of substitutes. Last to go was Matata, a tormentor of the Hamlet in contests past but a pale shadow of that goal machine amidst Ashford current malaise. Dulwich had lost the mercurial Schoburgh to injury but in his stead the Duracell Bunny of Champion Hill, Henry Darko, David to Ray’s Goliath. The Dulwich replacement was in like Flynn when Muguo swept a ball into the box, only to be frustrated when Lee Hockey leapt in with a vital tackle at the last moment. Huffing and puffing, Ashford had blown hard but as the seconds flicked by, they were close to expiring. A dangerous free kick was hacked to safety but then as a mere six minutes separated victory from stalemate came the only goal. “Will no rid us of these turbulent ‘keepers”, Hamlet must have raged as once more Riley thwarted a Pink and Blue attack, blocking Darko’s crisp strike at the near post after the Hamlet man had thrust aside his marker to latch on to the ball and scurry down the wing. The loose ball ran kindly though, Nugent seizing upon it and driving the ball under the diving Riley. For a moment the Ashford custodian felt he had the ball but in the slimy conditions the ball wheedled its way under him and squirted out behind him. Beveney dived in to provide a final touch but the ball had already crossed the line.
But for some contentious flagging from the assistant referee Dulwich might have doubled the lead with mere moments having elapsed, Beveney about to tuck the ball into the net courtesy of Nugent only for Darko to called offside earlier in the move. Had Ashford found a late route to goal, one shudders to imagine the greeting that would be reserved for the official at the final whistle. The Nuts’n’Bolts did not and genteel ears were spared.

Teams:
DHFC: Sheikh Ceesay; Sol Patterson-Bohner; Ricky Dobson; Benson Paka; Shayne Mangodza; Steve May; Shawn Beveney (Capt.); Sebastian Schoburgh (Henry Darko 67); Meshach Nugent (Scott Edgar 90+1); Stanley Muguo; Billy Chattaway (Lumumba Amena 77)
Substitutes not used: Marc Cumberbatch; Tim Roberts (GK)

ATFC: Jamie Riley; Nicky Humphrey; Danny Lye (Tony Browne 55); Lee Hockey; Sean Ray (Capt.); Ryan Briggs; Mitchell Sherwood; Nick Barnes; Mark Lovell; Walid Matata (Paul Jones 75); Jimmy Bottle (Lee Spiller 65)
Substitutes not used: Kevin Lott; Sam Moore (GK)

Officials:

Referee: Mr Tony Power (Stanmore)

Assistant Referee: Mr Mark Sarah (Bermondsey) & Mr Barrie Gale (North Cheam)

Goalscoring:
1-0 DHFC Meshach Nugent 84th minute

Attendance: 241

Dulwich Hamlet 1 Eastbourne Town 0

Dulwich Hamlet 1 Eastbourne Town 0
Isthmian League Division One South
Tuesday 4th December 2007

…look, love, what envious streaks do lace the severing clouds in yonder east: night's candles are burnt out, and jocund day stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops. Those misty mountain tops those that Dulwich must climb to seize the fable chalice of promotion, that russet dawn perhaps harbinger of promotions dreams taking solid shape riding on the back of a brace of victories, narrow in conclusion, yawning like a chasm in execution. Victory over a struggling, yet tenacious, Eastbourne Town, a marked improvement in the quality of opposition from tanned Leatherhead the Saturday before but seemingly ground into the rut of defeat which may yet condemn them to a swift return to whence they came, the Sussex County League. That tonight did not end in an ignominious crushing was due much in part to an virtuoso display from Gregg Nessling between the sticks, his custodial masterclass sometimes inspired by Saint Jude.
With Meshach Nugent back from his brief suspension, Dulwich’s attack bore the hallmarks of a battering ram with the Nugent proving the first wave of attack in the vanguard with Shawn Beveney and Stanley Muguo upon the second, their broadsword thrusts completed by the lightning rapier parries of the quicksilver duo of Sebastian Schoburgh and Henry Darko. But Eastbourne had made the journey up from the south coast in firm frame of mind, keen to dispel their poor run of form which had seen win just twice in the league all season and shut out the oppositions’ goalscorers in all but two of those games. Indeed the first of the chances fell the way of the Bourne, though it was far from clear cut, with Mark Goodwin latching on to a hurried, miscued clearance from Sheikh Ceesay but lashing the ball wide from a goodly distance.
Dulwich had been effective without being incisive but slowly and slowly they began to make inroads into the Eastbourne heartlands. On the quarter hour mark a rip-roaring strike from a rampant Nugent on the charge down the left, though the acute angle was not to his favour, seemed bound to whizz in under the belly of the bar until Nessling stretched as if by the rack to turn the ball over.
Pedantic refereeing saw young Henry Darko the first into the book as he refused to give up on a wildly overhit pass, challenging ‘keeper Nessling for the ball close to the touchline, only to be penalised by the fastidious whistler Mr Crouch. Too often for Hamlet the passes found only an opponents’ boot allowing Eastbourne the chance to build their own attacks, neat, slick football as smooth as a sonata but lacking crescendo. A rare chance came not from the stylish but from the straightforward, a booming throw-in flicked on at the front of the six yard box. The goal loomed ahead of Liam Baitup, eight yards out, but he spared Ceesay a save as he slashed and missed at the bouncing ball.
As the half wore on, Dulwich upped the tempo but symphony in approach turned to cacophony of error in front to goal. Shawn Beveney danced his way to the edge of the penalty area but when the chance screamed shot his ears were deaf. Trying to wriggle his way through a yellow morass ahead of him, the ball squirmed from his possession. Breaking on the right, the quicksilver Sebastian Schoburgh whipped over a deep to the back of the box, met up the head of Meshach Nugent but hurtling wide of Nessling’s right-hand upright. The combatants swapped chances, an Eastbourne breakaway was spearheaded by Baitup, the ‘Bourne forward powered upfield but unable to shake off the close attentions of Ricky Dobson, Hamlet’s left back doing enough to shadow him wide and force him to fire off a blank that went well wide. A moment later Dulwich had forced a corner but the delivery was too much and though Shayne Mangodza stretched like Armstrong to get his head to the ball it was never going to be anything but a goalkick.
A half-time rallying call and Hamlet efforts were redoubled for a second half that belonged in the main to the hosts. The last strains of the restart whistle had barely faded from hearing when pass lamped across the area was pulled back by Beveney into the path of a stampeding Stanley Muguo, a fierce strike matched by Nessling’s smart diving low to his left to paddle the ball past his post. The resultant corner found its way to Beveney but his effort missed the mark. Baitup chanced his arm with a looping lobbed effort to rouse Ceesay from his reveries, the young custodian coolly plucking the ball from the air as yellow vultures hovered.
Blood and thunder, highball at the gallop, ball in the box pronto – Dulwich began to show their belligerent face. Nugent chased down a pass back, Muguo chipped in the loose ball, Darko spinning in the air to try and connect with a bicycle kick but to no avail. No rest for Nessling as he denied Dulwich once more with a save that belonged to genius, a follow block that belonged to fortune as he kept out Beveney’s crashing close range drive with his face. Befuddled and bemused, Nessling was spared further heroism when Muguo returned the ball into the danger area, aiming for Nugent’s head though the cross eluded the striker by a gnat’s wing.
For the breaking of the deadlock, Dulwich were once more indebted to their inspirational skipper, Beveney gathering the ball some 40 yards from goal, sidling past defender after defender with that sailor’s swagger before he hit the boost button. As he arrived at the brink of the box, he drew back his bow and unleashed a flaming arrow that found its quarry with unerring accuracy, the back of the despairingly diving Nessling’s net inside the upright.
A deep long throw from Luke Denton had Hamlet’s hearts in mouths as Ceesay failed to connect properly with his punch but protection from Dulwich’s defence spared any blushes. Venturing forwards, down the right Sol Patterson-Bohner whipped a dangerous cross low into the six yard box, Adam Davidson a saviour as he lashed the ball away from the toes of Schoburgh. Will o' the Wisp Schoburgh provided service from his wing twin; Bill Chattaway recently arrived from the bench to replace Darko. Nessling though had regained his senses and magnificently tipped the ball away from the Hamlet man’s head. Thick and fast came the chances. Beveney a quick pirouette in the box but, no, a shot at the keeper.
Chattaway spurned an inviting opportunity shortly after, a flayed shot rising over the crossbar from 10 yards out. The nemesis Nessling continued to deny the Hamlet pulling off save after save with monotonous regularity an excellent double save in the 71st minute, thwarted first Nugent then Billy Chattaway in quick succession. In the final throes the turbulent Nessling went full stretch to tip behind a cross-shot from Meshach Nugent and, just before the final whistle, Billy Chattaway fluffed a shot in front of an open goal but it mattered not a jot as the Hamlet promotion pantechnicon found itself back on track once more.
Teams:
DHFC: Sheikh Ceesay; Sol Patterson-Bohner; Ricky Dobson; Benson Paka (Lumumba Amena 90+1); Shayne Mangodza; Steve May; Shawn Beveney (Capt.); Sebastian Schoburgh; Meshach Nugent; Stanley Muguo; Henry Darko (Billy Chattaway 65)
Substitutes not used: Gbenga Sonuga; Scott Edgar; Tim Roberts (GK)

ETFC: Gregg Nessling; Adam Davidson; Chris Dicker; Luke Denton; Alex McKay; Peter Featherstone; Danny Simmonds (Capt); Andy Ducille; Liam Baitup (Peter Cooper 79); Mark Goodwin; Andy Wilkinson (Graham Holman 70)
Substitutes not used: Brad Manton; Nick Pearmine; Steve Dallaway

Attendance: 239

Officials:
Referee: Mr Ian Crouch (New Eltham)
Assistant Referees: Mr Dele Sotimirin (Loughborough Junction) & Mr Phil Stevens (Streatham)

Goalscoring:
1-0 Shawn Beveney 59th minute

Leatherhead 1 Dulwich Hamlet 2

Leatherhead 1 Dulwich Hamlet 2
Ryman Isthmian League Division One South
Saturday 1st December 2007

Barely had the last dregs of the fine Freedom Ale on sale behind the Tanners' bar slipped down the throat than Dulwich were in front as Sebastian Schoburgh's pace on the right proved fatal for a flat-footed defence seemingly strangers to one another. A precise drive low in the bottom corner of the net and with just 38 seconds on the watch Dulwich had the lead. That advantage was doubled on the quarter hour when Henry Darko controlled an excellent long crossfield pass and with green shirts in abeyance, took the ball under his spell and struck the sweetest of drives that had Tanners' custodian Aaron France beaten once more.
Though Leatherhead had the ball in the back of the net almost instantly from the restart as a mishit shot from Ben Shannon struck Ryan Rummery standing in an offside position, the centre-forward brazenly tucking the ball past Sheikh Ceesay though his muted celebrations suggested he knew the inevitable flag would follow.
That rare chance for the hosts served only to sandwich further chances for the Hamlet with skipper Shawn Beveney twice going close to extending the lead, first with a rasping drive that shaved the crossbar as the ‘keeper stretched as if on the rack. The overworked France back in the thick of it when a quick throw from an on the ball Billy Chattaway made its way to Beveney, a fierce drive taking an awkward bounce on the chewed turf ahead of the ‘keeper who did well to get down and shovel the ball past the far upright.
Early pressure from the Tanners, now on more intimate terms with their colleagues after 45 minutes of solo dancing, was comfortably dealt with by the Dulwich defence, paving the way for a lightning breakout down the right by the fleet-footed, skating across the ragged turf with ease before hammering a low ball into the six yard box that was almost turned into his own net by a stretching Ryan Palmer. Moments later and Schoburgh was scampering away again on the flank, a young colt with carthorses in his wake, whipping the ball deep, too deep perhaps until Stanley Muguo rescued the situation, pulling the ball back to Beveney whose close range effort was blocked at the last by a desperate tackle.
The torture continued for the Tanners left flank, probed then breached by Schoburgh once more. Chattaway on the left, chipped back his wing twin’s back into the six yard box where Muguo made the ball with a muscular header that had goal sewn into every stitch of the ball until France diverted himself in the air to somehow turn away the ball at the very top corner of his net, a save to savour indeed.
Aided and abetted by a pernickety referee who saw fouls where others could not, the hosts began to enjoy a spell of territorial domination, but with only the incisive, lively Alex Tiesse rising over the mediocre in the Leatherhead vanguard, Dulwich seemed content to soak up the pressure. the paucity of chances gave Ceesay little of note to trouble him, the young Hamlet custodian confidently plucking Leatherhead corners from the heads of taller Tanners with the ease of gardeners lopping the heads of weeds. Best chance came the industrious Tiesse twisted tortuous turns past the limpet-like Ricky Dobson, clipping the ball in towards Rummery but though the centre-forward rose highest his header possessed neither the power nor the precision to give Ceesay anything but a routine save to pull off.
The second half was dying like the embers of woodman’s but then the misfiring Rummery finally made way for local lad Billy Marshall, the young whippersnapper adding a bite to a toothless attack and breathing life into the corpse of Tanners’ hopes.

“I had fed the fire and stirred it, till the sparkles in delight
Snapped their saucy little fingers at the chill December night;”

However the rescue mission had all but failed in its objective but then, as 90 minutes had almost ticked by, that troublesome terrier, Marshall, threw a lifebelt in the direction of his drowning team. Gbenga Sonuga’s rash challenge on his teenage tormentor giving Leatherhead a penalty and the chance to narrow the deficit with still time to rescue an unlikely point. Marshall himself stepped up to the spot, lashing a ferocious drive straight for the top corner, Ceesay stretching every sinew to somehow turn the ball against the upright but fortunate favoured Marshall as the ball bounced back out to where he waited and he had the prescience of mind to slot the ball away into the opposite bottom corner.
Clearly roused Hamlet marched back across the half-way line and deep into Tanners’ territory. Like a juggernaut hurtling through the night, Muguo battered a path down the left, powering his way to the backline. A clipped pass back was met by Beveney, streamrolling through a green-shirted barricade, to hammer the ball home despite the best efforts of a diving France who could only divert the ball into his own net. As the officials ran back to the half-way line for the restart, the assistant referee was treated to a flow of industrial inventive from Leatherhead’s skipper Scott Bennetts but it seemed as it that was that until referee Mr Lennard chose to consult his colleague. What transpired provoked rage in the Hamlet camp, inspired last-gasp hope in that of their opponents as the man in black reversed his original decision and instead awarded a free kick to Leatherhead back in their own penalty area for reasons unbeknown to all but himself. Clearly rattled Dulwich found themselves on the back foot for three minutes of a concerted green barrage but if luck had favoured Leatherhead in defence, in attack it would forsake them.

Teams:
LFC: Aaron France; Carlo Castrechino; Steven Elliott; Ryan Palmer; Asher Hudson; Alfie Kamara; Ellis Conroy; Scott Bennetts; Ryan Rummery (Billy Marshall 75); Alex Tiesse; Ben Shannon (Scott Forrester 64)
Substitutes not used: Matt Jones; Tony Martin; Adam Bernard

DHFC: Sheikh Ceesay; Sol Patterson-Bohner (Gbenga Sonuga 60); Steve May; Shayne Mangodza; Ricky Dobson; Benson Paka; Stanley Muguo; Billy Chattaway; Shawn Beveney; Sebastian Schoburgh; Henry Darko (Scott Edgar 79)
Substitutes not used: Junior Luke, Jefferson Jackson, Tim Roberts (GK)

Officials:
Referee: Mr Harry Lennard (Eastbourne, Sussex)
Assistant Referees: Mr Gary Dodd (Walton-on-Thames, Surrey)

& Mr Stefan Malczewski (Ashtead, Surrey)

Attendance: 193

Goalscoring:
1-0 DHFC Sebastian Schoburgh 1st minute (38 seconds)
2-0 DHFC Henry Darko 14th minute
2-1 LFC Billy Marshall 90th minute

Godalming Town 1 Dulwich Hamlet 0

Godalming Town 1 Dulwich Hamlet 0
Surrey Senior Cup – Second Round
Tuesday 27th November 2007

Ah autumn, season of misses and mellow fruitlessness as Dulwich to return the Surrey Senior Cup to Champion Hill after a seemingly eternal hiatus was railroaded at mist-shrouded Wey Court. To damn with faint praise, assent with civil leer, and, without sneering, teach the rest to sneer, for the spark is seeming lost from the Hamlet. A fusillade of cannons blazed goalwards barely a ten day ago but now they are silenced, the powder dampened. First Chipstead now Godalming, 180 minutes with nary a shot in anger and not a goal for the hardened traveller to cheer. One would hope this goal famine is merely a blip, a minor drought before the clouds open once more.
Proclaimed as a grudge match between managers, Hamlet’s Craig Edwards and his erstwhile custodian Chuck Martini, whose acrimonious parting of the ways earlier this season might have kindled feisty flames amidst their charges, the contest instead embered like damp coals, barely able to summon up a lick of fire in a pusillanimous first half. The G’s prime threat in the early exchanges came from the direct delivery, freekicks hammered hard in to the heart of the Hamlet penalty area. Chris Wales’ 4th minute delivery had a few hearts pumping as Sheikh Ceesay lost the ball under pressure but was reprieved as Christian Webb failed to capitalise on the loose ball larruping the ball wide from a good position, if a tight angle. By contrast Dulwich’s threat was almost nonexistent. Strike partners Henry Darko and Scott Edgar in the vanguard, the little and large of the Hamlet attack, together for the first time were starved of the oxygen of possession as Dulwich’s midfield struggled with their demons, stray passes finding only yellow shirts, allowing Godalming to build and break, only to ultimately stumble on the paucity of their own finishing, the nocturnal ambulants of Farncombe more at danger than Ceesay’s goal, though he was called upon to deny Vitor Kiri after the lively midfielder had latched on the ball following some penalty area ping pong and lash the ball towards the net. A couple of ricochets but Ceesay reacted fast down to smother. All the more surprising then that the evening sole goal would arrive through error barely three minutes later. A long ball of the overhit variety should have been a simple matter to be dealt with but Ceesay and Ricky Dobson were on different wavelengths, the pair colliding allowing the ball to spill from the ‘keeper’s hands. A bemused Webb might not have been expected such an early present a month before the arrival of Old St Nick and for a moment it appeared as he had made a hash of the finish but his stabbed effort trickled inside the near post as defenders laboured in vain to reprieve their fallen ‘keeper.
Through anguished pleas for a penalty pierced the still night air when Benson Paka zipped along the goalline, only to be robbed as he sped into the six yard box, Dulwich remained determinedly second best, on the ropes as the yellow peril remained. Shooting remained as wild as ever and not until the final throes of the half did the G’s truly endanger Ceesay’s net. A Godalming corner caught Dulwich cold as Richard Brightwell made an unannounced, unsummoned reappearance on the field after a brief visit to the sidelines for treatment. Unattended he delivered the ball into the penalty area with a mighty wallop where Tyrone Peters pounced, his shot pinging around the box but failing to bear fruit as skipper Steve May hoovered up the ball on the goalline. Moments later came a rare break for the speedy Darko, his diminutive form battling past weightier opponents into the box, only for Yousef Metwali’s last ditch tackle to belt the ball from his toes as he made to strike the ball towards goal.
A goal to the bad, disjointed, disinterested Dulwich would face of the wrath of Edwards behind the walls of their dressing room, china cracking, paint blistered off the walls by stern, honest words. That lacklustre 45 minutes a change at the restart as the out-of-sorts Eniola Oluwa, an invisible man in midfield, made way for Sebastian Schoburgh. Though Godalming had the first threat with Webb’s drilled shot for the top corner clawed out by Ceesay in the first minute, the introduction of the wind on the wing fuel-injected the Hamlet forward drive with Dulwich slowing gaining the upper hand in the middle of the park. Unfortunately where it mattered they remained as impotent as ever failing to test a home ‘keeper who had looked a trifle shaky even when dealing with the most routine of crosses and back passes. Ten minutes in and Dulwich’s incision won a corner, deep delivery to the back of the six yard and Shayne Mangodza, resplendent in red bandana to match his attire, bulleted a header back that flashed across the face of goal. Five minutes later and the same threatening figure looming out of the mist but this time the centre-half’s header looped too high and plopped on to the roof of the net.
First a bulldog then a whippet, Schoburgh mugged Brahim Elloumani for the ball swinging away from him with a balletic turn before putting his foot on the accelerator, shrugging off a challenge from before lashing the ball through the face of Aneke Emeka’s goal but laden with too much pace for Edgar to apply the final, killer touch.
The wing attack intensified as Billy Chattaway reported for duty on the left whilst Stanley Muguo would add his drive to the forward impulse, Darko and debutant Vitor Tavares those to make way. But frustration remained at every turn, May earning a caution as that frustration manifested itself following the award of a contentious free kick. As time slipped through their fingers, Dulwich threw heart and soul into rescuing the game. Refusing to surrender a back pass, Chattaway hunted down the uneasy Emeka, David to the ‘keeper’s goliath, robbing him of the ball but turning the ball well wide of the target from a near impossible angle. With five minutes remaining at last a shot on goal as a free kick pumped into the box with meekly headed out to Muguo, predatory on the edge of the box, but his shot was as meek as the clearance though Emeka still struggled, spilling the ball but with no one on hand to punish him. Delaying tactics from the hosts meant only more stoppage time to suffer.

Teams:
GTFC: Aneke Emeka; Chris Wales; Brahim Elloumani; Desmond Patterson; Yousef Metwali; Richard Taylor; Richard Brightwell (Spencer Walsh 60); Tyrone Peters; Graeme Purdy (Glen Stanley 51); Christian Webb (Dennis Zadeikis 87); Victor Kiri
Substitutes not used: Matt Steer; Garry Aulsberry

DHFC: Sheikh Ceesay; Steve May (Capt); Gbenga Sonuga; Shayne Mangodza; Ricky Dobson; Vitor Tavares (Stanley Muguo 65); Sol Patterson-Bohner; Benson Paka; Eniola Oluwa (Sebastian Schoburgh HT); Henry Darko (Billy Chattaway 65); Scott Edgar
Substitutes not used: Nej Hussein (GK)

Officials:
Referee: Mr R Smith
Assistant Referee: Mr A Connor & Mr S Scott

Attendance: 83

Goalscoring:
1-0 GTFC Christian Webb 26th minute

Chipstead 1 Dulwich Hamlet 0

Chipstead 1 Dulwich Hamlet 0
Ryman Isthmian League Division One South
Saturday 24th November 2007

I know a bank whereon the wild thyme blows,
Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows
Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine,
With sweet musk-roses, and with eglantine:
There sleeps Titania some time of the night,
Lull’d in these flowers with dances and delight

Rustic thoughts amid the Surrey Hills as Dulwich rolled through the russet and gold of late autumn, making their trek through the byways and country lanes to Chipstead’s bucolic High Road ground for the two clubs’ maiden competitive clash in Isthmian opposition. Once mighty Hamlet might have favoured their country cousins with a pre-season challenge match, or perhaps the Chips might have doffed the cap as they welcomed lofty guests into the fold but that is the land of lost content, I see it shining plain; the happy highways where I went and cannot come again. Now the boot is on the other foot, the genuflecting knee replaced with a hefty one in the groin as Liam Oxley first half stoppage goal settled a match that at times numbed the mind as much as the harsh, icy winds whipping across North Downs, the hardy band of locals unfazed, used to extremes of weather to match the mountainous Highlands of Scotland.
With his charges unchanged from the Croydon Athletic demolition of a week earlier, Dulwich manager Craig Edwards was keen to carry on where that game had ended, to stamp the Hamlet’s mark upon humbler hosts from the off and maintain the charge towards the play-off party and promotion. Barely 30 seconds from the off, a crunching tackle from Meshach Nugent left Stephen Boswell motionless on the turf. A cursory glance from referee Mr Smith, anonymity guaranteed, at the prostrate Boswell and play drove on, Dulwich attacking as a war of words erupted and a stream of invective flew between the dugouts. With Boswell still immobile, play finally was halted, the seriousness of the injury becoming apparent as four minutes of therapy failed to rouse the stricken defender and stretcher bore the fallen hero from the field of combat. From the wings came an understudy to steal the show, young Wayne Hibbert with the unenviable task of shackling the serpentine runs of Sebastian Schoburgh on the right.
Beneath saturnine skies scrappy, disjointed football produced few chances. The Chips threatened first with a brace of free kicks pumped into the six yard box but first Oxley then Scott Simpson were denied by Sheikh Ceesay as their efforts from close range were battered out by the young Hamlet custodian. Pace from the mercurial Schoburgh saw an opening self-created for the artful dodger of the wing but its finishing flourish was wide of the mark.
With the Hamlet next raid, a cross field ball picked out Nugent galloping away from his marker on the left, nicking the ball past Andy Parkinson as the ‘keeper sprung from his line to narrow the angle, but Parkinson had recovered his ground to block the ball as it was rifled in from an acute angle. The rebound was latched on to by Billy Chattaway, a stinging shot through a thicket of defenders but straight into the waiting midriff of Parkinson. But then the man with the gloves for the Chips had a point to prove for still the nightmarish Pink and Blue flashbacks of encounters past with the men from Champion Hill must still haunt his waking hours, ten times did Dulwich put the ball past him when he plied his trade under the Godalming standard.
Back and forth the ball pinged from pillar to post and back again but the game lacked cohesion as Dulwich struggled for rhythm and style against opponents prepared to hassle and harry for every ball. The stratagem brought with it added perils, Andrew Wareing the afternoon’s first caution as he lumbered into Shawn Beveney out on the flank, Beveney unable to heap punishment upon punishment as he rose almost unchallenged at the near post only to glance his header wide of the back stick. A swift rapier raid from the Chips suddenly had Dulwich on the back foot, Simpson sauntering beyond the last line of defence but thwarted as Ceesay did enough to block as he prostrated himself at the feet of the onrushing striker.
As if to further exorcise his Dulwich demons, Parkinson extended the shivering supporters wait for a goal as he stretched and twisted to imperiously brush away from beneath his crossbar a swirling cross cum shot from Chattaway away on the left. Then Beveney was his victim, the Chips ‘keeper blocking with his body as the Hamlet skipper preferred precision over his customary power have outstripped the last defender.
If the balance had swayed marginally more in Dulwich’s favour as the half wore, it would swing wildly on the side of the hosts as the curtain slowly came down on a protracted 45 minutes and more. A clumsy challenge might have been punished had not an alert Ceesay shovelled away a deflected effort at the base of his right-hand post as Simpson slammed his free kick against the wall. The corner brought further threat but the siege was lifted after Richard Williams unleashed a strike from the text book of horrors into the darkening skies and towards the bar, perhaps for a relieving pint of best. The watch clicked into those added minutes, Dulwich mentally already in the changing room as Simpson hit the accelerator pedal, almost embarrassing Ceesay who’d rushed from his line only for the ball to be curled over him but, mercifully, wide of the far upright. Dulwich would not be so fortunate a moment later as the deadlock was cracked at last. From the middle of the park Daryl Coleman supplied Craig Pitterson on the right, Ricky Dobson left for dead as Pitterson slid past him before pulling the ball back across goal to the waiting, predatory Oxley, a grateful recipient of the pass as the ball was drilled under the diving Ceesay from 12 yards out.
Harsh words rang through the rafters of the Hamlet dressing room at the break but it was the Chips who on the boil from the start of Act II. Barely three minutes had elapsed as the lively Simpson went hunting again in Dulwich territory, slamming a shot past an exposed Ceesay but only able watch powerlessly as the ball wide of the far post. Though Benson Paka looped an awkward shot over Parkinson’s crossbar following an excellent Schoburgh cross, the winger making a rare escape from the manacles of his constant shadow, Hibbert, Ceesay was back in the thick of things once more as he battered out a strong effort from Aaron Cole-Bolt.
Frugal in defence, frustrating at every turn, Chipstead were in miserly mood, unwilling to share let alone surrender their hard-earned points. Nary a chance for the Hamlet save Paka’s flicked head of the mark as Chattaway lopped the ball in from the left. Soon the livewire Simpson was at it again, dancing past Dobson before unleashing the exocet, Ceesay its match as he got down smartly to batter out the ball before a rapid reprise saw he deny Williams as the loose ball was swiftly latched on to. As if anchored in quicksand Dulwich’s attack seemed impotent. Even when Schoburgh fired the fuel injection to scoot into the penalty area, a tackle out of top drawer saved the Chips as Ashley Reid dived across to poke the ball off the toes of the flying winger. Even better the chance that fell to Chattaway, a long throw flicked on by Beveney, the young midfielder stretching to the ball 8 yards out ahead of a defender but only succeeding in firing the ball over.
The smoke curled from that luscious woodbine as the lifeblood was squeezed out of the Hamlet threat, augmented now by a corvette from the bench in the shape of Henry Darko but to no avail. Triumph is just try with a little umph added!

Teams
CFC: Andy Parkinson; Ashley Reid (Wayne Hibbert 3); Stephen Boswell; Fred Fleming; Andrew Wareing; Richard Williams; Craig Pitterson; Daryl Coleman (Joe Garner 86); Aaron Cole-Bolt; Scott Simpson; Liam Oxley
Substitutes not used: Steve Eggleton; Michael Lidbury

DHFC: Sheikh Ceesay; Sol Patterson-Bohner (Henry Darko 84); Ricky Dobson; Benson Paka; Shayne Mangodza; Steve May; Shawn Beveney; Sebastian Schoburgh; Meshach Nugent; Stanley Muguo; Billy Chattaway
Substitutes not used: Gbenga Sonuga; Scott Edgar; Junior Luke; Nej Hussein (GK)

Attendance: 134

Officials:
Referee: Mr G M Smith
Assistant Referees: Mr P B Wright & Mr T Burnan

Goalscoring:
1-0 CFC Liam Oxley 45th minute (+3)

Dulwich Hamlet 5 Croydon Athletic 2

Dulwich Hamlet 5 Croydon Athletic 2
Ryman Isthmian League Division One South
Saturday 17th November 2007

Dulwich went nap against their local rivals to continue their climb up the table. Hamlet’s whippet of wing, Sebastian Schoburgh opened the scoring on the quarter hour with a low drive from 18 yards that crept inside the near post of Rams' 'keeper Sam Mott. Five minutes later and it was skipper Shawn Beveney on the scoresheet for the ninth time this season, collecting a defence-splitting pass before calmly rounding a grounded Mott before tucking the ball into the now unguarded net. Though Jordan Kiffen tested Sheikh Ceesay, between the sticks for the Hamlet, with a smart drive that was scooped away by the young custodian at the base of his right hand post, the pressure was very much on the visitors goal as dogged defending kept the score down. Then a cracking goal out of nothing threw the Rams' a lifeline as a deep throw picked out the lively Moses Ademola, the young striker holding off his marker before turning sharply to rattle an acutely angled drive across the face of Ceesay's goal and into the face corner of the net.
A last-ditch hack to safety from Bradley Duke rescued the Rams as Shawn Beveney, sent scampering through once more, tucked the ball past Mott from a tight angle, Duke's clearance denying the lurking Billy Chattaway. The overworked Mott was in action once more as he was down smartly to save from Beveney as Dulwich heaped on the pressure. A speculative long distance curling effort from Liam Shirley punctuated Dulwich's dominance, the ball swinging on the breeze but dropping on to the roof of Ceesay's net. As the half drew to a close Beveney again went close, oblivious to the presence of a trio of defenders as he spun on the edge of the penalty area before drilling a low shot wide of the diving Mott's near post.
There was no let up from Dulwich after the break and Meshach Nugent, a constant thorn in the side of the Athletic defenders, served notice with a cracking volley after a throw in was flicked into his path. Intention turned to execution before the hour when the battling Chattaway mugged a dithering Matthew Way for the ball, pushing it back into the path of Nugent and a guided missile of a drive left the shell-shocked Mott once more plucking the ball from the back of the net. He had barely five minutes to recover when Schoburgh added a fifth, the nifty winger’s slight frame a blur as he zipped through a forest of yellow and blue shirts before unleashing a pinpoint low drive from the edge of the area, Mott beaten for a fourth. Number five was not far away. Still a quarter hour remained but Hamlet’s foot was still hard down on the accelerator. A left wing cross from the single-minded Benson Paka, Beveney rising on a column of belief, the connection perfect and a header flying past a leaden footed Mott. “Oi’ll give it foive”. Poor Mott seemed to be wishing he was elsewhere so perhaps a kindly spirit looked down on him as Nugent connected with Schoburgh’s low ball in from the right, the strike crashing back off the underside of the crossbar, rapping Mott on the back of the head to rouse him, the fortunate custodian turning to find the ball bobbling on the line behind him.
A trio of Hamlet subs as Schoburgh, Nugent and Chattaway left the field to a rapturous ovation that rang loud around Champion Hill. One of those replacements, Henry Darko, came close to making sexy football “six-y” football but after a long throw had instigated chaos in the Athletic six yard box, he somehow making to clip a close effort up against the underside of the crossbar when to score seemed easier. Right at the death a deep Croydon cross struck a hand in the Hamlet penalty area to present the Rams’ with a late opportunity to add a modicum of respectability to their nightmare afternoon. Kiffen’s spot kick was straight out of the textbook and straight into the net but only the ultimate visiting optimist or Dulwich pessimist could anything but a Hamlet triumph and so it was. Victory lifts Dulwich up to 9th, four points away from the play-off zone.

Teams:
DHFC: Sheikh Ceesay; Sol Patterson-Bohner; Ricky Dobson; Benson Paka; Shayne Mangodza; Steve May; Shawn Beveney; Sebastian Schoburgh (Gbenga Sonuga 82); ; Meshach Nugent (Scott Edgar 82); Stanley Muguo; Billy Chattaway (Henry Darko 82)
Substitutes not used: Jermaine Hinds; Tim Roberts (GK)

CAFC: Sam Mott; Matthew Way; Michael Harney; Bradley Duke; Richard Blackwell; Liam Shirley; Martin Debrah (Tomiwa Oni 45+1); Reis Aslan (Arafat Kabuye 61); Moses Ademola (Austin Gacheru 72); Jordan Kiffen; Luke Adams
Substitutes not used: Ryan Watts; Nathan Campbell

Attendance: 376

Officials:
Referee: Mr Ian Regan (Ashford, Kent)
Assistant referees: Mr Michael Argile (Guildford, Surrey) & Mr Ian Kitchen (Otterhsaw, Surrey)

Goalscoring:
1-0 DHFC Sebastian Schoburgh 15th minute
2-0 DHFC Shawn Beveney 20th minute
2-1 CAFC Moses Ademola 32nd minute
3-1 DHFC Meshach Nugent 59th minute
4-1 DHFC Sebastian Schoburgh 65th minute
5-1 DHFC Shawn Beveney 76th minute
5-2 CAFC Jordan Kiffen 90th minute (penalty)

Walton and Hersham 1 Dulwich Hamlet 0

Walton and Hersham 1 Dulwich Hamlet 0
Tuesday 13th November 2007
Ryman Isthmian League Division One South

Look not back on this contest save but to inspire not to despair. A point claimed but then victory pursued and ultimately a dagger through the heart as the Swans claim triumph late on an chill, autumnal eve as a goal executed with the swift stroke of the master, or perhaps laced with luck, only the hour of the night Adam Moriarty will know for sure. Ah Moriarty, the Napoleon of Crime, nemesis to Sherlock Holmes, and purloiner of the points to end Dulwich’s long run of invincibility but amidst the gloom of Stompond Lane and the gloom of defeat, Hamlet’s dejected players will find the strength to start again.
One might have been forgiven for a swift call to the old turf accountant for a hefty wager on a scoreless night. Dulwich as frugal as Harpagon grudgingly giving away goal, the Swans ferociously protecting their nest – in the League only the Nuts’n’Bolts of Ashford Kent had cracked the locks of their miserly defence more than once in a game. Such then was the surprise that Dulwich began carving through the home defence from the early exchanges with the lightning pace of Sebastian Schoburgh slashing through in the 7th minute only to hammer a drive wide of the exposed Stuart Searle’s left hand post as he let rip from the edge of the penalty area. Showing a lightness of touch on the ball soon after Shawn Beveney danced away from a crowd of Swans to set up Benson Paka who in turn fed Schoburgh overlapping down the right. A change of gear swept him past an ineffectual challenge but his cross from tight to the goalline smacked into the face of Aaron Nowacki and after a moment’s worry the ball was hoofed to safety.
Little in the way of riposte from the hosts, challenging in the league but not on the pitch. Smothered by a host of defenders Billy Chattaway won a free kick 25 yards out, though Beveney’s strike had the power the wall failed to buckle. Half a half had almost elapsed before the Swans would the ruffle the feathers of the Hamlet rearguard as Tommo Carter machine-gunned in a freekick, a Dulwich header repelled the first thrust, but Walton piled forward in the pursuit of the ball only to leave themselves short of number behind as a long clearance relived the pressure. That pressure was suddenly upon the shoulder of Searle as Ryan Bernard’s back-pass proved too hot to handle for the Swans’ custodian, the ball snaffled from his feet by a rampaging Beveney. With Meshach Nugent, replacing Scott Edgar in attack, waiting in the middle to deliver the killer flourish, Beveney, having rounded the struggling, lingered too long as he seemed to ponder whether to stroke the ball inside the near post from the acutest of angles or to feed his teammate. The latter option came too late as his pull back was intercepted by Bernard, galloping back to larrup the ball behind for a corner. A magic twist on Chattaway’s delivery sent the corner curling low towards the near post but Will Jenkins on sentry duty there did his job.
The pedantic refereeing that seems to blight the Hamlet’s venture into the milds of suburbia bared its polished teeth when a clumsy, innocuous challenge from Sol Patterson-Bohner saw the first flourish of yellow amid the falling golden leaves. It would not be the last.
Nugent’s, fast and powerful down the left, had defenders gasping for air as he left them in his wake but as he cut the ball back to waiting colleagues, a flailing foot stretched out, a defender’s touch enough to turn the ball back to a relieved Searle. The lacklustre Swans attack, muzzled by Hamlet’s defensive Rottweiler’s, were gifted a glimmer of light as the half hour drew near, winger Carter overlooked in space on the left whistled in a peach of cross, Dan Nwanze unable to do the necessary with a header before Jenkins was hassled off the ball at the ball by Ricky Dobson at the expense of a corner. As the guided missile failed, the big bombers came in. Searle launched a clearance up field; Rob George nodded on with the master goalpoacher, Phil Ruggles, hotfooting in a futile quest to reach the ball before Sheikh Ceesay. Williams’’ bombing raid five minutes before the break was likewise fruitless but at least this time a red-shirt reached the ball first, Jenkins flicking a close range header harmlessly into the side netting as Ceesay watched impassively. Having held the upper hand for the bulk of the first 45 minutes Dulwich were almost undone at the death as a rapid counter saw George charge pell-mell from behind his own lines deep into Hamlet territory slipping a pass down the throat of Dulwich defence as Ruggles galloped on. Ceesay called but Steve May had other ideas; cool as chilled snow, sweeping the ball from the foot of Ruggles before calmly clearing the ball to safety.
Parity at the break but portentous omens of a Walton revival could be read in that late home flourish. Harsh words must have spouted from the lips of Les Cleevely at the half for Walton seemed re-imbued with self-confidence. Peppering the Hamlet goal in the early exchanges, the Hamlet were shaken not stirred, even when the man in black reached for the card twice more in the opening five minutes to book both May and Jermaine Hinds for purported dissent, offending the sensibilities of suburbia with their raised voice presumably. Moriarty hammered in a shot that was blocked into the path of Jenkins, the ball catching under his feet when the goal loomed. A deep delivery to the back post from Moriarty’s freekick was sent zipping over the cross by Nowacki, the fullback flinging himself courageously at the ball to connect a flying header at the back of the box. The pressure was mounting, but for once fate had a twinkling in her eye and a kindly glance for the Hamlet. It would not last. Macavity, Macavity, there's no one like Macavity; there never was a Cat of such deceitfulness and suavity – Moriarty wheedling his way his way through the Pink and Blue swarm. A ball tapped into the six yard box where his henchmen waited to pounce, George stabbed the ball goalwards, Ceesay swiftly down to turn the point blank effort against the box but with Ruggles in waiting a goal seemed inevitable but none had reckoned on the valiant Ceesay, who amidst the muck and bullets, smothered the ball on his goalline as awestruck applause rippled around the running track.
A quarter hour under the cosh was at last broken as the siege was lifted and Dulwich threatened once more. A freekick broke to Beveney standing in the D but his snatched at his stabbed strike on the turn and Searle was little troubled by the save. Walton responded with a creamer of drive from big Dan Nwanze, fully 30 yards from goal, but like his experienced counterpart young Ceesay was ready and pouched the ball. Almost a hero then a villain for Nugent, first a scuffed effort from Chattaway’s delivery had Searle stretching to snuff out then an overzealous challenge landed his name in the book.
Like London buses no sooner had a Hamlet chance manifested itself than another appeared on the horizon. Walton’s had waned away to that of the Surrey County Bus Company, once a day, with the dawn special on market days. Released left Chattaway slipped the ball inside to the goal-focused Paka, his sizzling low drive too hot for the hands of Searle, the ball slithering through his seared fingers but cannoning back off the inside of the post, bouncing across the face of goal but first to it was a red-clad shape, the ball lashed to safety for a corner. Territory belonged to the hosts, chances to the Hamlet. Next up was Beveney, scampering down the right, bulleting in another screamer that left Searle for dead but fizzed wide of the top far corner of the next by a fraction. Patterson-Bohner soon followed but his 40 yard strike was from the Johnny Wilkinson School of finishing.
Five minutes from time, Dulwich signalled their intentions to go for victory as Henry Darko made a welcome return from injury. Hamlet pushed forward in search of that elusive winner, a corner deep in stoppage time, had the Hamlet pummelling the Swans goal but then the ball was lost. A hurried clearance and the ball was back in the possession of Dulwich. Lost again, not once but twice and suddenly Dulwich were backpedalling, struggling to regain ground. A grateful Glenn Boosey latched on the loose ball in the middle of the park, fed the ubiquitous Moriarty in full flow down the left. What happened next is a matter of conjecture. Some might say a stroke of genius, a well pitched chip out of the rough that left Ceesay stranded as the ball looped and curled over his head, dropping just below the crossbar behind him. Others less charitable might have seen a shank, a cross aimed for Boosey who’d continued his run to the back post. It mattered not a jot, nor did the yellow card brandished at Moriarty as he and his colleagues piled into the crowd to celebrate. If the assassin’s dagger had pained Hamlet, a final twist of the handle left Hamlet was ten men as Nugent flung himself after the ball, the assassin now the victim as Moriarty crumpled under the challenge. A flurry of red shirts around the prostrate was followed by a flurry of red as Nugent was sent for a slightly early bath but not by much.

Teams:
W&HFC: Stuart Searle; Devon Williams; Aaron Nowacki; Lee Richardson (Capt.); Ryan Bernard; Dan Nwanze; Adam Moriarty; Rob George; Will Jenkins (Jay Richardson 77); Phil Ruggles (Mark Peters 87); Tommo Carter (Glenn Boosey 71)
Substitutes not used: Richard Thompson, Gibrilla Kargbo.

DHFC: Sheikh Ceesay; Jermaine Brown; Ricky Dobson; Benson Paka; Shayne Mangodza; Steve May; Shawn Beveney; Sebastian Schoburgh (Henry Darko 82); Meshach Nugent; Sol Patterson-Bohner; Billy Chattaway
Substitutes not used: Gbenga Sonuga; Scott Edgar; Vitor Tavares; Nej Hussein

Attendance: 133

Officials:
Referee: Mr M P Webb
Assistant Referees: Mr A Mawby & Mr M Argile

Goalscoring:
1-0: W&HFC: Adam Moriarty 90th minute (+4)

Whitstable Town 0 Dulwich Hamlet 2

Whitstable Town 0 Dulwich Hamlet 2
Saturday 10th November 2007
Ryman League Division One South

Those looking warily out over the waves as Neptune threatened to send his watery children crashing over the defences to wash the streets of Whitstable with his salty liquor might have done better to turn their attention inland to Belmont Avenue where Craig Edwards’ Dulwich horde was continuing its inexorable climb up the table to within touching distance of the play-off positions. Miserly in defence, fast and on the attack the Hamlet might well have rattled home a round half-dozen on more fortuitous days but with every man jack of ‘em adding their bodies to the rearguard when the threats of the Oystermen arose, the hosts who’d rediscovered the art of goalscoring in a midweek spree against the Rams of Croydon constantly found themselves frustrated on the route to goal.

Though injuries restricted the choices of the hosts, Whitstable boss Marc Seager sent out the same XI that had gone to town in midweek, whilst his opposite in the opposition dugout, Edwards, made but a single change from the disappointing draw a week previous with Walton Casuals as Jermaine Hinds was once more available to reclaim the right back slot from Gbenga Sonuga.

The albatross of treading the Kent League Champions path to a debut Division One championship may weigh heavy around the necks of the Oystermen but these are no neophyte Christians to be snacked upon by the old lions of the Isthmian League. Early on a cute Danny Tipple throw picked out Marcos Perona, the young Spaniard hooking the ball towards goal from the edge of the penalty box but too high to trouble Sheik Ceesay between the sticks for the Hamlet. The dangerous Perona was soon looking for openings once but having been supplied with the ball courtesy of a precise Sam Denly pass the opportunity went to waste as the drive skewed off in the direction of the corner flag.

Skipper Shawn Beveney provided the first Dulwich threat as he took the game in with a powerful run only to sit back as he shot sending a screamer over the crossbar as the red shirted defenders circled around him. An spirited charge, deceptively languid, from Sebastian Schoburgh carved out an opening for the mercurial winger but the shot failed to match the approach work as the ball dribbled tamely back to the waiting hands of ‘keeper Kevin Fewell.

Pressure again from the Hamlet as a corner almost cracked open the Oysters. First delivery cleared Benson Paka pounced on the ball to swing over a delicious, deep delivery to the back of the area. Beveney almost collided with Scott Edgar in his eagerness to reach the cross, but a little ungainly he managed to hook the ball down into the path of Shayne Mangodza 8 yards out only for the big centre-half to crash his strike into the hoardings behind the goal. Almost instantly Whitstable were sailing serenely forward, almost to score themselves as they were to profit from a freakish bounce as Ceesay made to collect a docile cross, the ball slipping from his grasp and in the mêlée that ensued Jon Neal was first to reach it only to unleash a crooked drive wide of Ceesay’s near post.

A rapier thrust from Hamlet, a flash of Pink and Blue as Schoburgh burst between two defenders down the middle but Fewell was alert prostrating himself at the feet of the young winger and blocking a stabbed shot at the edge of his area.

Launched from the boot of Fewell like a maroon into Hamlet territory, the ball fell into the net of Perona. One quick pass later and Danny Stubbs was in position to fire off a rocket in the direction of goal but no need to call out the coastguard as the ball spun off into the arboreal wilderness behind Ceesay’s goal.

Once more leading his men over the top into Whitstable territory, it was the redoubtable Beveney who would find the net for Dulwich’s opener as the half hour drew near. But it was one of his foot soldiers who would pave the way the big Guyana’s goal; Schoburgh, the wind on the wing, cantered majestically down the wing like a fine thoroughbred, slipping through tackles like a phantom before slipping the ball to his captain on the edge of the box. The artist’s brush pasted from open to the other, Beveney’s strength and pace puncturing the last line of defence before he unleashed an irresistible rising drive from 15 yards out that gave Fewell not a ghost of a chance as the roof of his net ballooned.

Deflated the hosts might have been but they soon found their rhythm once more but a anaemic header from Denly caused little concern as it flopped on to the top of the net. More frustrating though for Seager’s band was a opportunity spurned by big striker John Akinde, the forward latching on to a hoofed clearance from Fewell, turning the obdurate Hinds inside and out but watching in disappointment as his low drive rumbled wide of the far upright.

There was a chance for Beveney to repay his debt to Schoburgh as a fine pass played the tricky winger through on the right of the area but with diminutive defender, Tipple, sticking to his opponent like a burr, harrying him like a hawk, Schoburgh could not find the moment to pull the trigger on a shot.

Whitstable’s best two chances, however, came later in the first half. Half time was almost upon us when Beveney spotted a chink in Fewell’s armour, a snapshot from distance leaving the Oystermen’s custodian leaden footed but relived as the ball cannoned back off his right hand post.

There was no let up in the action come the start of the second half, perhaps Seager had searched for a silver bullet in his half time sermon that would rally his charges to the Kentish standard. A annoyance in defence, a pocket battleship in attack, Tipple drew cheers and groans in equal measure as he joined the vanguard, picking up a flicked pass inside from Denly before cracking a drive low towards the bottom corner, denied only by the agility and alertness of Ceesay as he flung himself low to tip the ball into the side netting. A ferocious drive from the giant Akinde stung the fingers of Ceesay soon after, the Hamlet ‘keeper clutching the ball to his bosom at the second attempt with red shirts massing like hyenas in search of scraps.

Had the scales fallen from the assistant referee’s eyes on the hour mark, Fewell might have been embarking on the lonely walk to the dressing room, the Whitstable ‘keeper impatiently waiting for an overhit wide pass to roll into his box before snatching the ball back in as Edgar hovered over him. The man in black was once more the subject of the Hamlet faithful's opprobrium as Schoburgh zipped past him in a cloud of dust to scoop up the ball laid out wide by Steve May. For once Tipple had no answer to the pace of Dulwich’s real-life roadrunner as Schoburgh ran on to stab the ball under the advancing Fewell. Celebrations were short-lived for Wile E. Coyote had a linesman’s flag and the “goal” was chalked off. Conspiracy theorists might have suspected a vendetta was brewing as Beveney was flagged offside within a minute, though the voice of reason came down in favour of the benighted official this time. Seconds later Schoburgh continued his duel with Tipple, this time holding the tricky defender at bay but denied by Fewell, springing from his goal like the cuckoo from a clock to block.

A cracking half-volley from the dangerous Akinde soon after might have punished the Hamlet for lost opportunities had he struck his effort a safe distance either side of Ceesay but the Dulwich number one battered the shot down, May completing the clearance as Perona made to snatch at the fallen crumbs.

"Oh cruel fate, why do you mock me?!?", 13 minutes left and the game was surely won but the woodwork was having none of it. Sent scampering away before Whitstable’s rearguard, Beveney drew Fewell into commitment, dragging the ball around him and firing the ball towards the now unguarded net. Horrors of horrors, the ball found not the net but the post crashing back into play. As the Oystermen trawled Hamlet territory in a vain search for an equaliser they left themselves exposed behind, something Hamlet were all too happy to exploit. Beveney galloped through as the defence melted away but with the goal at his mercy lingered too long on the ball, allowing defender Steven Lloyd left lumbering in his wake to recover ground and hook the ball to safety off Beveney’s toes. Tipple might see Schoburgh in his nightmares, the defender brushed aside as the winger made for goal, only the feet of the overworked Fewell thwarting him as the ball as knocked behind. Hinds joined the attack, zipping down the right, an acute pullback met by the ubiquitous Beveney with a smart volley but a fraction wide of the far post. The single goal looked to have decided matters but Whitstable’s understaffed defence left them vulnerable to the lightning raids of the ebullient Hamlet. The referee’s watch had just slipped into stoppage when a pass down the middle rent a chasm through the core of Whitstable fortifications, the stake slammed through their heart as Paka, having mesmerised Fewell, unselfishly slipped the ball right to substitute Meshach Nugent. Not the best of finishes but the aim was true and the ball made a nest in the back of the net.

Teams:
WTFC: Kevin Fewell, Jake Gess, Danny Tipple, Michael Adcock, Steven Lloyd, Tommy Martin, Danny Stubbs (Steve Marshall 83), Marcos Perona, John Akinde, Jon Neal, Sam Denly.
Substitutes not used: Daniel Lawrence, Gary Sayer, James Duffy, Joe Smith.

DHFC: Sheikh Ceesay, Jermaine Hinds, Ricky Dobson, Benson Paka, Shayne Mangodza, Steve May, Shawn Beveney, Sebastian Schoburgh (Gbenga Sonuga 90), Scott Edgar (Meshach Nugent 76), Sol Patterson, Billy Chattaway.
Substitutes not used: Junior Adeniyi, Helder Valdez, Nej Hussein.

Attendance: 250

Officials
Referee: Mr Paul Harris (Maidstone)
Assistants: Mr Nolan Wilde (Maidstone) & Mr Mark Huggins (Tunbridge Wells)

Goalscoring:
Shawn Beveney 29th minute
Meshach Nugent 90th minute

Dulwich Hamlet 1 Walton Casuals 1

Dulwich Hamlet 1 Walton Casuals 1
Ryman Isthmian League Division One South
Saturday 3rd November 2007

Dulwich’s recent run of victories came to halt yesterday as they were held to draw at Champion Hill by a resilient and resurgent Walton Casuals side whose spunky performance against one of the Division’s form sides bodes well for the battle to shake off the shackles of the relegation zone. Much water has flowed through the weir since last the two sides clashed under sodden skies in the early days of the season. Personnel changes have ripped the heart and soul from the Casuals XI that lined up on that damp August afternoon with only John Ambridge, Max Hustwick and skipper Craig Lewington starting both contests. Indeed two of their number that day now parade in Pink and Blue, though only Sol Patterson-Bohner ranged against the Stags for Dulwich with Jermaine Hinds personal commitments preventing him taking on his erstwhile teammates. Hinds was not the only absentee for the Hamlet; tyro winger Billy Chattaway’s talents had not gone unnoticed and an England Schoolboy trial enforced his absence whilst suspension left Stanley Muguo cooling his heels. The absentees meant a return to the starting XI for Gbenga Sonuga in defence whilst Faz Koroma’s performances in the Reserves perfect start to the season gained him a call up to the majors.
Walton might languish in the lower reaches of the league but someone forgot to tell them they were supposed to play the fall guy as they held the upper hand in a disjointed and bitty opening session without truly threatening a breakthrough. As autumn breezes tussled the leaves around the still verdant pitch, the curl of a luscious Woodbine drifted on Notos’ chilly breath and the mind wandered. Then a moment of bizarre controversy as lofted back pass had Shawn Beveney in hot pursuit, only for curiously tonsured custodian Craig Bradshaw to nod the ball away from the impending bulk of Beveney. Then unaccountably he tugged at Beveney with the ball far from danger. Might it have been a penalty? Referee Mr Power mused then demurred.
Four minutes later a heavy challenge wide left provided the opportunity for Gary Mabbutt (not that one!) to loft a deep free kick towards the back of the six yard box. Dulwich number one, Sheikh Ceesay, made to come then seemed stuck in a slough of indecision allowing Nana Badu to profit with a pitch perfect header across Ceesay, stood stock-still and into the back of the net.
Four minutes later Dulwich provided the perfect response as Sebastian Schoburgh, having been switch shortly previous from right to left wing, showed an electric turn of pace to leave amber shirts trailing in his slipstream. More mature than that prodigy that at turns fascinated and frustrated, Schoburgh hared into the box, but rather than shoot from an impossible angle chose instead to clip the ball back to his skipper, Beveney, who drilled the ball towards goal with such venom neither defenders nor keeper could deny its intended target.

Teams:
DHFC: Sheikh Ceesay; Gbenga Sonuga; Ricky Dobson; Benson Paka; Shayne Mangodza; Steve May; Shawn Beveney (Capt); Fasineh Koroma (Helder Valdes 72); Scott Edgar; Sol Patterson-Bohner; Sebastian Schoburgh
Substitutes not used: Meshach Nugent; Phil Williams; Michael Smith; Nej Hussein (GK)

WCFC: Craig Bradshaw; Stephen Tyson; John Ambridge; Max Hustwick; Rob Paris; Craig Lewington; Jean-Serge Musungu; Garry Mabbutt; Nana Badu; Jefferson Gowland (Kevin MacLaren 87); Lamin Ojo
Substitutes not used: Carlton Murray-Price; Chris Kiganda; Greg Ball; Rico Morris

Attendance: 303

Match Officials:
Referee: Mr Tony Power
Assistant Referees: Mr Simon Potter & Mr Roger Wells

Goalscoring
1-0 WCFC Nana Badu 26th minute
1-11 DHFC Shawn Beveney 30th minute

Dulwich Hamlet 2 Burgess Hill Town 1

Dulwich Hamlet 2 Burgess Hill Town 1
Ryman Isthmian League Division One South
Tuesday 30th October 2007

Up to 10th place for the Hamlet as the regenesis of recent weeks continued apace with a ballsy, belligerent defeat of a testing Burgess Hill Town, who have long proved a fly in the ointment for previous custodians of the Hamlet hot seat. The man of the hour (and a half) was Champion Hill’s very own great Scott, Edgar that is, at last finding the net for the Hamlet with a brace of goals displaying a masterclass in the art of poaching, the first going in amongst the muck and bullets to turn home a pitch perfect cross from Jermaine Hinds, the second more vital still for it cancelled out a Burgess Hill equaliser mere moments earlier.
In light of embattled victory and gallant defeat respectively neither side saw reason for change bar an enforced one for Dulwich, Phil Williams making way for the returning Stanley Muguo who played like a man possessed. Indeed the whole Dulwich midfield engine room purred into action like a finely honed sports car, one of its number, Benson Paka, the first to threaten in a high octane start as he was found in space on the left. Cutting back in he unleashed a fierce low drive that cannoned off a defender’s legs for the corner that was to bring calamity upon the visitors. Picked out lingering on the fringes of the area, Shawn Beveney swept the ball wide to Hinds rattling up the right wing, the right back swinging the ball keenly into the jowls of the goal. Tyro Hillian custodian, Chris Winterton, wavered, Edgar did not, stretching a long limb to divert the ball past the vacillating ‘keeper and into the back of the net.
The goal was the prelude to some diverting football as, orchestrated from midfield, Dulwich sung a symphony of scintillating soccer but without the goals to build on that lead. Billy Chattaway came close to reaching the end of an Edgar header back across goal only for David Piper’s dinked header to nudge the ball off the youngster’s head as he tried to force it home at the back post. Beveney too had the chances to add to the advantage, escaping like lightning at the spearhead of a Dulwich counter only to scoop the ball over the bar when well placed. Miscommunication, over exuberance combined to rob Hamlet of a second just past the half hour when the dancing feet of Beveney slipped the ball past his marker on the edge of the six yard box. Robbed of his balance at the vital moment by the dewy turf, Beveney regained his feet but failed to notice Sol Patterson-Bohner arriving like an express train, awkwardly spooning the ball over the bar before his team-mate could dispatch a shot on goal.
A teenage tangle as Chattaway charged down Winterton as he dithered with a clearance on the edge of his area but the roll favoured the Hillian as he beat Chattaway in the chase back for the ball. For a moment Hamlet lost shape, exposed on the right they might have been punished had Matt Geard at the back stick not pummelled the ball high into the night sky for a whipped cross. The coda to half saw Burgess Hill resurgent, eager to punishment home profligacy. A midfield muddle saw the ball surrendered, Ceesay rocketing from his line to clear as a lobbed pass threatened to let in Steve Harper. The clearance went back into enemy hands, Geard sensing the chance to rifle off a stern shot on course for the top corner until Ceesay stretched to claw the ball behind for a corner.
Perhaps Dulwich had substituted the isotonic for the Horlicks at the break, but seemed sluggish in comparison to a Hillian XI who had brimstone in their belly, waylaying the Hamlet rearguard in the early exchanges. They found no give and it was left to the Hamlet, once the early stupor had drifted away to create the first true opening as the galloping Muguo, escaping right, attempted to pick out Chattaway at the back of the six yard box, only a lack of inches preventing the youngster nodding in at the far upright.
Still the goals refused to come as if a charm had been laid on Winterton’s goal. A desperate lunging tackle deflected effort from Edgar, having cut back inside his man, left Winterton flatfooted but David Piper proved his saviour once more and Chattaway's nemesis again as the defender stretched to nod the ball away for the inrushing winger. Bludgeon swapped for rapier but still Dame Fortune turned away her face as Beveney sprung the offside trap on the right wing before tucking the ball back for Muguo to hammer past a leaden footed Winterton only to look on incredulously as the ball rattled back off the inside of the upright, zipping across the face of goal before clipping the outside of the other post and away.
Having used a trio of substitutes with nearly a half hour remaining, Burgess Hill lost the industrious David Piper, a clash of heads with Edgar necessitating treatment off the field for the six minutes before he returned head bandaged, Burgess Hill depleted team found extra impetus as Hamlet took the foot off the gas. That momentum continued as ten became eleven once more. Neil Watts’ dance into the box almost bore fruit but with eight minutes left an equaliser materialised. A booming throw into the penalty area was flicked on at the near post and Dulwich defenders statuesque, Watts rumbled into to meet the ball with a fierce volley from close range that gave Ceesay not an inkling of a chance.
Heads might have dropped but Burgess Hill joy was short-lived as Dulwich crafted a second goal before two more minutes had slipped by. Substitute Sebastian Schoburgh ripped into the right flank of the Hillians’ defence, his skills unable to shake off a blocking defender but the greater maturity that he has gained since his youth team days shone through as he trolled the ball back into the path of Paka, unleashing a drilled drive on goal that Winterton could only batter down in front of him. Pouncing like a panther, Edgar shrewdly lifted the ball over the prone ‘keeper to restore the Hamlet advantage.
Not that Burgess Hill would lie down after this setback but Ceesay would prove a hero as two minutes later he produced a top drawer save to fingertip the ball away as defender turned striker Danny Gainsford met the ball with a powerful header. Clattering into the post, the brave Hamlet number one needed treatment to a sore head but recovered to see out extensive stoppage time as Dulwich made sure of a third straight triumph.

Teams:
DHFC: Sheikh Ceesay; Jermaine Hinds; Ricky Dobson; Benson Paka; Shayne Mangodza; Steve May; Shawn Beveney (Capt) (Meshach Nugent 88); Stanley Muguo; Scott Edgar; Sol Patterson-Bohner (Michael Smith 76); Billy Chattaway (Sebastian Schoburgh 76)
Substitutes not used: Gbenga Sonuga, Nej Hussein (GK)

BHTFC: Chris Winterton; David Piper; Matt Piper (Jiri Dohnal 55); Nick Fogden; Danny Gainsford; Neil Watts; Steve Harper (Capt); Lloyd Cotton; Shaheen Sadough (Dan Royce 65); Jamie Howell; Matt Geard (Kenny Hewitt 63)
Substitutes not used: Simon Greatwich; Joe Bye

Attendance: 244

Officials:
Referee: Mr Tony Mason (Sidcup, Kent)
Assistant Referees: Mr Babatunde Adebayo (Bexleyheath, Kent) & Mr Keith Scudder (Gravesend, Kent)

Goalscoring
1-0 DHFC Scott Edgar 9th minute
1-1 BHTFC Neil Watts 81st minute
2-1 DHFC Scott Edgar 83rd minute

Sittingbourne 0 Dulwich Hamlet 2

Sittingbourne 0 Dulwich Hamlet 2
Saturday 27th October 2007
Ryman League Division One South

A solid performance on the brickfields of Kent as the resurgence of Dulwich continued apace, another pretender to promotion seen off by late goals once their attacking threat had been snuffed out by the Hamlet’s resilient defence. Having slipped adrift of the leading pack as manager Craig Edwards rebuilt Dulwich in his own image, Hamlet have picked their way upwards and though they still reside in the wrong half of the table, the play-off places lie tantalisingly within grasp, a mere five points away.
Within Stanley Muguo detained in traffic, the management needed a quick reshuffle with Billy Chattaway called up to the starting line-up in the only change from an the initial XI that had seen off the threat of Tooting a week earlier. The right of defence had a slightly incongruous look though with Steve May in the shadow of his gargantuan right back Jermaine Hinds, the pair having shuffled positions in the early stages of the Imperial Fields triumph. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it! For their part the goal-shy Brickies found themselves shorn of on-loan striker Stuart Vahid, whose early season tour of North Kent, had ended in midweek with his recall to Ramsgate, though at least they could once again call upon the services of leading scorer Bradley Spice and influential midfield playmaker Kieran Marsh, who had begun to mine a rich vein of goalscoring form before injury curtailed his influence.
Leaden skies foretelling a primeval winter glowered down upon ramshackle Bourne Park and the early football was as grey as the elements. First threat from the hosts after five minutes as Steve Hafner wheedled his way into the Hamlet box, a sharp shot from a tight angle battered down by Sheikh Ceesay, alert at the near post, and away for a corner off Shayne Mangodza. 12 minutes had passed before Dulwich posed their first threat of note. A clumsy challenge 25 yards out presented Dulwich with a free kick, one from which skipper Shawn Beveney masterfully curled the ball over the Brick wall but too close to ‘keeper Jamie Riley who adeptly plucked the ball out of the air beneath his crossbar. Soon Sittingbourne replied as Anthony Hogg got himself into a good position only to dribble a volley straight at waiting Ceesay.
A shapeless, ragbag of a half ensued as the midfield morass sucked up the ball. When tested defence proved themselves impassable and it was left to speculative and the hopeful to provide the scant entertainment of the half. Benson Paka’s mazy dribble deserved better than a swirling drive from distance that was always, always curling wide of Riley’s net.
As the interval drew closer a rare break for the beleaguered ‘Bourne attackers as a brace of chances in quick succession presented themselves, lifting the locals’ spirits, only for off-key finishing to rapidly dampen them. 39 minutes and a goal kick was headed back behind the Hamlet defence, the Spice boy sneaking in behind Ricky Dobson, caught on the hop, but the angle was aside the Brickies’ striker as the shot rolled across the face of Ceesay’s goal. Moments later and with Dulwich massed on their right flank to repel a Sittingbourne incursion down the wing they left their opposite flank exposed, an almost fatal error as the ball was swung across the park to Mitchell Sherwood. To the Hamlet’s relief Sherwood opted not to attack the goal but instead opted for the spectacular a potent volley from distance never accurate enough to test Ceesay. A purple patch for the hosts continued as Marsh attempted to lob the ball over Ceesay but to no avail. All too soon for the hosts a blast of Mr Meilack’s whistle for half-time curtailed this renaissance, allowing Dulwich the breathing space to regroup and retaliate. Retaliate they did. Barely had the curtain raised on the second half, than the ball was crashed into the side netting though the reactions of some participants on the pitch suggested to those still supping the last dregs of the half-time pint that Dulwich had opened the scoring.
Industry still outweighed invention, tempo adagio, artistry absent. Dulwich were the more incisive but chances still remained at a premium. The ubiquitous Beveney, revelling in his recent rebirth as player and skipper, had the best of them, a back post header powerful but off the mark soon supplemented by a ferocious drive from an acute angle that might have skittled the travelling hoard but for the timely intervention of the side netting.
Phil Williams, the speed streak in his tonsure redundant today, made way for the mercurial Sebastian Schoburgh but the wing wizard could make little inroads in the home defence, not that he was alone in his frustration. Ceesay was barely roused from his reveries, Tristan Knowles attempting to give the Hamlet ‘keeper something to do with a mighty strike from miles out, but swirling high, wide and harmless. Riley too had little to do bar plucking the ball from the head of Scott Edgar as Schoburgh lashed in a tempting cross from hard left.
The weak winter sun had now penetrated that grey blanket of heaven and loath to leave with merely a point, the management brought out the last of the substitutes for the Hamlet as Edgar and Sol Patterson-Bohner were replaced by Meshach Nugent and newcomer Michael Smith respectively, the latter lately joined on loan from the tenants Fisher. Perhaps the change did Dulwich good, an extra burst of impetus from the switch, for three minutes later the barriers to goal were at last thrown down and from an unlikely source, defender Hinds. As Pink and Blue shirts packed into the Bourne box, a Hamlet corner was swung in. The battering rams failed to make the initial breakthrough but as the red and black rearguard peeled back as the ball dropped the foot of Hinds a ballista, as a golden drive scattered the last remnants of defence, the merest of deflections sending the ball scudding under the desperate dive of Riley.
Last chance saloon for the Brickies as every last card was played in a vain attempt to grab an equaliser, a trio of subs on in the wake of the goal, one of whose number, James Gregory, caused a frisson amongst the Hamlet support as he whipped a ball into the box from wide left. However Dulwich were not going to surrender that hard-won lead easily and rugged defending gave little succour to the Sittingbourne attackers. Having drunk from the cup of success, Dulwich wanted further sustenance; both Beveney and Nugent testing Riley, at last earning his corn. The best was saved to last, port and cigars to end a meal that satisfying more than sustaining and served up by the recidivist Schoburgh, determined to end the game with a flourish. A strong run took the fleet-footed Schoburgh to the brink of the box but faced with a wall of Brickies’ defenders, the call went out to head for the corner flag to waste away the final few seconds. For a second this seemed the plan but then in a flash of Pink and Blue, Schoburgh spun away from the shackles of his markers, darted into the box then sprung his arrow with a shot rifled across the face of a bemused Riley and into the far top corner of the net.

SFC: Jamie Riley; Tristan Knowles; Joe Dowley (Capt); Paul Ainsworth; James Campbell; Kieran Marsh; Steve Hafner (Hicham Akhazzan 83); Anthony Hogg; Bradley Spice (Dave Norris ?); Charlie Glyde (James Gregory 83); Mitchell Sherwood; Substitutes not used: Toby Ashmore; Bradley Ashmore

DHFC: Sheikh Ceesay; Jermaine Hinds; Ricky Dobson; Benson Paka; Shayne Mangodza; Steve May; Shawn Beveney (Capt); Phil Williams (Sebastian Schoburgh 68); Scott Edgar (Meshach Nugent 79); Sol Patterson-Bohner (Michael Smith 79); Billy Chattaway
Substitutes not used: Stanley Muguo; Nej Hussein (GK)

Attendance: 158

Match Officials:
Referee: Mr Frank Meilack (Ticehurst)
Assistant Referees: Mr J Gooding (Ashford) & Mr S Harding (Waderslade)

Goalscoring:
1-0 DHFC Jermaine Hinds 81st minute
2-0 DHFC Sebastian Schoburgh 90th minute (+3)