Dulwich Hamlet’s chance of a playoff spot dwindles after a catastrophic second half routing by Lewes F.C.
It’s a beautiful clear evening on Champion Hill, and Dulwich come out ferociously as they get two great opportunities within the first five minutes.
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Amadou Kassarate and Danny Mills link up in the box, but his shot doesn’t connect and it drifts lazily wide.
Within minutes, Sol Baugh – clearly identified as the danger man in the Lewes team talk – shows off his finesse, carrying the ball around two imposing defenders. He manage to find Kassarate, but his shot is blocked by the Lewes defence, and Dulwich will have to wait for that elusive first goal.
Bobby Unwin’s pace causes problems for the Hamlet down the wing. He’s certainly one to keep an eye on as he looks to add a third game in a row where he features on the scoresheet.
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Dulwich know they need to make the most of their possession if they are to walk away with 3 points. And after a powerful carry by Tom Chambers down the left wing, he wins his team a corner, much to the rapture of the Rabble.
Lonit Talla’s cross comes in low at the front post where skipper Michael Chambers is waiting. He gets the slightest of touches to force it onto the foot of Joseph Adewunmi, and that’s all it needs to rebound and trickle past the keeper. He might not have meant it, but he will certainly claim it.
24 minutes gone, and it’s 1-0 to Dulwich.
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Despite the best efforts of Lewes’ Charlie Walker and Lukas Franzen-Jones to invigorate their side, they can’t seem to connect and find the equaliser.
It’s not until a defence splitting pass by Lewes defender Alex Kpakpe forces Toby Bull off his line to halt the pick-up by Lewes skipper Tyler Christian-Law. He goes to ground, and the ref makes a controversial penalty call. Charlie Walker converts to make it all equal on the 37th minute.
All of the Hamlet’s hard work is for naught, and the sides go in all square at the half.
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(Image: Dulwich Hamlet FC)
The second half is underway, and Dulwich feel frantic. Lewes aren’t quite dominating the game, but the Hamlet seem unable to create anything meaningful – doubt seeming to creep into their game. And when winger Baugh – who has proven to be a menace to the Lewes backline – is subbed for Anthony Jeffrey, it feels like an odd call by manager Mark Dacey.
Neither team are able to make the most of open play opportunities, and just when Wanadio looks like he’s free to take a shot at range, he dummies it further wide and his ambivalence allows Lewes a fraction of a second to regroup.
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Unperturbed, Wanadio is once again gifted the ball in the final third, with Kassarate and Mills running in formation ahead. Wanadio squares the ball well, Kassarate letting it run through to Mills. But once again, it takes a second too long for him to connect, and despite Mills’s shot getting the better of Lewes keeper Louis Rogers, their defenders were afforded just enough time to get onto the line and stop Lewes going behind again.
As the game draws to a close, Lewes are on the winning side of another questionable call when they earn a corner in the 83rd minute. The inswinger reaches the front post, where Jack Burchell manages to get it past Bull to put Dulwich behind for the first time in the match.
The flood gates are open, and Lewes, seemingly unhappy with a one-goal lead, harass the Dulwich third. Their efforts are rewarded with two sloppy goals in the final throes of the game, and when a heavy sliding challenge by substitute Cook is adjudged to have been malicious in the last minute, Dulwich are left to face the whistle as 10 men.
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It ends an embarrassing 4-1 scoreline, and the mood is low on Champion Hill this evening as Dulwich walk away with nothing to show for their efforts.
For all the inadequacies of today’s performance, Dulwich showed a great deal of promise at times, with a cohesion not often seen at this level. Having had the better chances of the two sides, hesitancy and doubt ultimately killed the Dulwich game in a disastrous second half performance – one that sees those playoff spots begin to float evermore out of sight.
