Dulwich Hamlet striker has heart set on move back into Football League

BY YANN TEAR

yann@slpmedia.co.uk

Dipo Akinyemi took his tally for the season to 14 in last weekend’s defeat at Oxford City.

But Dulwich Hamlet fans should start to worry if their star striker makes his pre-season target of 20 goals, because it could prompt an early return to league football for the 21-year-old.

And that is the aim, the Enfield-born player freely admits.

Akinyemi has already written his name in Dulwich folklore by putting away the decisive penalty in last season’s play-off final against Hendon which took the club into National League South.

It underlined just why boss Gavin Rose wanted to take him on and offer him the sort of platform which can take him back to playing at the level he started off with at Stevenage three seasons ago, in League Two.

Akinyemi told the South London Press: “I am using Dulwich as a platform to get in the league, that is no secret. It has been a great place for me, but if a bigger club comes in, I might go next season.

“I think it depends on whether I reach my target, though. If I manage to score 20 for a team near the bottom of the table, other clubs might look at that. This hasn’t been my best season, because of inconsistency, but I’m playing more now and starting to put together better performances.

“I know I’ve had to do extras off the pitch to improve – doing more training and putting in extra hours in the gym. I’ve had to get back into better habits because I have not been as sharp as before.”

Whatever the future holds for Afolabi Oladipo Christopher Akinyemi – to give him his full name – the memory of that winner against Hendon will always stay with him.

“It was probably the best moment in my life,” he said. “Scoring that penalty was just crazy. The way the game was going. The way we were losing and came back to force extra time. Then the win on penalties. It was classic.

“I blocked out eveything to take it, picked a spot, saw the keeper dive early, and the rest is history. It’s made me want more. Not a lot of players my age can say they have been involved in winning promotion like that.”

Rose is more than happy to help ‘Dipo’ fulfil his dreams, as his goals are clearly helping Hamlet in their fight to stay up.

“He played for us on loan a couple of times and we signed him full time last season because he always scored goals for us in each of his spells,” Rose said.

“I also took him on because I feel we can help him get back into league football again. His scoring is good but he still has a little bit to do in his general play, in his hold-up play and decision-making about when to pass and when to dribble.

“But his fitness levels are improving and if he can get all the elements to his game working, this will be a positive move for him.

“He dropped down to our club because he feels this is the right environment to develop and help him get to higher levels.

“The team’s form hasn’t helped him because we’ve been a bit up and down all season and he hasn’t always performed as well as he can.”

Hamlet are still involved in the relegation fight after Saturday’s disappointing 4-1 defeat at mid-table Oxford City – a result which typified the lack of consistency this season, coming a week after a home win over Truro City.

Dulwich have not had back-to-back wins since September and are only four points above the drop zone.

“It’s been like that all season,” Rose said. “It was no major shock. We seem to win a game, then lose, and that’s why we still have a relegation battle on our hands.

“We have six games left and if we can take nine or 10 points, I’d like to think we’ll be safe, but we have really tough games left, against teams either fighting for promotion or to escape relegation.

“One of those teams is Billericay, this weekend, who are in one of the play-off positions and are a very good team.

“We know them well and know how hard it will be, but we are at home, and our form has been getting better here.”

PICTURES BY KEITH GILLARD