Dulwich Hamlet boss gives his verdict on FA Cup first round draw

Gavin Rose is happy with Dulwich Hamlet’s FA Cup draw – and was pleased to avoid some of the bigger clubs in Monday night’s draw.

The South London club ended a 21-year wait to be in the first round of the famous old competition by winning 2-1 at Havant & Waterlooville on Saturday.

Christian Smith and Aaron Barnes scored in the opening 20 minutes at Westleigh Park.

Dulwich will look to progress to the FA Cup second round for the first time in their history when they host Carlisle United on the weekend of November 9.

“I watched the draw at home,” said Rose. “It is weird because it is a bit of an anti-climax once the teams had come out.

“I want us to go as far as we possibly can. If we had got a draw at home against a team that we were odds on to beat then I would’ve taken it.

“A lot of people go down the romantic route and want to play the biggest team – but there is a time and place for that in the later rounds.

“Carlisle are a strong team in League Two but on the day we might be able to provide an upset.”

Carlisle will be the first league side Dulwich have met in the FA Cup for 71 years. It is the 15th time that Hamlet have reached this stage.

Champion Hill’s capacity is about 3,500.

“The fact it is at our place and we’ll have about 3,000 fans helps to make it a bit more uncomfortable for them,” said Rose. “The surroundings are not normal for them.

“We need to make it as uncomfortable as possible on the pitch for them and see if we can pull off the result we want.

“There will need to be some sort of segregation on the day for the away support and we’ll need to issue a certain amount of tickets.”

Dulwich return to National South action tomorrow at Chelmsford City and need an upturn in form to realise Rose’s target of reaching the play-offs.

The Hamlet chief doesn’t believe the club’s run in the FA Cup needs to have a detrimental effect on their league campaign.

“You can never tell because some groups are a bit different to others,” said Rose. “When we got to the quarter finals of the FA Trophy [in 2017] we had started the league season pretty badly, but we won a few games in the trophy and it really gave us some momentum.

“We ended up losing in the play-off final that year, so sometimes a cup can provide a bit of a fillip. That’s what I’m hoping this time around.”

Bromley have been drawn at Bristol Rovers. The Ravens beat Aldershot Town 4-3 in the previous round.

PICTURE BY KEITH GILLARD