Dulwich Hamlet win a chaotic National League clash – two penalties and a red card
BY MOHAMUD AHMED
Dulwich Hamlet defeated Hampton & Richmond 3-2 at Champion Hill today, in what was a chaotic National League South encounter.
Hamlet relinquished a 2-0 lead before a late penalty from Nana Owusu gave them all three points in front of a 2,579 crowd that also witnessed two penalties and a red card.
A relatively quiet start ended abruptly in the eighth minute after Hampton’s Tommy Block brought down Owusu in the box and referee Harry Wager pointed to the spot.
Owusu fired in the subsequent penalty, going straight down the middle with a diving Joe Walsh having no chance.
Picture : Keith Gillard
Picture : Keith Gillard
Just four minutes later and Dulwich’s Danny Mills made it 2-0 to the home side after an excellent cross by defender Will Wood saw the number nine fire into the roof of the net to score his second goal in the last four matches.
Hamlet made a change in the 45th minute after an injury to Kalvin Kalala saw him replaced by Sam Deadfield.
Injury time in the first half saw Dulwich suffer two blows in quick succession.
Poor defending after Hampton’s long throw let the away side make it 2-1 with Alfy Whittingham poking it home as Hamlet failed to clear their lines.
Kreshnic Krasniqi received a red card for what appeared to be an attempted headbutt on Shane Dunne with both sets of players getting into a heated altercation.
Picture : Keith Gillard
Picture : Keith Gillard
Hamlet dropped deep after an avalanche of crosses from the away side put pressure on the home side’s defence.
The Beavers’ efforts were rewarded in the 65th minute after a set-piece saw Tommy Wood hit the post but Luis Fernandez fired in the rebound to make it 2-2.
Dulwich’s key breakthrough came in the 88th minute. Joe Felix was brought down in the box and the referee pointed to the spot for the second time.
Owusu stepped up and converted the penalty, his fourth goal in his last five appearances
“It what was a character-revealing win,” Barnes told the South London Press. “All the hard parts you need to do during a game to win especially with the conditions and going down to 10 men, you find out about people and if they really want to win and they showed that today.
“The target for the boys was to put together back-to-back wins. That was the objective to come and do that today and we’ve done that, so we can cross that one off the list and move on.”
Picture : Keith Gillard
Speaking about where that leaves them this season and any hopes of fulfilling the goal previous manager Gavin Rose set about play-offs this season. Barnes said: “We’re taking each game as it comes, we don’t want to put ourselves under pressure. Push away from the group below us and see where that takes us.”
Hamlet are now 18th in the table and have taken nine points from a possible 12.
Dulwich travel to Bath City on Tuesday.
PICTURES: KEITH GILLARD
Picture : Keith Gillard
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