Dulwich Hamlet manager Gavin Rose: We’ve got to be in promotion pack

Gavin Rose reckons the National League South title race is wide open this season and that Dulwich Hamlet “have to be in the pack”.

The South Londoners are third in the standings after a 2-2 draw at Tonbridge Angels last weekend.

Rose collected the Manager of the Month award for November on Saturday at Longmead Stadium and the long-serving Hamlet boss was quick to deflect praise.

“It’s an individual award but it is definitely a group award – I can’t win games on my own,” Rose told the South London Press. “My management team have been brilliant and the team on the pitch has been really good as well.

“It’s a shot in the arm for the boys that we must be doing something right at the moment.

“I’m really pleased with our form, especially considering the league is the strongest it has been for a long time. There are 11 or 12 teams that can be in the top seven and out of that there are seven or eight who can win the league. We have to be in the pack, 100 per cent.”

Dulwich have made their best start at the level since they were promoted from the Isthmian League in 2018. Covid-19 has blighted the previous two campaigns but Hamlet were initially intent on consolidating at the higher tier.

They have the highest average attendance in the division – 2,634.

“Weirdly enough the worst season we had was a couple of years ago and we started that one really well,” said Rose. “We were on fire and won four in a row but then tailed off.

“We have played a lot more games than that year and managed to keep ourselves in the top five league positions.”

Dulwich twice trailed at Tonbridge but Jordan Higgs’ 84th-minute goal earned them a point.

Jordan Green had initially levelled with 20 minutes remaining.

It was the 24-year-old’s first goal since he signed from Bromley in August 2020.

“He hit it first time from maybe 20 yards,” said Rose. “We know he can hit a ball really true and that he has got goals in him.

“He has been playing wing-back, which is probably not his preferred position. We put him in midfield, which is his more natural role, in the last 20 minutes. That’s probably why he was in that area to score.

“In terms of us equalising it feels like a point gained but in terms of the overall game we were the better team. We didn’t capitalise on our chances or the amount of possession we had in their final third.”

Dulwich face a long trip to Devon tomorrow to face Plymouth Parkway in the FA Trophy.

The Southern League outfit beat Hampton & Richmond 1-0 at their Bolitho Park home in the previous round and dispatched Salisbury 4-0 at the same venue at the first hurdle.

Hamlet reached the last eight of the tournament in 2017 before being knocked out by Macclesfield Town.

“If you keep progressing then it starts to become more important,” said Rose. “In years gone by there has been more prize money at stake. We are going well in the league and have to be mindful that we don’t have the biggest of squads.”

Dulwich are ready to loan Jamal Abubakari, who scored on his debut against Welling in the London Senior Cup, and Alpha Diallo.

PICTURES: ROB AVIS