Canvey Island 1-2 Dulwich Hamlet

Dulwich secured a hard earned victory thanks to an Ashley Carew free kick that deceived ex Hamlet keeper Tim Brown.

Dulwich opened positively and quickly found their passing rhythm to put the home side on the back foot. It took them only until the 4th minute to take the lead as Nyren Clunis drove forward through the middle. His shot was defleceted, which wrong footed Brown in the home goal, and Xavier Vidal followed in to beat the defender and stab the ball over the line.

Xavier Vidal & Ashley Carew had complete control of midfield as Dulwich remained in the ascendancy and could have doubled their lead in the 10th minute as Nyren Clunis was sent clear. As he homed in on goal his shirt was pulled and he was tripped by the last defender.
Staying on his feet, when if he had gone down the defender would surely have been sent off, Clunis shot wide.

Two minutes later the always dangerous John Sands headed wide for the home side but Dulwich were soon back on the attack aa Bagasan Graham had a shot saved and Shawn McCoulsky headed wide for The Hamlet.

For Canvey Island there were efforts from Victor Osobu and Mike Jones that failed to trouble Oshane Brown as they came more to the fore but Terrell Forbes and Ethan Pinnock were keeping things tight.

Before half time Bagasan Graham set up Nyren Clunis but he sliced his shot wide.

Half Time 0-1

The second half saw neither side able to keep the ball for long and there was little of note in the early stages although it was clear that the home side were now shutting down space for The Hamlet midfield.

Shawn McCoulsky was thwarted by a fine covering tackle when he looked to be clean through and Nyren Clunis was just beaten to a through ball by the Tim Brown rushing from the home goal.

However, the home side were now putting the Dulwich defence under more pressure and it took a fine save from Oshane Brown to prevent a 69th minute equaliser. The resulting corner was delivered low and John Sands swept a spectacular shot high into the net having got across his marker at the near post.

The scores were only level for 3 minutes as a foul gave Ashley Carew a free kick opportunity which he bent around the wall. However, Tim Brown in the home goal looked to have it easily covered. Unfortunately for the home side that wasn't the case as the ball slipped from his grasp and trickled over the line.

This was the cue for Canvey Island to really push The Hamlet back and they exerted a considerable amount of pressure which the Dulwich defence had to be at its best to repel. A number of free kicks lofted into the penalty area put pressure on the away side's defence but Oshane Brown was not seriously tested.

With the game entering stoppage time a shot from a tight angle thudded off the outside of the post and the rebound was fired wide as Dulwich held on to claim the points.

Full Time 1-2