A look at our two most recent matches..from the perspective of the opposition

Last weekend we lost 3-1 away to Harrow Borough. This is what their official website had to say:

HARROW BOROUGH 3, DULWICH HAMLET 1

Game eight and, at last! A performance to justify the pre-season hopes of a better campaign at Earlsmead this term. Dave Anderson’s men dazzled in the second half as they came back from a goal down to see off their South London visitors who had arrived in fourth place in the table.

Rhys Murrell-Williamson’s late winner at Leiston had earned him elevation to the starting line-up, and Saheed Sankoh also returned to action. Leroy Griffiths and Daniel Llacer were the players making way. Sankoh had an early shot from the edge of the box saved but it was Hamlet who controlled the early exchanges. Clunis had already poked a shot wide before he gave the visitors an 8th minute lead, heading in at the far post after Alex Tokarczyk had gone full-length to parry away a goalbound header from the diminutive Oztumer from Green’s left-wing cross.

The men in pink and blue were dominant, with Kevin James running the show in midfield and Daly causing the Harrow defence all sorts of problems by dropping deep to find space and bring colleagues into play. However, rather as in the first half of the game with Wealdstone recently, the dominant side were not the ones having the most efforts on goal. Adam Louth’s 25-yarder was not too far wide of the mark, before a good tackle by the same player led to Simeon Akinola breaking on the left to shoot across goal. And Harrow equalised in the 28th minute, their goal the first they have scored from open play this season. It began with Hamlet over-playing on their left touchline, Jordan Berry winning the ball off a defender and surging to the right-hand by-line. His cross was half-cleared, but only to Shaun Lucien, standing just inside the box in the inside-left position, and he steadied himself before curling the ball viciously round Idem into the goal.

Berry steered a side-footer past the post after Akinola had teed the ball up from Lucien’s cross. Oztumer’s clever run then set up Clunis for a shot wide of the mark. Danny Leech, again shielding the back four from a midfield berth, got forward to slide in on the near post to meet Lucien’s cross, the ball going for a corner. That was half-cleared, but returned by Sankoh for Leech to try an overhead kick that went just wide. Michael Peacock, again assured alongside Manny Parry, made an important clearing header from Adeniyi’s driven cross, before Lucien’s effort at the other end brought an odd save from Idem, odd that he gave away a corner with it when he must have known that the ball was going wide. With the half-time whistle about to blow, Berry did some important tracking back to make sure Pinnock was challenged as he shot, the ball going wide.

A feature of Dulwich’s first half play had been the patient structure of their build-up, but when the second half began it was clear that the Harrow players had been instructed to press up and deny them the leisurely time to do so. And the result was that Harrow started to dictate the pace and pattern of the game. Akinola got briefly past Adeniyi but the Hamlet skipper got back to tackle. Murrell-Williamson then whipped in a magical cross from the right which eluded Akinola by inches.

Berry gave the ball away which allowed Crook to break up the right. His cross eluded Peacock but Louth made a fine saving tackle to stop Daly. Harrow went ahead after 64 minutes. Lucien got to the right-hand by-line but the Dulwich defence should have made a better job of clearing his cross than they did. The ball arrived at Berry’s feet 20 yards out and he hit a shot that ballooned off a visiting defender, up and over the back-pedalling Idem, into the net.

Lucien’s defence-splitting ball gave Akinola the chance to round Idem, but having done so he took a touch too many and a defender got back to block. The hard-working striker then got in behind the Hamlet defence on the left but Idem saved well. At the other end Tokarczyk held a mishit Michael Barima clearance. When Lucien again got to the by-line on the right, Berry picked up his cross but stumbled over the ball.

Tokarczyk saved at his near post from Henry-Francis as Dulwich piled on some late pressure. Two chances fell to the giant Adeniyi, pressed upfield in search of an equaliser. First he dived full-length to angle a header from Green’s cross across the goal. Then, at the far post, he scooped a shot wide of the mark. On the break Harrow ought to have made the game safe but Lucien failed to pick a pass to either of the two Borough substitutes, Leroy Griffiths or Marcel Barrington, in a three-man raid. But with three minutes of stoppage-time played, Harrow did wrap up the win, with a super breakaway goal. Griffiths, working far harder today as a substitute than he seems to have done as a starter earlier in the campaign, did brilliantly to keep Leech’s clearance in play in front of the grandstand. He motored on before delivering a delicious cross that Barrington, arriving at the near post ten yards out, converted first-time.

Harrow will, hopefully, take a great deal of confidence from this performance into their next game, on Monday evening at home to Hendon, who themselves had a marvellous win today, 3-2 away at Lowestoft.

We got back to our winning ways on Wednesday night, at Thamesmead Town. Here was their official viewpoint from their website:

Mead slip to defeat against Dulwich

Thamesmead Town 1 - 3 Dulwich Hamlet

The Mead faced Dulwich Hamlet at Bayliss Avenue on a damp Wednesday evening and it was the South London club who came out on top. Dulwich started brightly and had early shots from Nyren Clunis and Marcel Henry-Francis. And they were ahead in the 12th min, as Erhum Oztumer curled a free kick onto the cross bar and ball rebounded out and fell for Mathieu Boyer to fire a shot past Rob Budd via a post. The Mead responded and Jon Main curled a free kick round the wall which Phil Wilson pushed away. However, a minute later the visitors were two goals too the good. A quick break saw Oztumer play the ball to Henry-Francis and he fired a low shot past Rob Budd. Jay Porter and Jon Main worked space for a cross which Danny Phillips collected but shot wide. The Mead pulled a goal back in the 25th min, when Jack Hopkins swung in a perfect cross which a diving Jon Main met to head past Wilson. Just before half time, Kevin James free kick for Dulwich was pushed away by Rob Budd.
Into the 2nd half and other quick Dulwich break saw Oztumer set up Henry-Francis but he dragged his shot wide. Then Uche Ibemere had a shot for the Mead which Wilson easily held. The killer goal for Dulwich arrived in the 55th min, when Henry-Francis drove toward the Mead box and fired in a shot which Rob Budd mishandled and it nestled in the back of the net. The Mead were struggling to create any clear chances on goal and it was Dulwich who continued to look the more dangerous going forward as Henry-Francis shot wide and the Oztumer forced Budd into a good save low down. Oztumer had the final two efforts which were both off target Dulwich saw the game out to record a 3-1 win over the Mead.