With Daniel Carr's double putting Dulwich Hamlet firmly in the driving seat, a crumbling perimeter wall sees premature end to victory charge.

What is with Dulwich Hamlet and Leatherhead, controversy and contention seemingly hand in hand when these two famous old Isthmian stalwarts come face to face? The red cards that once littered this fixture like Chinese confetti may been absent for a while, replaced by gallimaufry of goal gluts, fight backs and bite backs, but the manner of yesterday’s controversial abandonment left a sour taste in the mouth of many. Moments after Daniel Carr’s sweet drive had doubled his tally and Dulwich’s advantage, the walls came tumbling down, narrowly avoiding Hamlet’s goal hero but sending masonry and supporters sprawling on to the fringes of the arena. Barely ten minutes later and with the wreckage cleared, the referee took the unpopular decision to call a premature end to proceeding with the twin demons of health and safety announced, though some voiced more conspiratorial opinions.

It was all a far cry from earlier in the day. The rapid thaw had seen the snow dissipate but leaving many areas of the Fetcham Grove pitch under water. The Tanners mustered a battalion of supporters and, under the watchful eye of the match referee, produced buckets and pails to shift enough water to drown an elephant, so allowing play to proceed albeit on a heavy and boggy pitch. Not that that stymied the play, both sides going at in hammer and tongs in a bracing encounter. Pay on the flanks Dulwich threatened early and often, 12 minutes in and Erhun Öztümer’s powering run to the back line complimented with a tasty cross met with a firm head from Nyren Clunis but placed a fraction the wrong side of home goalkeeper Andrew Young’s back stick.

Leatherhead responded and some neat footwork saw winger Liam Wright zip past Peter Adeniyi, a stinging shot expertly turned away by a diving Phil Wilson into the side netting. As slippery as an asp, Ellis Green, teasing and testing, set up Kevin James for a sharp low shot from the edge of the area, the ball flicking off a defender’s heel for a corner.

The challenging conditions failed to thwart the fiery football, Tanners’ centre forward Tom Bradbrook, often the most challenged of all as he failed to break free of Hamlet’s defensive stranglehold, finally found a gap in the rear-guard, picking up a pass wide left of the box and clipping a dropping shot on to the roof of Wilson’s net. A rapid riposte from the boys in blue, Ryan James, some 25 yards out, unleashing a cannonball drive on the run that stung the gloves of Young. Tricky skills from Carr left experienced left back Neil Jenkins for dead, a low ball into the neat post stabbed just wide by Xavier Vidal under pressure from a brace of green clad defenders.

Erstwhile Hamlet winger Wright, one of many Tanners who once wore the Pink and Blue motley, latched on to careless clearance from Wilson, skating through tackle after tackle but disappointing with a finish that skidded innocuously wide of the goal. Moments later Mark Simmons found space behind Ryan James pulling back a low ball back to Tommy Hutchings, only for the usually deadly striker to misfire. However the ever-dangerous Wright latched on to the wayward shot and was up to his tricks again with a darting run into the box before being swallowed up by the defence as howls for a penalty echoed from the home stands. Still a chance for Simmons but an audacious attempt to chip the ball past Wilson at his near post ended in abject failure.

Lost opportunity for the Leatherhead lads became even more painful as Carr broke the deadlock just three minutes later, taking advantage of Chris Boulter’s fluffed attempt to hack away an Green delivery, leaving Carr with just Young to beat from a yard and a half out, task adroitly accomplished to give Dulwich the lead.

Early in the second half Wright had yet another chance to make his mark as the Tanners’ capitalised on scruffy defending but once more the wingman found himself firing off blanks as he scuffed a shot wide of the target. A quick rejoinder from the Hamlet as Carr hit the accelerator to outpace the defence, cutting back in but overcooking his effort with a rising shot over the bar.

A clumsy challenge on Wright set up home skipper, Simmons for a deceptive free kick from 20 yards out, his dipping, curling attempt cracking against the wrong side of the woodwork, from a home perspective that is.

With his ace in the pack misfiring on all cylinders, Tanners’ manager Richard Brady, made the decision to pull off Hutchings as well as the disappointing Sam Blackman adding Ryan Flack and Elliott Thompson to the fray. Not that it helped the cause as Leatherhead second half threat seemed to peter out as they adjusted to the switch.

Echoes of times past as a cold-blooded challenge from Simmons, a boot in the midriff of Vidal, sparked insalubrious scenes with players tussling over the prone figure of their fallen comrade. Generously the man in black chose not to add the Tanners’ captain’s name to the role of dishonour, a mere caution his punishment, a yellow similarly delay out to Green for his reactions to the foul.

With 66 minutes on the clock, Ryan James was set up for a delightful whipped-in cross from the left flank, a stretching Carr a whisker away from his second as Young somehow scrambled the ball away at the base of his left-hand upright.

More substitutions as Brady surprised many by withdrawing Wright whilst Green was replaced by Calaum Martin, the mercurial Martin swiftly immersing himself in the game. Allowed ever more freedom to attack down the flanks, Ryan James drilled a low one into the area; Öztümer flicked a close range intercept into the hands of the relieved Young.

On 78 minutes came a crucial second goal, Carr sparking the afterburners as defenders trailed in his wake, slamming a low shot buried beyond Young’s despairing dive in the far corner of the net. Seconds after he had disentangled himself from the embrace of the jubilant Hamlet brigades, an ominous rumble as a section of the perimeter wall crumbling like a rotten wedding cake. The half dozen or so Dulwich fans picked themselves up, dusted themselves off and after gathering their senses proceeded to remove the rumble, narrowly avoiding a carload of East Germans tootling through in their Wartburg. However, all their efforts were in vain as plaints, seemingly most vociferous from the home bench, bent his ear and not long after the decision was made to halt proceedings. Now all must await whatever verdict is handed down from Isthmian Towers, it may not be a popular one for either club or both.