The Dulwich Hamlet Supporters' team have recently taken part in competitions run by Worthing fans & those at Leyton Orient

The Dulwich Hamlet Supporters' Team completed their close season English tournaments, with a trip to east London at the weekend, to compete in the Leyton Orient supporters CHAOS Cup, over in Walthamstow, at the Douglas Eyre Sports Centre. This followed on playing in the Worthing Supporters competition, two weeks earlier.

In both events 'The Rabblers' managed to get out of the group stages, but were then knocked out in the quarter finals.

Down on the South Coast our squad was Lester Ford, in charge for the day, with his co-manager unavailable, Steve Rickerby, Amin Haque, Ian Caldecourt, Ben Caldecourt, George Beamont & Callum Smith wearing the Pink & Blue stripes, sponsored by Skyline Solar.

The opening game proved to be against the eventual winners of the tournament, a local side called Ajax Treesdown, and we held them to a more than creditable nil nil draw.
Our second clash saw our first win of the day, versus one of the host sides, WFCSA B, where an attempt from Lester Ford earned maximum group points.
This was followed by another one nil victory, a superb strike from Ben Caldecourt ensuring victory against the fans of Ashford Town (Middlesex). In our next run-out Callum Smith put us in front, against Oxford United supporters, but the points were shared, after a low shot went in at the far corner, giving Amin Haque no chance.
We were extremely unlucky to lose our penultimate group game, when we went down by the odd goal in three to eventual finalists Brighton & Hove Albion supporters, going down to the winning goal in the very last minute of the game, with less than thirty seconds left on the clock! The seagulls had taken the lead, but had their wings clipped with an equaliser from the ecstatic George Beamont, which looked to have earned us a point, but it was not to be.
Our final group match had an international flavour, as we played our old friends from Tallinn, the capital of Estonia,JK Jalgpallihaigla.This was a game in which we managed to finally secure our first ever victory against them, compliments of first half goal from Callum Smith.

Our next run-out, now in the knock-out stages, was maybe one too far for us, as we took on Worthing Rebels, who are a local Sunday League side, and although we held them in the second half, the three goals they put past us in the first half proved too much for us.

So we headed to the clubhouse, for darts, and Eurovision 'fun', as well as taking part in their quiz, which apparently we actually won, but didn't find out, as we'd dashed off for the train back to London just before nine o'clock. A long day, but very enjoyable, once again.

And so to Leyton Orient, on Saturday. This is the 25th year of the Leyton Orientear CHAOS Cup, which we have now taken part in for the last three summers. The day was overshadowed by other events, but the football went on...

The management duo of Shaun Dooley & Lester Ford were both in attendance today, Shaun on the pitch, Lester in control from the touchline. also playing were Phil Baker, Simon Barnett, Ayo Da, Tommy Ramsey, Craig Skerry & Ian Gannon.

We had three group games, and in an extremely rare feat for us, we came top of it, with maximum points! The first was a 1-0 win against LOFT, one of the host sides, with a goal from Ayo Da being enough to win it for us.
The middle group tie was also won by the only goal of the game, against another O's outfit, Orientear B, with Simon Barnett getting his name on the scoresheet.
Our last group match was against our old mates from Worthing, though we weren't that friendly on the pitch, crushing them by six goals to one. The goals were shared around, Ayo Da & Tommy Ramsey bagging a brace, with the other two from Craig Skerry & Ian Gannon. We were heading for a top of the table cleansheet, but Phil Baker blotted his copybook, by conceding a simple goal late on.

And so to the quarter finals, where we faced an organised and younger Crawley Town supporters outfit. They had the better of us in the first half, but we stepped up a gear in the second half, and will consider ourselves extremely unfortunate to have been knocked out by a last minute goal, when we looked to have worked hard enough to have taken the tie to a penalty shoot-out. But that is football...

The supporters' team is open to all Hamlet fans, you don't have to commit to each and every game, and there should be several 11-a-side games next season against other supporters sides. If you would like to play, or just to find out more, then please email Lester at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

THE DAY ON SATURDAY WAS TOTALLY OVERSHADOWED BY THE TERRIBLE NEWS THAT THE QUEEN'S PARK SUPPORTERS TEAM GOALKEEPER MARTIN KELLY HAD DIED THAT MORNING AT HIS HOTEL.

ON OUR MANY TRIPS TO GLASGOW WE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN MADE EXTREMELY WELCOME, AND MARTIN WAS ALWAYS AT THE FOREFRONT OF THIS.

EVERYONE FROM THE DULWICH HAMLET SUPPORTERS' TEAM OFFER OUR DEEPEST CONDOLENCES TO ALL OF HIS FAMILY AND FRIENDS, AS WELL AS HIS WIDER QUEEN'S PARK FOOTBALLING FAMILY.

REST IN PEACE.