The fortnightly local news round-up

Yes, we know we try to copy it all for you weekly, but sometimes we just don't have the time...honest!

So here we bring you back up to date with all the news from the local & specialist non-league press, from the past two weeks...

Again, it’s been a fortnight since we’ve had time to share all the news from the local & non-league printed media. Apologies for the delay, we hope the wait is worthwhile..

Going back just over a fortnight ago, to the ‘Non League Paper’ from Sunday 20th March. We had just drawn at home the day before…

HAMLET HELD BY HILLIANS

Dulwich’s traditionally dismal spring form continued as another indifferent display resulted in them failing to beat their lower mid-table opponents.
And only a late Ryan Moss goal rescued a point against a resolute Hillians side.
For all their possession, Hamlet were poor in the first half, during which they failed to muster a single shot on target.
And Burgess Hill went ahead when Joe Keehan struck a first-half shot from 25 yards out which left Hamlet keeper Preston Edwards rooted to the spot as it flew into the net.
Dulwich’s first real threat came five minutes after the half-time interval when an excellent pass from Matt Drage found Nyren Clunis unmarked, but Hillians goalkeeper Josh James was smartly off his line to block the winger’s shot.
James was the busier keeper as Hamlet displayed more urgency in the second half and he made fine diving saves from Ashley Carew’s 30-yard free-kick and Dean McDonald’s low drive.
There were only eight minutes left when Dulwich equalised, Moss heading home a left-wing far-post cross from Carew. Hillians went closest to a late winner when Jordan Brown cleared an effort off the line with Edwards out of position.
STAR MAN: Nyren Clunis (Dulwich Hamlet)
ENTERTAINMENT: *** (out of a possible five stars)

On the Tuesday the midweek ‘South London Press’ concentrated on the London Senior Cup tie:

Dulwich’s Gavin Rose to give fringe players a chance in derby cup clash
Dulwich Hamlet travel to local rivals Tooting & Mitcham United tonight in the London Senior Cup, with fringe players likely to get the chance to show they can improve on what first-teamers are offering.
Gavin Rose’s team have recorded just one win in their last eight Ryman League Premier Division games and are now in severe danger of dropping out of the play-off places.
They are still in fifth-but if sixth-placed Kingstonian win either of their two games in hand, that is likely to be under threat.
Dulwich did not help their cause by failing to see off mid-table Burgess Hill Town.
They salvaged a point only thanks to a goal from sub Ryan Moss eight minutes from time.
The visitors took the lead in the 28th minute. Lee Harding was afforded too much space to deliver a cross from the visitors right side. Jack Dixon headed clear but the ball was met on the volley by Joe Keehan whose shot flew past the unsighted Preston Edwards.
With time running out, Ashley Carew delivered a cross from the left and Ryan Moss rose to head it home.

On the Thursday the ‘Southwark News’ also headlined with that draw:

MOSS ON HAND TO BAG POINT

A late strike from sub Ryan Moss meant Dulwich Hamlet picked up a critical point on Saturday against Burgess Hill Town.
Town took the lead at Champion Hill when Joe Keehan netted on the half hour mark but a second half switch of tactics from manager Gavin Rose eventually broke down a stubborn Burgess Hill backline.
The Pink and Blues boss said after the 1-1 draw: “We were hit with a sucker punch in the first half where we were on top, although we didn’t maybe create enough chances or make their keeper work enough, and in the second half they tried to slow us down which they were effective at for fifteen minutes or so. We threw caution to the wind a bit and then put a lot of pressure on their goal and we equalised although we again maybe didn’t work their keeper enough. There was only one team trying to win the game on Saturday so maybe we should have won from that perspective, but we maybe did not do enough or pose enough of a threat at times.”
Hamlet’s form since the turn of the year has been patchy at best, last week’s win against Wingate being the first victory in seven league outings, but they occupied one of four promotion play-off spots after Saturday’s fixtures.
They now have seven league games left to secure that place, but the race will be tight and Kingstonian and Bognor Regis are breathing down Hamlet’s neck with enough games in hand to overhaul the Southwark side.
Rose added: “It is out of our hands now to win the league and we are not showing the kind of form where we could string together enough wins to give us a chance to make that happen. It’s more realistic to seek one of the two play-off spots that are still up for grabs. There are still 21 points to play for and we still have it in us to win enough points to make sure we are in the play-offs at the end of the season. We are going to Enfield on Saturday in a similar position to where we both were last year in that there is a lot riding on the game for both of us, and of course like every other game we will be going there looking for that win.”
On Tuesday night Dulwich suffered a shock 3-0 defeat against local rivals Tooting & Mitcham in a London county Cup semi-final clash.
On the same evening Bognor drew level on points with Hamlet in the league thanks to a win over Harrow Borough but Kingstonian fell to a heavy 4-0 reverse against Enfield Town.

The success of our ASPIRE Academy coached Youth Team also made the headlines, in the same ‘Southwark News’:

Hamlet youngsters secure title

Dulwich Hamlet’s under eighteen squad picked up their third consecutive league title last week following a comprehensive victory against Millwall Lions.
The youngsters, who are part of the Aspire Football Academy run by Hamlet’s first team management team of Gavin Rose, Junior Kadi and Kevin James, hit the net five times against the Lions academy side.
Four goals from Kladji Cani plus a further strike courtesy of Ade Batula were more than enough to see Dulwich crowned divisional champions of the Football Conference Youth Alliance (FCYA).
The squad now head to the FCYA National play-offs where they will take on teams from all over the country including sides from West Ham, Southampton and Tooting and Mitcham.
The preliminary round for the play-offs is scheduled for April 13 and the draw will be made once all the division winners and runners-up are finalised.

The news that week closed on the Friday, with the weekend edition of the ‘South London Press’ headlines leading on that terrible result at our lower-division arch rivals:

Humiliation for Dulwich after cup KO

Gavin Rose has urged his team to show a “mentality shift” on the pitch after Dulwich Hamlet suffered a dismal 3-0 loss to South London rivals Tooting and Mitcham.
A clear defeat at the hands of the Terrors resulted in a semi-final exit for the Ryman League Premier Division outfit, who fielded a strong side in the London Senior Cup.
Even Dulwich’s official website claimed the performance as one of the worst under Rose’s tenure and accused his team of a meek surrender.
Hamlet have slipped off the title pace so much that the priority now is to lock down a play-off place.
They are at Enfield tomorrow before a home game against Tonbridge Angels –a place above them in third-on Easter Monday (3pm kick off).
“There is a lot of work to be done in our dressing room,” said Rose. “We need a turnaround in form-and a mentality shift to happen very quickly. The boys’ mentality needs to be more positive. We let ourselves and the club down on Tuesday-our performance on the pitch was an embarrassment. Our game didn’t reflect the passion our supporters were showing in the stands. It should always be the players who get the fans going. Tooting and Mitcham players were a credit to themselves and their club.”
A string of three losses and three draws in the Premier Division in February and March has put the skids under Dulwich’s push for automatic promotion.
The South Londoners are still in with a chance for the play-offs but will be wary of Bognor Regis and Kingstonian, who lie fifth and sixth with games in hand.
Rose hopes to reverse his team’s dip in form by strengthening his side with new players,
“We are still in contention for the league play-offs and we have a week or so to go before the transfer deadline,” he said. “We may need one or two more players to come in. We know the positions we want to cover-but I can’t say much more than that at this stage. We go to Enfield on Saturday and every match we play from now on until the end of the season is a must-win, unless other teams drop points significantly. We need to try and win all our remaining games.”
Ashley Robinson, Serge Makofo and Chace O’Neill netted for Tooting. Dulwich, who failed to force a save from keeper Matt Pierson, were booed off.

And so to the news in the last week. Back to Sunday 27th March, with the ‘Non League Paper’ reporting on our draw at Enfield Town the previous day:

Enfield twice came from behind to take a point from a Dulwich side that played the majority of the match with ten men.
Having been booked for deliberate handball in the seventh minute, Hamlet’s Matt Drage saw red when he brought down Town’s Mickey Parcell on the half-hour mark for a second caution.
Things were looking good for Dulwich until then, Jack Dixon lashing a low shot past Nathan McDonalds’ left hand into the far corner after 26 minutes for the game’s opener.
Apart from a Tyler Campbell shot which was deflected over, Town couldn’t make the extra man count for the remainder of the first period.
The second half was a different story. Samir Bihmoutine quickly tested Hamlet keeper Preston Edwards’s reflexes. And Mark Kirby fired home from the corner.
But on 57 minutes, Hamlet launched a deadly counter attack and debutant Dipo Akinyemi headed a right-wing cross home to put Hamlet 2-1 up.
Bihmoutine was thwarted by a smothering stop by Edwards, Corey Whitely tested Edwards twice, and a Harry Ottaway overhead effort was dealt with.
And with nine minutes left, after a golden opportunity was put wide by Bobby Devyne, Whitely rounded Edwards and netted superbly from an acute angle to level it up.
STAR MAN: Billy Crook (Enfield Town)
ENTERTAINMENT: ****(out of five stars)

There was no non league coverage in last Tuesday’s ‘South London Press’, however there was a large on-line report from the Kentish Football website, from our huge Easter Monday match, at home to Tonbridge Angels:

Dulwich Hamlet 2-1 Tonbridge Angels - It's not the end of our season. We've just got to make sure now we get into the play-offs, says Tonbridge Angels coach Justin Luchford

Tonbridge Angels’ coach Justin Luchford says the league title is a closed door but insists his side have got lots to play for as they aim to secure a home play-off semi-final.The Angels lost only their third league game on their travels as Dulwich Hamlet maintained their play-off push in the Ryman Premier League promotion race.
Striker Afolabi Oladipo Akinyemi, 18, who is on loan from League Two side Stevenage, scored twice within the first 10 minutes on his home debut to put Dulwich Hamlet in the driving seat.
Tonbridge Angels pulled a goal back with 20 minutes to go through central midfielder Luke Allen’s third goal for the club but the comeback kings couldn’t grab a point.
“Disappointed, obviously the lads are gutted in there,” said Luchford, 39, after the game. “We felt before the game if we got a win today we’re still in with a shout for the title but I think that’s closed the door on it if you’re honest so there’s a lot of disappointed heads in there because we’ve worked really hard. There’s nothing to be down about. We’ve just got to pick ourselves up and train on Thursday and go again. It’s not the end of our season, we’ve got lots to play for.”
Luchford added: “We didn’t start well. The first 10 minutes has killed us. Apart from those 10 minutes we’ve got ourselves back in the game. Fair play to us, we kept going, we kept going. The wind has picked up again for the last 20 minutes and we couldn’t quite get enough crosses in to the box but we’re disappointed. The gaffer (Steve McKimm) has been saying it all season, we were fifth-from-bottom this time last year, we’re third in the table. Bite your hand off, right? So we’ve just got to make sure now we get into the play-offs.”
Dulwich Hamlet boss Gavin Rose knew his side had to claim a vital three points, especially with the sides below them closing the gap.
He said: “Very good result against a very good team, strong team. I felt we got our tactics right at the start. I thought that we could hurt them in behind, which proved the case with our two goals. We had to weather the storm a few times but I thought we limited them to not clear cut opportunities to things around the box, which was good. I thought we defended really well, worked really, really well as well.”
Tonbridge Angels lost both of their central defenders through injury with Jerrome Sobers going off with a groin/hamstring strain, while Sonny Miles was stretchered off due to his troublesome shoulder injury.
Luchford said: “I think Sobers is more hamstring, I think, than groin. He should be ok. I think he just needs a rest this week. I’d like to think he’ll be alright for Saturday. Sonny is at the hospital at the moment, we’ll find out. We always knew he’d need an operation at the end of the season, whether they can pop it back in and can play in the last few games, we’ll see.”
Luchford says Laurence Ball will step in and believes Sobers will be fit for the trip to Hendon on Saturday.
He said: “We’ll see what happens. Bally has bene there or there abouts all season. Every time he’s played he’s done well so if Bally has to come in alongside Jerrome then Bally comes in alongside Jerrome. We’ve got three centre halves for that reason. I don’t think necessarily it’s going to make much difference to us, just somebody else comes in and does a job.”
Tonbridge Angels supporters battled through travel chaos caused by Storm Kate overnight and Dulwich Hamlet opened the scoring with only two minutes and 32 seconds on the clock.
Tonbridge Angels were enjoying possession inside the Dulwich Hamlet half before right-back Mitchell Nelson released Jordan Hibbert down the left. He played the ball inside to Roman Micheal-Percil who cut the ball back across goal for Akinyemi to score from four-yards out.
It was a great start for the teenager’s home debut, in front of 1,434 fans at Champion Hill.
Rose was full of plaudits for his two-goal hero, saying, “He was excellent” he worked hard, he showed a lot of enthusiasm, he showed a lot of talent on the ball as well and obviously an eye for goal. His two finishes fell to him on the spot but he read the game really well and kept up the play and put himself in the right position.”
Rose added: “Roman done really well down the left-hand side and cut it back inside. I thought he was excellent as well for us today.”
Luchford added: “It’s just disappointing. Our ball retention first half just wasn’t good enough and both of their goals came from us in good possession, without any pressure on the ball and they’ve turned that into attack. We gave away the ball cheaply and they’ve scored two goals from it so from that way it’s disappointing.”
Clinical Dulwich Hamlet stormed into a 2-0 lead with their next attack, with nine minutes and 44 seconds on the clock.
Central midfielder Jack Dixon produced a sublime diagonal pass to find Nyren Clunis down the right wing. He was given time and space by Jack Parter to whip in a cross of high quality.
Akinyemi got in between Sobers and Miles and his free header was planted towards goal, keeper Anthony Di Bernardo produced a world-class block diving to his right to push the ball onto the post but Akinyemi stabbed home his third goal in two games.
Rose said: “We’ve had Nyren playing sometimes on the left and sometimes on the right this year but we’ve put him back on his usual position on the right and he’s assisted three goals in our last four which shows how dangerous he can be.”
When asked about his side’s two goal lead, Rose replied: “Very pleased. I thought we got our tactics right today and I felt we probably could’ve caught them again on the break today.”
Luchford was disappointed with the way his side conceded again.
He said: “We’ll probably need to look at the video and see what’s happened there because obviously the two centre halves are only really marking one player and he’s got in between them both. It’s a bit worrying when it comes back of the post and we’ve still not there helping Tony out and I can understand his frustration but yes it was just a terrible start first 10 minutes, it’s just killed us. At that point of course you’re worried, but you’re not overly worried because there’s still long to go. You know 2-0 every day of the week is a dangerous scoreline because if you get one invariably you can get another one so we weren’t overly worried at that point. It was more a case of just stay in the game, don’t concede a third obviously, stay in the game which we did.”
It should have been three when Kevin James released Clunis down the right, who cut inside and beat two Tonbridge defenders, all that was missing was the finish, blasting his shot high over the bar from inside the box, despite being put off by Sobers, who hurt himself in the process and received two lots of treatment before hobbling off.
Tonbridge Angels took 28 minutes to register their first attempt on target.
James Folkes was brought down as he cut towards the corner of the penalty area.
Allen stroked his right-footed free-kick towards goal from 25-yards, which was saved at the second attempt by Preston Edwards, who is on loan from Vanrama National League South leaders Ebbsfleet United.
Luchford admitted: “We didn’t really make any inroads first half. It was a fairly straight forward save, I think. He’s hit the target. It’s a start.”
Tonbridge Angels’ left-winger Nick Wheeler cut towards the by-line and was denied progress by a combination of Dulwich Hamlet defenders Nelson and Matt Drage, both sliding in at the near post.
Wheeler swung in the resulting corner which was headed wide by Tom Parkinson, who started in the middle of the park before slotting in beside substitute Ball at the heart of defence following Miles’ withdrawal.
Clunis found himself down the left and allowed the ball to run across onto his right-foot before drilling a low shot past the foot of the near post from 20-yards.
Dulwich Hamlet’s highly-rated central defender Ethan Pinnock kept Nathan Elder in his pocket for the vast majority of the game.
Wheeler floated in a free-kick from the left and Elder freed himself away from Pinnock to direct his downward header past the far post from the edge of the penalty area.
Rose said: “Ethan’s just on his way back, this was his third game in a short period and he’s still got a lot of fitness to catch up with so we know that he’ll get better for us and he’s a massive, massive presence really proud of his development.”
Edwards thwarted Tonbridge Angels a goal on the stroke of half-time.
Wheeler progressed down the left channel, before he rolled the ball back to Parter, who whipped in a first time cross into the penalty area. There was a crowd of players and Parkinson rose to loop his header towards the roof of the net, Edwards’ stretching out his arm to tip the ball over.
Rose said: “Definitely a very vital (save). We did sort of limit them to that sort of opportunity. We know Tonbridge are good in those areas and I think Preston was superb in terms how he kept goal today, especially that opportunity there.”
Luchford added: “We said at half-time the last five minutes of the half I think we put three or four crosses into the box and caused problems and we haven’t done that for 40 minutes so we knew we could get at them. We knew if we put crosses into the box Nathan’s got a chance and Parky’s got a chance.”
Both Rose and Luchford were asked their thoughts at the break.
Rose said: “It was very encouraging to tell them what they’ve been doing and how much effort they’ve put in, which was very good and we just tried to change things a little bit tactically so we didn’t fall too far back. All the boys in the main did quite well with that.”
Luchford said: “Just said we’ve got to keep the ball; we’ve got to keep the ball better; we’ve got to move the ball quicker; we’ve got to be a bit braver on the ball and we’ve got to look after the ball. We’re giving the ball away too frequently, too easily, too cheaply and that’s what we said at half-time, just be a bit braver on the ball and keep hold of the ball. It was pretty much us second half, apart from them on the counter. I don’t think Preston’s really made any major saves to make but we kept the ball better.”
Dulwich Hamlet created the first chance of the second half.
James swung in a corner from the right and Dixon arrived late and directed his stopping header across goal and past the left-hand post.
Dulwich Hamlet were to be denied a third on the break in the 55th minute, courtesy of some brave defending from Luke Blewden.
Wheeler whipped in a free-kick into the Dulwich Hamlet box from the right, the ball was headed away by James and Akinyemi collected the ball at his feet and raced 60-yards up field.
He played a sublime diagonal pass along the deck for Clunis, who took a touch and drilled a low angled drive which was parried by Di Bernardo, low to his right.
The ball ran loose to Akinyemi and the home fans expected the net to bulge, but Luke Blewden (who was kept quiet wide on the right) made a brilliant last-ditch block inside his penalty area.
Rose was full of praise for the desire shown by Blewden.
He said: “I think everyone knows that I’ve got a lot of admiration for the lad Blewden, he works so hard, he shows a great attitude and it’s probably no surprise that he was in there doing that for his team, so credit to him. I think Dipo probably saw the headlines because normally he would’ve attacked that ball and probably would’ve have given Blewden an opportunity.”
Luchford said: “To be honest that was the story of their game plan, not their game plan but their story of their game really because they broke on us three times, scored two and Blewey’s got back and got that one. It was a great block because at that point if that goes in, it’s all over. Fair play to Blewey, he’s got back and cleared the ball.”
James swept the ball out to Akinyemi down the right who cut inside and from a tight angle his low right-footed drive was saved by Di Bernardo at his near post.
But as Miles was stretched off from behind the goal in front of concerned visiting supporters, Tonbridge Angels pulled a goal back with 24:03 on the second half clock.
Substitute Tommy Whitnell played the ball inside to Allen, who swept the ball out to substitute winger Charlie Webster on the right. He played in Folkes on the overlap and the right-back reached the by-line and was running out of space. He dinked the ball inside to Webster, who cut the ball back towards the near post for the arriving Allen to sweep his shot into the bottom near corner.
“We got the goal but we couldn’t quite get the second,” said Luchford. Good goal, well-worked from Folksey and Charlie Webster who put in a good cross in and Luke’s done what he does best, arrives in the box late and scored. To be honest we felt we could get the equaliser at that point because we had plenty of time.”
Rose added: “I thought we didn’t defend that very well all the way. I thought there was tackles that should’ve been won and I thought Jordan Brown went to sleep. He let the guy on the right hand side play the ball through the gap and hurt us. I think he probably knows that and they finished it well but I thought we could’ve defended it a lot better.”
The impressive Akinyemi was released down the left and he cut inside and played the ball inside to Clunis, whose right-footed drive was parried by Di Bernardo low to his right before the Tonbridge keeper gobbled up the loose ball.
Luchford said: “He made a couple of decent saves down to his right, he did well. There were a couple of decent shots on target so he’s kept us in the game, not kept us in the game, you know what I mean, just kept us doing what we were doing.”
Dixon then released Clunis down the left and his right-footed dink shot bounced into the hands of the Tonbridge Angels keeper.
But Tonbridge Angels were to be denied the equaliser in the last seven minutes when the post came to Dulwich Hamlet’s rescue.
Parter advanced down the left and Allen and Whitnell linked up well down the left and Wheeler floated over a precise cross towards the far post for Elder to rise to glance his header against the far post from six-yards before Webster shot straight at Edwards from the rebound.
“Fine lines in football, if that goes in, do we get another chance? It wasn’t to be, it wasn’t to be,” admitted Luchford.
“We kept plugging away, we kept working hard and kept trying to get the ball wide. Charlie (Webster) made a difference when he came on. Nick Wheeler was putting balls in to the box. Jack Parter did a lot better second half and we kept probing but we couldn’t quite get it.”
Rose added: “We know that’s an area where they’re going to be really strong from a cross ball and Elder normally does well from that area and he was unlucky with that.”
Allen played the ball inside for Elder to stroke his first time drive flashing past the left-hand post from 24-yards as Tonbridge Angels pressed for an equaliser.
Luchford added: “I was saying at half-time, we’ve got that (comeback) in us. We’ve got a dressing room there that stands up and be counted and we did that second half and you can’t argue with that.”
Parter’s clearance out of the Angels box defence fell straight to Hibbert, who struck his first time drive past the post from 25-yards.
Dulwich Hamlet created the final chance of the game, as substitute left-winger Rhys Murrell-Willamson gave Folkes a headache with his pace and talent.
This time Nelson put over the cross from the left which was hooked on the turn by his former Margate team-mate Ryan Moss, the substitute striker bringing a comfortable catch from Di Bernardo.
Rose was delighted with the win, especially going into today’s game with one win in their last nine league outings.
He said: We’ve invariably done really well against the teams at the top of the season for some reason. It’s not a massive surprise that we got the points, because of the form that we’re in recently it’s a good win.”

Hampton & Richmond Borough lead the Ryman Premier League table with 85 points from 42 games (out of 46).

The four play-off places are now occupied by East Thurrock (81 points from 42 games), Tonbridge Angels (77 points from 42), Bognor Regis Town (76 points from 37) and Dulwich Hamlet (71 points from 41).

Four other clubs will be looking to snatch a play-off berth during the last month of the season.

They are Kingstonian (68 points from 39), Enfield Town (67 points from 41), Leiston (67 points from 42) and Billericay Town (65 points from 41).

Tonbridge Angels complete their campaign with games against Hendon (away), Billericay Town (home), Merstham (home) and Burgess Hill Town (away).

“It wasn’t our day today but we’ve got plenty to be positive above, we’ve got lots to think about this week,” said Luchford, who knows finishing second or third will give Tonbridge Angels a home play-off semi-final. We’ve just got to accumulate as many points as we can now. We’ve got 12 points to play for and we want to get as many points as we can. We want to finish as high as we possibly can and we want to be at home if we can for the play-offs. It’s important now if we can get two wins out of those four games I think that will pretty much give us a play-off spot and then not worry about anyone around is but just concentrate getting as high as we can and see if we can get a home draw. Of course you always wanted to be at home right because it’s your fans. We can get 1000-1500 people through the gate and if we’ve got a chance of getting a home draw then great.”
Dulwich Hamlet meanwhile host Bognor Regis Town on Saturday, before completing their campaign against Leiston (away), Brentwood Town (away), Lewes (home) and Needham Market (away).
Looking ahead to the clash against Bognor Regis Town on Saturday, Rose said: “We seem to play them at this time of the year, it’s always for big points at stake so nothing changes. I think we’re quite used to that over the years. We know they’re a very good team. If they win their points they could probably win the league, so they’ve got a lot to play for but also we have a lot to play for so it will be a really good game. After that, tough games with teams that have got something to play for so they’re tough games for us but the work rate that we’ve put in today and if we can match that up, it will always give us a chance.”
When asked about the possibility of facing Tonbridge Angels in the play-offs, the Hamlet boss replied: “I think these will change or will change in terms of where everyone will finish up. I think Tonbridge will try to win as many games as they can - and we will - so you never now. I think other teams will probably have a say in what happens as well. I’m not looking that far forward. I’m just trying to see if we can win the next game and see where that takes us.”

On Thursday last the weekly ‘Southwark News’ concentrated on that Tonbridge victory:

DIPO STRIKES DOWN ANGELS

A quick fire double from new Hamlet frontman Dipo Akinyemi downed promotion rivals Tonbridge Angels in a critical Easter Monday encounter.
The striker has netted three goals in his first two Dulwich games having also scored in the 2-2 draw at Enfield Town last Saturday.
On Monday Akinyemi scored twice in the first ten minutes to put the Angels on the back foot. Luke Allen pulled a goal back twenty minutes from time for the visitors but Hamlet held on for a crucial win.
At the weekend Dulwich showed great fight to pick up a point away at Enfield, another promotion rival, despite having defender Matt Drage sent off just half an hour into the contest.
Jack Dixon opened the scoring against the north London side only for Mark Kirby to level things up minutes into the second half.
Despite this Akinyemi netted his first goal in the Pink and Blue jersey only for Corey Whiteley to equalise again nine minutes from time.
The two battling displays came on the back of a horror show against Tooting and Mitcham last Tuesday, where Hamlet lost a London Cup semi-final 3-0 against their fiercest rivals, which led manager Gavin Rose to bring in three new faces.
In addition to Akinyemi, who joins on loan from Stevenage, Rose has recruited Roman Mihael-Percil from Met Police and Kenny Beaney, his second stint at Champion Hill, from Grays Athletic.
After Monday’s action Dulwich occupy the final play-off spot in the Ryman Premier League, three points ahead of Kingstonian, who have two games in hand on Dulwich.
This Saturday Dulwich face Bognor Regis Town, another side in the play-off mix, at Champion Hill, a 3pm kick off.

Finally, to Friday’s weekend copy of the ‘South London Press’, which concentrated on our new red-hot goalscorer:

Hamlet option on hit loanee

Dipo Akinyemi has made s blistering start to his Dulwich Hamlet loan-and will be able to extend his stay if the club reach the play-offs.
The Stevenage striker, 18, hit a quick-fire brace in Easter Monday’s crucial win against Tonbridge Angels in the Ryman Premier Divison.
Akinyemi also scored on his debut on Saturday, a 2-2 draw at Enfield Town. Jack Dixon netted as Hamlet secured a point despite centre-back Matt Drage’s 30th minute dismissal.
Dulwich boss Gavin Rose has shaken up his squad as their top-five hopes had slipped in recent weeks-also snapping up attacking midfielder Roman Michael-Percil from the Met Police and Grays captain Kevin Beaney.
Dean McDonald and Albert Jarrett have been released.
Stevenage head of recruitment Leon Hunter had circulated Akinyemi’s availability. Rose said: “I gave Leon a call. After a quick conversation they made sure we got the deal done straight away. It was really straighforward. We didn’t expect Dipo to hit the ground running in terms of scoring. The main thing you are looking for is just his performance level. Being a professional you expect him to be fit, strong and anticipate things. His three goals have almost been tap-ins, but he reads the game well and kept up with play. He has also got the ability to make goals for himself. The deal is until the end of the season. We have the provision to extend it into the play-offs- if we are lucky enough to get there. We’ve not had a goalscorer who will get us the 25 goals we need-you can’t compete to win the league without one. All the other teams have that. We have given all of our forwards a good run. Dipo is athletic and willing to run, which we needed.”
Michael-Percil used to be on Tottenham’s books and has previously featured for Billericay Town, Farnborough and Met Police.
“He is a wide player who can play down both sides and as a number 10,” said Rose. “He is a very, very good player-the sort I’ve always tried to recruit to the club. The main thing that has struck me so far is he’s very humble and willing to listen and learn.”
Beaney was at Dulwich before joining Fisher Athletic in 2007.
But Grays have allowed a clutch of key men to leave of late. Rose said: “I think they have looked at it and thought they are not going to get in the play-offs. It’s probably a bit of an early decision-because they are still capable of getting in there. Their manager did really well with the squad he built but it has got decimated. We were aware of Kenny’s possible availability and quickly got the deal done. We had him in our academy when he was 16. He is very experienced now. He is passionate and a winner.”
Rose has balanced his squad with McDonald and Jarrett heading out of the Champion Hill exit door. He added: “Both are good players but what we needed was more goals and end product from the pair. Their efforts were really appreciated but we felt we might be able to get younger lads in on less money and possibly produce more. Dean and Albert weren’t the only ones. We’ve still got existing ones that have underperformed. But there is still ife left for them, an opportunity to turn things around.”
Ashley Carew (hamstring) could be back for tomorrow’s home game against fourth-placed Bognor Regis Town. Beaney arrived with a slight knock but should be available. Damian Scannell (groin) is closing on a return.
Dulwich are fifth in the league and occupy the final play-off berth but Kingstonian, three points behind, have two matches in hand. “It is still within our hands-if we win our games,” said Rose. The league has sort of shown that most teams, including ourselves, haven’t had a run of consistency. If you change that around at this time of year then I’d be optimistic of making the play-offs. We’ve just got to concentrate on what we do. We have invariably always been there or thereabouts in playing for something at the end of a season. But only time will tell.”