TONIGHT’S MATCH PREVIEW – MERSTHAM (AWAY) KO 7.45 PM

Opportunity awaits for Dulwich Hamlet to open up daylight on the chasing playoff pack as they look for a win at the Moatside tonight.

With Gavin Rose’s men moving up to 4th spot after Saturday’s 3-1 home win over Lowestoft Town, victory away to Merstham in their game in hand tonight would widen the gap to 5th placed Enfield Town to 5 points with just three games to play and just a further 9 points up for grabs before season’s end. Take the three points and there is the potential for Dulwich to overleap fellow playoff chasers Leiston, themselves playing catch-up this evening at home to 16th place Harrow Borough, into 3rd spot, a position that would guarantee a home tie in the playoff semi-finals.

However, Merstham will be just as keen to clinch the points to guarantee their own security at the other end of the table with relegation still a lingering threat despite picking up some key results in recent weeks to lift themselves away from the drop zone. Add to the mix the added spice of a 5-0 humbling for the Moatsiders at Champion Hill exactly one month ago along with a squad, the bulk of which is composed of former pupils of the Gavin Rose School of Football and it is easy to see that Merstham will only be too keen to prick Dulwich’s bubble this evening.

Turning the clock back to Saturday March 11th when the clubs clashed at Champion Hill in front of a crowd of 1564, the Hamlet were in scintillating form as the Moatsiders crumbled before them. The opening exchanges saw Dulwich crank up the pressure, forcing a number of early corners and making ‘keeper Josh Smith earn his corn before Nathan Green smashed the opening goal home after just ten minutes. Gavin Tomlin added a second on 24 minutes as Smith could open parry Sanchez Ming’s low right wing cross into his path for the simplest of finishes; the forward doubling his tally before the break with an exquisite freekick arrowed into the top corner. Gavin Tomlin was denied a hattrick after Dipo Akinyemi touched in a goalbound shot from an offside position but the big striker made amends when he powered home a header from Tomlin’s cross to make it 4-0. The best was yet to come as substitute Panutche Camara scored number five, a balletic turn leaving his marker for dead and a low shot from 15 yards out giving Smith not a chance.

Defeat that afternoon dropped Merstham into the bottom four for the first time since the last days of August but comfort came the form of games in hand of their fellow strugglers, the backlog a result of their stupendous run in the Emirates FA Cup when, for a brief moment, the Surrey side came under the microscope of the sporting media. Though that distant dream might have been replacement by the impending nightmare of a drop back into Ryman South, the Moatsiders got to a solid start in their mission to raze the relegation menace. Just three days after their Champion Hill capitulation, the side found themselves trailing to a Met Police squad, much rejuvenated after seemingly a shoe in for the trapdoor exit early doors. However, Merstham found a hero of the half hour as Dan Bennett bagged a brace after the break to secure victory and get Moatside buzzing for the six-pointer at home to Canvey Island, themselves haunted by the drop but playing like men untiring in their struggle to escape the hangman’s noose. A fatal blow for the Moatsiders came early as former Dulwich Hamlet defender Marc-Anthony Okoye picked up two quick caution and headed for an early bath. The Islanders took swift advantage taking the lead through Frankie Merrifield just moment after Okoye took the walk of shame. With George Sykes and Merrifield adding further second half goal it was back to square one when the Moatsiders for the return contest with the Met at Imber Court. Having clinched a place in the Surrey Senior Cup for the straight year with a 3-2 win over Ryman championship chasing Dorking Wanderers in midweek, Hayden Bird’s team was on a high and that confidence carried through as Tommy Kavanagh’s early goal provided the foundation for an important 2-0 win, Omar Folkes adding the second.

After Alex Addai had put them ahead at home to Worthing the following Saturday, heads were up but with Will Hendon and Kane Wills, courtesy of a stunning 30-yard dipping volley over the head of Smith, turning the game for the Mackerel Men it was back to square one (again) as Merstham faced back-to-back games against Suffolk sides. First up was Lowestoft, the Trawler Boys becalmed in midtable, too wide a gap to gate-crash the playoffs, long secure from any threat of the drop. Not one for the purists but the result went the way of the Moatsiders, the only goal coming early in the second half moments after the visitors had been denied by Smith. A quick counterattack ended with Omar Folkes drilling home the matchwinner on an afternoon when earnest endeavour counted for much more than artistic impression. Three days later and Leiston made the long journey down from East Anglia, arriving at the Moatside in third spot but on the back of double defeats that had seen faint title dreams dissipate. The first 45 minutes was played at a pell-mell pace, caution surrendered to the winds and opportunities galore, yet despite both sides’ attacking ambitions were thwarted at the final stage leaving the game scoreless at the break. That all changed in five madcap minutes at the start of the second half. Five minutes after the interval Alex Addai spotted Blues’ ‘keeper Ashlee Jones going walkabout from his goal line, Addai’s outrageous effort from fully 30 yards out drifting over the stranded custodian and into the net. Leiston retaliated almost immediately as Seb Dunbar’s pass dissected the home defence and Nico Muir, coolness personified, ran through to finish. The teams would not remain level for long though as Tom Merchant pounced on the ball in the box to curl one beyond Jones. The game maintained its high tempo with Smith and Jones in irresistible form to keep the strikers at bay. However, fate struck a blow for the hosts when Smith injured his back in preventing a goal and had to be pulled off by the manager. Simon Cooper took over between the sticks but rather than the stand-in at one end it was the regular number one at the other end who was by far the busier. The only sour note on an entertaining evening was the dismissal of Merstham’s Ibrahim Fofana for second yellow at the start of stoppage time. Fofana had already been shown a yellow after an earlier mass mêlée but the hosts survived an interminable seven minutes of stoppage time to pick up the three points as Leiston began to look a little more nervously over their shoulders at the gathering pack on their tail.

Playing the fourth of a five-game home residency last Saturday, the Moatsiders welcomed Wingate & Finchley, yet another of the playoff pretenders. Victory would almost certainly have made Ryman Premier football a certainty next season but with the North London side in the ascendancy from the start it was never to be. It took just eight minutes for the Blues to open the scoring as gargantuan central defender stooped low to nod a corner past ‘keeper Yannick Makiese, understudying for the crocked Smith. Makiese was by far the busier of the ‘keepers on afternoon when the football was more one sided than a debate with a dead sheep. A second goal came from the boot of Luke Ifil with 21 remaining, exacting a precise drive from the edge of the area that buried itself in the bottom corner. Defeat coupled with results elsewhere meant Merstham clung on to 14th spot with the gap back to the relegation zone and Kingstonian five points. Barring mass resurrections amongst those staving off doom, the Moatsiders should be safe but….

Tonight’s Ryman League Premier Division game takes place at The Moatside Stadium, Weldon Way, Merstham, Surrey RH1 3QB kicking off at 7.45pm

Admission Prices:

• Adults - £12.00
• Concessions - £6.00 (Over 60, Registered Disabled, Student Card Holders)
• Children 16 and under - FREE
• Disabled Toilet and Baby Changing facilities are located inside the ground.