News broken in the local press over the last two days, of two players leaving Champion Hill with another coming in...& more!

Earlier this week the Tuesday midweek edition of the 'South London Press' had very little to report, as The Hamlet had no game last weekend:

"Dulwich Hamlet had a free weekend with scheduled opponents Whitstable Town involved in FA Trophy action."

This was in the middle of their non-league column, which led with the headline: Boss blasts Terrors after Trophy KO, which was referring to another poor performance form our arch-rivals Tooting & Mitcham United.

Yesterday, in the weekly edition of the 'Southwark News' came the scoop that two of our First Team were leaving the Club:

HAMLET RELEASE FRANCIS & WILSON-DENNIS

Dulwich Hamlet have released midfielder Vernon Francis and striker Carl Wilson-Dennis as manager Gavin Rose seeks to get his side back on a title charge.

A break in fixtures for the Champion Hill side last weekend gave Rose time to reassess the make-up of his small squad, and the two experienced members paid the price.

However the Dulwich gaffer was keen to point out it was money and not performance that forced his hand.

He told the News: "Both are hardworking and professional and it is more a reflection of the budget we are working under as to why they have gone. We took something of a gamble in having a small experienced squad at the start of the season, we have had to look at it again, and the boys have had to be let go. We are out of the FA Cup and Trophy and have a long hard league campaign; some of the other younger lads may have to come off the payroll as well now."

Rose also revealed ex-Hamlet defender Ryan James is re-joining the club having had spells at Oxford United and Whitehawk in recent years.

The Hamlet manager added that he would also be promoting from within to bolster the first eleven, particularly as the reserve team have started so strongly.

He added, "We have had the break and we have emphasised a few things to the boys but I don't want to be too overly critical at this stage of the season. They are a small squad but are honest boys who are giving their best for the club and I am sure they will come through."

The theme of the two departures was continued in the weekend copy of the 'South London Press' today & was the main feature on the non-league page:

Dulwich release two who end up training with Tooting

DUO HAD TO LEAVE

Dulwich Hamlet have had to release two of their biggest players because their season has not panned out as manager Gavin Rose had hoped.

The Champion Hill outfit fell just short of winning the title last season and there were hopes they would mount an early challenge for the automatic promotion in Ryman Division One South. But a couple of league defeats, against Crawley Down and Sittingbourne, have caused a blip and being knocked out of the FA Cup two weeks ago was a blow to club finances. So former Brighton striker Carl Wilson-Dennis and ex-Swindon central midfielder Vernon Francis have left this week. And manager Gavin Rose said: "It was just an unfortunate circumstance as we haven't got off to as good a start as we'd hoped. We were banking on an FA Cup run, which was unfortunately halted at Arlesey. So the finances mean we're not able to keep those two on any longer. It is a real shame. But we are now just going to have to rely on some of the younger lads in the youth team to add some competition to the squad. You have got to concentrate on what you have got rather than what you haven't got, so that now has to be our focus. But they worked very hard for the team, and had loads of experience that they were able to pass on to the non-league boys. They were at the higher end of the budget and when things aren't going your way something has got to give, so unfortunately, we had to release them. They both dealt with it well. They understand the position we are in and that things could have gone better for us. But that's football. They have both been around long enough to know how it works and I’m sure they will both find other clubs by the end of the season and we will help them out if we can. We are obviously going to try and replace them but haven't got the same money to pay the new players so we are going to have to do that more carefully. Maybe it will be a case of not looking for a sure, quick fix but introducing one or two young lads who have the potential to replace these two."

Hamlet host Folkestone Invicta tomorrow hoping to move back into the play-off places with a win against the leaders. "We had some really good games against Folkestone over the years, the last one being the play-off semi-final at our place which we won 3-1 in the end," said Rose.

"But it was a very tight game and I expect this to be pretty tight too. They are doing really well in the league and I'd expect them to be there or thereabouts at the end of the season because they are a strong and very experienced set of players"

The column continued with news from the other local outfits, & mentioned:

Francis and Wilson-Dennis trained with Tooting and Mitcham on Tuesday but boss Roberto Forzoni has not yet decided whether they can be incorporated into the squad.