Two games into the new season we take a peek at our opposition websites to see how their take on our encounters

First of all we have the match report from the official Lowestoft Town website:

Lowestoft have a bad day at the office, kicking off the new season with a 2-0 defeat away to Dulwich Hamlet.

The team and supporters arrived at a lovely looking ground with the sun shining but with a handful of players having arguably their worst games for Lowestoft, it was a day to forget.

The match got underway with Lowestoft setting up with Gleeson in front of the back four in a 4-1-4-1 formation.
Lowestoft came out of the blocks quick and if not for an offside flag, Henderson would have opened the scoring after latching onto a lovely slide pass from Eagle.
Just a few minutes later though Lowestoft were presented the chance of getting an early lead with Henderson brushing the defence off well before being shoved to the ground by Okoye for a clear penalty. The cool figure of Gleeson stepped up but with a weakly placed effort to the left the keeper easily saved and a great chance was wasted for Lowestoft.
Lowestoft were looking comfortable though with Henderson not sticking to the left all the time and coming inside to cause early issues for Dulwich. Lowestoft were using the width of the pitch, stretching the game and passing well.
Jack Ainsley came close with a couple of chances; stretching but not able to get enough on the first effort to beat the keeper and then following that with another effort but not quite getting enough bend on a shot to trouble the keeper.
Lowestoft had looked comfortable in the first twenty minutes but with Dulwich starting to see possession and the Lowestoft defence looking on edge, the game changed.
Gleeson looked like he was still thinking over his penalty miss when confronted by Oztumer and with the small but well balanced midfielder getting the best of him he threaded a ball into the Lowestoft defence for one of his fellow players. Jones was alert though and got down bravely to stop the effort on goal but he could do nothing about the ball finding its way across the box and to Green in front of goal, to tap home and send Dulwich 1-0 ahead (25 mins). Dulwich were now looking quick on the ball, confident and hungry with Lowestoft disjointed and distinctly second best.
Dulwich nearly doubled their lead with some good work on the right by Lodge and a great ball in to find Green but Jones produced a fantastic fingertip save for Lowestoft to tip over the bar.
Williams was getting forward a lot down the right for Lowestoft but the team as a whole had been knocked out of their stride and with R James having the upper hand at left back against Lee Smith and Crook commanding the middle, Lowestoft looked like they needed halftime. With halftime approaching though things nearly got worse for Lowestoft, as a free-kick was sent forward by Dulwich and with the Lowestoft defence standing still Ottaway got a shot away, only to be denied by a super save from Jones.

Dulwich made a change during the break with Adeniyi replacing Okoye, as Lowestoft looked to start the half in the sane style that had started the first.
Jack Ainsley worked his way into the Dulwich area early on but keeper Wilson was down well, with his follow up only finding the side netting.
Lowestoft were then dealt a helping hand by Dulwich goalscorer Green, lashing out after a tackle with a punch to the stomach of Fisk and receiving a straight red from the referee with just under ten minutes of the second period gone.
Dulwich were not phased though and went right up the other end, forcing Crane into a great tackle to block an effort from close in.
The game was getting a bit niggly, stopping and starting regularly but with Lee Smith showing some great work in the corner he found Henderson, who worked a shot away close in but was denied by the keeper, who's save saw the ball behind.
It was looking like one of those days for Lowestoft with some below par performances dotted around the team and with Haynes-Brown having to be helped off injured and replaced by Okay in the 71st minute, things were looking ominous. At the same time Lowestoft introduced Woods-Garness for Gaughran, as they tried to manufacture a leveller in the match.
During the Lowestoft changes Dulwich also made a change with Ottaway replaced by Walker and with his first sighting of the ball he got round the back of the Lowestoft defence and with Crane coming across and hauling him down it was the turn of Dulwich from the penalty spot. Up stepped Oztumer and hammered the ball hard and low to the right of Jones for 2-0 and to leave Lowestoft in big trouble (73 mins).
Lowestoft were looking second best but a glimmer of hope appeared as Woods-Garness stole into the box but Wilson saved to deny him and Lowestoft any hope.
Frew came on for Fisk and Henderson sent a glancing header wide from an Eagle free-kick towards the end but the Dulwich goal stayed intact until the final whistle.

The result was a fair one and even though Dulwich Hamlet had not pulled up any trees, Lowestoft were out of sorts and with the defence and a few players having their worst game for some time, Tuesday can't come soon enough to bounce back.

For Dulwich, Crook and Oztumer stood out. While for Lowestoft, Eagle was the only outfield player to trouble Dulwich and the Man of the Match Ashlee Jones made a couple of very good saves to keep the Trawlerboys in it.

I caught up with today's Man of the Match Ashlee Jones for a brief chat after the game:-
Not really the start to the season you were looking for, as we seemed to play well for the first twenty minutes but then lost our way a bit? "Yeah, I think we played well in the first twenty minutes and if we'd have taken a few of our chances I think they would have crumbled to be honest. They got their tales up early on and kept on working harder than us".
Was it tough out there with the really hot weather also? "It was very hot and probably the hottest day we've played lately and it takes some getting used to. We've got so much more and the players believe in themselves and so do the management, so we will turn this around next game".
On a personal front you must be happy, as you pulled off a couple of really good saves today? "Obviously I'm happy but if I lose there's no point really. I'm happy with my performance though and it's a good way to start".

Following on, here is what Hendon had to say about our win there on Monday evening, again from their official website:

Hendon suffered their first defeat of the season when they were hammered 2-1 by Dulwich Hamlet.

If that sounds like a strange description, as much as the Greens' 4-0 win at Thamesmead on the opening day was flattering, well this 2-1 reverse was even more so. Hamlet could, and probably should, have won by at least four clear goals and only conceded in the third minute of added time.

An injury to Tony Taggart meant that Aaron Morgan came in for him, while a tactical switch saw Anthony Thomas replace Dave Diedhiou in the starting line-up. Manager Gary McCann wanted a more offensive line-up and was confident that his midfielders would dominate affairs.

It never happened. Almost from the kick-off Dulwich's young guns hassled and harried the Hendon midfield, resulting in misplaced passes and lost possession. From this position, Hamlet launched raid after raid on the Hendon rearguard.

Chris Seeby and Jack Bennett out wide were pinned back by Jerome Walker and Ellis Green, and centrally, Carl McCluskey and Michael Duberry were at full stretch to deal with Harry Ottoway and Kevin James, while Erhun Oztumer, being watched by a number of scouts, pulled all the strings.

It was something of a surprise that it took 20 minutes for the opening goal to arrive. A raid down the Dulwich left flank was allowed to develop and no defender got close to Ottaway, who turned and fired into the bottom corner, beyond the vain dive of Berkley Laurencin.

The only times Hendon got forward, the wrong option was taken, so a lot of the good work by Morgan and Jefferson Louis fizzled out. And it might have been an idea if a couple of players had taken responsibility for shooting rather than trying to pass the ball.

Hamlet suffered a blow just past he half-hour mark when Walker limped off to be replaced by Dean Lodge, a tormentor of Hendon in the past when he was at Kingstonian. And Lodge continued in that vein providing danger down the flanks.

Two minutes after he came on, the Hendon defence again failed to deal with a ball into the penalty area and Ottaway rolled the ball into the net from close range. It was no more than Dulwich deserved and the Hendon reaction was to make two half-time changes, Diedhiou and Michael Kalu coming on for Thomas and Dean Cracknell.

Dulwich continued to set the pace during the second half, though Hendon certainly did enjoy more possession and territory, if not particularly close to Phil Wilson#s goal. The goalkeeper was not called on to make a save until stoppage time, the only Hendon efforts missing the target, some admittedly narrowly but wide nonetheless.

At the other end, Laurencin produced a couple of good saves and two or three good chances were also spurned, to say nothing of crosses fizzing across the face of the Hendon goal without a Dulwich foot to divert the ball into the net.

George Bowerman took over from Bennett, while Dulwich made their final two changes with Paul Vines replacing goalscoring hero Ottaway and Ethan Pinnock coming on for Kevin James.

When Hendon did finally get towards the danger area, Peter Adeniyi and Lewis Gonsalves dealt with almost everything while Ahmed Deen and Mathieu Boyer ensured there was little danger from the flanks. Seeby did get in a couple of dangerous crosses, but no Hendon head could get onto them.

The game was already deep into stoppage time when the Greens were given a lifeline. A shot was parried by a Dulwich defender and appeals for handball were turned down. However, another shot followed seconds later, as did another appeal and - without any recourse to DRS - the referee pointed to the penalty spot.

He had seen the ball blocked by a Dulwich arm, raised above his head, and that was good enough for the official to give the decision. Louis stepped up to take the kick and made no mistake.

Any hopes of a miraculous comeback being achieved were quickly dashed as Dulwich took possession of the ball and won a corner and free-kick around the Hendon penalty area before the final whistle blew.

Mention must be made of the outstanding support given to the visitors by around 70 fans, who say loudly and cheered their team on for almost all of the 90 minutes.

"We lacked in energy and tempo," McCann admitted after the game. "We couldn't come to terms with their passing game.

"The scoreline on Saturday rather flattered us and I don’t think we played that well, as I said to the players. Tonight the result also flattered us because Dulwich outplayed us. They reminded me of where we were a few years ago - full of energy and effort - and we didn't match them.

"I thought our midfield three could cope with the Dulwich midfield but we didn't. In fact, I was disappointed with a few of our players tonight.

"I expect much better on Saturday. That said, we are still a bit of a work in progress and we will get better."

Report by David Ballheimer: Not to be reproduced without prior permission.

(Thank you to David Ballheimer, Press Officer, Hendon Football Club, for giving us permission to use his report here)