Entertaining game sees the Hamlet run out 5-2 winners over Rusthall

The Hamlet U18s have reached the First Qualifying Round of the 2022-23 FA Youth Cup following a 5-2 victory over Rusthall in the Preliminary Round on Wednesday.

Forward Benjamin Wetshi was the star of the show, netting a first-half hat-trick, and looks like a very exciting prospect for the future.

Since Gavin Rose and Junior Kadi arrived at the club in 2009, the club had managed to reach at least Round One an impressive seven times, the most recent coming in 2019-20, and this year's crop of youngsters are now three wins away from repeating that feat.

Both sides showed the confidence of youth early on, with some nice passes on display, but chances were at a relative premium, Bailee Cain glancing a header wide in the seventh minute the closest either side came to scoring in the opening exchanges. Wetshi was also booked for simulation for trying to win a penalty, referee Harry Yellen quickly brandishing the card to the young forward. At the other end, our keeper Kacper Orlowski, highly-rated by Junior Kadi, showed great awareness and composure to dive at the feet of Rusthall forward Nathan Kirkby as he looked to score.

Wetshi was the architect of most of the Hamlet attacks, producing tricks, turns and acceleration in abundance, and he would earn the Hamlet the chance to take the lead in the 25th minute. After a lengthy attack, which saw four Hamlet shots blocked by Rustic defenders, the forward went down again in the box and this time earned the spotkick. He stepped up and emphatically smashed his effort into the right hand corner, with Jack Glassborrow nowhere near it. What looked like a trademark celebration followed in front of the 144 people inside the ground.

It could have been curtains for Wetshi before the half-hour mark, as a late challenge from him earned a very stern talking to by Mr Yellen, on another day he could easily have received his marching orders and captain Trevay Anderson was warned that his teammate was on thin ice. Anderson himself was soon booked, with the hosts at times too eager in the challenge.

However they would go on to flex their muscles in the final 11 minutes of the half, adding three more goals before the interval. A chipped ball into the left side of the area by Tyrese Simpson-Knight saw Cain and Wetshi initially going for the same ball, but the latter left possession for Cain. He looked up and saw the run of Kofi Broni on the far side of the box, crossing to his teammate, who volleyed the ball back across goal for Wetshi to sweep home inside the far post.

Three minutes later and it was 3-0. An inswinging corner was met on the full by Chadd Yassin-Sheriff, and although his shot was blocked, Broni was on hand to score the rebound from close range. Barely sixty seconds after that third, Rusthall skipper Zead Elwerfally was shown a straight red for a late lunge on Broni, harsh in the way that Wetshi could so easily have been dismissed already, but although Kads sympathised, he felt the referee had made the right call.

To add further insult, the eleven men went on to score the fourth in the 42nd minute, with Wetshi completing a 17 minute hat-trick. Again it was from the penalty spot, and again he was the player who earned it, brought down by Glassborrow as he looked to round him. This time he went high to the goalkeeper's left, and was celebrating his treble.

Understandably, the game quietened down somewhat after the interval, with the sting being taken out of the game in the final exchanges of the first half, and the Hamlet could make all three changes in a six minute spell just shy of the hour mark, with Anderson, Ebrahima Camara Jarju and Wetshi all being replaced. Anderson's replacement, Philemon Marcos, earned a yellow within three minutes of coming on, which would cost him later in the game.

Rusthall pulled one goal back after 61 minutes, as Jack Lyons, who had been excellent with his set pieces all evening, whipped a free kick from the right wing into the far corner on the bounce, with Orlowski well-beaten. It was a very popular goal in the stands from the travelling support.

This ignited the Hamlet attack once again and the four goal lead was restored four minutes later. Cain produced a brilliant turn of pace to break down the right wing, and drawing the keeper, curled an effort beyond him into the far corner for a tremendous solo effort. However, straight from the kickoff it was 5-2, with Lyons getting on the scoresheet once more, again finding the far corner with his left foot.

After Broni was denied a second by a smart Glassborrow save, Marcos received his marching orders for a second yellow, pulling a player back, and was naturally upset at having to leave the field, coming up for a chat with Kads in the director's area, where the first team assistant manager was watching proceedings from.

A late save from Orlowski prevented the deficit from being further reduced, and in the end it was a comfortable ending to the game for the Hamlet as they progress to the First Qualifying Round, credit must go to the visitors from Kent for the way they continued to seek a way back into the game in the second half despite the mountain they had to climb.

We will now play Cray Wanderers away from home in the First Qualifying Round, with the game taking place in the week commencing Monday 12th September.

Dulwich Hamlet Line-Up: 13 Kacper Orlowski, 2 Lorenzo Perdo, 3 Tyrese Simpson-Knight, 4 Trevay Anderson (c) (15 Philemon Marcos 54'), 6 Chadd Yassin-Sheriff, 7 Ebrahima Camara Jarju (19 Amal Mujuzi 58'), 8 Brajan Kacprzak, 9 Bailee Cain, 10 Kofi Broni, 11 Benjamin Wetshi (16 Asad Hussein Mohamed 60'), 17 Temi Ade-Ojo

Unused Substitutes: 5 Oliver Sheppard, 12 Jack Watts, 14 Nader Mortada, 20 Ruebuan Zamorano

Goalscorers: Benjamin Wetshi 25' (pen), 34', 42' (pen), Kofi Broni 37', Bailee Cain 65'

Yellow Cards: Benjamin Wetshi 10', Trevay Anderson 32', Philemon Marcos 57', Brajan Kacprzak 64', Temi Ade-Ojo 90+1

Red Card: Philemon Marcos 77'

Rusthall Line-Up: 1 Jack Glassborrow, 2 Joseph Brum, 4 Harry Palmer, 5 Anthony Mepham (20 Charlie Mayo 52'), 6 Toby Crampton, 7 Yukai Eheng, 10 Nathan Kirkby (55 Ben Williams 62'), 11 Jack Lyons, 12 Austin Kent, 24 Hayden Marshall (3 Kris Mahinou 67'), 25 Zead Elwerfally (c)

Goalscorer: Jack Lyons 61', 66'

Yellow Card: Harry Palmer 87'

Red Card: Zead Elwerfally 38'

Referee: Harry Yellen
Assistant Referees: Shae James & Joshua Price
Attendance: 144