bromvdulw261203

Thursday 01st September 2005

Falana's equaliser proves priceless in Boxing Day cracker

Bromley 2-2 Dulwich Hamlet

Ryman League Division One South

Boxing Day, Friday 26 December 2003

Stephen McCartney reports from The Clive Christian Stadium

Wade Falana proved why he is such a fans favourite at Hayes Lane.

Replacing Mark Hammond (dead leg) after only twenty one minutes, Falana, who is playing for no financial reward, popped up to give Bromley an 83rd minute deserved equaliser in front of Bromley's highest crowd of the season, against local rivals, and third placed Dulwich Hamlet.

After returning to Hayes Lane following five months at AFC Wimbledon, Falana praised the Bromley faithful for their support.

He said: It's a game you want to play in. You want to play in the big games, and they don't come any bigger than against Dulwich Hamlet on Boxing Day.

"It was great to come on, I got a great reception from the Bromley supporters, and I really thank them for that. They really give me some great support here, they really do get behind me."

Bromley started the game brightly, with the wind against them in the first half, but their former striker, Charley Side had the best opportunity to break the deadlock after eleven minutes.

Teenager Russell Bedford threaded a through ball that took Bromley skipper Danny Smith out of the game. With only Bromley goalkeeper Danny Harwood to beat, Side lashed the shot high and wide off target from 20 yards.

The Bromley faithful got behind their team throughout the game and they saw Hamlet go close again after 21 minutes but Alex O'Brien's free kick clipped wide of the far post from the left hand side.

Falana flicked the ball into Adolph Amoako's path and with his back to goal was held back by Danny Akrwright. The Hayes Lane crowd roared for a red card for the last Dulwich defender, but referee Mr M John must have given all his cards before Christmas, and showed only a yellow card instead of red.

Dulwich midfielder, Francis Quarm drifted a 20 yard shot over Harwood's bar following prolific goalscorer Omari Coleman had a sniff at goal firing a shot narrowly wide of the left upright, his shot taking a deflection.

Bromley created some useful chances in an eight minute spell before the break.

Steve Potterill's cross found Falana on the by-line and Scott Ward made a brave high save at the near post. This was followed by another Potterilll cross that was agonisingly close to finding Amoako who stuck out a leg inside the penalty area.

Danny Smith's cross was headed down and well wide by Falana before Ward was tested by Bromley defender, Mark Willy following Michael Harney's corner kick.

But the game came to life in the second half and following new manager's Alan Walker's half time talk, Bromley were awarded a penalty kick after the ball bounced up and struck Justin Bowen's hand inside the penalty area.

Scott Ward, however, produced a brilliant save diving to his left to push Amoako's right footed spot kick onto the right upright and out to safety.

But the Assistant Referee over the far side flagged and the referee gave Amaoko a second bite of the cherry to the disgust of the visiting players which resulted in a yellow card for David Moore as Ward was penalised for moving too early.

Once calm was restored, Amoako went the opposite direction, firing low into the bottom left hand corner of the net to give the Ravens a 49th minute lead and to score his 12th goal of the season.

Dulwich responded with the smallest player on the pitch, Side, rising high to narrowly head wide of the left post and Coleman fired wide of the near post following a pacey run down the left just before the hour mark.

Bowen headed home from close range what he thought was the equaliser after 63 minutes and as the players celebrating the flag was already raised and the referee blew his whistle to distinguish the celebrations and ruled the goal out.

But once again, Side who always nets against his former club, showed his class and levelled for Hamlet only two minutes after Bowen's disappointment.

Side muscled his way past Joe Vines and calmly despatched the shot low to Harwood's right to find the corner of the net from 16 yards.

The equaliser silenced the vocal home faithful before Ward produced two world class saves in a space of a minute.

Amoako had beaten the Hamlet defence and with only Ward to beat the goalkeeper stretched high to his left to block the shot.

Ward then produced the save of the match a minute later. Bromley midfielder, John Wilfort unleashed a fierce shot from 20 yards and must have thought he had scored, but Ward dived to his right to touch the shot against the left upright.

Bromley's Mark Willy was harshly penalised by the match referee with only fifteen minutes remaining giving Dulwich Hamlet a penalty.

The ball was kicked from under Quarm's foot by Willy and the Hamlet defender went to ground inside the penalty area.

However, Coleman gave the Hamlet fans a late Christmas present, firing low into the bottom right corner of the net to score his fifteenth goal of the season.

To their credit, Bromley showed character to come back. Their manager, Alan Walker, in his first game in charge, made a substitution replacing Potterill with strong midfielder John Myatt. The change brought boos from some fans but Myatt responded positively, playing his part in the equaliser.

He threaded the ball into the Hamlet penalty area and Amoako did ever so well keeping the ball in play. He cut the ball back from the by-line for Falana to hook the ball home from close range to give the Ravens a deserved equaliser seven minutes from time.

Bromley: Danny Harwood, Steve Potterill (John Myatt 82), Mark Willy (Jason McKoy 89), Joe Vines, Colin Luckett, Danny Smith (Capt), Mark Hammond (Wade Falana 21), Peter Overton, Adolph Amoako, John Wilfort, Michael Harney. Subs: Andy Hunt, Lloyd Hume

Dulwich Hamlet: Scott Ward, Lee Akers, Danny Arkwright, Alex O'Brien (Capt), Gavin Dayes, David Moore (Jason Turley 90), Russell Bedford, Francis Quarm, Omari Coleman, Justin Bowen, Charley Side (Warren Haughton 79). Subs: Meshach Nugent, Ronnie Green, Danny Ward

Attendance: 372

Referee: Mr M John

Assistants: Mr G Smith and Mr D Raval