Dulwich Hamlet 2-0 Margate - We had to work really hard to get the points, says Gavin Rose

DULWICH HAMLET  2-0  MARGATE
Ryman Premier League
Tuesday 24^th September 2013
Stephen McCartney reports from Champion Hill Stadium

DULWICH HAMLET manager Gavin Rose claims their 2-0 win over Margate will have no bearing on Saturday’s trip to the Kent coast in The FA Cup.

The Hamlet leapfrogged over Lewes in to fifth-place in the Ryman Premier League table after converting both of their shots on target against a Margate side that deserved more than their third defeat in eleven league games, which sees them drop down a place to ninth.

Margate drafted in goalkeeper Joe Welch on a dual-registration from Conference South side Bromley and the 25-year-old had nothing to do all night other than pick the ball out of his net, as Kevin James and Ian Daly were clinical in front of goal.

“We’ve had to work really hard,” admitted Rose after his side’s seventh league win of the season puts his club only two points behind leaders Kingstonian, after winning the Ryman League Division One South title last season.

Rose continued: “Margate are a hardworking team, always have been in the past and we had to work really hard to get the points today.

“I’m really happy for the boys. We weren’t fluid today but again we wasn’t fluid on Saturday (1-0 home win over Canvey Island), but we worked really hard and we got a hard fought three points.

“We weren’t able to play our style of football. People aren’t going to come down and roll over and die but at the same time we’ve had two games and scored three goals and not conceded a goal so I’ll take that all day of the week and I’m pretty side the boys will as well.”

Margate joint-manager, Simon Osborn, admitted his side lost because they didn’t take their chances.

“I think first half with the timings of it, it knocked a bit of stuffing out of us for a little bit because we had a couple of chances,” said the former Crystal Palace midfielder.

“We had a very good chance just before that.  I think that’s the difference – goals win games.

“We didn’t take our chances and our final decision and our final ball was not quite good enough today, which is a little bit disappointing because I thought we played quite well in parts of it but again it’s a 2-0 defeat and the goals, they had two shots and that’s it!”

Margate drafted in Welch after player joint manager Craig Holloway suffered a horrific injury to his left eye during Saturday’s 3-0 defeat away to Grays Athletic.

Holloway is expected to be fit enough to play Saturday’s Second Qualifying Round tie between the two clubs at Hartsdown Park as Bromley will recall Welch into their squad for their FA Cup tie against Burgess Hill Town at Hayes Lane.

Margate secretary Ken Tomlinson revealed he narrowly beat the deadline and registered the goalkeeper at 15:40 this afternoon so he could play at Champion Hill tonight.

Osborn said: “Craig’s got a cut on his eye and it’s still a bit swollen and sore so Joe fortunately is a non-contracted player at Bromley. We know he’s quality and he’s done us a favour, coming in and playing in goal for us today.  Touch wood Craig will be fit for Saturday.

“I talked to Joe and said to him ‘did you actually make a save? And he didn’t.  He never made a save in the whole game. The goal in the first half was the free-kick and the second one was really only their meaningful shots on target!”

Dulwich Hamlet produced a sweeping move where midfielder Xavier Vidal swept the ball out wide to winger Ellis Green, who whipped in a cross with his left-foot towards the far post and Erhun Oztumer nodded wide from four-yards out with only 21 seconds on the clock.

But Dulwich Hamlet were off-colour and didn’t play their threatening trademark football tonight, which concerned their manager.

He said: “It’s not like us, we normally have ten chances and score one so the roles reversed. The first five or six games we were dominating a lot of possession and creating a lot of chances and we wasn’t converting as much as we should have.”

Margate striker Paul Vines could have scored a first half hat-trick against one of his former clubs.

Matt Bodkin shrugged off the attentions of Abdul Mansaray – who was withdrawn at the break with a dead leg – to sweep the ball out wide to Phil Walsh, who whipped in a cross into the six-yard box. 

Vines’ header was clawed away by goalkeeper Phil Wilson, high above his head to his left.

Dulwich Hamlet were awarded a free-kick some 25-yards from goal and Oztumer was off-range with his left-footed effort, which sailed harmlessly over the bar and into the vocal home support.

Margate, who won the corner count eight to three, went close by this method in the fourteenth minute when former Tooting & Mitcham United (and Tonbridge Angels, Cray Wanderers and Welling United) midfielder Scott Kinch powered his header over the near post from inside the six-yard box after Bodkin swung in a corner from the left.

Margate threatened again when midfielder Jack Sammoutis released right-back Elliot Cox on the overlap to whip in a cross and Charles Ademeno couldn’t apply the finish and Wilson collected the ball.

Dulwich Hamlet burst up the other end and within 21 seconds Oztumer flashed a right-footed drive narrowly past the foot of the near post from eighteen-yards.

The home side hit Margate on the counter-attack and lone striker Daly flicked pass found Oztumer inside before the Turkish midfield magician cracked a speculative left-footed drive, which dipped over the crossbar from 35-yards.

Margate were denied a deserved lead thanks to a smart diving save from Wilson in the 24^th minute.

Margate left-back Ryan Dolby played a low centre into the penalty area and Vines did well to turn his marker before stroking a low left-footed shot towards the bottom far corner, but Wilson got his large frame down swiftly to his left to tip the ball around the post with his outstretched left hand.

Rose was surprised that Vines didn’t score against his former club.

He said: “He may have thought about it too much playing against us as well. I would have put my hat on him scoring at least one of them.  Good thing for him is that he’s getting in those positions to score goals. When he gets in those positions he will score goals.”

Bodkin swung in the resulting corner and Walsh powered his header across goal and past the far post.

“That’s the difference,” said Osborn.  “We did create better chances in the first half. I don’t think we created many clear cut chances in the second half, but certainly in the first half with Paul the keeper made a good save down low to his left.”

Something wasn’t quite clicking for Dulwich Hamlet and Oztumer’s corner from the right was headed away and Vidal took a touch before drilling a speculative right-footed drive from 35-yards over the bar and over the fence.

But Margate continued to be profligate in front of goal.

Sammoutis won the ball before bursting down the right and gloating a cross towards the far post.  Bodkin sped past his man before cutting the ball back for Dolby to blast his left-footed shot over the bar from ten-yards.

Bodkin then swung in a right-footed free-kick just inches from the penalty area, which was gobbled up by Wilson underneath his crossbar, after the referee deemed Mathieu Boyer’s challenge on Ademeno was outside the penalty area.

But the turning point arrived in the 43^rd minute when Wilson rushed off his line to thwart Vines with a brave block after the striker was put in through on goal following a long ball over the top of Dulwich Hamlet central defender Lewis Gonsalves by Dolby.

Osborn said: “He had a real chance clean through which normally you expect Vinsey to take. They’re the kind of chances he’s lived off throughout his career at this level and he didn’t take it!”

Rose was full of praise for his big goalkeeper.

He said: “Phil has been getting better and better with one-v-one situations.

“Watching Vinsey go through on goal you do think the worse but with Phil in goal you do think he will have a chance. I’m a little bit confident that he could still pull off a save and he did so well done for him for doing that. He kept us in the game and we capitalised on that, maybe a minute or two later.”

That miss proved costly for Margate because Dulwich Hamlet grabbed the lead, totally against the run of play, with 45:56 on the clock.

The hard-working Daly released Oztumer, who was brought down by defender Richard Avery, inches from the penalty area, just left of the D.

The home fans demanded a red-card but referee Jason Richardson opted to brandish a yellow card and awarded Dulwich Hamlet a free-kick.

James stepped up and stroked the resulting free-kick around the wall with his right-foot and the ball caressed into the far corner of the net.

“Kevin’s done that many a time since he’s been with us over the years,” said Rose.

“You know you’ve got a chance with the boys’ we’ve got around the box with free-kicks and he’s done well today to go in the far corner.”

Osborn said: “It was our mistake, again, in the middle of the park.  We’ve cleared the ball, the ball ricochet off our bloke and he’s gone through. I know Kevin’s got quality. I knew Kevin at Gillingham and we’re 1-0 down just going into half-time, which was a big blow for the lads.”

Both managers were asked whether Avery should have been sent-off.

Rose said: “As a manager, you don’t really want people sent off to be honest.  It’s hard to explain, him being the last man and it was a scoring opportunity. The boy’s about to bring it down and shoot on goal and no-one was able to effect that other than Avery behind him so you would’ve said yes really it’s the last man. I would’ve thought he would’ve been sent-off.”

Osborn added: “I think the ball’s going away from the goal. It would’ve have been harsh to send him off. It was a bit of a tangle, yes he did get in front of him. The ball wasn’t going straight through, the ball was probably favoured to go to our goalkeeper and going away from goal a little bit.  Our luck this season I’m sure he would’ve sent him off normally!”

Despite the goal, Rose wasn’t happy with his side’s performance.

“We weren’t great and we said to the boys they were getting on top of us because we weren’t working hard as they should’ve to stop the ball coming forward.

“We felt that we didn’t pass the ball as well so we wasn’t really happy at half-time.  We weren’t happy with the boys’ performance.

“We have to give respect to Margate as well, they’re a good team.”

Osborn admitted James’ second goal of the season knocked the stuffing out of his side because they should have been 3-0 up at the time had they taken their chances.

He said: “I thought they started the game well. I thought first ten to fifteen minutes we struggled to get to grips with them but the middle part of the first half we were certainly the dominant side.

“The goal was just against the run of play. I think it knocked the stuffing out of us a little bit but I thought we got back into it second half without really testing the goalkeeper enough.”

When asked what was said in the Margate dressing room during the interval, Osborn added: “I just said keep doing the things that got us success in the first half and keep getting good balls into Charles. We just lacked a little bit of creativity at some point.  I was disappointed with our shot count in the second half.”

The referee decided to change into a silver top for the second half and Margate created the first chance through Ademeno, who scuffed a right-footed shot towards goal from 22-yards, which Wilson comfortably gathered.

Another chance went begging for Margate when Walsh headed a hanging ball across the face of goal, which was clawed away by Wilson high above his head after head tennis inside the Dulwich Hamlet box following Bodkin’s corner from the right.

Margate introduced winger Warren Whiteley to introduce some pace down the right flank.

And on the hour-mark Bodkin whipped in his sixth-corner of the game, which was headed away and Avery hooked a left-footed volley looping straight into Wilson’s gloves from 25-yards.

Osborn rued his side’s best chance in the second half with twenty minutes remaining.

Sammoutis played the ball into Vines’ feet, who showed strength before dinking the ball into the box to put Sammoutis through on goal, but the midfielder lost composure and clipped his right-footed shot over the bar from sixteen-yards.

“That’s the difference between winning games and coming off losing 2-0,” added Osborn.

“At that point 1-0, get it back to one-all. You never know what might happen there. That little bit of quality there that we needed to finish to get back into the game. If he had done that it could have been different.”

Dulwich Hamlet punished Margate for a second time with four minutes remaining when the ball was played out to Oztumer inside the penalty area on the left and the Turkish wizard clipped the ball into the middle and Daly hooked a shot on the turn which looped over Welch into the roof of the net.

Rose was delighted that Daly waited for his moment.

He said: “Very patient. It’s a role he’s adapted to, he’s getting used to this role up front. We knew he’s got quality and he can score goals and it’s just getting his mentality and understanding that as well. He’s team ethic and he’s team play and he’s work-rate – when he was picking up a lot of scraps today – was excellent and he got his just deserts with his one chance.”

Osborn added: “Again, we gave the ball away cheaply and they broke on us.  It’s a decent ball back by the young lad and he’s hooked it in. There’s not a lot we could have done about that really.  We were chasing the game a little bit but I was a bit disappointed that we hadn’t got back into it before then.”

Margate forced one last chance when Cox floated a cross towards the far post where defender John Beales headed the ball across goal but all Walsh could do was head the ball wide.

It’s good to see Dulwich Hamlet fans enjoying their football and Rose paid tribute to the home faithful for their passionate support from the terraces throughout the game.

“Our support has grown over the last few years since I’ve been here,” said Rose.

“I’ve got to say it’s brilliant support. It’s just unrivalled by a lot of clubs at this sort of level. It’s excellent support and you’ve got to take your hat off to it. It creates a good atmosphere for the players and it drives them on, even when things ain’t going as well.  It gives them a bit of a confidence boost to them as well to hear the supporters’ singing and cheering them on etc. It’s excellent.”

Both managers said that they are looking forward to Saturday’s FA Cup Second Qualifying Round tie at Hartsdown Park.

Rose said: “It’s a one-off game. The mentality of the Margate dressing room, you expect them to work hard and make it difficult for us. I expect the same from us as well.

“We can play better and they arguably can say they can play better as well so the two teams know each other a little bit more now so there’s not so much to learn about each other.

“With a few days’ rest, I imagine it will be a tough game. It’s an FA Cup game.”

Osborn added: “Joe Welch is not able to play. I think he’ll go back and sit on the bench for Bromley.

“It’s just a one-off game. It will be a completely different game. We’re the home team now. We’ve just got to go there and try and play to a similar standard and try and improve on one or two things and if we can do that, it will be another good game down at our place.”

Dulwich Hamlet: Phil Wilson, Mathieu Boyer, Ahmed Deen, Xavier Vidal, Peter Adeniyi, Lewis Gonsalves, Abdul Mansaray (Jerome Walker 46), Kevin James, Ian Daly, Erhun Oztumer (Adeyinka Cole 87), Ellis Green (Ethan Pinnock 77).
Subs: Tyler Myers, Marc-Anthony Okoye

Goals: Kevin James 45, Ian Daly 86

Margate: Joe Welch, Elliott Cox, Ryan Dolby, Richard Avery, John Beales, Scott Kinch (Warren Whiteley 57), Matt Bodkin, Jack Sammoutis, Phil Walsh, Charles Ademeno (Lanre Azeez 75), Paul Vines.
Subs: George Craddock, James Campbell, George Whitelock

Booked: Richard Avery 45

Attendance: 466
Referee: Mr Jason Richardson (Northwood, Middlesex)
Assistants: Mr Luis Pinto Nunes (Kingston-on-Thames, Surrey) & Mr Nathan Briggs (Hayes, Middlesex)