Kentish Football 
Whitstable Town 0-1 Dulwich Hamlet - Rival boss Rose said sorry to me, revealed caretaker Nolan
Saturday 08th January 2011
WHITSTABLE TOWN 0-1 DULWICH HAMLET
Ryman League Division One South
Saturday 8th January 2011
Paul Parkinson reports from Belmont Road
It was heartbreak for Whitstable Town at The Belmont as Rob Gradwell's stoppage time finish stole the points for Dulwich Hamlet, and condemned caretaker manager Steve Nolan to his first defeat.
Nolan, speaking afterwards admitted, “If you'd asked me with 20 seconds to go, I'd have been disappointed with one point because one point wouldn't have been enough. To lose two points would have been disappointing, but to lose all three is absolutely gutting.
“We didn't play very well first half, but I thought we came out and played different second half. three one-on-ones, six corners, quite a few free kicks and I thought we had enough opportunities to go on and win the game."
Forced into three changes from the team that had fought back for a point at Faversham, with Ant Bodle unavailable due to work commitments, Ian Pulman replacing Stuart Vahid, who dropped to the bench and Adam Douglas feeling unwell, Nolan was full of praise for the replacements.
He said: “Steven Lloyd and Dan Wisker have slotted in well. To be fair, neither has had much playing time recently, but they've come in and done well for us. The early injury (to TJ Moncur) didn't help things, but we weren't playing well. Jim Sherman's come in and done well, but he was struggling too near the end on his match fitness.”
Nolan added: "The boys are bitterly disappointed in there, and have put their hands up to say they should have done better in front of goal. They know they should be hitting the target and have apologised for not working their keeper.
“The Dulwich boss, Gavin Rose, has come up to me and apologised saying they didn't deserve the result, but that happens when you are near the bottom."
On a heavy pitch that cut up through the game, players from both sides found it hard to keep their feet, although to be fair to the visitors, Dulwich continually tried to play a passing game that meant Whitstable's midfield and defence was stretched to their limit at times in the first half.
Kalvin Morath-Gibbs used the surface to his advantage, as the ball stuck in the mud outside the Whitstable penalty area, to turn Steven Lloyd and fire in a shot that cleared Kevin Fewell's bar.
Moments later, Morath-Gibbs burst into the area, before cutting the ball back towards Gradwell and Nick Ogranule, but Wisker was alert to slide the ball away.
With the pitch taking its toll on the players - TJ Moncur was forced off with an ankle injury having twisted awkwardly - the first half continued in a scrappy fashion, with only an effort from Gradwell flying high into the gardens behind Fewell's goal to show.
Whitstable's first real opportunity came in first half stoppage time as Wisker blocked a Dulwich clearance. The ball broke to Pulman, but the forward couldn't get a solid contact to test Stuart Robinson.
Whatever Steve Nolan said at half-time had an immediate effect as Michael Yianni slipped the ball through to Lloyd Blackman, whose 20 yard shot was arrowing into the top left corner, before Robinson managed to tip the ball over.
From the corner, Blackman's flick fell to Louis Smith, who drove a shot straight at Robinson through a crowd of legs.
Both sides had chances to hit the front, but both Ogranule and Blackman had shots that cleared the bar by some distance.
Halfway through the second half, Blackman beat Francis Duku in a foot race to the edge of the area, but Robinson was quickly off his line to smother the Whitstable skipper's shot.
In the last 10 minutes, Pulman also fired over under pressure from two Dulwich defenders before Robinson made a wonderful save to turn a Blackman flick over the bar.
Just as it looked as though Whitstable would get at least a point from a game they feel they should have won, Dulwich found the breakthrough with mere seconds left on the clock.
A cross from the right was deflected back towards his own goal by a diving Lloyd, but the ball fell to Gradwell to coolly slotted past Fewell to steal the points.
Meanwhile, Gary Johnson, a former referee and now vice-chairman and secretary of the Ryman League club, gave an update on the club’s search for a permanent manager.
Johnson was pleased with the response to the adverts placed in the Non-League Paper that have brought forward over 45 enquiries and led to the receipt of 26 CV's.
He said: “The calibre of football knowledge represented by the applications is exceptional. As well as one or two names from the football world, we’ve received interest from as far afield as Yugoslavia and across the South East.”
Johnson advised that the Whitstable committee would be sitting down to review the applications on Monday evening with the aim of drawing up a shortlist of six, who would be invited to interview over the next couple of weeks.
One person who has submitted his interest is the current caretaker-manager, Nolan, who having just suffered his first defeat in 3 games in charge, revealed, “I’ve spoken to the chairman last week. I was always here on the proviso of coaching, which is my main role, but I must admit that apart from today, the other games I've really enjoyed.
“I can't criticise the players, they've done everything I've asked of them, and I think that up to today we've played some good football and worked really hard. Regarding the position, I know there are lots of quality candidates in the running, so we'll see what happens."
Whitstable Town: Kevin Fewell, Gareth Cornhill, Gary Sayer, TJ Moncur (Jim Sherman 22), Steven Lloyd, Louis Smith, Michael Yianni, Dan Wisker (Kieron Morris 73), Lloyd Blackman, Ian Pulman (Stuart Vahid 87), Scott Heard.
Subs: Tom Parker, Sean Smith.
Dulwich Hamlet: Stuart Robinson, Asher Hudson (Alim Sesay 46), Dean Carpenter, Gerry Gonnella, Francis Duku, Lewis Gonsalves, Kalvin Morath-Gibbs, Ellis Wilson-Joseph (Sol Pinnock 73), Rob Gradwell, Nick Ogranule, Josh Bennett (Nyren Clunis 65).
Sub: David Moore, Junior Kadi.
Goal: Rob Gradwell 90
Booked: Ellis Wilson-Joseph 31, Dean Carpenter 41
Attendance: 205
Referee: Mr Ryan Ellis (Burgess Hill, West Sussex)
Assistants: Mr James Harding (Burgess Hill, West Sussex) & Mr Colin Mallows (Burgess Hill, West Sussex)
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