A weekend of double football is not something I get to do very often so when the opportunity arises sometimes you just have to take it. Trying to fit in getting to some grounds isn’t easy, not wanting to spend a majority of the weekend driving between football and family commitments.
But it’s nice to be asked to and invited to some places during the course of the season especially if I haven’t been there before. Saturday was one of those occasions I was able to tie in one game with a further trip up the country grabbing an overnight stay along the way.
Brentwood Town are one of those sides I have a small eye on for their results. You might wonder why a random Essex side get’s a little attention, well the reason being the current boss Keith Rowland had a short spell at Barnet late on in his playing career, and yes I’m one of those who takes note of former players and managers when they move on and also do well or not so good.
I’d been past the Brentwood Centre Arena on the A12 a few times but never dropped in for a game so when Steve Minton invited me up, well why not! Especially when it was on the way to Norfolk to grab a Sunday game (more on that in another blog).
Their opponents were Dulwich Hamlet in the Isthmian Premier Division, two sides at different ends of the spectrum in terms of name notice and history Wood however much higher in the table.
A cold-ish afternoon beside the road, but a club currently on an upward trajectory and trying to do as much as they can to increase revenue, footfall and to be noticed.
On the pitch they’ve been in the top five for the majority of the season whilst Hamlet started the campaign on fire but tailed off a couple of months in and a real spell of consistency is needed to join the play-off places again.
The first half was quite a cagey affair with very little to separate the two sides, Hamlet looking good going forward but Town keeping them at bay and restricting the opportunities. At the other end Toby Bull was also largely untroubled as neither side managed to impose themselves on the game.
Town upped the urgency at the beginning of the second period and the visitors struggled to get out of their half, but things changed all too rapidly ten minutes in.
Substitute Nyron Clunis had an immediate impact with a strong run down the right hand side and firing towards goal, David Smith with the deft flicked finish to give Dulwich the lead against the run of play.
The goal set Brentwood back a bit and they struggled to bring themselves back into the game, Hamlet with the control and the cushion to defend. They doubled their lead with 20 minutes to play, Smith in the right place to tap home unmarked and a huge hill for the home side to climb.
They should have been back in it shortly after, a gift of a free header for Ade Cole who managed to put it over the bar from a few yards out. That was to be Town’s best chance of the afternoon and Hamlet saw out time to take the points back to South London.
A much needed win for Mark Dacey’s side who will still harbour hopes of the top five with three months of the season left to play, Brentwood being one of the teams they need to catch.
A fantastic season so far for Keith Rowland’s team, 15 wins from 27 games after promotion last year has been phenomenal, mixing with some good teams and big clubs, it’s all in their own hands.
A surprise to see Daniel Ogunleye pitched out wide, the striker who scored a bucket full last season spent the pre-season at Barnet and other League Two clubs but nothing materialised. I didn’t get the opportunity to see what he could do sadly; touch however was good.
Great to catch up with Hamlet keeper Toby Bull before kick-off as always, great lad, top keeper and his distribution is top drawer, that Baller League helping him even more for sure.
A word or a few for my host Steve Linton. I’ve built so many friendships and contacts through social media, indeed without it I wouldn’t be here today blogging, it’s as simple as that pretty much.
We connected via Twitter and that’s where the invite came from as so many have done and very grateful for it too. Having seen the plans they have for a new stand with more seats will be superb if the council agree to it, without people like Steve up and down the country, who still has his Premier League side to watch as well, the clubs and the game at non-league levels simply won’t exist forever, crucial people doing great work.
