Saturday was a date in the calendar for a few months in terms of destination. I haven’t been too organised this season for where to go to watch as I’ve eluded to often this year but sometimes I have stuck to my guns when other people are involved.
My good friend Fiona Rubio has connections to Dulwich Hamlet, one of her friends Mel Hughes is a director of the club and doubles up as the General Manager, one encompassing all roles within.
We last went up two years ago, I only managed the first half en route to The Hive for a National League play-off semi-final. Dates just didn’t align last season so in reality it needed to be done this season, always nice to take advantage of people’s offered hospitality.
Hamlet were hosting Billericay Town, a side whose form has been top drawer since the turn of the year under Danny Scopes, who replaced Gary McCann after a slow start to the season. Ricay are inside those play-off places and while there is a fair gap to the challengers, it’s never a time this end of the campaign to rest on the laurels.
A gloriously sunny drive up from Sussex and a stunning afternoon for football at Champion Hill and a good test for both sides to see where they fit in the grand scheme of things.
Dulwich were the first to show, an effort from Luke Wanadio crashing down from the crossbar but not over the line. That was pretty much as good it was going to get from the hosts as Town sought control and pretty much got it in the first half.
Not surprisingly, they got the opening goal of the game, a nice flowing move up the pitch, some neat footwork from Elliott Long and he curled the ball into the bottom corner of the net past the outstretched hand of Toby Bull on 33 minutes.
With something to protect the visitors didn’t need to make the running, the emphasis on the home side to come out and give the huge crowd of over 3000 something to cheer about.
Ricay felt they should have had a penalty before half time, a coming together in the penalty area between Bull and Long it was deemed by the referee explaining it after the game in the boardroom, the visitors going in a goal to the good at half time.
The second half early moments should have seen Billericay out of sight with at least four good chances unable to find the net, the precarious nature of the one goal lead wondering if they would go on to rue the missed opportunities.
Hamlet were much more impressive going forward but the delivery into the box was often overhit or straight onto a Billericay head, that final third letting down the hosts as Town took the points back to Essex.
Speaking to Mark Dacey afterwards, absolute agreement that they aren’t the finished article just yet and probably need four to five new starters to move to that next level, but nowhere near a relegation battle as they were last season.
Billericay I felt were a yard sharper all over the pitch which gave them that edge and their touch added to that meant those opportunities were created, the possibly didn’t make enough of Macauley Bonne’s presence on the pitch bar that offside goal early on but the two centre halves of Ryan Scott and Tommy Davis were fantastic all afternoon.
A willingness from their full backs to get forward as well as defend gave them an edge, they picked up the second balls in midfield constantly in the first 45, something which Dulwich tightened up on after the break.
Sol Baugh was a bright spark for the hosts, plenty of good energy but seemingly lacking a little confidence to take on his man and beat him for pace to get service into Danny Mills.
As always a superb sized crowd inside Champion Hill, great hospitality which I didn’t get the chance to enjoy last time around was certainly taken upon this time, a nice London Senior Cup semi-final versus Leyton Orient for Hamlet to enjoy this coming midweek, the Essex Senior Cup Final for Billericay to try and get their hands on.
