Dulwich Hamlet
0
Slough Town
2
Bateman (0-1), Bushay (0-2)
Ryman League Cup
Attendance: 517
Steve Bateman
Despite the early loss of new winger Barry Rake, the Rebels never looked likely to be robbed of three points as they brushed aside Dulwich on Saturday.
Rake limped off in the eighth minute with a ligament injury which could keep him out for up to four weeks, but his side maintained control throughout the 90 minutes and came away with a well-deserved 2-0 victory.
The Rebels were finding most of their space down the left-wing, where an in-form Martin Stone, using West or Catlin as anchors, threw in several useful balls, striking just wide of the post himself in the 12th minute when a goal seemed on the cards.
Even more glaring was Bushay's miss five minutes later, coming on the end of another piece of opportunism from Stone, who robbed his marker of the ball and teed up Bushay on the edge of the area. He opted to lob Power, and flighted his effort over the crossbar.
But this was no slack Slough side, and they worked hard, building up a considerable itinerary of confident slick, passing movements as the half wore on. Dulwich, for their part, looked a lot more committed than in their two dull league cup ties, lacking only the final ball and the width needed to really test the white-shirted defence.
The opening goal was a little more scrappy than the earlier efforts, but one to remember none the less for scorer Steve Bateman, who crashed in an 18-yard low effort, which bobbled straight into the bottom corner. For a player so derided, he has completed a magnificent comeback, removing himself from the transfer list and commanding a deserved team place once more; he was also man of the match, as he kept Hamlet at arm's length all afternoon.
The only momentary threat to the visitors' supremacy came with two minutes left in the first 45, as Whitmarsh got to the byline and squared. The shot, from Murphy, was well-struck and heading just underneath the crossbar before Bunting got his hands to it and cleared. The break on, Bushay again found himself in the clear down the right, but his poor control let him down again and he allowed Power to gather safely a ball which he should have been picking front the back of the net.
Chances in the second-half were fewer. Dulwich restricted themselves to wasteful long-range efforts, though they opened Slough's four-man defence up a little more frequently, Kerrins being particularly unlucky to scoop the ball over the target with a volley. But with half the half over, it was 2-0.
The Hamlet defence made a mess of mopping up a period of Town pressure, the ball was skewered high into the area by a home defender, and Bushay beat Power in the jump. The ball ended its unorthodox journey over the goal-line.
West and Smith could both have added to the score, with the former squirming a header into Power's arms. Whitmarsh hit the side-netting during a rare sortie into the visitors' area, but Dulwich were probably glad to the see the back of a side who had shamed them three times in just 20 days.
Rake limped off in the eighth minute with a ligament injury which could keep him out for up to four weeks, but his side maintained control throughout the 90 minutes and came away with a well-deserved 2-0 victory.
The Rebels were finding most of their space down the left-wing, where an in-form Martin Stone, using West or Catlin as anchors, threw in several useful balls, striking just wide of the post himself in the 12th minute when a goal seemed on the cards.
Even more glaring was Bushay's miss five minutes later, coming on the end of another piece of opportunism from Stone, who robbed his marker of the ball and teed up Bushay on the edge of the area. He opted to lob Power, and flighted his effort over the crossbar.
But this was no slack Slough side, and they worked hard, building up a considerable itinerary of confident slick, passing movements as the half wore on. Dulwich, for their part, looked a lot more committed than in their two dull league cup ties, lacking only the final ball and the width needed to really test the white-shirted defence.
The opening goal was a little more scrappy than the earlier efforts, but one to remember none the less for scorer Steve Bateman, who crashed in an 18-yard low effort, which bobbled straight into the bottom corner. For a player so derided, he has completed a magnificent comeback, removing himself from the transfer list and commanding a deserved team place once more; he was also man of the match, as he kept Hamlet at arm's length all afternoon.
The only momentary threat to the visitors' supremacy came with two minutes left in the first 45, as Whitmarsh got to the byline and squared. The shot, from Murphy, was well-struck and heading just underneath the crossbar before Bunting got his hands to it and cleared. The break on, Bushay again found himself in the clear down the right, but his poor control let him down again and he allowed Power to gather safely a ball which he should have been picking front the back of the net.
Chances in the second-half were fewer. Dulwich restricted themselves to wasteful long-range efforts, though they opened Slough's four-man defence up a little more frequently, Kerrins being particularly unlucky to scoop the ball over the target with a volley. But with half the half over, it was 2-0.
The Hamlet defence made a mess of mopping up a period of Town pressure, the ball was skewered high into the area by a home defender, and Bushay beat Power in the jump. The ball ended its unorthodox journey over the goal-line.
West and Smith could both have added to the score, with the former squirming a header into Power's arms. Whitmarsh hit the side-netting during a rare sortie into the visitors' area, but Dulwich were probably glad to the see the back of a side who had shamed them three times in just 20 days.
Slough Town Lineup
- 1 Trevor Bunting
- 2 Andy Clement
- 3 Brian Lee
- 4 Steve Bateman
- 5 Danny Nwaokolo
- 6 Martin Stone 14
- 7 Neil Catlin
- 8 Andy Sayer
- 9 Mark West
- 10 Barry Rake 12
- 11 Ansil Bushay
Substitutes
- 12 Garfield Blackman 10
- 14 Brett Smith 6
- 15 Paul Frame