Dulwich Hamlet boss Gavin Rose expressed disappointment at a last gasp goal that led to his team dropping two points against Grays Athletic on Saturday.
The South London side had lost two games on the bounce prior to their match against Grays and were denied a home win when Kenny Beanley scored an equaliser for the away side in the 95th minute. The thrilling 1-1 draw was played in front of a boisterous crowd of just under 1,000 fans at Champion Hill.
Hamlet manager Rose questioned some of the refereeing decisions in a game littered with yellow cards and full-blooded tackles from both sides. The most controversial decision came in the 48th minute, when Grays goalkeeper Lamar Johnson was given a yellow card for a foul that could easily have been a sending-off. Dulwich player Danny Waldren, who looked to be through on goal, was brought down by a heavy challenge from Johnson outside the 18-yard box. The Grays shot stopper was given a yellow card despite protestations from the home side.
“Of course some of the refereeing decisions were bad ones, particularly the one with the goalkeeper, but I think everyone knows that. Their manager did and we knew it as well,” said Rose. “But it’s happened and, to be honest with you, we were still not good enough in the game to really be overly disappointed.
“I felt we didn’t play to our level at all today. We were not competitive enough off the ball. We didn’t make it hard for the other team when they had possession, so it was quite a disappointing performance from us.”
The Pink and Blues hope to return to winning ways in their London derby clash against Kingstonian. Rose will be assessing players’ fitness levels before deciding whether they will be any changes to the team line-up for the Bank Holiday Monday encounter. The Dulwich coach was tight-lipped on whether there were plans to add new personnel to his side. Rose believes any move in the market would have to be ‘calculated’.
“We might possibly make a move for some new players, but we have to be calculated about how we do that,” said Rose. “We have already brought in quite a few new players so we don’t want the turnover to continue. Players do need their bedding-in period so we have to bear that in mind.
“If we feel that one or two of the players we have brought in are not right for the club or vice-versa, then we'll look at the situation.
“As for the game on Monday, we’ll have to wait and see if there will be any changes to the team. The boys have done 90 minutes and they’ll only have one day’s rest. It means we’ll see how they limber up and if some of them have a few sore legs they might not be ready for it. We’ll see how they feel tomorrow and on Monday we’ll go from there.”
By Sandra Brobbey
Dulwich Hamlet's next match is against Kingstonian (away) on Monday 31 August, 3pm. The next home match is on Saturday 5 September against Billericay Town at 3pm. Tickets £10/£4.
