Dulwich Hamlet 2-1 Hemel Hempstead Town, Saturday 14th March 2020
Dulwich Hamlet 2-1 Hemel Hempstead Town,
National League South, att. 2,376
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With
all this Corona-Virus chaos and ‘elite’ football being called off all over the
place, it was good to find there was some alternative to staying at home and
staring at the weeds in the garden: the National League was soldiering on, and
my local side Dulwich Hamlet were at home.
Result! What is not quite a
result is me currently holding half a dozen match tickets for a match which may
never take place (QPR v Barnsley) at £28 a pop.
Can I get a refund if I bought the tickets at Oakwell? Won’t BFC insist on having the tickets back
(presuming they’d be able to be used for any replayed fixture). Cos I don’t see me in Barnsley any time soon…
Corona Virus panic hits Peckham; queues for toilet rolls before Savers opens. Wow.
Loko also agreed to come out; well, it was this or take up Pompey Ian’s offer
to go and see his side Havant and Waterlooville at Dorking. And wherethehell is Dorking? Being in the brewery trade, the pull of
Peckham won. Pre-match in the Brick
Brewery and then a choice of Brew by Numbers, or the pub (Cherry Tree) near the
ground. Either way, I felt we’d better
get to the game early, fearing a possible sell-out given the Prem and EFL being
cancelled. Or would it go the other
way? Maybe there’d be hardly anyone
there, what with the impending zombie apocalypse? (In the end, there were 11 more spectators
than my last visit, so virtually no difference whatsoever.)
The teams line up.
I fancied the Cherry Tree as I’d never been before. As it was, with little to no movement in the
queue in the time it took Loko to use the facilities, we headed to Champion
Hill. After all, there can’t be many
football grounds offering the beer selection of Dulwich Hamlet. Even I’m happy…they have Erdinger on
tap. Loko settled for Peckham Pale. When in Rome…
Inside the social club, overlooking the pitch.
He was also a bit dizzy (bless) so we sat down 1st half. The main (Tommy Jovey) stand does offer the
best view in the ground, but I do like standing up. Nothing happened 1st half anyway,
save for sharing a few views with an elderly regular sat with us. Though polite, he didn’t mince his words:
with Hamlet’s budget they should be far higher this season (they entered this
game in the relegation zone). A lack of
distinct strategy on the pitch, mixed with neverending player changes had this
gentleman perplexed, while top scorer Danny Mills was bewildering benched
today.
Always good to be home.
2nd half, Dulwich kicked towards the car park end. With the terracing set back from the perimeter,
it’s a generally poor view, so we went to the ‘away’ end. Well, Hemel was certainly missing someone
from the local asylum as one fan made his presence known. Mirth was raised when I suggested he should
come every week, cos he was certainly entertaining. The away crew had also brought a boom box
with them, which Hamlet stewards rather unsportingly asked them to turn
off. I wouldn’t have thought Hamlet was
synonymous with po-faced, but there it was.
Course, I missed Hemel take the lead. I
was having a pee. But when Dulwich
equalised 10 minutes later, the ‘away’ end was not as away as I thought. There were problies only 15 of them. I remember one very smiley black chap making
the most of it to our Hemel friend, who’d earlier sung the quite bizarre ‘Church
in the morning, you’ve got church in the morning.’ (He hadn’t, I asked him later). BTW, why are Hemel known as the 'Tudors'? Great nickname tho, whatever.
This guy can come every week...
By now Dulwich were on the front foot and with 7 minutes left, the winner was
pinched, as a bit of pinball following a corner ended with the ball prodded
home. We could almost see it form the
opposite end. Game won, job’s a good un,
and Hamlet were 4 places higher. It’s
tight at the bottom (ooh-err). But with
this Corona nonsense going on, could this be the last game of the season? Time will tell. Now it was time to show Loko the sights…on to
Peckham Levels and Bar Story. I love where I live!!!
Through the arched window at Peckham Levels.
The Damage:
£12 ent
£2 prog
£5 beer (Erdinger, x3)
= £29
The Tunes: Psalm 69: The Way to Succeed and the Way to Suck
Eggs
(Ministry)
Champion Hill panorama
Grimsby Town supporter's HQ (the toilet in Brick Brewery)
The officials walk off at half time.
The view from the corner flag at half time.
Hamlet attack the car park end, 2nd half.
More spacious at this end.
The Main Stand.
...and hope for the best.
Hamlet worry late on.
A higher calibre of graffiti in the Bar Story toilets.
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