Urban75 Home About Offline BrixtonBuzz Contact

19th Sept - Burgess Hill vs Dulwich Hamlet

Lucy Fur said:
Wivelsfield is the nearest station, first after Burgess hill itself and then a 10 minute walk. Anyone know of any pubs?

Nearest pub would seem to be the Watermill, looks alright, pretty standard fare

View attachment 76822
Click to expand...

Burgess Hill club house ALWAYS has an excellent selection of Dark Star ales but for some curious reason regularly seems to run out when Dulwich are in town. The Watermill used to be good with some decent ales particularly Isle of Wight ones so not sure what's happened there, friendly staff and mixed crowd (posh and dregs) and a bar billiards table if I can focus through the alcohol fugged vision that is the past. Apparently there is another hostelry a mile or beyond the Green Elephants stadium though one of our number who chose to tick ✔ it on a previous visit returned ashen-faced with tales of chilled carbonated urine samples served up under the masquerade of "lager".
 
Been to Lords once this year to see Glammy so I've had my fill.

I have a day on my tod so fancy making the most of it. Is London Bridge the closest to depart for Burgess Hill?
 
Last edited:
That was a very poor performance. On the plus side there's one less fucking public school prick from Clapham who'll shoot his mouth off about Dulwich on the train in future. On
to Tuesday...
 
Dear oh dear. Something is rotten in the state of Denmark. While ultimately the first two goals we conceded (I didn't see the third one) were goalkeeping errors, the overall team performance was bland to say the least. I keep reading in the local press that there is more to come from this set of players, but we're beginning to run out of time and games to seriously compete for the title. We've got the components of a Ferrari, but we're running like a Skoda engine.

We have of course been hampered by injuries and losses. Jarrett, Dixon, Erskine, Campbell and Clunis are all injured and Willock was unavailable yesterday due to personal reasons. Sankofa was only fit for the bench and I don't think we should underestimate the impact of the departure of Lodge either. Those are all serious losses, eight in total and I haven't even counted the recent suspension of Waldren, the fact that Penny is barely match fit and the injury to Scannell either. We look like a side struggling for cohesion and when you look at that lot in the cold light of day it's easy to see why. Our bench yesterday was made up of the aforementioned unfit Penny, a half-fit Sankofa and three teenagers, who between them don't have fifteen first team appearences. We are down to the bare bones.

And yet that isn't the whole story. Jarrett, Clunis, Dixon, Waldren, Willock and Scannell all played in that dreadful game against a bang average Staines who went on to lose to Brentwood 7-0 a week or two after. It's not as if we need these players back and then everything will be hunky dory. I appreciate they need time to gel, but they all had a pre season together, they were all signed early in the summer. While the injuries and unavailability of some key players has, without a doubt, had a disastrous effect and is the main reason behind our current performances and form (IMO), I just don't think that's all there is to it. We fielded a side yesterday with players that have played for Inverness, Barnet, Nottingham Forest, Southend, Oxford United and Celtic reserves. That has to be strong enough to beat Burgess Hill.

There were some positives yesterday: Dean McDonald looked bright for the first half before fading, Hibbert was bullish getting forward and I think Walren looks a million times better when he's given more freedom to attack and shoot. I think it's becoming very apparent that he's not a midfield bruiser. Another square peg in a round hole. The last real one we had was Tommy Kavanagh, two seasons ago.

Willock will be back on Tuesday and I think that'll help, but suddenly Hampton feels like a game that we cannot afford to lose.
 
Moroccan Sunset said:
Dear oh dear. Something is rotten in the state of Denmark. While ultimately the first two goals we conceded (I didn't see the third one) were goalkeeping errors, the overall team performance was bland to say the least. I keep reading in the local press that there is more to come from this set of players, but we're beginning to run out of time and games to seriously compete for the title. We've got the components of a Ferrari, but we're running like a Skoda engine.

We have of course been hampered by injuries and losses. Jarrett, Dixon, Erskine, Campbell and Clunis are all injured and Willock was unavailable yesterday due to personal reasons. Sankofa was only fit for the bench and I don't think we should underestimate the impact of the departure of Lodge either. Those are all serious losses, eight in total and I haven't even counted the recent suspension of Waldren, the fact that Penny is barely match fit and the injury to Scannell either. We look like a side struggling for cohesion and when you look at that lot in the cold light of day it's easy to see why. Our bench yesterday was made up of the aforementioned unfit Penny, a half-fit Sankofa and three teenagers, who between them don't have fifteen first team appearences. We are down to the bare bones.

And yet that isn't the whole story. Jarrett, Clunis, Dixon, Waldren, Willock and Scannell all played in that dreadful game against a bang average Staines who went on to lose to Brentwood 7-0 a week or two after. It's not as if we need these players back and then everything will be hunky dory. I appreciate they need time to gel, but they all had a pre season together, they were all signed early in the summer. While the injuries and unavailability of some key players has, without a doubt, had a disastrous effect and is the main reason behind our current performances and form (IMO), I just don't think that's all there is to it. We fielded a side yesterday with players that have played for Inverness, Barnet, Nottingham Forest, Southend, Oxford United and Celtic reserves. That has to be strong enough to beat Burgess Hill.

There were some positives yesterday: Dean McDonald looked bright for the first half before fading, Hibbert was bullish getting forward and I think Walren looks a million times better when he's given more freedom to attack and shoot. I think it's becoming very apparent that he's not a midfield bruiser. Another square peg in a round hole. The last real one we had was Tommy Kavanagh, two seasons ago.

Willock will be back on Tuesday and I think that'll help, but suddenly Hampton feels like a game that we cannot afford to lose.
Click to expand...

One of the best of your reliably excellent match summaries. We were utter pish yesterday: completely lacking in imagination and invention. I'd maybe let Hibbert off a little bit - I thought he was great last time I saw him (at Merstham) as well - but I'm yet to see what I was hoping to see in Danny Waldren. Classic Gav - he signs players who are good on their own terms without really having any clear idea about how to fit them in (another point to add to my growing list of reasons why I think he's a bit like Brian Clough). It's got us some fantastic talent - pretty sure this is how Erhun came about, for one - but can also lead players getting pushed out of position and losing confidence, which is what I think seemed to be the case with Ian Daly and potentially Jack Dixon.
 
Joe K said:
OnClassic Gav - he signs players who are good on their own terms without really having any clear idea about how to fit them in (another point to add to my growing list of reasons why I think he's a bit like Brian Clough). It's got us some fantastic talent - pretty sure this is how Erhun came about, for one - but can also lead players getting pushed out of position and losing confidence, which is what I think seemed to be the case with Ian Daly and potentially Jack Dixon.
Click to expand...

Totally agree. I don't have any doubt whatsoever about Waldren's ability. I think he just looks like a shackled player who can't get out of first gear and I strongly suspect that that is due to the role he's been given. I thought we saw the real Waldren yesterday when he got that second goal: he was seconds ahead of every other player on that pitch when the ball fell loose. The speed with which he got that shot off, the element of surprise was what caught the keeper and defenders out. It occured to me yesterday that he bears more than a passing resemblance to Frank Lampard, and I think that that is actually the type of player he is. A box-to-box engine who looks to arrive late in the penalty area. Turning him into this Makelele-esque figure who patrols the area in front of the defence really reduces him and makes him look very ordinary IMO.

Agree re: Daly and Dixon too. Daly played for Ireland's under 21 team, he was in Man City's youth teams - he was no idiot, and yet by the time we finished with him he could hardly get a game for Cray. I really wonder what would have become of him had he been given that 'No. 10' that he was so clearly suited for once Erhun left. Similar problem with Dixon. And Kavanagh: my last memory of him as a Dulwich player was when we played him as a left winger against K's! Waldren is just another one of these players being shoehorned into a role that they dont naturally suit.

I think a real bruiser would help us. I know a lot of people didn't think Kavanagh suited us, didn't really fit in. He was more direct, he was rough in the tackle, he was of a thicker build. He didn't play little passing triangles and do 13 stepovers in 2.4 seconds and for that reason he wasn't "a Gavin player", he "couldnt adapt to our style". But I think we're looking at it the wrong way round: it wasnt Kavanagh that needed to adapt to us, it was us who needed to adapt to Kavanagh. We needed that steel that he brought. Just because he wasn't this master of total football, doesnt mean he couldnt do a job for us. We cant have 11 Nyren Clunis's or Ashley Carew's out there, that's just too naive. I'm not saying that Kavanagh is the solution to all our problems - although I'd be delighted if we got him back - but I do think a natural bruiser and Waldren OR Carew would help a lot. I know Kevin James has been doing that recently but I think age is starting to catch him up a bit and we cant be relying on a 34-35 year old to carry us through the season.
 
Last edited:
Moroccan Sunset said:
Totally agree. I don't have any doubt whatsoever about Waldren's ability. I think he just looks like a shackled player who can't get out of first gear and I strongly suspect that that is due to the role he's been given. I thought we saw the real Waldren yesterday when he got that second goal: he was seconds ahead of every other player on that pitch when the ball fell loose. The speed with which he got that shot off, the element of surprise was what caught the keeper and defenders out. It occured to me yesterday that he bears more than a passing resemblance to Frank Lampard, and I think that that is actually the type of player he is. A box-to-box engine who looks to arrive late in the penalty area. Turning him into this Makelele-esque figure who patrols the area in front of the defence really reduces him and makes him look very ordinary IMO.

Agree re: Daly and Dixon too. Daly played for Ireland's under 21 team, he was in Man City's youth teams - he was no idiot, and yet by the time we finished with him he could hardly get a game for Cray. I really wonder what would have become of him had he been given that 'No. 10' that he was so clearly suited for once Erhun left. Similar problem with Dixon. And Kavanagh: my last memory of him as a Dulwich player was when we played him as a left winger against K's! Waldren is just another one of these players being shoehorned into a role that they dont naturally suit.

I think a real bruiser would help us. I know a lot of people didn't think Kavanagh suited us, didn't really fit in. He was more direct, he was rough in the tackle, he was of a thicker build. He didn't play little passing triangles and do 13 stepovers in 2.4 seconds and for that reason he wasn't "a Gavin player", he "couldnt adapt to our style". But I think we're looking at it the wrong way round: it wasnt Kavanagh that needed to adapt to us, it was us who needed to adapt to Kavanagh. We needed that steel that he brought. Just because he wasn't this master of total football, doesnt mean he couldnt do a job for us. We cant have 11 Nyren Clunis's or Ashley Carew's out there, that's just too naive. I'm not saying that Kavanagh is the solution to all our problems - although I'd be delighted if we got him back - but I do think a natural bruiser and Waldren OR Carew would help a lot. I know Kevin James has been doing that recently but I think age is starting to catch him up a bit and we cant be relying on a 34-35 year old to carry us through the season.
Click to expand...

I've had this conversation so many times with you and other Dulwich fans, but it's worth reiterating that the precise reason you put a bruiser in at CM is so the intricate/ purist/ aesthetic/ dandyish/ fin-de-siecle football can happen. The best football I've ever seen Dulwich play on a technical level was in the D1S when Luke Hickie did the kicking and in the first season in the ILP when Peter Adeniyi - whose role was admittedly not limited to getting stuck in - did the enforcing. Without getting all Blizzard reader about it, having someone who can put the foot in and nick the ball on a regular basis is a huge attacking threat because teams are most vulnerable when they've just lost possession. Ball-winner gets it, gives it to the number 8, then we're on the front foot - particularly with a pacy second forward (and I know we're not going to get Erhun again).

A lot of my doubts about this midfield centre on Carew, who is a brilliant dead-ball player but, to my mind, does far less creatively than some seem to believe. This idea that he's some kind of Berbatov figure, cruising around languidly until everyone forgets he's there and he plays some di Stefano quality pass strikes me as pretty wrongheaded.
 
Good day out, spoilt by the football. First visit to Burgess Hill and thought it a decent enough ground with a nice bar, albeit with a poor selection of lager... (Fosters = piss). But being 7 pints down with a few chasers chucked in before kick off you really give up the right to moan.

StephenMac said:
That was a very poor performance. On the plus side there's one less fucking public school prick from Clapham who'll shoot his mouth off about Dulwich on the train in future. On
to Tuesday...
Click to expand...

If I had known losing at pool would have unhinged you that much, I might have considered to let you win.
 
Match 'report' is up!

burgess-hill-3-hamlet-2-02.jpg


burgess-hill-3-hamlet-2-08.jpg


burgess-hill-3-hamlet-2-13.jpg


burgess-hill-3-hamlet-2-27.jpg


burgess-hill-3-hamlet-2-34.jpg


burgess-hill-3-hamlet-2-42.jpg


burgess-hill-3-hamlet-2-45.jpg


More: Backfiring Dulwich Hamlet crash in leafy Burgess Hill
 
Whimsically as is my wont, here's how I described the game:

If Hamlet was a car, it would be a classic Ford Anglia with serious Big End problems: we can look pretty stylish when we’re buffed up and ticking over nicely, we’ve got a decent turn of speed with some good cornering control, but when things go wrong, you just want to kick the tyres and get the bus.
Click to expand...
 
I wish someone would take into account our bad luck with injuries already this season...despite that we're still tucked in nicely!

Championships aren't won in September! And nor are they lost then...
 
If I'm honest I don't think the performance was that much different from the last few games where we've ground out narrow wins, except that Phil has been in great form in those games, not so much on Saturday. There are some obvious weaknesses in the team especially in midfield IMO, and I'd say that's as much about getting the balance right as the personnel. At the moment, especially once everyone is back, I think we're tight enough at the back (even after letting in 3 the other day that was off the back of several clean sheets) and will just about score enough to do better than most teams in this league. A big improvement has to come from somewhere if we're to really challenge at the top though, which I think was the expectation before the start of the season.
 
Dulwich Mishi said:
I wish someone would take into account our bad luck with injuries already this season...despite that we're still tucked in nicely!

Championships aren't won in September! And nor are they lost then...
Click to expand...

That's true, they're won in February and March when we traditionally sweep all before us. Umm, hang on.....
 
Tommy Kavanagh was absolutely superb for Merstham against us early doors.

We haven't really clicked yet: maybe we will, maybe we won't. But it's been pretty frustrating that DHFC haven't managed to get a goalscoring striker since Daniel Carr. If nothing else, we will love him like no other when he does arrive. A shame it's been such an Achilles Heel, as I feel blessed to have seen some great strikers ply their trade at Champion Hill (Dave Stevens, Paul Whitmarsh, Willie Lillington, Carl Asaba, Frank Murphy and Dave McEwan to name a few).

And more recently (although I didn't see him), Paul McCallum and DC.
 
Christian Burt said:
Tommy Kavanagh was absolutely superb for Merstham against us early doors.

We haven't really clicked yet: maybe we will, maybe we won't. But it's been pretty frustrating that DHFC haven't managed to get a goalscoring striker since Daniel Carr. If nothing else, we will love him like no other when he does arrive. A shame it's been such an Achilles Heel, as I feel blessed to have seen some great strikers ply their trade at Champion Hill (Dave Stevens, Paul Whitmarsh, Willie Lillington, Carl Asaba, Frank Murphy and Dave McEwan to name a few).

And more recently (although I didn't see him), Paul McCallum and DC.
Click to expand...

I do feel that's one area where the injuries have really been a problem to be fair. Erskine looked really good in pre-season. Then after he got injured he was a bit slow to get going again but I thought he was getting there when he got injured again. Whether he'll turn out to be one of those players for whom that ends up being the whole story I guess we'll find out but I do think he'll do well if he can stay fit for a good stretch. Willock looks like he's got a few goals in him as well but I don't know we can expect him to play all the time - I think Gavin has in mind as a half an hour type player.

Then Scannell looked good as a second striker and scored a few early on before he got injured. I think he can definitely score goals in that role but I'm not sure about him as the main striker, that doesn't look to be his best position.

Penney I'm not at all convinced by so far but apparently he's still short of fitness as well so maybe he'll come good.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

E
Dulwich Hamlet vs Whitstable Town, FA Cup 1st Qualifying Round
2 3 4
Replies
106
Views
8K
Paula_G
Paula_G
D
Erith & Belvedere U18s v Dulwich Hamlet U18s
Replies
24
Views
1K
Roger D
R
Bugpowder Dust
Ramsgate v Dulwich Hamlet Sat 16 Aug 2025
Replies
25
Views
3K
Pink Panther
Pink Panther
A
Leatherhead v Dulwich Hamlet - Women's FA Cup (Sun 5 Oct)
Replies
0
Views
153
Alex W
A
AveryDave
Dulwich Hamlet Youth Team - 2025/26 Season
Replies
3
Views
712
Don't Slow Down
D
Back
Top Bottom