Tonbridge Angels v Dulwich Hamlet, 3rd September 2022

[steeplejack]

Dulwich did bring a noisy support which was credit to the club.

Bar a good spell 15 minutes before h/t- when there was a long break for physios / docs to attend to an ill spectator- Hamlet were absolutely brutal. Really, really poor. Clear it’s not a happy camp.

Tonbridge did pretty well for the injuries the squad has presently. Well organised and comfortable on the ball.

Not sure there was any ‘trouble’- all I saw was an angry haemorrhoid in a Dulwich top with a wispy beard being escorted out shouting ‘fucking wanker’ at an unspecified target. Not exactly big potatoes. Other than that the fans seemed in good spirits.

 

[Taper]

We know what needs to be done. We knew last season and probably the one before.

 

[tonysingh]

Dulwich did bring a noisy support which was credit to the club.

Bar a good spell 15 minutes before h/t- when there was a long break for physios / docs to attend to an ill spectator- Hamlet were absolutely brutal. Really, really poor. Clear it’s not a happy camp.

Tonbridge did pretty well for the injuries the squad has presently. Well organised and comfortable on the ball.

Not sure there was any ‘trouble’- all I saw was an angry haemorrhoid in a Dulwich top with a wispy beard being escorted out shouting ‘fucking wanker’ at an unspecified target. Not exactly big potatoes. Other than that the fans seemed in good spirits.

Wispy beard doesn't really narrow it down with our lot tbf.

 

[liamdhfc]

Oh, one other thing. The referee was superb. We are so quick to criticise the officials, so important to say when they are great, and they were.

Couldn’t agree more. The referee is way above the level. She was best in years.

 

[David Clapson]

Haven't read a Hamlet thread for a few years...I thought things were on the up and up? There used to be so much positivity. Didn't Peter Crouch get involved? What's gone wrong?

 

[editor]

Pretty much third hand account then at best.

It's not a good look to try and dismiss these accounts totally out of hand either.

Nothing would surprise me with our current supporters, to be honest.

 

[editor]

Haven't read a Hamlet thread for a few years...I thought things were on the up and up? There used to be so much positivity. Didn't Peter Crouch get involved? What's gone wrong?

For some - maybe even many - old school fans, getting the gambling celeb Crouch involved was the final fucking straw.

 

[Christian Burt]

It's not a good look to try and dismiss these accounts totally out of hand either.

Nothing would surprise me with our current supporters, to be honest.

Having not been for a while, fair enough Editor. Although it does seem to be relatively minor to say the least

 

[Son of Roy]

At 1-1 we had two chances with only the keeper to beat and couldn't hit the target. It is worry because Welling and Tonbridge usually finish below us. Jay Saunders has managed to achieve that in just a few months.

 

[Paula_G]

Is it weird that I’m starting to feel disconnected from this team (the men’s team not the club) at the moment. Still feel frustrated when I can’t make the women’s team games due to work or Sunday playing commitments but Saturdays I’ll get more joy out of playing for Peckham Town & Goal Diggers on the dusty, stone strewn pitches of Tooting Bec than I would watching Dulwich. Rarely see any of those I used to share trips and terraces with at Champion Hill and that was so much of what made the Rabble “back in the day”, those people.

 

[tonysingh]

Is it weird that I’m starting to feel disconnected from this team (the men’s team not the club) at the moment. Still feel frustrated when I can’t make the women’s team games due to work or Sunday playing commitments but Saturdays I’ll get more joy out of playing for Peckham Town & Goal Diggers on the dusty, stone strewn pitches of Tooting Bec than I would watching Dulwich. Rarely see any of those I used to share trips and terraces with at Champion Hill and that was so much of what made the Rabble “back in the day”, those people.

There's a reason I'm more likely to be found behind the goal at Guru Nanak FC than Champion Hill. The same disconnect.

 

[ftg6]

It's not a good look to try and dismiss these accounts totally out of hand either.

Nothing would surprise me with our current supporters, to be honest.

Ok, well as somebody who saw it first hand, the steward was bang out of order. Had a go at the lad for banging one of the advertisement boards as the "zip ties aren't big enough to withstand it" or some nonsense. Then told the guy he'd "take him outside like a little bitch" which is when plenty of Hamlet got involved to tell the steward how out of order that is. Didn't see the incident at the end that other posters have mentioned and if true the guy deserved to get thrown out, but in the first half incident it was entirely on the steward.

Anyway, strange game. Stark contrast to last week at Eastbourne. Support was immense, nonstop singing throughout. Football was appalling, apart from a short spell in the first half. I'd rather lose 3-1 and enjoy my time in the sun singing for 90 minutes than win 1-0 with no fellow fans around me, so I was glad I went today regardless.

 

[pitchfork]

Gav just needs another 13 years to turn it around. Be patient.

 

[JoeBoy1959]

Gav just needs another 13 years to turn it around. Be patient.

I'd laugh if this wasn't so tragic

 

[DulwichHarris]

It's not a good look to try and dismiss these accounts totally out of hand either.

Nothing would surprise me with our current supporters, to be honest.

‘Our current supporters’ - what, the ones who travelled and sang for 90 minutes rather than whingeing on a message board?

 

[editor]

‘Our current supporters’ - what, the ones who travelled and sang for 90 minutes rather than whingeing on a message board?

I obviously don't mean all of them. Some are great and I should know because I've been following the club around the south of England for 14 years.

I mean some of the new ones talking shit I've heard at Champion Hill. Perhaps you haven't heard them. I'm not a fan.

 

[Cyclodunc]

Are these people you would expect to be following the team home and away? What are they saying?

 

[DulwichHarris]

I obviously don't mean all of them. Some are great and I should know because I've been following the club around the south of England for 14 years.

I mean some of the new ones talking shit I've heard at Champion Hill. Perhaps you haven't heard them. I'm not a fan.

Suffice to say, the lad who got into hot water with the (dreadful) security guard was not part of the Foxtons never-watches-the-match beer garden Jack Wills crowd, and may be able to claim a record of following the club almost as long and storied as yourself.

It’s a little bit grating for people who do actually travel to an away match and generate a decent atmosphere, to then read people who weren’t there going on about how dreadful and soulless and unpleasant the club is.
The football itself, however, was absolutely shocking. No debates there. We’re crap.

 

[tonysingh]

This level of infighting amongst actual DHFC fans is depressingly new though. Are we affected by the on pitch craptitude or vice versa?

 

[Christian Burt]

Suffice to say, the lad who got into hot water with the (dreadful) security guard was not part of the Foxtons never-watches-the-match beer garden Jack Wills crowd, and may be able to claim a record of following the club almost as long and storied as yourself.

It’s a little bit grating for people who do actually travel to an away match and generate a decent atmosphere, to then read people who weren’t there going on about how dreadful and soulless and unpleasant the club is.
The football itself, however, was absolutely shocking. No debates there. We’re crap.

I think this is a good post actually. There’s been some other positive stuff too off the field - the official Twitter is really excellent under Baleboy.

 

[editor]

Are these people you would expect to be following the team home and away? What are they saying?

I don't 'expect' anything, but you've never heard twats coming up with shit at Hamlet games? You don't think elements of the crowd has changed in recent years? Acknowledging that doesn't mean I'm casting aspersions on the regular fans.

My point was I don't think it was right to completely dismiss out of hand any reports of twattish behaviour at this game as if we've got some fans that would never, ever be twattish.

 

[editor]

It’s a little bit grating for people who do actually travel to an away match and generate a decent atmosphere, to then read people who weren’t there going on about how dreadful and soulless and unpleasant the club is.

Wait. Who's going on about how "dreadful and soulless and unpleasant the club is"?
Have you got a quote for that or are you getting a little bit carried away here?

 

[editor]

I think this is a good post actually. There’s been some other positive stuff too off the field - the official Twitter is really excellent under Baleboy.

Baleboy is a much needed breath of fresh air at the club IMO.

 

[DulwichHarris]

Wait. Who's going on about how "dreadful and soulless and unpleasant the club is"?
Have you got a quote for that or are you getting a little bit carried away here?

No it’s not a direct quite. I think the point is valid though. We can all be annoyed that the massive increase in home support has brought in a fair few knobheads, we can feel nostalgic for what it was like 8 or 10 years ago, we can feel pissed off with aspects of how the club is run. I share all of those sentiments.
I think, though, that can shade into a blanket negativity that blanks out all the good stuff still going on. Our support yesterday was as noisy and fun as any away match I can remember, despite the dire footballing performance (I’ve been going with varying levels of consistency since 2012/13).
There’s a decent number of relatively new fans who sing and sing and sing. And I think throwaway remarks about ‘our current supporters’ can sound a little bit wankerish, even if I’m sure they weren’t intended to do so.

 

[sleaterkinney]

The early incident was just security throwing their weight around.

 

[tonysingh]

The early incident was just security throwing their weight around.

Was their security proper badged up or more volunteer type?

 

[Taper]

The club is excellent off the pitch this year. But we need a new Rose or we're damned.

 

[EDC]

The club is excellent off the pitch this year. But we need a new Rose or we're damned.

Very good.

 

[sleaterkinney]

Was their security proper badged up or more volunteer type?

A mix I think.

 

[tonysingh]

A mix I think.

I only asked because some clubs get it badly wrong with poorly trained and inexperienced stewards. SIA badged should be better but you run the danger of employing stewards who think they're running a nightclub door, not managing a crowd. It's a definite skill, I think that whoever Maidstone use are a fine example of how to do it right. Sadly it looks like Tonbridge Angels have it wrong