Dulwich Hamlet 0-0 Concord Rangers

Dulwich Hamlet 0-0 Concord Rangers

National League South

Tuesday 25th April 2023

This game won’t live for very long in the memory as Dulwich Hamlet and Concord Rangers played out a goalless draw in the National League South - a result which neither team wanted beforehand!

On paper, this game promised so much more.

Going into it, the importance was massive. Dulwich knew that a win would guarantee their survival at NLS level for a fifth successive year whilst for Concord, the onus was slightly more on them to get three points as they’re in the relegation zone with games fast running out.

Having not been to Champion Hill earlier in the season when Sheffield United’s U21 played here against Crystal Palace - and were successful, and having passed up a few other opportunities to visit in the past, that was my rationale for going to this game which is the furthest south I’ve been this season.

Plus, it gave me the chance to see how the NLS compares to the National League North where I’ve seen far more matches over the past 12 months.

And I really couldn’t have picked a poorer game because what unfolded was lacking in quality, lacking in finesse, and lacking in cutting edge whenever the ball went into the box, and it just didn’t produce the sort of excitement that everyone inside the ground was hoping to witness. Had both these teams been playing ‘next goal winner’ then I’d have probably needed a sleeping bag, something strong to get through the night, and I might still even be inside the ground now writing this at breakfast time.

The last time I watched Concord was back in November 2014 when they nearly upset Mansfield Town in the FA Cup. They were the good times under Danny Cowley; fast-forward nine years and these are far more tense times but the perennial underdogs of the National League South (given what Concord haven’t got compared to many others at this level) actually started the much brighter of the two teams - even if they were wearing their dull grey away kit which is the polar opposite to their usual yellow and blue colours.

Dulwich probably had a few nerves and they found themselves really camped in and forced to defend their own box against a number of set-pieces in the first 20 minutes or so, before they finally ‘woke up’ and caused a few issues down at the other end albeit they couldn’t get a goal to give themselves something to protect.

The closest any team came to scoring occurred about five minutes before the break when Concord’s Ricky Modeste unleashed a looping shot that caused a few stomach-churning sensations amongst the home fans as it dropped onto the woodwork. A lucky escape and it remained 0-0.

With darkness descending in South London, the second half was more even, more open and more entertaining. An early goal would have whet the appetite, though it never arrived, as both teams defended their boxes and dealt with the bits and pieces of pressure (still mostly from set-pieces) when they needed to.

The endeavour was there from both sets of players but the quality was always lacking and it was only in the latter stages when the game stretched that a breakthrough goal started to look like a more realistic possibility.

Dulwich defender David Stephens and ‘keeper Aaron Jones nearly got themselves in a mess on the edge of their box and were lucky to get away with it in one move - and just a minute or so later when Jones came off his line and Concord’s Quentin Monville was sent sprawling in the box, there were big appeals for a penalty from the few dozen visiting fans directly behind the goal only for the referee to wave them away and leave them feeling infuriated.

Dulwich themselves weren’t happy they didn’t get awarded a penalty a few times and they could have won it in late on too as Conor Lawless clipped the bar with a shot not altogether dissimilar from Concord’s woodwork effort in the first half, but by far the hosts’ biggest and best opportunity came soon after that when they stretched the visiting defence and Danny Mills played a ball inside towards George Porter. With the ‘keeper handicapped, off his line and way out of position, it seemed inevitable that Porter would be the hero and put the ball in the gaping goal infront of him, only for Concord’s Lewis Manor to somehow slide in and get something on the shot to turn the ball an inch or two wide of the post.

And so it stayed 0-0… ‘Fine Margins’ to use a football cliche and worse still, if that late chance had been buried then it would have been the goal to guarantee Dulwich’s survival. Who knows what the ramifications might yet be?

Instead, it now goes down to the final day and Dulwich must now beat Chippenham - and a quick glance at their record this season (Won 14, Drawn 17, Lost 14) proves they’re precisely the type of team where you never know what you’re going to get from them from one week to the next.

Concord’s flight-path to survival now hinges on winning both their remaining fixtures - starting on Thursday when they host a Havant & Waterlooville side who’ve tumbled down the NLS since the New Year (similar to Darlington in the North) and are one more bad result away from mathematically being out of contention for a Play-Off spot.

Cheshunt’s defeat at home to Worthing last night means they’re back in the Ryman League after one season at this level, whilst Weymouth are still hanging on - and they play Dover (who they could still leapfrog) in their final game on Saturday.

It could get really complicated with ‘Goal Difference’ but, aside from Concord who might need a favour from elsewhere, for every other team down at the bottom, they’ve got their destiny in their own hands!