CAFC vs Dulwich Hamlet – Match Report

Carshalton Athletic suffered defeat to Dulwich Hamlet at Champion Hill on Boxing Day following a first-half Kreshnic Krasniqi header in front of a sold-out crowd of 2883.

There were two changes for Peter Adeniyi’s side following the 2-0 victory over Chatham Town on Saturday. Dominic Vose replaced the injured Tommy Bradford, while Darnell Goather-Braithwaite made way for Kwaku Frimpong out wide, who was returning from suspension. In Bradford’s absence, Fabio Saraiva brandished the armband, and former St Albans City centre-back Chima Udoka was named among the substitutes.

The game’s first chance fell the way of the Robins inside five minutes when Fikayo Atewologun took it upon himself to drive Carshalton 30 yards up the pitch and into the final third.

The passage of play concluded with midfielder Michael Dada letting fly from range and being denied by a diving Dillion Barnes. That said, a spell of sustained attacking pressure ensued through a succession of inswinging corners. Eventually, Carshalton subsided, with Kreshnic Krasniqi glancing into the back of the net at the front post to give the hosts the lead in the 10th minute. It was Krasniqi’s second goal of the 2024-25 Isthmian Premier campaign. Approaching the 20-minute mark, Saraiva threaded through Frimpong down the right channel, who was adjudged to have been fouled having gone to ground. Saraiva saw his whipped right channel 20-yard set piece ricochet off the wall and parried behind by Barnes for a Reds corner.

The Robins were moving the ball well and probing the Hamlet backline in search of the leveller, but Peter Adeniyi’s side were struggling to create any chances of note. Barnes comfortably claimed Sanchez Ming’s touchline set piece, and Dada drifted inside to send an effort sailing over the bar midway through the half. Enjoying the lion’s share of possession, the hosts were frustrating our lads—there were lots of cynical and clumsy challenges.

Dulwich continued to survive wave after wave of Carshalton attack as Frimpong, developing into our main attacking threat,

won a free kick on the byline, and Saraiva powered it towards the front post but to no avail. With ten minutes until the break, Hamlet broke at pace, and all of a sudden, a defence-splitting pass found Anthony Jeffrey to the right of the penalty area, who arrowed the ball across the face of goal, but thankfully nobody in pink and blue was there to apply the close-range finish. The chance sparked a momentum shift, albeit a brief one, when Mark Marshall pulled it back to Hassan Ibrahiym on the edge of the penalty area, and twisting and turning, Ibrahiym dragged the shot wide.

Up the other end, Bryan Ifeanyi managed to maintain possession and fashion the ball onto his right foot before searching for the far corner and dragging the resulting shot narrowly wide of the post. A few minutes later, Dulwich forward Daniel Mills failed to trouble Henry with a header straight down our shot-stopper’s throat. Towards the latter stages, the tables had turned once more as Dulwich put the Robins under pressure with a succession of crosses into the box which we survived, a testament to our defensive resolve. Heading into half-time, it was the hosts who were in the ascendancy after a stronger end to the first 45.

There were a couple of early sighters for Hamlet at the beginning of the second half following a bit of a sluggish start from Carshalton in the opening stages. However, the Robins settled and Sankoh pulled the ball back into the path of David Smith who decided to let it run perhaps anticipating that an onrushing Reds attacker would apply the finish, but it did not quite pan out that way and a good opportunity to equalise was squandered. Pushing for the leveller, Adeniyi’s side came again, Smith did well to hold the ball up and lay it off to Sankoh. The full-back attacked left and nearing the byline crossed it towards the No. 9 who touched down and saw the resulting close-range half-volley rattle the crossbar and go behind for a goal kick.

On the hour, Ming rolled back the years with an excellent burst of pace to deny Hamlet a threatening counterattack. Saraiva’s incisive pass was then capped off by a magnificent piece of Frimpong skill to turn the defender—the whipped cross that followed was scrambled away from danger. After a brief spell of attacking pressure from the hosts and in a bid to inspire a route back into the occasion, Adeniyi introduced the creative spark of Mason Saunders-Henry to proceedings in the 65th minute, Dom Vose making way. Moments later, much to the concern of Adeniyi, Dada had to be replaced by Darnell Goather-Braithwaite owing to having sustained an injury. In the 70th minute, Saunders-Henry, Ming, and Smith combined down the right channel before finding Frimpong, who performed a full 360-degree turn to bamboozle his marker but could only muster a tame strike at goal.

Entering the final quarter of an hour, Saraiva touched down and played through Goather-Braithwaite; driving towards goal, he attempted to square the ball to Smith in the penalty area; however, it was crucially cut out before it could reach the No. 9.

Despite play being all Carshalton, Hamlet issued a warning sign when Lukwikilu Wanadio lashed a venomous effort goalbound, which was calmly dealt with by Henry between the sticks. With eight minutes until time, desperation started to kick in, and Ming tried an audacious strike from 35 yards out; it was high over the bar. We nearly orchestrated our own downfall on a few occasions with some very poor playout from the back. As the clock ticked down, Smith departed for Chima Udoka to make his debut in red. Four additional minutes were indicated, and Udoka rattled the bar with a header before Saraiva’s volleyed follow-up struck the post—the pair were spared their blushes when the assistant raised his flag for offside.

Unfortunately, Dulwich would hold onto the lead to claim all three points in the south London Isthmian Premier Boxing Day clash. The result sees the Robins drop out of the play-off places and into seventh on 32 points. Adeniyi will have hopes that the Reds can return to winning ways when we welcome Chichester City to Colston Avenue on Saturday.

Up Next

Date: Saturday, December 28, 2024
Venue: Colston Avenue
Kick-off: 03:00 pm
Admission: £11, £8, £5 (online prices) on the gate is a pound dearer.
Tickets: Buy online tickets here

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