Dulwich Hamlet missed out on the chance to go top after their 1-1 draw with fellow high-fliers Faversham, which brought an end to their 100 per cent home record. Frankie Sawyer fired Hamlet ahead in the 49th minute. And they received a further boost when Faversham’s Jamie Peacock saw red after being shown a second yellow soon after. But Faversham hit back and levelled things up just after the hour. Dulwich are in action tonight, at home to Hythe Town.

As we all know we lost that match, the midweek Friday edition reporting:

Hamlet in injury woe

Dulwich Hamlet are in the midst of an injury crisis that has seen their backline depleted to just one first-team defender ahead of tomorrow’s trip to bottom club Walton Casuals. The latest injury came during Hamlet’s 2-0 home defeat to Hythe Town on Tuesday when centre-back Josh Turner limped off with an ankle injury that is likely to rule him out for up to four weeks. Turner’s setback comes on the back of a broken leg for left-back Ahmed Deen and a ruptured meniscus for Tony Sinclair, which means he might miss the rest of the season. Loan signing Jide Ogunbote also suffered a serious knee injury after just three games at the club and had to return to his parent club Basingstoke. Manager Gavin Rose said, “We are picking up one or two injuries a week at the moment, so we have a very depleted squad. They all seem to be in defensive areas as well. At the moment Lewis Gonsalves is our only fit centre-back. It is slightly worrying, but what can you do? Unfortunately this is just part of the game. It is just unlucky that this year it has just hit us pretty hard.”

With Turner limping off against Hythe, Rose was forced to deploy midfielder Peter Adeniyi at centre half. Forward Ryan Jones has also recently found himself drafted in as cover for Deen.

“Last week we had to have three 18-year-olds who had played in the reserves on the bench and a couple of youth team players,” he added. “But the whole thing about football is that you have to wait for your opportunity and grab it. It might come by default or it might come by you pushing the door open. There are lots of top players who started their careers by making the most of an opportunity. Many people are playing at a higher level just by unfortunate circumstances for another person giving them the opportunity.”

Rose also remained firmly upbeat about the way Dulwich have played during their injury blight, despite the fact that the Hythe defeat saw Hamlet surrender their unbeaten home record.

“If you look at our last two home games, we were completely the dominant side and if we had taken our chances we would have won them both,” he said. “This has got nothing to do with the injuries or the opposition.”

And so onto this week’s coverage...

Again, just a brief mention in the midweek non-league column on Tuesday:

Dulwich Hamlet bounced back from their midweek defeat to Hythe Town with a 2-0 win over Walton Casuals. Daniel Carr bagged his first goal for the club three minutes into the second half. Lewis Gonsalves scored Dulwich’s second from Junior Kadi’s free kick on the hour as Hamlet eased to victory. Dulwich face Erith in the third round of the London Senior Cup tonight.

Which was an emphatic victory, which pleased our manager, as you will see from the reporting in the weekend edition of the ‘South London Press’, published earlier today:

Dulwich delight Rose

Dulwich Hamlet boss Gavin Rose has paid tribute to how his injury-hit side have coped in the last few weeks, writes Matt Nichols.

Rose’s comments came off the back of a 5-0 London Senior Cup thumping of Kent League side Erith Town on Tuesday. Dulwich beat Walton Casuals 2-0 in the Ryman Division One South last weekend.

“The lads have responded really well,” he said. “The lads who have had to slot in at the back have done a great job. Everyone needs to be selfless for the good of the group and that is the sort of spirit we are getting now. Tuesday was a very good result against a strong Erith team. Some of our football was great, especially in the second half.”

Former Staines centre-back Louis Hollingsworth has signed for the club and made his debut against Walton Casuals.

“He has been out injured for a long time so we are looking to ease him back in,” Rose said. “Hopefully he will provide the experience and cover that we need.”

Dulwich will have to cope with the same makeshift backline when they travel to fifth-placed Burgess Hill Town tomorrow - with Lewis Gonsalves the only recognised defender.

“We won’t think too much about our league position until later in the season,” said Rose. “At the moment we are focussed on consistency and performance until we have a settled squad again. If we can get that, the results will take care of themselves.”