Just three weeks on from a trip to the Easy As HGV Stadium, the Hamlet find themselves there again this weekend, taking on Farnborough in their first competitive away outing of the 2022-23 season.

We of course began the season by claiming three points over Braintree Town last Saturday, with debutant Jayden Clarke sweeping in a winner with eight minutes remaining to help the Hamlet to a 2-1 victory. Until that moment it seemed the game was drifting towards a draw, with a spectacular free kick from Alfie Matthews cancelling out the Hamlet opener from George Porter.

Some 25 miles away Farnborough were playing their first game at this level for seven years, having last been relegated from the Conference South as it was known then in 2015. It would sadly be a profitless return to Step 2 though for Boro, with a solitary strike from Jordan Greenidge enough to give Hemel Hempstead Town three points over Spencer Day's side.

As previously mentioned, the Hamlet travelled to Boro just three weeks ago in a pre-season friendly, arranged as part of the deal to bring AJ Harris-Sealy to Dulwich in 2021. On a toasty afternoon, the Hamlet came out on top by two goals to one, with Danny Mills and Porter on the scoresheet in the first half, and Ollie Robinson responding for the hosts after the interval.

That meeting was the first in more than six years, when the Hamlet and Farnborough were league rivals in the Isthmian League Premier Division for a season. In October 2015, a rampant Dulwich won 4-1 away from home, with goals being shared around the midfield through Damien Scannell, Danny Waldren, a penalty from Ashley Carew and a fourth from debutant Dan Sweeney, who would go on to break a club record and score in each of his first six games for the club. Tommy Wright had reduced the arrears to 3-1. In the return game the following April, Dulwich had to settle for a draw. After Bogdan Vastsuk had put Boro ahead at Champion Hill, club icons Nyren Clunis and another for Carew turned the game on its head, only for Sam Pearce to equalise.

Those two fixtures remain the only competitive matches between the sides since Farnborough were renamed in 2007, but including games against their predecessors Farnborough Town, the form guide is not pretty reading for the Hamlet is can be seen below:

Played: 16 | Won: 2 | Drawn: 4 | Lost: 10 | Goals For: 18 | Goals Against: 40
Away Record - Played: 7 | Won: 1 | Drawn: 2 | Lost: 4 | Goals For: 8 | Goals Against: 17
Biggest win: 4-1 vs Farnborough, Isthmian League Premier Division, 10th October 2015
Biggest defeat: 1-6 vs Farnborough Town, Isthmian League Premier Division, 26th April 1986

The Hamlet will still be missing Josh Hill and James Comley with their long-term injuries, but welcome defender Junior Savane into the squad after signing this week. The 19-year-old appeared in three of the Hamlet pre-season fixtures, starting at Whitehawk and coming off the bench against Sutton United and Arsenal U23s.

Kick off is at 3 o'clock, with tickets costing £12 for adults, £10 for concessions, £6 for 16-21 year olds, and under 16s are free when accompanied by an adult. Hamlet fans making the drive to Hampshire can park on site at the stadium, which costs £2, change is recommended to pay. Turnstiles and the Cherrywood Bar will both be open from 12pm, with food and drink vendors on site.

We will be running our Mixlr radio commentary of the game from 2:50pm with Ryan Matthews, and as a club we welcome Nathalie Schönbeck as our matchday photographer for the first time. Highlights of the game will be on our YouTube channel on Monday.