Haringey Borough v Hamlet (Isthmian League) Saturday 04.11.23, 3pm

[Pink Panther]

A third meeting of the season with the division's bottom club, and hopefully third time lucky for a Hamlet win.

I'm not sure where the directions in the last home programme came from, but ignore them if you wish to get there as quickly and directly as possible.

Nearest station is Wood Green (Piccadilly Line Undergound) which is 1 mile away, so you should be able to walk it from there in 20 minutes, but if you turn sharp left out of the station into Lordship Lane (no, not that one!) bus W3 (a double decker with a frequent service every 6-9 minutes) will drop you directly opposite the ground.

There are no pub options near the ground but there's a Wetherspoon's in a modern shopping/leisure centre across the road from the station, and another pub (The Nag's Head) diagonally opposite on the corner. The Prince (corner of Trinity Road and Finsbury Road) was decent when I visited last season, but it's around 5 minutes walk from the tube station and requires a detour from the walking route.

If you're a bus fanatic who enjoys a scenic route, bus 141 from the upper concourse at London Bridge Station will take you all the way to Wood Green Underground Station, where you can either switch to the W3 or go one stop further and walk from the western end of White Hart Lane.

 

[DHFC_Programmes]

The road directions are getting scrapped going forward as no one is going to use them to direct them to an away match in this day and age. That bit will now focus on eating and drinking.

 

[Pink Panther]

I forgot to mention there is no service on the East Dulwich to London Bridge line and the Overground via Denmark Hill yet again this Saturday (replacement bus service on both routes) but Thameslink and Southeastern services from Denmark Hill to Blackfriars and Victoria are running normally. From Victoria you can take the Victoria Line, changing for the Piccadilly Line at Finsbury Park where the platforms are adjacent.

Another option is White Hart Lane Station, on the Liverpool Street to Cheshunt branch of the Overground via Seven Sisters, which is 1 mile east of the ground and connects with bus W3 to take you directly to the ground if you don't fancy the walk. The Antwerp Arms, which I've been intending to check out for a while but haven't managed to yet, sounds like a decent pub with a slight detour on this route.

Antwerp Arms

An independent local pub with a traditional spirit and great, big heart. Book a table for lunch or dinner or host your event with us.

www.antwerparms.co.uk

 

[Pink Panther]

Today's team.

 

[lwrs79]

Fingers crossed the league good recent form can continue against a team we owe a performance against after the fa cup loss. Come on you amlet

 

[Pink Panther]

A poor first half but at least we're not losing! One good save by Lakin diving at a forward's feet. 0-0

 

[the pink one]

1-0 Ayuk

 

[the pink one]

1-1

 

[editor]

1-1

If we can't beat the shittest team in the division, we're seriously fucked.

 

[the pink one]

If we can't beat the shittest team in the division, we're seriously fucked.

we're fucked then

 

[editor]

we're fucked then

Sure looks that way.

 

[AveryDave]

When Hayrettin's brand of football doesn't work, we're a tough team to watch.

Today was one of those days.

 

[bkbk]

I was watching a Bunch of Amateurs episode the other day which interviewed a few Maidstone fans (this was filmed last season) who were bemoaning his back to front style.

 

[FHW]

Just one moment of quality in the entire match and that produced the goal. Great run and cross from Jeffrey. Rest of the game was difficult to watch. Shame Jeffrey wasn't given more opportunities to run at the full back.

 

[Pink Panther]

That was pretty grim, at least we didn't lose, but it's a humbling experience to feel like I'm watching a below average team back in the Isthmian League. We played the bottom team and barely worked their keeper in 90 minutes. Our goal was superbly crafted just before the hour, Jeffrey attacked the byline on the left and pulled the ball back at knee height for Ayuk to slam home on the volley from 8 yards.

Unsurprisingly bottom placed Haringey were no more effective, although they played nice football. Lakin was kept busy with the sort of shots and crosses you'd expect him to deal with, but had little chance with the equaliser when a hard low cross was turned in at the near post.

We should have had a penalty for a bizarre incident shortly after the equaliser when their keeper held a headed backpass inside his 6 yard box before charging directly at Mills, who was yards away and backing off, and deliberately barged him to the ground before releasing the ball. It was open play, our player did not move into the keeper's path and was not obliged to jump out of the way to let him have a clear run.

 

[Alex W]

I was quite impressed with those 8 or so Haringey fans who sang throughout the game, seemingly without any pause. Made a decent racket with the aid of tha corrugated iron roof.

 

[AveryDave]

 

[Al Cunningham]

At least was better than our last visit. Our strength seems to be in the wide areas with Ayuk, Jeffrey , Wanadio and now Shonibare, who I thought looked good when he came on. Good skill before being cynically pulled down for dangerous freekick. We started with 3 of them but personally would have peferred Ayuk in centre rather than Wanadio. Jeffrey makes such a difference and created a number of good oppprtunties and the run and cross for the goal was excellent.

Not a great perfornance yesterday but i can see signs we are gettting there with Lakin, Ayuk and Shonibare being great additions at this level. Chambers and Parry improving as a pair with more game time too. I would say if we get a decent fast direct central striker and and a good playmaker in midfield we will start to climb the league .......and enter the playoff are at about Easter.

 

[editor]

At least was better than our last visit. Our strength seems to be in the wide areas with Ayuk, Jeffrey , Wanadio and now Shonibare, who I thought looked good when he came on. Good skill before being cynically pulled down for dangerous freekick. We started with 3 of them but personally would have peferred Ayuk in centre rather than Wanadio. Jeffrey makes such a difference and created a number of good oppprtunties and the run and cross for the goal was excellent.

Not a great perfornance yesterday but i can see signs we are gettting there with Lakin, Ayuk and Shonibare being great additions at this level. Chambers and Parry improving as a pair with more game time too. I would say if we get a decent fast direct central striker and and a good playmaker in midfield we will start to climb the league .......and enter the playoff are at about Easter.

We scraped a draw against the shittest team in the league and you're predicting a play off finish? I've got to say that I love your optimism!

 

[the pink one]

Is Preston only playing in the cup competitions?

 

[Al Cunningham]

We scraped a draw against the shittest team in the league and you're predicting a play off finish? I've got to say that I love your optimism!

Yes perhaps optimistic but it is a long season and i think we will continue to improve. I think there are probably 3 decent teams who we are unlikely to catch. All the rest can beat each other and eventually i can see us moving closer and possibly sneaking in. What we 7 points off the playoffs with about 30 games left. A playoff win at Billericay will be a nice way to end the season

 

[editor]

Pics!

In photos: Dulwich Hamlet draw away to bottom club Haringey Borough, Sat 4th Nov 2023

Any hopes of Hamlet avenging their embarrassing cup defeat at Haringey Borough earlier this season swiftly evaporated as a deeply average team slugged out a 1-1 draw against the bottom club on Satu…

www.brixtonbuzz.com

 

[editor]

"It's always difficult place to come."

Haringey have yet to win at home, losing five times and drawing twice.

 

[Pink Panther]

We scraped a draw against the shittest team in the league and you're predicting a play off finish? I've got to say that I love your optimism!

"It's always difficult place to come."

Haringey have yet to win at home, losing five times and drawing twice.

That's one of the most irritating of all manager clichés, but I also find the logic that "they're bottom therefore we must beat them" annoyingly simplistic. Bottom placed teams who have yet to win at home will win some of those games sooner or later. Haringey are not that bad a side on any given day compared to everyone else in this division. They may well go down, because someone has to, but they won't be a pushover for many opponents. They were unlucky not to beat Hornchurch with many of the same players when I saw them towards the end of last season.

I wouldn't bet money on us gatecrashing the play-offs, but I do believe we'll be closer at the end of the season than we are now. I'm disappointed (and surprised) that we aren't yet better at closing out games when we're in front. That was something Hakan successfully addressed when he first arrived, at least in home games. Two thirds of all our clean sheets last season were during his two months, with only 4 goals conceded in the final 7 home games after inheriting the leakiest defence in the division. We've never been behind in any of our 4 drawn games this season (including the Haringey FA Cup tie) but have conceded 5 equalisers, several of them in the final few minutes. There have also been late goals conceded in some our wins, and we shouldn't need reminding how costly goal difference can be after what happened last season.

 

[liamdhfc]

My take on yesterday:

We weren’t very good.
Not all plastic pitches are good and that is a terrible one.
Ref should have sent off player who committed foul on edge of penalty area.

 

[Paula_G]

Not all plastic pitches are good and that is a terrible one.

The team have played on this pitch already this season so should be able to mitigate for it terribleness. In addition the majority of players will have, at some time, played on sub par astroturf pitches either on recreational football outside their team, in training or even indeed in competitive conditions. Other clubs seem to have adapted to it to get results with the obvious exception of Haringey. Could it then be assumed that the current style of football is unsuited to that particular pitch?

 

[liamdhfc]

The team have played on this pitch already this season so should be able to mitigate for it terribleness. In addition the majority of players will have, at some time, played on sub par astroturf pitches either on recreational football outside their team, in training or even indeed in competitive conditions. Other clubs seem to have adapted to it to get results with the obvious exception of Haringey. Could it then be assumed that the current style of football is unsuited to that particular pitch

A slick overused 3G pitch which is bumpy doesn’t make it easy to mitigate. If any pass was even slightly in front of any player it just ran out of play. Nobody has used it as an excuse, it’s just my opinion having seen two games on it this season.