By Simeon Wright
Fans returned to Champion Hill for the first time since December to see Dulwich Hamlet defeated 2-0 by Millwall under-23s in their latest pre-season friendly last Thursday.
Lions midfielder Sean O’Brien was the standout performer in what was an expectedly tame contest. The nineteen-year-old midfielder opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time with a fine effort into the bottom left corner from eighteen yards.
Dulwich manager Gavin Rose and assistant Junior Kadi gave starts to five of last season’s players, while four new additions and two trialists made up the starting XI.
One of the trialists was ex-Crystal Palace and Leyton Orient winger James Dayton, while recently-signed winger Jazzi Barnum-Bobb looked particularly lively on the right flank, and AJ Harris-Sealy also turned out at Champion Hill for the first time up top.
Attendance for this game was capped at 600, and the club is yet to confirm when that will be increased.
O’Brien was first to go close after eight minutes, hitting a free-kick well but over the bar, before Harris-Sealy skimmed the top netting with a set-play of his own towards the end of the first-half. It was an incensed O’Brien who conceded the free-kick, remonstrating with the referee just a minute prior to him beating Hamlet keeper Charlie Grainger to make it 1-0 at the break.
Early into the second-half, former Bromley defender and Dulwich skipper for the evening Jack Holland glanced a near-post header wide of Joe Wright’s Millwall net, and in the 65th minute the busy O’Brien found the hands of Dulwich’s trialist keeper, brought on midway through, with a weak side-foot effort.
But it was the same trialist who would somewhat gift Millwall their 2-0 advantage after 78 minutes. A poor kick-out found its way to substitute Tom Leahy, though the midfielder’s dink 20 yards from goal was sublime and cruelly punished the Hamlet’s keeper.
It was nearly 3-0 a couple of minutes later but Tyrese Briscoe, also on in the second period, could only find the side-netting from six yards out. The visitors also fielded four trialists, all of whom started the match.
Dulwich Hamlet kick off their fourth consecutive National League South campaign on August 14 against Chippenham Town at Champion Hill, and have pre-season matches still to come against Crystal Palace and Bromley, both at home.