By Wilf MacDonnell at Champion Hill
Paul Barnes hailed a “massive” victory after he took charge of his first game since his permanent appointment as Dulwich Hamlet beat fellow early season strugglers Hungerford Town 2-1 at Champion Hill on Saturday.
Nana Owusu gave the Hamlet the lead in the sixteenth minute before Danny Mills doubled the advantage 31 minutes in.
Niko Muir scored from the penalty spot with five minutes left but Dulwich hung on to claim the three points and move up to nineteenth in the National League South table.
“We’re going to make sure we’re on the front foot and we will take it to anyone that comes here,” Barnes told the News after the win.
Their approach was clear as they started in a fluid 4-3-3, the manager’s preferred formation since his appointment on an interim basis.
Just nine minutes in, Dulwich danger man Owusu rattled the bar from the edge of the box. Jayden Clarke had skipped by Hungerford midfielder George Smith, before laying the ball off Owusu for the strike.
Just over five minutes later the same two players combined to put the home side one 1-0 up. Clarke went on a jinking run from midfield and was brought down 25 yards out. Owusu stepped up to the free-kick and hit it with dip, the power on the strike proving to be too much for goalkeeper Tyla Dickinson who couldn’t get near it.
Despite a flurry of Hungerford set-pieces, it was the Hamlet who scored again. Some lovely free-flowing football saw Jack Holland play it wide to right-back Joe Felix. He looked inside and found George Porter who curled a delicate cross to the back post and from there on there was only going to be one winner as Mills climbed over his marker to head powerfully home.
It was so nearly three before the end of the half, but Clarke was denied one-on-one by Dickinson having run on to Mills’ flick-on.
Hungerford had half-chances in the first half and never looked like giving up after half-time. Charlie Grainger made two big saves to temporarily preserve his clean sheet. First, substitute Sammy Ompreon shot across goal and Grainger saved with an outstretched leg. Then the keeper stood tall to deny Joel Rollinson’s effort on the angle.
Time was slipping away for the visitors as Owusu hit the woodwork for a second time, a weaker foot effort from the right pinging back off the post.
Hungerford pulled one back in the 85th minute when Muir smashed in from the spot after Andre Blackman had given away the penalty.
Even with the three points, Barnes wasn’t overly impressed with his side’s performance. “To be honest, I think from the standards we’ve set previously, I was a little bit disappointed that we didn’t meet them.
“So I was saying [it was] one of our worst performances which shows the standard we’re setting.”
Photo: @robavis