Hamlet fell at the first hurdle in this season’s edition of football’s oldest competition, falling prey to “The Eagles” of Bedfont Sports. The visitors converted a rare scoring chance at the end of a flowing attack in the 30th minute before defending with immense determination for the remaining hour. Aside from Joe Jackson’s lone goal, the outstanding moments in a triumph of tactical discipline for Eagles manager Paul Johnson and his men were two amazing saves by goalkeeper Dimitrios Kyriatzis at moments when everyone except himself must have been expecting to see the net bulge behind him.

The game opened with the usual gentle sparring in midfield and it was ten minutes before the Hamlet offered their first scoring threat, with Gio McGregor’s direct free kick from left of centre saved at the foot of the near post by Kyriatzis. It took the visitors a further five minutes to retaliate, as the skilful Darryl Sanders initiated an attack from midfield with a slick turn to throw off his markers followed by an incisive pass into the edge of the box, but Hamlet ultimately cleared the danger at the third attempt. McGregor was on target again from a direct free kick in the 22nd minute, with Kyriatzis only blocking this time, but James Dayton volleyed the rebound wide.

Bedfont now had their best spell of the game, beginning with a counter attack that gave Jackson the chance to shoot from the edge of the box. His shot was blocked by defender Tyrone Sterling and despite optimistic shouts for a penalty for handball they had to settle for a corner. A testing delivery beyond the far post was met by Kevin Diomande, ghosting in unmarked, but his close range volley was off target. As the half hour approached it was Bedfont who broke the deadlock. Sanders again showed great touch and vision to initiate a diagonal passing move from left to right that opened up the Dulwich defence, leaving Jackson clear inside the box to the right of goal to shoot past the advancing Charlie Grainger. Hamlet almost secured a swift equaliser when Darren McQueen’s effort was spilled by Kyriatzis but Danny Mills was unable to find the target with his follow up attempt. It was now all hands to the pump inside the Bedfont box as Hamlet pushed hard leading up to the interval. Dayton’s clever pass released McQueen down the right and his piercing cross was almost turned into his own net by an interception from giant defender Connagh Wilks, at the expense of a corner. The set piece was only momentarily repelled as McGregor retrieved the ball and forced another corner with his delivery. Hamlet claimed a penalty when AJ Harris-Sealy went down after jinking into the box but referee Stephen Parkinson wasn’t impressed. Within sixty seconds a rare attack at the opposite end saw Eagles centre forward Jordan Esprit clipped just inside the box by Harris-Sealy, but he kept his feet after stumbling when a fall might have proved more rewarding and the danger fizzled out. With less than two minutes of the first half remaining a beautifully flighted far post cross from the right by Jazzi Barnum-Bobb was served up on a plate for the dangerous Mills but the big man’s firm header was somehow clawed away almost from behind himself by Kyritazis. Within seconds another dangerous ball was arrowing its way into the Eagles’ six yard box but this time Kyriatzis gave his team respite by holding on securely.

The second half of the match was played out almost entirely inside the Bedfont half but without any further score. A lengthy sequence of similar crosses and corners was aimed into the visitors’ penalty area, where massed ranks of men in blue and white held firm to resist the danger. Deon Moore headed just over from a near post cross, Harris-Sealy cleared the bar with a shot from a tight angle, then the sM player was narrowly wide of the far post after cutting inside from the right for a left footed shot. In the 57th minute a huge roar of relief erupted from the home crowd as Barnum-Bobb's long high cross from the right was smashed into the net by the head of Mills, but alas the linesman’s flag had already gone up for offside as the ball was in flight.

Bedfont were now firmly on the ropes with more than half an hour remaining and within two minutes of that disallowed goal Hamlet hopes were once again dashed when an equalizer seemed certain. This time Moore’s cross from the left was met firmly on the volley by McGregor, lurking near the penalty spot, but his scorching effort was incredibly matched by Kyriatzis diving full stretch to his left to keep it out. That was as good as it got for the hosts. Mills had a shot blocked, then put the rebound wide. The inevitable error upon which Hamlet might have hoped to capitalize finally arose as Wilks lost his balance and miscued the ball in a crowded box, but he recovered impressively to knock the ball to safety as he fell. With less than ten minutes remaining a Dayton free kick was headed on by Jack Holland, returning as a substitute from a knock sustained two weeks ago, but Mills couldn’t get his shot on target at the far post. The Bedfont defence was fully tested one last time in the 84th minute as a three man pile up involving Kyriatzis, McGregor and Eagles left back Jonathan Tadafe saw the defender hook the ball to safety at full stretch. Hamlet again claimed a penalty two minutes later when Dayton twisted and tumbled under a challenge just inside the box but this time Mr Parkinson ruled it simulation and showed the yellow card instead.

With a shortage of attacking options on the Hamlet bench, some rather desperate late substitutions involved the replacement of a winger and a midfielder with two defenders, so perhaps it wasn’t surprising that the hosts’ attacking threat receded rather than reaching the desired crescendo during five minutes of stoppage time. However the Eagles from Bedfont ultimately played the right cards at the right time to make their own luck and reward their noisy and enthusiastic travelling support, whose many junior members had a day to remember for many years to come.

Hamlet Team (4-2-3-1): Grainger (c) - Barnum-Bobb, Taylor, Sterling, Blackman - McGregor, Dayton - Moore, McQueen, Harris-Sealy - Mills. Substitutes: Kandi (for Harris-Sealy 69), Holland (for Moore 80), Mundle-Smith (for Dayton 90+1). Substitutes not used: Molyneux (gk), Scarlett, Splatt, Diallo.

Attendance: 1,607

by Richard Watts