It's strange to think that the last ever game that Craig Edwards took 'charge' of for Dulwich Hamlet was a fun Club XI against the Supporters' Team!
Less than a week after he arranged the match as a 'thank you' to the fans for supporting the Hamlet week in, week out he was out of the Champion Hill hotseat.
A case of 'thanks for the memories', & for some fans the memory of this game will live for a long time.
A large squad of Hamlet fans 'came out of the woodwork' for ths match, a number of whom have never had a runout for the Supporters' Team before, jumping at the opportunity to be on the same hallowed turf/dustbowl as their heroes. And revelling in the moment. Which is what this game was all about.
It wasn't a serious game, the final score reflecting the fact that at one stage the "Rabblers" had no less than NINETEEN outfield players on the pitch, of all shapes & sizes! Ranging from primary school kids to a sixty three year old Supporters' Team regular!
Despite the fact we went down 6-5 technically we 'won' the match after Craig shouted 'next goal wins it, as we were six four down!
It wasn't a serious match, but it was played in a great spirit, with the Club XI treating it with both the respect & irreverance such an encounter merited. I won't even attempt to cobble together a match report-not least because I didn't know everyones' names! Except to say our goals were scored by James O'Shaughnessy, who hit four, & Lawrence Marsh.
Hopefully some of those who had a run out for the first time will have realised that the Supporters' Team is about fun, & not too high a standard, and will contact the Gaffer- mospurley@hotmail.com - so they can be part of the team next season.
