Wealdtone 2, Dulwich Hamlet 2
To South Ruislip! …on Saturday afternoon. Or was it Ruislip Gardens? Hang on - I think we should be at Ruislip Manor, Comrades.
Whoops.
And so the excitement of the Oyster Card Dulwich Hamlet Away Day got a little lost in the detail. Just how difficult is it to make the Transpontine journey out towards the badlands of the Middlesex Metro-Land?
It all got a little lost on leaving Sunny Stockwell to be honest. The Incredible South Lambeth Road Laughing Man raised a smile as I left the flat. Sucking on THREE lollipops simultaneously and LAUGHING like Dulwich Hamlet had just come back from an implausible 2-0 down away deficit.
Careful what you wish for, Mr South Lambeth Road Laughing Man.
Ha, bloody ha.
And so first plays second in a top of the table Ryman Premier clash. Dulwich had the supporting role as the potential promotion party poopers.
Six weeks ago and the tables would have been reversed. Dulwich have been the victim of fixture congestion / Buckfast congestion.
The one good thing about Buckfast - it gets you fucked fast.
Not unlike fixture congestion, where the pink ‘n’ blue liquid is flowing and the games come faster than a speeding Central Line all the way to South Ruislip.
What time is kick off again?
After navigating my way from *one* of the Ruislips with the help of a very friendly TfL chap / Wealdstone, I finally made it to The Vale. Our Metro-Land detour conversation covered the misery of QPR fans, lovely Lewes and the misnomer of the Met Police FC.
I do LOVE these non-league away days.
“Ahh - Jinx Jase!”
…was the greeting from Mr Rabble.
Whoops.
Time to turn around and join in with the lollipop sucking with the Incredible South Lambeth Road Laughing Man. I’m not here - honest.
And neither was my football companion. Just how hard is it to spot a GINGER in a non-league crowd?
Quite complex, what with the visit of the pink ‘n’ blue army boosting the Wealdstone gate to achieve their highest figure for a home league match. 1,150 is bloody good going for this level of football.
#ForFutureFootball may the message, but the twaddle of hyping up a game being played out in Metro-Land didn’t quite merit the playing of Let’s Get Ready to Rumble as the two teams took to the pitch.
What’s wrong with the away team being forced out first, only to be met with a chant of:
“Who the fucking hell are you?”
…by the friendly locals?
For the record, we’re the pink ‘n’ blue army. And bloody ACE we were on Saturday as well. Just under 200 Rabble rousers joined in on the Oyster Card away day, hopeful of helping Dulwich stay in the top six and promotion via a play-off place.
2-0 down at half time only confirmed the Jinx Jase status though. Wealdstone weren’t particularly impressive, but they bossed the game and didn’t allow Dulwich to open up the passing game.
Time for the Hamlet to turn it on after the break; time for some good old tin roof whacking to ramp up the atmosphere.
I’m not entirely sure what happened in the second half. It involved a smoke flare, man kisses and the flowing of the pink ‘n’ blue love juice (*not* Buckfast, btw…)
Lick my lips, Comrades.
2-0 down to 2-2, and probably worthy of a win for the away team. We sung to the team throughout the twenty-minute warm-down, much to the confusion of the Metro-Land men who thought that all football finished at 4:45.
Some handshakes on the way out from some rather decent Stones fans as the trail of pink ‘n’ blue filtered out towards South Ruislip / Gardens / Manor.
Back in Sunny Stockwell and the Incredible South Lambeth Road Laughing Man was still smiling. I stuffed my face with THREE pink ‘n’ blue gobstoppers and gurned the evening away with him.
Edgar Kail in my heart, Comrades.
