Tolfrey Heroics Can’t Prevent Hamlet Victory
Kingstonian plunged further towards the depths of Ryman Premier despair with a comprehensive defeat at Dulwich last Monday night.
The K’s were outplayed more or less from start to finish and only two late goals and some Rob Tolfrey wonder saves added a semblance of respect to the final scoreline.
Any hopes of the bright, solid start that had been a hallmark of K’s tougher away trips this season vanished within nine minutes. Charlie Wassmer needlessly handled a free-kick and Ashley Carew made no mistake from the spot.
Tolfrey made a number of fine first-half saves to limit Dulwich’s lead to one but there was little he could do to deny Ibra Sekajja early in the second period. He had acres of space and plenty to time to beat the keeper with Kingstonian’s high line horribly exposed.
Ibrahim Kargbo thought he had made it three shortly afterwards but Tolfrey produced an outstanding save to somehow divert the unmarked Dulwich man’s header on to the bar. Stopping his body weight as it shifted in the wrong direction and then reacting to get enough fingertips on the ball, the K’s legend won’t have made many better saves in his career than that one.
Sadly, his quality did not even come close to being matched by those playing in front of him. Dulwich made it 3-0 on 53 minutes when a ridiculously unmarked Dipo Akinyemi converted a low cross from close range. Barely a defender was in sight.
A couple of bad misses and good saves later K’s unexpectedly got one back with the first meaningful attempt they’d mustered all game. Pico Gomez’s free-kick beat the wall and slipped through Preston Edwards, Tolfrey’s opposite number.
K’s actually created a clear-cut chance not long after when sub Youssef Bamba slipped in Chris Gibbons down the right who found Ryan Moss. The ex-Dulwich striker fired his effort into the side-netting, and with it went any faint hope of an unlikely comeback.
Sekajja added his second and Dulwich’s fourth in the 90th minute, Tolfrey beaten only because of an unlucky deflection. K’s consolation from Joe Turner was as aesthetically pleasing as anything any of our outfield players had done all night, holding off a defender and placing his shot beyond Edwards via the right-hand post.
It couldn’t mask what had been another terrible day at the office, though.
Match report by Rupert Cane.
