Angels 3 Dulwich Hamlet 1
A quickfire double from Bunmi Babajide during a blistering start to the second half was the determining factor as Angels came from behind to beat Dulwich Hamlet in the latest pre-season friendly.
On another sweltering afternoon at the Yeomans Community Stadium, Longmead, Angels put in possibly their best 45 minutes of football with three rapid second half strikes.
After a subdued first half in which Angels boss Alan Dunne said his charges were ‘too passive’, three goals in a ten minute period shortly after half time sealed the win.
Angels had come close on 39 minutes when summer signing Jephte Tanga struck the post with a curling effort but the visitors took the lead two minutes later.
Angels equalised two minutes after the break after some excellent pressing from Lamar Reynolds forced the Hamlet ‘keeper into a mistake creating an easy finish for Babajide.
Shortly after Angels went ahead after a trialist got on the end of a Bailey Akehurst free-kick. A third swiftly followed after a trialist found Reynolds who slipped in Babajide who twisted and turned before calmly finishing.
Dunne rang the changes in the second half giving minutes to a number of players including academy graduate Dani Sulovari and some valuable game-time for Ricky Korboa.
Reflecting on the afternoon Dunne told Angels Media: “It’s been a patchy pre-season. Ten weeks off for the boys is too long and we’ve had a few injuries to contend with
“But there were good minutes today for the boys. We were too passive in the first half and too much on the back foot. I wanted a reaction, made a couple of changes and I was pleased with the second half when there was only really one team in it. We were better on the front foot, more expansive.
“We have two more games to play before the season starts, possibly three, because I’m not ruling out another game because some key players have missed out on a lot of football. But, overall, there are a lot of things I’m happy about.”
Photograph: Dave Couldridge
