By Ben Henderson (@benhenderson96)
GAVIN ROSE admitted Ashley Carew’s sending-off at Welling United on Saturday had a big influence on the final result – but insisted his side wouldn’t “dwell on” their opening-day defeat.
Making their National League South debut, Rose’s Dulwich Hamlet almost took the lead early in the second half when Carew fired in a free-kick that forced Dan Wilks into a full-stretch save.
But Welling went ahead in the 53rd minute through Thierry Audel, before Carew was given a second yellow card for pushing Danny Mills.
The Wings wrapped up the points in the 67th minute when Nassim L’Goul set up Jack Jebb for the second.
Rose was unhappy with Carew’s dismissal.
“He’s let the team down, there’s no two ways about that,” Rose said. “He’s fully aware that he’s on a yellow card. We’re one-nil down away from home. He’s let the group down badly. I think he knows that. That’s not something that we’ll be able to tolerate in the future.
“In the first half we did okay and competed. I don’t think any team really dominated and there weren’t many chances. We did okay away from home against a team that is pretty well-established in this league. So, it wasn’t a terrible result at half-time.
“At half-time there were a couple of things we wanted to improve and that’s probably where we came unstuck – failing to implement those things, looking after the ball in the other team’s half, for example.
“Before the goal we created a few chances and we were unlucky. I felt we gave away the goals too easily. [Goalkeeper] Preston [Edwards’] line for the goal was too deep – he should’ve got the back four and pushed it higher. The goal really comes out the blue.
“Ashley’s sending-off really dictates the result because it’s going to be difficult then to get back in the game. So, yeah, it’s disappointing because I feel like the result was in our hands and we actually contributed to it going the way it did.”
Rose did feel the referee was a little too quick to hand out bookings, and admitted the more experienced Welling dealt with the situation better than his side.
“I think he could’ve managed the game a bit better,” Rose said of the referee. “Speaking to players a little bit better. Basically striking up camaraderie with them so they understand what his rules are. Every ref is different – some are more lenient, some are not.
“I just thought at times he didn’t really manage it that well. But at the end of the day we’ve still got to adjust. I think Welling adjusted a bit more and showed probably a bit more experience to understand what the referee was like, so maybe we can learn from that.”
Hamlet play their first ‘home’ game this season at Tooting & Mitcham’s Imperial Fields on Wednesday evening.
East Thurrock United – who lost 1-0 at home to Woking on Saturday – are the visitors, and Rose insisted his side would be fully focused on picking up their first points of the season.
“To be honest, after half-time we started well but we switched off and once you give the goal away in that manner it becomes hard,” Rose continued. “But again, if Ashley doesn’t get sent off I think we’re still in the game.
“If we’d got a goal back and drew it wouldn’t have been the worst thing in the world. I don’t think we should dwell on this result too much, because there’s always another game round the corner. You need to take that game for what it is and not worry about it.
“This game’s gone now. We’ll forget about the result and concentrate on Wednesday night against East Thurrock, who are a good team, and just see if we can try and get some points on the board and start from there.”