Blues 2 Dulwich Hamlet 0

Wingate & Finchley won their first trophy for sixteen years, with a 2-0 victory in an enthralling Cup Final over Dulwich Hamlet, writes Paul Lerman.

The cool evening and earlier downpour of rain had set the scene perfectly as the ball was able to glide across the slick pitch, and an entertaining night of football was in store as a great advert for the Ryman League.

Both teams were well organised at the start but it was Dulwich Hamlet who found their groove first and came out of the blocks flying.

For the first 20 minutes they pressed when off the ball and spread their play with quick passing up to three forwards.

From a half-cleared corner the ball was drilled back in to the middle of the area where Dulwich defender Lewis Gonsalves had somehow found himself with acres of space in the box. His clear shot on goal was denied by a brilliant instinctive low save from Gavin King.

Dulwich's Ray Powell had the next clear chance, and his volley to the left corner was parried wide by another flying stop from the ever-young keeper.

At the other end Wingate & Finchley earned some brief respite when Leon Smith was cynically fouled outside the box. David Laird drilled the free kick towards the top right corner but keeper James Dunn was alert and tipped the ball over the bar.

Dulwich then piled on the pressure again, but some superb defending in numbers and another save from King, this time with his legs from a tight angle, kept the scores level. This seemed to be Wingate's game plan as Dulwich began to ease off as they not only tired but realised the threat at the other end. Laird started a Wingate counter-attack and fed through Smith whose one-on-one was tipped wide.

The opening goal came for Wingate three minutes before the break. The ball was played in to Smith just inside the Dulwich half, and he forged his way forward to the left side of the area leaving his marker for dead. Having forced the keeper out from his goal he squared the ball across to Laird who kept his composure and rolled the ball in to the unguarded net from six yards.

Dulwich tried to impose themselves again at the start of the second half, however the pressure did not last as long as at the start of the game and the barrage of crosses into the box were impeccably dealt with by Wingate's defence.

Smith and Laird again combined early in the second half for the Blues as they were the team with the better cutting edge. Smith this time played the through ball for his partner through the centre but he fired wide to the right from ten yards.

Shortly after the hour mark the crucial second goal came. Josh Cooper and Gary Burrell interchanged the ball neatly by the left wing bisecting two defenders, and the right-winger crossed the ball flat in front of the face of goal where Ahmet Rifat flicked the ball in at the far post.

Smith was again the focal point of the attack when he was released wide to the right. He crossed to Sam Sloma in space at the far post but he headed over.

The Blues saw the game out well, and man-of-the-match Gavin King, in his first game back from a broken hand, was untested thanks to the superb organisation in front of him.

Lineup: King, Weatherstone (Williams 55), Wright, O'Brien, Nielsen, Rifat, Cooper, Henry, Smith, Laird (Sloma 73), Burrell. Subs: Shehu, Fowler, Jones.