Margate slipped to their third defeat in a week and out of this season’s FA Cup despite leading their Ryman Premier League rivals at the break through Charles Ademeno’s penalty.

Two second half goals saw Dulwich progress into the third round, and the home side’s day was compounded by the dismissal of substitute George Whitelock in a case of mistaken identity.

No-one was available from Margate to talk about the day’s events, but the topic on everyone’s lips would have been the performance of the man in the middle, Mr Ramsey.  In the first half alone, he spoke to four Margate players for apparent dissent, and cautioned Paul Vines, before awarding a penalty to Margate that the Dulwich players, to a man, thought harsh.

At the end of the second, Mr Ramsey somehow managed to pick out the 5ft 9inch, dark haired Whitelock as the perpetrator of a stamp on Dulwich’s diminutive Adeyinka Cole, when the actual culprit, the 6ft plus blond Richard Avery walked away unpunished.  To further frustrate the Margate supporters, Dulwich’s Peter Adeniyi had run fully 50 yards along with a number of his team-mates to furiously confront the official, during which he pushed Mr Ramsey and amazingly escaped with a yellow.

Margate had an early chance as the lively Ademeno turned Lewis Gonsalves inside out, but was denied a shooting opportunity by the covering Ahmed Deen, who was having a torrid first half against the home full-back Elliott Cox.  Unfortunately, as Cox’s influence on the right side decreased, so did Margate’s grip on the game.  From the corner, Paul Vines connected with a volley that flew over the goal.

Player-manager Craig Holloway pulled off a brilliant double save to keep the scoreline blank on the quarter hour; first parrying Jerome Walker’s shot, then recovering across his goal to turn Kevin James’ drive round for a corner with a full-length save.  From the corner, Ademeno broke past 2 Dulwich defenders and pulled his shot back across goal, but Phil Wilson plunged low to his right to deny the Margate forward.

Erhan Oztumer saw a shot blocked by Cox and the rebound fell to Ian Daly, a goalscorer against Margate on Tuesday night, but the midfielder’s shot on the turn sailed out of the ground at the Park end of the ground.

Margate saw huge appeals for a penalty waved away by Mr Ramsey just past the half hour, after Ademeno and Warren Whiteley combined well down the right.  Whiteley sent a deep cross into the area, where Scott Kinch’s diving header was blocked; by what, I don’t know, but the crowd were vocal in their protests.

Holloway produced another brilliant save to turn a Walker shot onto his left post, as Dulwich’s counter attack sliced through the Margate defence and, after Vines had received his caution for dissent, Dulwich full-back Mathieu Boyer miskicked inside the 6-yard box, allowing Holloway to claim comfortably.

So it was slightly against the run of play that Margate took the lead.  Kinch played Matt Bodkin into the Dulwich area, and as Bodkin broke towards the by-line, James decided the only way to stop the run was to put both arms across the Margate winger.  Although he stayed on his feet trying to get the ball, Mr Ramsey blew immediately for the penalty, which Ademeno rifled down the middle of the goal.

Phil Walsh, who had been relegated to the bench after a disappointing performance in the week, replaced Vines at the interval and had a chance to double the lead within 3 minutes of his introduction.  Richard Avery’s long clearance defeated Gonsalves’ jump, and Walsh attempted an early shot that crashed off the left post with Wilson rooted to the spot.  Walsh almost had another chance within sixty seconds, as Adeniyi deflected Whiteley’s cross away from the diving forward, and Bodkin’s attempted bicycle kick sailed wide.

Immediately after this chance, Dulwich pulled level through their most composed period of football.  A short-passing move between James, Oztumer and Daly drew in defenders on the edge of the area, and Daly curled a delightful ball for Green, arriving late at the back post, to head back across goal beyond Holloway.

The goal didn’t unsettle Margate, as Avery, with a volley that Wilson turned over, then Walsh, with a towering header that the Dulwich keeper clasped to his chest; both could have put the home side back in control. But Dulwich made the vital breakthrough just past the hour, capitalising on hesitation in the home defence, as no-one closed down Ethan Pinnock on the edge of the area.  Oztumer’s corner had been headed clear by Kinch, but Pinnock found himself with time to control the dropping ball and coolly slot a left foot shot through the crowd and in at Holloway’s left post.

John Beales had a chance to hit back straight away from Bodkin’s corner, but James was on hand to clear away from the post and Oztumer should have done better from Adeyinka Coles’ deft pass, but skied his shot high over the bar.  Kinch and Ademeno fired long-range efforts past opposite posts as Margate pressed for an equaliser, but tempers exploded with 3 minutes remaining with Margate already having to defend a man short, as Ademeno was receiving treatment off the pitch.

Cole appeared to go into a challenge with Avery two-footed, to which the Margate defender seemed to react by kicking out at the Dulwich substitute.  In the melee that followed, Dulwich players swarmed from all corners of the pitch to surround Mr Ramsey, and after Adeniyi pushed the official, he saw yellow.  The home crowd were stunned though as, after consulting at length with his assistant, Mr Ramsey then pulled out the red card for George Whitelock who, although next to the original challenge, had appeared to be merely a bystander as tempers boiled over.

Although Ademeno was able to hobble through the remaining minutes, neither side seemed to be able to find the spark to go in search of another goal, and the basic fact for Margate was that they didn’t create enough clear chances in 90 minutes to earn a replay from a game that they led for only seven minutes.

MARGATE: Craig Holloway, Elliott Cox, Ryan Dolby, Richard Avery, John Beales ©, Scott Kinch, Matt Bodkin, Jack Sammutis (George Whitelock 71), Paul Vines (Phil Walsh 46), Charles Ademeno, Warren Whiteley (Lanre Azeez 71).

Subs not used: Simon Osborn, James Campbell, Abdoulie Corr, Issac Pagsiyah.

Goal: Charles Ademeno 44.

Bookings: Paul Vines 35, Jack Sammoutis 69.

Sent Off: George Whitelock 87.

DULWICH HAMLET: Phil Wilson, Mathieu Boyer, Ahmed Deen, Ethan Pinnock, Peter Adeniyi ©, Lewis Gonsalves, Jerome Walker (Adeyinka Cole 65), Kevin James, Ian Daly, Erhun Oztumer (Xavier Vidal 77), Ellis Green (Marcel Henry-Francis 82).

Subs not used: Marc Okoye, Billy Crook, Abdul Mansaray.

Goals: Ellis Green 51, Ethan Pinnock 61.

Bookings: Kevin James 82, Peter Adeniyi 87.

Attendance: 508
Referee: Mr Thomas Ramsey
Assistants: Mr David Gainsford and Mr Jonathan Pickford