The home side created the first chance of the game in the 17th minute as Phil Anderson, making his Grays Athletic debut, collected a loose ball in midfield before threading a pass to Jeff Hammond behind the Dulwich hamlet defence. His low shot was well saved by the feet of Phil Wilson in the Dulwich goal.

Dulwich Hamlet’s first effort on goal came in the 25th minute as a cross field pass from the left found Nyren Clunis on the right who drove into the Grays area where his shot was well saved by the feet og George Kamurasi.

Grays almost took the lead in the 29th minute which would have been in fortuitous circumstances as Lee Flynn found space on the left to deliver a cross deep into the area. The cross was over hit, but would have found its way into the far corner of the net were it not for Phil Wilson tipping the ball around the post.

The away side should have taken the lead in the 37th minute with the best opportuinity of the half as the ball broke to Erhun Oztumer on the edge of the Grays box. His mazy run saw him skip passed three defenders and towards the six yard box unchallenged. With the whole goal to aim at and only George Kamurasi to beat, his shot was weak and went narrowly passed the post, much to the disbelief of the Dulwich fans behind the goal.

Neither side could fashion a chance in the remainder of the half and went in level at the break.

Dulwich had the first chance of the second half as Erhun Oztumer played a searching pass through the heart of the Grays defence into the path of Dean Lodge but his shot was well saved by George Kamurasi, ensuring he would not be beaten on his 23rd birthday.

Grays should have taken the lead in the 57th minute but were thwarted by Phil Wilson once again in the Dulwich goal. A free kick from the right by Kenny Beaney was played towards the back post where Craig Pope timed his run perfectly to meet the ball on the six yard line. His header was well directed towards the far corner of the net, but Phil Wilson at full length managed to stretch out a hand and tip the ball onto the post before deflecting away to safety.

As the game wore on and the tension began to build, fewer chances were created by with side.

Only a speculative drive by Kenny Beaney from the edge of the area which narrowly went over the bar and a similar effort by Eshan Pinnock for Dulwich Hamlet came close to troubling the score line, but neither side could find a breakthrough and in the end a draw was a fair result for both sides.

Grays Athletic: George Kamurasi, Craig Pope, Phil Anderson, Joe Nightingill, Lee Flynn, Jared Small, Kenny Beaney, Leon Lalite, Joao Carlos, Jeff Hammond (Brian Moses 63) (Alex Cruickshank 90), Jack West (Usama Hamdan 82)

Unused Subs: Lewis Greene, Junior Baker