Grew amid the island-dwellings

I do not often find myself called upon to attend cup finals. The only one to which I made it before this week was the North West Counties League Cup final in 2002, won by Prescot Cables. On that occasion, at Bury's Gigg Lane ground, I looked for a seat, and walked past a steward holding open a gate without being challenged. After a couple of minutes, I realised I was sitting in the blazers' enclosure, so, this being before I started taking pictures, I sat tight and enjoyed the best view of the game. There was no chance of a repeat at the Ryman League Cup final at the Gallagher Stadium, home of Maidstone United, as their directors' and press facilities are completely separated from the hoi polloi. My friend John from the Southwark News eschewed the gallery, and enjoyed the game from the terraces - not the first reporter from the paper to be a supporter too.

The main stand, with fully segregated press and directors' box

Dulwich Hamlet were playing Concord Rangers, who are challenging for the playoff places in the Premier Division, and who are named after a beach on Canvey Island. I know little of Canvey Island, apart from its having storage facilities for large amounts of flammable liquid and only one road out, and that flapjacks are required to be square, not triangular.

Walking to the ground, I was examining the satnav and about to proceed by the long way via the road, when a helpful passer by pointed out it was quicker by the riverside path. At the same time, I was joined by a Maidstone supporter for the remainder of the journey. He expressed his desire for the game - a Dulwich win, and, given that at the time of the game, we were level with them on points at the top of the table, a well fought game with extra time and penalties.

When I arrived, there were supporters ready to pose for a picture. Having the 70-300mm lens already attached, taking a picture involves retreating an almost silly distance.

The flag Michael is holding is from Altona 93, a club at a similar level to ours in Hamburg, a coach load of whose supporters visited London last month for a music and football weekend and a return match against the Dulwich Hamlet Supporters' Team.

I am not sure to what standard Maidstone's floodlights were installed: the original planning application, including floodlighting plan, was submitted in 2004, before Maidstone Council digitised their planning documents, so it was not available online. However, I think may be to the Football League Division Two standard of 350 lux. They were the best lights under which I have worked since I started writing these pages.

I started the first half, when there was still some daylight left, using shutter priority at 1/320s. With 9 heads per pylon, all working, there were none of the dark spots you normally see, which matters when our kit is two thirds dark blue from the front, and wholly so from the back. When photographing Dulwich, I always have trouble getting the pink to come out with the right shade, and had the same trouble under the lights.

Luke Hickie takes a throw in in a normally dark area of the pitch, Peter Adeniyi in the background

Man of the Match Ellis Green shoots for Dulwich's first goal

With all this light, you may have thought everyone would be able to see what was going on. However, when Ellis Green scored the first goal for Dulwich, a superb shot into the top corner, Concord's goalkeeper vociferously protested that the ball had entered the goal through a hole in the net, regardless that no-one else had seen anything irregular, and his team mates were all back in their own half without protest for the restart of play.

The Dulwich supporters make full use of the metal modular terracing to make some noise

For the second half, I dropped the shutter speed down to 1/250s, with surprisingly crisp results.

Ethan Pinnock

I was even able to get a couple of shots of Dulwich goalkeeper Chico Ramos in action from a vantage point behind the goal we were attacking, something I do not normally expect to be able to do under floodlights.

Chico Ramos makes a save

The main lighting challenge was the mist for most of the game, which is to be expected in a riverside location. Maidstone's 3G pitch means they do not have the same problems as other clubs with postponements due to rain, although it is not proof against the sort of snow we have had this season, and I wonder whether they have more of a problem with fog than some.

The Maidstone supporters got their wish for extra time, although not penalties, as Concord's Premier Division experience told in the end, and they took the Cup back across the water. The extra time did not have the desired effect in the League, with Dulwich bouncing back at the weekend to win 5-0 against Walton Casuals on Saturday and Maidstone losing at Faversham.

There was news during the week that Danny Carr, who had attracted interest from a number of clubs, including Liverpool, signed terms with Huddersfield Town. He is a contract player, so there will be a fee, and I suspect it strengthened the position of our manager, Gavin Rose, negotiating for Danny to remain with us until the end of the season. This was made possible by funding from the 12th Man scheme, which allows supporters to donate regular amounts by standing order or one off amounts at home games, with all money being ring fenced to allow Gavin to augment his playing budget as he sees fit.

Danny Carr (right) with Erhun Öztümer

The rest of the pictures from the game can be seen here.