Dover Athletic began the new National League South season with defeat in Essex as goals from Bonne and Merrifield earned Billericay Town a 2-0 victory at New Lodge.

The Whites made a bright start and came within inches of taking an early lead, but Billericay struck from a corner midway through the first half before doubling their advantage ten minutes after the restart.

Dover were on the front foot almost immediately, winning a free-kick in a dangerous position on the edge of the penalty area after just two minutes. Baptiste stepped up and was desperately unlucky not to open the scoring, crashing his effort against the crossbar.

The visitors continued to threaten during an encouraging opening spell. Two minutes later, another Dover attack forced the Billericay goalkeeper to race outside his area and clear with his feet, before some neat link-up play around the box resulted in the Whites’ first corner of the afternoon.

Billericay took time to settle but began to offer more of a threat as the half progressed. On 17 minutes, Long tried his luck from distance, with a deflection taking the ball behind for the hosts’ first corner.

That set-piece proved costly for Dover. Benton sent the resulting delivery towards the back post, where Bonne was waiting to volley emphatically beyond Walker and give Billericay an 18th-minute lead.

The hosts immediately went searching for a second. Long broke down the flank and produced an inventive outside-of-the-foot delivery into the box, but Rendall was well positioned to intervene and the ball eventually found its way safely into Walker’s hands.

Dover looked for an immediate response and won another corner on 22 minutes, although the set-piece came to nothing before the players took a hydration break in the warm Essex sunshine.

The Whites continued to see plenty of the ball without managing to find the finishing touch. Oyenuga tried his luck from the edge of the box just after the half-hour mark, slicing an effort which bounced wide of the target.

Corners and Rendall’s long throws continued to provide Dover with opportunities to put the home defence under pressure, but Billericay dealt with everything sent into their penalty area.

At the other end, Merrifield attempted to lift a pass into the Dover box on 38 minutes but there was nobody in blue there to meet it.

Sheriff then found space out wide shortly before the interval and won another Dover corner, while Rendall produced an important block from a low Billericay shot as the game entered two minutes of first-half stoppage time.

Dover therefore went into the break one goal behind despite having enjoyed some promising spells during the opening 45 minutes.

The Whites again looked to attack after the restart. A good switch of play on 53 minutes released Baptiste down the wing and his eventual cross was turned behind for a corner.

However, it was from that Dover set-piece that Billericay launched a dangerous counter-attack. Merrifield chased the length of the pitch to regain possession before combining with Benton to create a shooting opportunity for Watts, whose low effort was kept out by Walker.

The Dover goalkeeper could do little a minute later as Billericay doubled their lead.

Porter made an effective overlapping run to create space before delivering into the area, where Merrifield finished strongly to make it 2-0 after 55 minutes.

The hosts almost added a third almost immediately. Dover were caught open again and Billericay raced through on goal, only to see the resulting effort come back off the crossbar.

Leberl responded with a double substitution on 58 minutes, introducing Sesay and Bates in place of Oyenuga and Wilkinson.

Fish followed shortly afterwards, replacing Wilson-Braithwaite in the 65th minute, and made an immediate impression by driving forward with the ball. Bates looked to deliver into the penalty area at the end of the move, but his cross failed to find a teammate.

A second hydration break followed on 70 minutes as Dover looked for a route back into the contest.

Rendall was shown the game’s first yellow card seven minutes later, while the Whites continued to probe as the match entered its closing stages but were unable to find a way through a well-organised Billericay defence.

Former Dover man Odelusi came close to marking his appearance against his old club with a goal in the 86th minute, sending a powerful effort narrowly wide.

The attendance at New Lodge was confirmed as 1,093, including a travelling Dover support who had made the journey to Essex for the opening afternoon of the campaign.

Six minutes of additional time were indicated, but there was to be no late route back into the contest for the Whites as Billericay saw out the closing stages to secure all three points.

Dover will now turn their attention to their first home fixture of the season, with Slough Town visiting Crabble next Saturday.

Billericay Town: 1 Wright, 2 Wind, 3 Porter, 6 Scott (c), 8 Clark, 9 Merrifield, 10 Benton, 12 Bonne, 14 Long, 15 Parsons, 16 Watts.

Subs: 4 Martin Sorondo, 7 Cerulli, 11 Macarthur, 19 Isaacson, 20 Ruff, 21 Johnson, 24 Odelusi.

Dover Athletic: 1 Walker (c), 23 Charles-Cook, 5 Jones, 17 Rendall, 25 Oyenuga, 6 Bakrin, 16 Wilson-Braithwaite, 8 Wilkinson, 9 Sheriff, 14 Onu, 7 Baptiste.

Subs: Ezenwanne, Fish, Salami, Sesay, Jallow, Bates, Beadle.