Dover Athletic were forced to settle for a point after surrendering a two-goal second-half advantage in an entertaining 3-3 draw with Braintree Town at the Megger Community Stadium.

Sheriff struck twice before the break and Luke Baptiste added a third shortly after half-time to put the Whites 3-1 ahead, but former Dover man Michael Olarewaju pulled one back before Louie Johnson rescued a point for the visitors in the 89th minute.

The afternoon also marked a significant milestone for Mitch Walker, who made his 350th appearance for Dover Athletic, and the long-serving goalkeeper was called into action on several occasions as Braintree mounted their late comeback.

It was the visitors who registered the first effort of the afternoon after five minutes. Reuben Swann drove through the middle of the pitch before sending a low effort towards goal, but Walker was comfortably behind it. Dover responded three minutes later when Jack Bates delivered a deep cross towards Luke Baptiste, only for Braintree goalkeeper George Barrett to come from his line and intercept before the forward could make contact.

Baptiste was proving a handful for the visitors in the early stages and twice found himself on the receiving end of strong challenges. A Braintree midfielder was booked for a crunching tackle on 11 minutes, before another visiting player went into the referee’s notebook just three minutes later following a further challenge on the Dover attacker.

The Whites were enjoying plenty of possession without creating a clear opening, and Rolando Onu saw a shot blocked midway through the half. Two minutes later, however, Dover found the breakthrough. Beadle launched one of his trademark long throws into the Braintree penalty area, where the visitors failed to deal with the danger. The loose ball eventually dropped for Sheriff, who reacted quickest and swept it home to give Dover a 26th-minute lead.

There was almost an unfortunate moment for Walker nine minutes later when he slipped while attempting to collect a back-pass, but the goalkeeper recovered quickly enough to reach the ball before the advancing Braintree forward could take advantage. Wilson-Braithwaite then became Dover’s first booking of the afternoon in the 36th minute.

Dover were forced into an early change shortly afterwards. Bates required treatment following a break in play and was unable to continue, with Wilkinson replacing him in the 39th minute.

Within a minute of the substitution, Braintree were handed the opportunity to draw level. Former Dover player Alfie Matthews went down inside the penalty area and the referee immediately pointed to the spot. Matthews took responsibility himself and, following a short delay, converted the penalty in front of the home end, with Walker rooted to the spot as the visitors made it 1-1.

The Whites ensured they would still head into the interval in front, though. Deep into four minutes of first-half stoppage time, Sheriff struck for the second time to restore Dover’s advantage and take his side into the dressing room with a 2-1 lead.

There was another Dover change at the interval as Andrews replaced Onu, and the Whites made an excellent start to the second half. Five minutes after the restart, some loose play in the Braintree defence was punished as Sheriff slipped the ball into the path of Baptiste, who made no mistake to stretch Dover’s advantage to 3-1.

Baptiste almost had another just three minutes later when he went for goal directly from a free-kick, but Braintree survived and soon came within inches of cutting the deficit themselves. Captain Elliot Thorpe collected possession on the edge of the area and drove a low effort beyond Walker, only to see it crash against the upright before Dover managed to clear the danger.

Jallow made way for Oyenuga in Dover’s third change shortly before the hour, while Beadle then went close to adding a fourth with an acrobatic attempt inside the Braintree penalty area. The visitors responded by making four changes of their own on 64 minutes as they looked for a route back into the contest.

Braintree began to apply more pressure as the half developed, although Dover continued to defend their two-goal advantage well. Oyenuga produced an important block in the 67th minute when substitute Fletcher Hubbard found space for a shot, diverting the effort behind for a corner.

Williams replaced Beadle with 14 minutes remaining, but almost immediately Braintree reduced the deficit. A loose ball fell to former Dover defender Olarewaju, whose effort took a substantial deflection on its way past Walker to make it 3-2 and set up a tense closing period.

The goal changed the momentum of the contest and Dover found themselves increasingly pinned back. Walker marked his milestone appearance with an important save in the 80th minute when substitutes Afi Adebayo and Hubbard combined with a neat one-two. Adebayo cut inside and sent a low effort towards goal, but the Dover goalkeeper reacted well to dive across and keep it out.

Dover were still carrying a threat from set-pieces and Wilson-Braithwaite came close to restoring the two-goal cushion two minutes later when he attacked a corner, but his header failed to find the target.

With the Whites seemingly closing in on all three points, Braintree finally found their equaliser in the 89th minute. Dover were unable to clear their lines following a scramble inside the penalty area and the ball eventually broke kindly for Louie Johnson six yards from goal. The midfielder managed to squeeze his effort past Walker to complete Braintree’s comeback and make it 3-3.

Neither side could find a decisive seventh goal in the remaining minutes, leaving Dover to take a point from a game in which they had led 3-1 early in the second half. The result leaves the Whites with a quick turnaround ahead of their Bank Holiday Monday trip to Chesham United.

Attendance: 825

Dover Athletic

Walker (c), Charles-Cook, Jones, Beadle, Sesay, Jallow, Wilson-Braithwaite, Bates, Baptiste, Sheriff, Onu.

Subs: Wilkinson, Andrews, Oyenuga, Williams, Ezenwanne, Salami, Bartlett.

Braintree Town

George Barrett, Vladimir Paternoster, Michael Olarewaju, Luis Brown, Elliot Thorpe (c), Reuben Swann, Emmanuel Okunowo, Idreess Namisi, Louie Johnson, Alfie Matthews, George Evans.

Subs: Courtney Senior, Fletcher Hubbard, Jamie Bennett, Alex Bolovan, Alfie Lewis, Afi Adebayo.