Category: Match Reaction

GOALS NOT ENOUGH FOR TAYLOR

Bobby-Joe Taylor may have opened his account for Dover on Saturday, but was left deflated at the final whistle.

Left-back Taylor started the scoring against Notts County by curling a stunning 25-yard free-kick into the top corner, however Notts County equalised in the dying moments via the head of substitute Kristian Dennis to make the result 2-2 at Crabble.

Mitch Rose’s penalty had cancelled out Taylor’s superb set-piece and it seemed Kevin Lokko’s 57th minute finish was enough to end a five-match winless home run for Dover, only for Dennis to strike in injury-time.

Taylor said after the draw, “It’s pretty gut-wrenching as we defended so well in the second half, but they are a good side who keep the ball well, so we are disappointed to concede so late on having kept them out for so long.

“It’s frustrating because we are still searching for that win at home and we had a lot of chances to put the game to bed.

“Personally I’m over the moon to get off the mark as you probably don’t see as many goals coming from left back, however I’ve been working on set pieces everyday, so I was buzzing to see the ball fly in.

“I’m just gutted we could not get all three points”.

Whites are still looking for their first home win since a 2-1 win against Wrexham on 10th August, but Taylor feels a win at Crabble isn’t too far away.

“If you look at those matches, we’ve been in the game for most of them. It simply comes down to both boxes, keeping them out and taking our chances, which will come and I’m sure our form at Crabble will turn around sooner rather than later.

“Our form on the road has been really good, so we have got to take what we have been doing away into our home games and if we keep working hard on the training ground then I am sure it will change for the better and I hope that is the case in our next fixture at Crabble.”

Whites travel to Aldershot on Tuesday night as they look to make it eight wins out of nine on their travels this campaign.

Referring to the game at the Ebb Stadium, Taylor said, “today is a good point if we win, but it will be tough at their place.

“In this division anyone can beat anyone on their day so we have just got to make sure we are right and as long as we take our chances, we will not have any problems.”

Story by Ryan Clark.

 

VIDEO: PLAYER REACTION

Saturday’s goalscorer Kevin Lokko gives his reaction following our 2-2 home draw with Notts County on Saturday.

VIDEO: MANAGER REACTION

Andy Hessenthaler gives his opinion on his side’s 2-2 home draw against Notts County on Saturday.

YOUNG WHITES ADVANCE IN CUP

Dover Athletic’s academy moved into the FA Youth Cup Third Qualifying round on Wednesday evening, beating Tonbridge Angels 4-2 on penalties at Crabble.

Harrison Pont (Pictured) netted deep into injury-time to make it 2-2 and take the tie into extra time after Athletic’s youngsters had twice fallen behind in the game through strikes from Tonbridge’s Harry Hudson and Ned Lewis.

However, Mike Sandmann took few positives from the shootout victory.

The academy boss said after the game, “I thought that we were really poor last night and I was really disappointed with the performance.  I think the occasion got the better of too many of my players.

“It was hard for me to be positive after that, even though the lads got themselves back into the game, because I was so disappointed.”

However, despite his displeasure at what he witnessed from his side, Sandmann believes his young charges will be better in the next round.

“It’s certainly a learning curve for the next round.  Sometimes the first game is always the toughest and I want us to bounce back with a positive performance.”

Sandmann knew his team were moving into the next round when Pont levelled in injury-time.

“Football has a strange way of coming around and giving teams luck.  We literally equalised with the last kick of the game and at that point I knew we would go on and win the game.” he said.

“We didn’t look like scoring and were not causing them many problems, but when we scored a goal like that in the last minute I could not help but feel that tonight was going to be our night.”

Sandmann also praised 16-year-old Will Moses for setting up the second goal before he came off injured. “Moses was excellent all night for someone so young.  He put in a fantastic performance and it is a shame he had to come off towards the end with a head injury”.

The draw for the FA Youth Cup Third Qualifying Round takes place on Monday 7th October.

Story by Ryan Clark

VIDEO: MANAGER REACTION

Boss Andy Hessenthaler gives his view on his his side’s 2-0 home defeat to FC Halifax Town on Saturday.

VIDEO: PLAYER REACTION

Tuesday night’s goalscorer Kurtis Cumberbatch spoke to the camera following our 2-1 win at Maidenhead United on Tuesday night.

VIDEO: MANAGER REACTION

Boss Andy Hessenthaler reflects on Dover’s 1-1 home draw against Chorley at Crabble on Saturday.

VIDEO: MANAGER REACTION

Boss Andy Hessenthaler gives his opinion following his side’s 3-1 defeat at Boreham Wood on Saturday.