Match report by Fred Deveson

A milder afternoon saw Dover fall short once again, as they lostout to Billy Terrell and Dartford in a narrow 1-2 defeat.

The game kicked off was Dover kicking from left to right, and it was the hosts who dominated the start of the game, having plenty of the ball in the Dartford half.

George Nikaj was looking positive on the right for the hosts and had a penalty shout waved away in the early exchanges. The away side then broke away but they attack came to nothing.

The Whites were utilising the wide areas well and Baptiste found himself in some good space in the wide area, but his ball came to nothing, and Dartford survived again.

The visitors did make a comeback halfway through the first half. A close-range effort was saved by Jinadu after a well worked move by the away side. 

Dartford then picked up the ball around the edge of the area and fired a shot at Jinadu, who made a great diving save to his right to keep the score level.

The visitors kept the pressure up and Jinadu was called into action again, as were Mensah and Holding, who kept the away side at bay well for large parts of the first half.

The number 7 of Dartford had a shot that went just over, but that wasn’t it for the first half, as the visitors did eventually take the lead. George Wilkinson said pre-match that Dover had been working on set-pieces during the week, but that was exactly how Dartford went ahead. A corner came in from the visitors and the header away only fell to a purple shirt and he fired it past the goalkeeper to put the visitors in front.

The Whites started the first half much like they started first; on the front foot, and whatever the manager said at half time definitely had an impact.

Baptiste found some more space in the wide areas and delivered a great ball, only for Billy Terrell to stop it reaching Zidan Sutherland with a good save.

Another chance came soon after for The Whites as George Nikaj fires the ball across the face of goal, with no one there to meet it.

George Nikaj had some more joy down the right hand side, as another ball in from him fell to Wilkinson, who’s effort crashed off the bar. 

Substitutions started to come for Dover, as manager Jake Leberlbrought on Destiny Oladipo and Iffy Allen in a bid to get the equaliser. 

And shortly after bringing on Oladipo, it was the big number 7 who got the goal for Dover to level it up. Roman Charles-Cook made a good overlapping run into the box and delivered a perfect ball to Oladipo who squeezed it in from close range.

However, just eight minutes later, a corner came in from Dartford and Jacob Mensah was adjudged to have handballed and a penalty was given. 

The visitors converted the penalty, sending the travelling fans into delirium. 

That wasn’t it for Dover’s chances however, as a free-kick came in from the left by Wilkinson which was met by Nikaj, who headed it goalwards but it was somehow cleared off the line.

Dartford then survived the final few minutes to take all 3 points back home with them for the first time since Boxing Day.

Dover Athletic: Jinadu, Charles-Cook, Mensah, Holding, Naylor (Oladipo 69mins), Oyenuga, Wilkinson, Oliver, Baptiste (Allen 61mins), Nikaj, Sutherland. Subs not used: Ojemen, Young, Dembele.

Dartford: Terrell, Wynter, Smith (Maloney 86mins), Nembhard, Rooney (Adebowale 86mins), Romain, Coulson, Shomotun, Box (Wall 77mins), Clifford, Statham, Subs not used: Whitefield, Boulton.

Referee: Dan England.

Attendance: 794.

Dover lose in goal-fest on the West Sussex coast with 4 goals from Dover Academy graduates.

The first 15 minutes saw early chances for either side with the Whites getting the first shot on goal. At the other end a scrappy goal mouth scramble from a Worthing corner was cleared off the line by Ojemen.

Not long after Worthing hit first after a turnover of possession in midfield resulted in a ball over our defence. Jinadu was caught outside of his box trying to claim the ball and was lobbed.

Just five minutes later Whites failed to clear a couple of corners and Worthing grabbed a second.

On the 32nd minute Nick Dembele had a chance through on goal and was taken out by the Worthing keeper just outside of the box. Jeffries was seriously injured in the challenge and was stretchered off after a 15 minute stoppage. We wish him all the best in his recovery.

Soon after the restart Worthing’s Ollie Pearce got his first of the game. George Wilkinson gave an instant reply for Dover with an incredible free kick from near the corner flag which went straight in at the keepers near post. 

A couple of minutes later Luke Baptiste is bought down inside the penalty box and neatly converts the resulting spot kick. At the eventual half time whistle Dover found themselves just one goal behind the opposition after a tough first 45 minutes.

A substitution at half time saw Peter Ojemen make way for Roman Charles-Cook in defence. 

Just 6 minutes into the second half Ollie Pearce struck for a second time and 10 minutes later got his third from the penalty spot. The prolific Worthing goalscorer then got a fourth in the 71st minute.

Wilkinson was able to grab his second of the game in the 77th minute before Archie Hatcher got our fourth goal in the 91st minute, heading into an empty after some great team play to work the ball up the pitch.

Whites host Dartford at Crabble next Saturday after our away trip to Truro on Tuesday was postponed.

Worthing: 13 JEFFRIES, 23 FELIX, 27 YOUNG, 2 COLBRAN, 15 LIVESEY-AUSTIN, 20 WADHAM, 8 KLASS, 28 CASHMAN, 22 FAGE, 17 WILLARD, 10 PEARCE

Subs: REES, WILLS, ROBINSON, O. STARKEY, CHADWICK

Dover Athletic: 1 JINADU, 4 OJEMEN, 16 MENSAH (C), 26 HOLDING, 15 NAYLOR, 25 OYENUGA, 14 WILKINSON, 8 OLIVER, 22 BAPTISTE, 10 NIKAJ, 20 DEMBELE 

Subs: 7 OLADIPO, 17 HATCHER, 18 YOUNG, 3 CHARLES-COOK, 9 SUTHERLAND 

Attendance: 1581

With both teams sitting bottom of their respective leagues, a Kent Senior Cup game (which had already been postponed on more than one occasion) didn’t seem high on the priority list for either side. 

Despite playing a squad largely comprised of current academy players and graduates,  the Whites progressed with ease. 

The ball was in the back of the net in the first 5 minutes with Whyte heading the ball past the keeper from a cross originally intended for Oladipo, who was adjudged offside.

Consistent pressure from Dover returned some decent attempts but many failed to hit the target. In the 22nd and 26th minutes respectively both Nico Jones and Charlie Naylor were booked by the referee.

Just before half time Dover got their reward with a goal from Whyte on the left hand side of the box, striking low under the keeper from a tight angle.

Whites had the better of the first half and could easily have been a couple up despite Beckenham threatening from some set pieces.

Half time substitutes for the Whites saw Naylor make way for Mensah and Dembele for Baptiste.

In the 54th minute Nico Jones was shown a second yellow for a very soft foul and was given his marching orders. Dover quickly responded, despite now being a man down, with Destiny Oladipo finding the back of the net.

Gaps began to show for the Whites with Beckenham pressing high up the pitch, their best chance of the night was blocked on the goal line by Jacob Mensah, stopping a certain goal.

A few moments later Whyte made way for Nikaj which quickly followed a second goal for Destiny Oladipo. His drive struck a defender and flew into the net.  

A flurry of goal mouth scrambles and late attacking threat from Beckenham was cleaned up effectively by the Dover defence who then went on to score in the final moments of the game when brilliant work by Baptiste put it on a plate for Gray who made no mistake from a few feet out.

Dover now head to Ebbsfleet in the Quarter final of the Kent Senior Cup, date tbc.

Beckenham Town: Taylor, Aina, Griffin, Travers, Wright, Ikudehinbu, Britnell (Nyhus 63), Allen (Wyborn 71), Falade, Akintimehin, Pink.

Subs not used: Townsend, Wanogho. Paul-Lavaly.

Yellow card: Wyborn

Dover Athletic: Simmons, Holness, Odeniran, Young, Naylor (Mensah 46), Jones, Dembele (Baptiste 46), Hatcher, Oladipo, Gray, White (Nikaj 69).

Subs not used: Kray, McCarthy.

Goalscorers: Whyte (43), Olapido (58), (73), Gray (89)

Yellow card: Jones, Naylor

Red card: Jones 

Referee: Ben McDonald

Attendance: 80

Match Report by Fred Deveson

A mild afternoon in Essex saw Dover Athletic well beaten by a strong Braintree side, who ran out 3-0 victors. 

Before the game, recent player of the month winner Jacob Mensah spoke to me and said that he was feeling positive about the game after last week’s win and said that spirits were high in the dressing room.

Mensah went on to say that the team were looking to come and get a point or three points after the victory last week and he said it was “a challenge and we are all looking forward to it” before the game. 

Unfortunately for Dover, the game did not start as Mensah and the rest of the team would have wanted. The chances for Braintree came thick and fast right from the off, with an early chance for the hosts going wide of the post.

The opening goal came inside the first few minutes, after a long shot took a big deflection and went into the bottom corner after Jinadu was sent the wrong way. 

Ojemen had a tough start to the game at left back; the hosts were exploiting his side and causing overloads on his side, making it difficult for Dover to contain.

The referee was already a big talking point during the first half, making some controversial decisions, much to the anger of the travelling Dover fans.

Braintree continued their dominance in the first half, showing their class on the counter-attack time and time again. They had pace and quality in the final third and Dover could not cope.

Dover weren’t completely out of it in the first half, and they did have a couple of chances of their own. Baptiste was positive on Dover’s left and caused some trouble, with one leading to a corner which came out to Naylor, who’s effort went straight into the hands of Sims in the Braintree.

The hosts kept coming, however and it was not long before it was 2-0. The Essex side got a free-kick outside the area, which was delivered perfectly to the back post and was met with an even better header, doubling their lead.

The third came soon after. A simple ball in behind the Dover defence put their attacker through on goal. He then took it round the goalkeeper and prodded into an empty net. Game over.

The second half hardly saw any action at all. The visitors brought on Destiny Oladipo for the start of the second half and he brought a big presence to the team that wasn’t there in the first half.

Dover had a couple of chances in the second half; a ball across the box almost found substitute Dembele but the striker was just beaten to the ball by their centre back.

The hosts had a good chance later on in the second half, when one of their attackers ran through the away side’s defence and tried to round the goalkeeper, but Jinadu was having none of it and he kept it from being 4-0. 

This was it for all the action in the second half and the game eventually drew to a close, with the hosts winning 3-0.

It’s Worthing away next week for the Whites but not before a trip to Beckenham Town in the Kent Senior Cup on Tuesday.