Match Report by Fred Deveson

A nice evening at Crabble saw Dover host Kent rivals Sittingbourne in the FA Cup First Qualifying Round replay, after the two sides drew at Sittingbourne on Saturday afternoon.

The game began with the visitors on top. They were winning their aerial duels well and managed to control the game to their liking. 

It did not take Sittingbourne long to take the lead, as an uncontested drop-ball situation is made the most of, with the ball being lofted into the box. The visitors won the first header, and the second header too, which looped over Walker and into the far corner. 

The away side stayed on top for most of the first half, crashing an effort from outside the box off the post and creating some good chances. Dover were under a lot of pressure in the first half. 

It wasn’t until the end of the first half that Dover had their best chance of the game, with a long range effort from Soares-Junior hitting the post and bouncing clear. 

Early into the second half it was clear that Matthews wanted to take the game by the scruff off its neck. He was dropping deeper to get on the ball and began pulling the strings in midfield. He had a couple of good chances, made by his own play, but they were blocked. 

The manager, Jake Leberl, made some changes as the half wore on, with Amgbaduba coming on, along with the likes of Young, Silcott-Brown, Cocoracchio and Sesay. These substitutions added lots more energy to the team and brought some hope for the Dover fans.

Matthews continued to run the game from the middle, and he had two long range efforts, one that was saved superbly by the goalkeeper, and another that smacked off the bar from even further out than the first effort. 

Sittingbourne defended Dover’s late attacks well, and whilst there was a penalty shout towards the end, the Whites were unable to break down the defence and the game then petered out, with Dover’s FA Cup journey coming to an end, and Sittingbourne progressing to the next round, where they will face Lordswood. 

Dover Athletic 0

Sittingbourne 1
Troy Howard (13′)

Emirates FA Cup First Qualifying Round Replay
Attendance: 734
Kick-off: 7.45pm
Venue: Megger Community Stadium

Dover Athletic: 1 Mitch WALKER (C), 2 Roman CHARLES-COOK, 4 Jeremiah GYEBI, 5 Joe TENNENT, 7 Luke BAPTISTE, 8 Alfie MATTHEWS, 11 Lindell STEWART, 14 Ruben SOARES-JUNIOR, 16 Harrison PONT, 15 Tamas AMGBADUBA, 23 George WILKINSON SUBS: 3 Fuad SESAY, 6 Luca COCORACCHIO, 9 Eniye AMGBADUBA, 12 Matty HOLNESS, 13 Claudio Boakye-Sarfo, 18 Henry YOUNG, 19 Jayden SILCOTT-BROWN

Sittingbourne: 1 Harley Earle, 2 Codey Cosgrave, 3 Henry Lukombo, 4 Ayman El-Mogharbel, 5 Liam Smith (C), 6 Chris Arthur, 17 Henry Sinai, 8 Richie Hammill, 9 Mitchell May, 10 Ryan Kingsford, 11 Troy Howard SUBS: 12 Charma Torsiello, 14 Jay Beckford, 15 Alex Georgiou, 16 Kyle Hawkins, 19 Ethan Fox, 18 Bagasan Graham