Dover Athletic continued their pre-season preparations with a 2–1 victory over Deal Town at the Megger Community Stadium, with goals from Rolando Onu and George Wilkinson securing another valuable run-out for Jake Leberl’s side.
The Whites started brightly, although Deal offered an early threat through a series of aerial deliveries. Play was briefly halted inside the opening five minutes after Dover’s trialist left-back suffered a head injury, but he was able to return with his head heavily bandaged.
Deal came close to opening the scoring from a ninth-minute corner, forcing Dover to clear the ball off the line. At the other end, Luke Baptiste began to cause problems down the left, first seeing an effort headed away before it could reach the target and then forcing Deal goalkeeper Tonkin into a diving save.
Mitch Walker was called into action after 20 minutes when Deal found a route in behind the Dover defence. The goalkeeper reacted quickly to smother the initial opportunity, with the rebound dropping narrowly wide of the post.
Dover made the breakthrough a minute later. A quick throw lead to a scramble inside the Deal penalty area and Onu reacted quickest, forcing the loose ball home to give the Whites a 1–0 lead.
Deal continued to search for a response and Walker was required to protect his near post shortly before the half-hour mark. Dover then created another opportunity following a quickly taken free-kick, with Euan Williams slipping Onu through on goal, but the forward dragged his final effort narrowly wide.
John Oyenuga and Williams combined well on the flank as Dover won a corner, from which Jalen Jones arrived at the back post before Deal managed to head the danger clear. The visitors sent a long-range effort just over the crossbar before Baptiste received the first yellow card of the evening, but Dover remained in front at the interval.
Dover made two changes at the break, introducing Enyinnaya Ezenwanne and Trialist B in place of Trialist A and Williams. Wilkinson registered the first opportunity of the second half, firing narrowly over from outside the area, before Ezenwanne delivered a dangerous low cross that Tonkin gathered just ahead of Decarrey Sheriff.
Dover doubled their advantage in the 53rd minute. The trialist forward held the ball up well before laying it back towards the edge of the box, where Wilkinson arrived to strike a composed first-time finish beyond Tonkin.
Further changes followed shortly after the hour mark, with Momodou Jallow, Nazir Bakrin and Roman Charles-Cook replacing Jones, Trent Rendall and Oyenuga. Walker then dealt comfortably with a tame effort from distance before Kola Salami was introduced in place of Onu.
Deal continued to look for a way back into the contest, although Ezenwanne produced a calm piece of defending to halt a counter-attack with 15 minutes remaining. Wilkinson’s evening came to an end shortly afterwards as an academy trialist entered the action.
The visitors reduced the deficit in the 80th minute, converting despite strong appeals from the Dover defence for offside. Harry Beadle was booked a minute later as Deal looked to build momentum during the closing stages.
Dover nearly restored their two-goal advantage through a quick move involving Sheriff and Charles-Cook, but the resulting ball into the area was collected by the Deal goalkeeper. Three additional minutes were played, with the Whites successfully seeing out the remainder of the contest to claim a 2–1 victory.
An attendance of 498 watched Dover record another positive pre-season result ahead of Saturday’s home fixture against Burgess Hill Town.
Dover Athletic
Starting XI: Walker, Oyenuga, Jones, Beadle, Trialist A, Rendall, Wilkinson, Williams, Baptiste, Sheriff, Onu.
Substitutes: Bartlett, Bakrin, Jallow, Ezenwanne, Charles-Cook, Salami, Trialist B, Trialist C, Academy Trialist.