Horsham 1–1 Dover Athletic
Tuesday 4 November 2025
Enterprise National League South
Kick-off: 7.45pm
Venue: The Hop Oast Stadium
Attendance: 1,035
Dover Athletic fought back from behind to earn a point away at in-form Horsham, with substitute Rolando Onu scoring a late equaliser to reward a dogged second-half display under the lights in Sussex.
Jake Leberl’s side showed resilience and patience throughout a competitive encounter, shaking off recent frustrations to claim a valuable result on the road. There was one enforced change for the Whites, with Sheriff missing out through injury following last week’s collision with the goalkeeper. Onu returned to the squad on dual registration from Sheppey United, taking a place on the bench.
The hosts began brightly in front of a lively home crowd, immediately testing Dover’s defence. Within the opening minutes, Hester-Cook burst into the box and went down under pressure, but strong appeals for a penalty were waved away by the referee. Dover were soon under pressure again when Murphy’s driven cross found Brivio unmarked six yards out — only for captain Mitch Walker to produce a superb low stop to deny what looked a certain goal.
Dover grew into the contest and began finding space in wide areas. Nikaj raced down the right and squared for Coker, who found himself in a great position but could only drag his shot wide of the far post. Moments later, Mampolo’s fierce strike from a corner was well held by Carey, signalling Dover’s intent after a strong spell of possession.
The deadlock was broken in the 28th minute when Horsham took advantage of a loose ball in the box. Meekums did brilliantly on the edge of the area to keep the attack alive, feeding Hester-Cook, whose driven effort across goal was parried by Walker. Murphy reacted quickest to tuck home the rebound from close range and give the Hornets a 1–0 lead.
Dover pushed to respond before the break, with Coker having a finish ruled offside and Sodje’s deep free-kick causing confusion in the Horsham box, but the home side defended well to preserve their advantage at half-time.
After the restart, Dover’s persistence almost paid off when a long ball over the top sent Nikaj racing clear. The forward got his shot away under pressure, and though it beat Carey, defender Brivio got back in time to clear.
Horsham continued to look dangerous on the break, with Sparks flashing a low cross across the face of goal that narrowly evaded both Murphy and Meekums. Shortly after, Hester-Cook thought he had doubled the lead with a neat finish, but the flag was quickly raised for offside.
Leberl shuffled the pack, introducing Odelusi, Onu and Baptiste to add fresh legs and attacking impetus. Dover began to push Horsham deeper, with Baptiste lively down the flank.
The reward came two minutes from time. Sodje’s cross into the area caused problems, and the ball fell kindly to Onu inside the box — the forward keeping his composure to fire low past Carey and send the travelling supporters into celebration.
Dover could have stolen all three points when Matthews blazed a free-kick over from the edge of the area in stoppage time, before Horsham forced a late corner that was confidently dealt with by Walker and his defence.
Dover end their run of defeats with a well-earned point ahead of Saturday’s home fixture against Enfield Town at the Megger Community Stadium.
Horsham: 1 Carey, 3 Sparks, 4 Hester-Cook, 5 Philpot, 7 J. Hammond, 8 Barker, 9 Murphy, 12 Luer, 15 Brivio, 18 Myles-Meekums, 20 Harding.
Subs: Elliott, Rodrigues, Ogunwamide, Fenelon, Roberts, Harland-Goddard, Gravata.
Dover Athletic: 1 Walker (C), 2 Charles-Cook, 4 Jones, 21 Mensah, 15 Sodje, 16 Cocoracchio, 18 Gurung, 8 Matthews, 10 Nikaj, 9 Coker, 24 Mampolo.
Subs: Sesay, Baptiste, Onu, Beadle, Wilkinson, Odelusi, Marjoram.