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*BS*Dover Athletic face a crucial evening on Thursday as they travel to Longmead to face fellow Kent side Tonbridge Angels in what is a must win game for Whites.*BF*

Play-off hopes are now out of their own hands after conceding a late equaliser at Bishop’s Stortford on Saturday, coupled with other results not going their way, which have seem them fall down to 7th. They could fall down to 8th if they fail to win and Concord Rangers defeat Maidenhead United.

Although a draw will be enough to see them finish the evening back in the play-off places, Chris Kinnear’s men will be looking for nothing but victory in this Kent derby as Havant & Waterlooville not only have leapfrogged Whites, but they also have a game in hand over their play-off rivals.

It is unclear whether Terrell Forbes and Barry Cogan will feature, with Forbes coming off injured at half time on Saturday while Cogan was omitted from the squad. James Rogers completed his suspension on Saturday and is expected to return to the starting line up, although loanee-defender Callum Davies enjoyed a solid game in midfield in Rogers’ absence and could retain his place.

Dover face an Angels side who are fighting for their Skrill South status, making this Kent derby even more highly anticipated. Like their opponents, only a win will do for Tonbridge, who are two points adrift safety, and are looking to maintain their status for a fourth season after winning the Ryman Premier League play-offs in 2011.

Angels have endured a heavily-congested fixture list recently, with their game against Whites being their 14th Skrill South game since just the beginning of March. They have only won two of their last 13 games and have lost 6 times.

They possess a mixed home league record, having won, drawn and lost 6 times each. Angels’ two wins in their last 13 fixtures have both come at Longmead so they could provide some inspiration into this fixture which could help them avoid relegation back to the Ryman Premier League.

*Lpic1*A Tonbridge player set to make an appearance against his old club is Michael Bakare. The striker has been in good form for his new club – finding the net 5 times since his departure from Crabble in February which includes two strikes in his last two games. Bakare, who only scored one league goal for Dover this season, will look to haunt his old club as he attempts to help his new club to survival in the Skrill South.

Whites hold a good record against their Kent counterparts. Although Tonbridge recorded the double over Dover last season, Whites have been victorious in six of the last nine meetings in all competitions. One of those wins came on Boxing Day when Dover treated the Crabble faithful to an extra Christmas present with a 3-1 win, with Nathan Elder (2) and Liam Bellamy on the scoresheet for Whites.

However, Whites’ last visit to Longmead ended in a *Link1* defeat, which was also a Boxing Day clash. Sonny Miles and George Purcell were the goalscorers for Angels on that afternoon – which kicked off at 12:00 – before last season’s top goalscorer Ben May grabbed a late consolation for Dover.

*BS*OTHER SKRILL SOUTH FIXTURES*BF*

*BS**IS*Thursday 10 March*IF**BF*
Bishop’s Stortford v Chelmsford City
Maidenhead United v Concord Rangers

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*BS*Dover Athletic face a crucial evening on Thursday as they travel to Longmead to face fellow Kent side Tonbridge Angels in what is a must win game for Whites.*BF*

Play-off hopes are now out of their own hands after conceding a late equaliser at Bishop’s Stortford on Saturday, coupled with other results not going their way, which have seem them fall down to 7th. They could fall down to 8th if they fail to win and Concord Rangers defeat Maidenhead United.

Although a draw will be enough to see them finish the evening back in the play-off places, Chris Kinnear’s men will be looking for nothing but victory in this Kent derby as Havant & Waterlooville not only have leapfrogged Whites, but they also have a game in hand over their play-off rivals.

It is unclear whether Terrell Forbes and Barry Cogan will feature, with Forbes coming off injured at half time on Saturday while Cogan was omitted from the squad. James Rogers completed his suspension on Saturday and is expected to return to the starting line up, although loanee-defender Callum Davies enjoyed a solid game in midfield in Rogers’ absence and could retain his place.

Dover face an Angels side who are fighting for their Skrill South status, making this Kent derby even more highly anticipated. Like their opponents, only a win will do for Tonbridge, who are two points adrift safety, and are looking to maintain their status for a fourth season after winning the Ryman Premier League play-offs in 2011.

Angels have endured a heavily-congested fixture list recently, with their game against Whites being their 14th Skrill South game since just the beginning of March. They have only won two of their last 13 games and have lost 6 times.

They possess a mixed home league record, having won, drawn and lost 6 times each. Angels’ two wins in their last 13 fixtures have both come at Longmead so they could provide some inspiration into this fixture which could help them avoid relegation back to the Ryman Premier League.

*Lpic1*A Tonbridge player set to make an appearance against his old club is Michael Bakare. The striker has been in good form for his new club – finding the net 5 times since his departure from Crabble in February which includes two strikes in his last two games. Bakare, who only scored one league goal for Dover this season, will look to haunt his old club as he attempts to help his new club to survival in the Skrill South.

Whites hold a good record against their Kent counterparts. Although Tonbridge recorded the double over Dover last season, Whites have been victorious in six of the last nine meetings in all competitions. One of those wins came on Boxing Day when Dover treated the Crabble faithful to an extra Christmas present with a 3-1 win, with Nathan Elder (2) and Liam Bellamy on the scoresheet for Whites.

However, Whites’ last visit to Longmead ended in a *Link1* defeat, which was also a Boxing Day clash. Sonny Miles and George Purcell were the goalscorers for Angels on that afternoon – which kicked off at 12:00 – before last season’s top goalscorer Ben May grabbed a late consolation for Dover.

*BS*OTHER SKRILL SOUTH FIXTURES*BF*

*BS**IS*Thursday 10 March*IF**BF*
Bishop’s Stortford v Chelmsford City
Maidenhead United v Concord Rangers

*BS*Dover Athletic are pleased to announce a ticket offer, whereby fans will receive FREE entry to the match against Boreham Wood having attended the fixtures against Eastbourne Borough and Farnborough.*BF*

A busy schedule of fixtures sees Whites take to the field at Crabble three times in a week at the end of the month – against Eastbourne Borough (22nd March), Farnborough (25th March) and Boreham Wood (29th March).

The club appreciate the fantastic support received and, as a thank-you to fans and a means of enticing supporters to this crucial run of games, a special offer is being promoted.

The club shall be giving out two vouchers – firstly, when paying to get into the match against Eastbourne Borough, and secondly when paying for entry to the game against Farnborough.

Supporters that collect both vouchers will gain free admission to the match against Boreham Wood the following Saturday. The buy-two-get-one-free offer is available for all admission types (adults, OAP’s etc.)

*BS*Dover Athletic are pleased to announce a ticket offer, whereby fans will receive FREE entry to the match against Boreham Wood having attended the fixtures against Eastbourne Borough and Farnborough.*BF*

A busy schedule of fixtures sees Whites take to the field at Crabble three times in a week at the end of the month – against Eastbourne Borough (22nd March), Farnborough (25th March) and Boreham Wood (29th March).

The club appreciate the fantastic support received and, as a thank-you to fans and a means of enticing supporters to this crucial run of games, a special offer is being promoted.

The club shall be giving out two vouchers – firstly, when paying to get into the match against Eastbourne Borough, and secondly when paying for entry to the game against Farnborough.

Supporters that collect both vouchers will gain free admission to the match against Boreham Wood the following Saturday. The buy-two-get-one-free offer is available for all admission types (adults, OAP’s etc.)

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Nathan Elder’s sensational diving header in the dying seconds against Basingstoke on Saturday kept Whites in the play off hunt in a game that did not really come to life until the last few minutes.

Manager Chris Kinnear was still despondent at the level of his team’s performance against a Basingstoke team that had played only two days earlier. ‘Maybe in the back of their minds, the players thought it was going to be easy – but they always get wound up for Dover. Jason Bristow has built that side over a number of years and they are decent with a lot of experience. They did tire towards the end and we had chances and it is disappointing that we gave such a silly goal away early on. If it was 0-0, they would not have been trying to hang in there as much and even though we weren’t playing well, it makes it that much difficult.’*Q1*

Chris also added. ‘We are very disappointed about the urgency shown and I am sure they did not do it on purpose. At least we had the guts to get back at them – Though we need to fathom why we were not enthusiastic throughout the game.’

After what was a generally poor game during the normal ninety minutes, the match sprung into action in an incredible finale. Firstly Basingstoke were denied what looked like a blatant penalty when Mitchell Walker appeared to fell Kezzie Ibe as they looked to kill the game off. Then Sean Raggett thought he had equalized when it seemed the ball at crossed the line before being cleared away, with the Dover players incensed at the decision to disallow his effort. With the remonstrations ongoing, Basingstoke ran up the other end and only a fine stop from Walker stopped whites being killed off.*Lpic1*

Elder then levelled matters with a brilliant stooping header and though it looked like Whites had secured an undeserved point, Basingstoke hit the underside of the crossbar at the death with Walker pulling off two seemingly impossible saves from the rebound to somehow keep the match at evens.

‘It was unbelievable in the last few minutes, said Kinnear. ‘Alright we got a point and it was very exciting at the end. But before the game, it was one that we were aiming to win.’ He also added ‘We had talked about the game, but the players did not do exactly as they were told. We tried to overplay a bit, we did not pass it and we did not collect it either. People were not making the right runs for others to pass it too, but we have to learn from it. It happens and we cannot run the players down.’

There was some suggestion that the reintroduction of the wingback system was partly to blame, something that Kinnear was quick to dismiss. ‘it does not matter what formation you play, which was a fluid formation. You need to show urgency and enthusiasm, but we were not quite at it.’

One positive was the second half performance of Moses Ademola who came off the bench the replace Tom Murphy at half time. Chris though was still undecided as to whether the former Eastleigh and Woking man would start the next game. ‘Moses done really well and played really well Tuesday, it was a toss up between him and Tom Murphy as to who would start. He has been good in training and it is not easy coming on as sub – we shall see about Tuesday as we are all a bit raw still.’

Dover face table toppers Bromley on Tuesday night at Hayes Lane, who themselves have had a wobble at the worst possible time, losing their last two games with Sutton and Eastleigh eating away at their lead. *Lpic2*
Nevertheless Kinnear is expecting a tough game and is expecting more from his troops. ‘They are still top, but hopefully the lads will try and lift themselves more than they did today.’

Nathan Elder’s sensational diving header in the dying seconds against Basingstoke on Saturday kept Whites in the play off hunt in a game that did not really come to life until the last few minutes.

Manager Chris Kinnear was still despondent at the level of his team’s performance against a Basingstoke team that had played only two days earlier. ‘Maybe in the back of their minds, the players thought it was going to be easy – but they always get wound up for Dover. Jason Bristow has built that side over a number of years and they are decent with a lot of experience. They did tire towards the end and we had chances and it is disappointing that we gave such a silly goal away early on. If it was 0-0, they would not have been trying to hang in there as much and even though we weren’t playing well, it makes it that much difficult.’*Q1*

Chris also added. ‘We are very disappointed about the urgency shown and I am sure they did not do it on purpose. At least we had the guts to get back at them – Though we need to fathom why we were not enthusiastic throughout the game.’

After what was a generally poor game during the normal ninety minutes, the match sprung into action in an incredible finale. Firstly Basingstoke were denied what looked like a blatant penalty when Mitchell Walker appeared to fell Kezzie Ibe as they looked to kill the game off. Then Sean Raggett thought he had equalized when it seemed the ball at crossed the line before being cleared away, with the Dover players incensed at the decision to disallow his effort. With the remonstrations ongoing, Basingstoke ran up the other end and only a fine stop from Walker stopped whites being killed off.*Lpic1*

Elder then levelled matters with a brilliant stooping header and though it looked like Whites had secured an undeserved point, Basingstoke hit the underside of the crossbar at the death with Walker pulling off two seemingly impossible saves from the rebound to somehow keep the match at evens.

‘It was unbelievable in the last few minutes, said Kinnear. ‘Alright we got a point and it was very exciting at the end. But before the game, it was one that we were aiming to win.’ He also added ‘We had talked about the game, but the players did not do exactly as they were told. We tried to overplay a bit, we did not pass it and we did not collect it either. People were not making the right runs for others to pass it too, but we have to learn from it. It happens and we cannot run the players down.’

There was some suggestion that the reintroduction of the wingback system was partly to blame, something that Kinnear was quick to dismiss. ‘it does not matter what formation you play, which was a fluid formation. You need to show urgency and enthusiasm, but we were not quite at it.’

One positive was the second half performance of Moses Ademola who came off the bench the replace Tom Murphy at half time. Chris though was still undecided as to whether the former Eastleigh and Woking man would start the next game. ‘Moses done really well and played really well Tuesday, it was a toss up between him and Tom Murphy as to who would start. He has been good in training and it is not easy coming on as sub – we shall see about Tuesday as we are all a bit raw still.’

Dover face table toppers Bromley on Tuesday night at Hayes Lane, who themselves have had a wobble at the worst possible time, losing their last two games with Sutton and Eastleigh eating away at their lead. *Lpic2*
Nevertheless Kinnear is expecting a tough game and is expecting more from his troops. ‘They are still top, but hopefully the lads will try and lift themselves more than they did today.’