A first-half brace from Karl Cameron condemned Dover to a fourth consecutive league defeat.

The Gulls captain was on hand to nod in from visiting stopper Yusuf Mersin’s parry and then headed in a corner on the stroke of half-time.

Andy Hessenthaler’s men fought to find a way back into the match after break, but were unable to find way through a solid United defence.  

The loss leaves Whites second from bottom on the National League ladder with three points, however the result may well have been different had Athletic converted a guilt-edged chance five minutes prior to Torquay’s opener.

Steven Rigg tricked his way to the byline and presented TJ Bramble with the goal at his mercy, however the midfielder was unable to convert after getting his feet mixed up.  

Athletic had gone close to opening the scoring early in the game when Jack Munns sent a dipping volley the wrong side of the post,

Bayli Spencer-Adams, making his debut for Dover after signing on loan from Watford the previous day, then saw his shot well blocked by the home defence.

Bramble jumped to head Cameron’s bouncing header off the line, but the Dover defence was powerless to stop Torquay’s captain from opening the scoring in the first half.  

A corner was well parried by Mersin, only to kindly fall for Cameron, an invitation the centre-back was only too happy to accept as he headed the ball into an empty net, despite Bramble’s attempt to stop the ball from crossing the goal line.

Turkish stopper Mersin then tipped Aaron Nemane’s stinging drive onto the base of the post.

Dover’s mission to stop a run of three straight defeats was dealt a further blow on the stroke of half-time when Cameron headed a set piece into the bottom corner.

And that task was nearly made harder just seconds later, but for Mersin fisting over Adam Randell’s free-kick.

The Turkish goalkeeper continued to repel the Torquay attack, diving onto Danny Wright’s volley after the restart.

The Kent side almost reduced the arrears late on, as home stopper Lucas Covolan tipped Munns’ accurate effort behind for a corner and then grabbed onto Rigg’s header.

Torquay almost sealed the win in injury time, only for a mixture of the woodwork and Mersin to somehow prevent substitute Asa Hall from scoring.

Earlier, Hessenthaler made five changes to the side that started the 5-0 home loss to Aldershot on Tuesday night.  Mersin, Spencer-Adams, Kurtis Cumberbatch, Bramble and Josh Passley came in for Josh Bexon, Will Moses, Ade Azeez, Travis Gregory and Marvel Ekpiteta with the latter three all not involved due to injury.

Dover next travel to Yeovil Town in the Emirates FA Cup Fourth Round Qualifying on Saturday 24th October 2020.

A HEADED goal in each half from Paul Lewis and Ryan Bird saw Dover run out comfortable winners at bottom-of-the-table Torquay at a windy Plainmoor on Saturday.

Cambridge loanee Lewis nodded in Mitch Pinnock’s cross after six minutes to give Chris Kinnear’s men an early lead and Bird powered in Jamie Allen’s assist off both the bar and home goalkeeper Vincent Dorel to double the advantage in the 64th minute as Athletic extended their unbeaten run to five games.

After the visitors had gone in front, Pinnock headed Passley’s cross harmlessly over and was then denied by the woodwork minutes later.

The wideman struck the underside of the crossbar with a fierce volley after latching onto Femi Ilesanmi’s lobbed pass.

Lewis thought he had doubled the lead after flicking in Bird’s shot, but the linesman chalked off his effort for offside and the midfielder was booked for protesting.

Ryan Higgins fired well wide from 20-yards and at the other end Bird nodded Allen’s cross just wide just before the break.

Luke Young drove a free-kick into Mitch Walker’s arms a minute before Bird struck Dover’s second.

The points were almost secured when Giancarlo Gallifuoco struck the post against his old side from sub Kadell Daniel’s corner.

Daniel then tried his luck with an audacious volley that flew into the arms of Gulls stopper Dorel.

Jamie Reid’s blast into the side netting summed up a disappointing day in front of goal for United.

The win sees Whites remain second in the standings, one point below current leaders Macclesfield Town.

Earlier, boss Kinnear kept the same side that started at Sutton on Tuesday night. Aziz Deen-Conteh replaced Tobi Sho-Silva on the bench, who missed out through injury.

DOVER ATHLETIC REACTION

MATCH GALLERY

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Gulls swoop to beat Whites

Miller’s stunner in vain