Dover Athletic drew first blood in last
night's eagerly anticipated Kent Derby, as they won 2-1 at home to
Ebbsfleet United.
The pre-match conversations were which
players would get the upper hand over their former Club, but it was
three players with no connection to the opposition who scored the
goals! Richard Orlu, Anthony Cook and Tom Murphy were the three
goalscorers.
Dover were unchanged from the side that
beat Gosport on the opening day, while the Fleet made one change from
their 0-0 draw. Daryl McMahon returned from suspension and took Dean
Rance's place in midfield. Billy Bricknell, who missed the opening
day draw through injury, took his place on the bench. Michael
Thalassitis started up front again with Cook and Dominic Green either
side of him.
The lack of pace in the Fleet defence
was a cause for concern throughout pre-season and it took Dover just
five minutes to exploit that. A long ball forward should have been
comfortably dealt with by former White Shane Huke, but he let it
bounce away and was then beaten to it by one-time Fleet loanee
Elliott Charles. Paul Lorraine intervened and put it behind for a
corner. Ashley Carew's deep corner was met by the head of Orlu eight
yards out, who made no mistake, much to the delight of the home
crowd.
A few moments later, the Fleet were
almost level as Whites keeper Mitch Walker rushed out at the feet of
Thalassitis, but failed to gather the ball. McMahon then put the ball
back in only for Cook to head against the bar and Stacy Long then
smashed the rebound over.
Green proved wasteful when shooting as
he hit a shot wide of the goal, just after Murphy had forced a stop
from Edwards.
The hosts were forced into their first
substitution midway through the first half as Lloyd Harrington was
taken off on a stretcher and replaced by Barry Cogan.
The Fleet slowly grew into the game,
knocking it around well without creating too much. Long and McMahon
were linking up well for the first time in the match, and Joe Howe
was causing havoc down the right. The lack of killer instinct in
front of goal I believe cost the Fleet. Dover nearly made it two soon
after.
Murphy cut inside from the right, and
curled an effort which looked to be heading right into the bottom
corner until Preston Edwards got his finger tips to it and tipped it
onto the post. This appeared to spur the Fleet on, and moments later
they were level.
Long's quick thinking on the edge of
the area created the goal as he produced a cheeky back heel into
Cook's path. The winger made no mistake as he crashed his shot into
the top corner of the net. Any other player on the edge of the area
would probably have took a touch and then looked to pass it. Quick
thinking, combined with skill, was the maker of the goal.
Thalassitis had a effort deflected
wide, before glancing a header wide. Half-time came at the wrong time
for the Fleet, as they looked to take control of the match. I think
everybody would have been relatively confident going into half-time
drawing though.
Thalassitis was needed at the other end
just after the break, as he blocked Charles' effort which looked
destined for the net.
Cook, who was looking lively as ever,
forced Walker into a fine shot as he tipped his effort over the bar.
Unfortunately for the boys in red, that's the closest they came to a
goal in the second half.
Shortly after, Dover were ahead with
their only chance of the second half. Edwards was off his line, and
as the ball fell to Murphy outside the area his sweetly struck volley
flew past the keeper and into the net, sparking wild celebrations
from the home faithful behind that same goal. The atmosphere behind
that goal rose, while behind the other goal the 300 or so Fleet fans
fell silent.
Green wasted another effort as he drove
wide, and McMahon hit a volley over the bar from 25 yards.
Five minutes were added on, and there
was no urgency from the Fleet side. No urgency going forward, until
the last minute. Cook received the ball 25 yards from goal, and his
effort whistled past the post in what was to be the last kick of the
match.
Overall, you can't complain about the
result. If you don't take the few chances you create, then you won't
get the result you want. One chance from the hosts in the second
half, and that's all they needed.
After a Summer of torture, Dover fans
will be happy as their team have been able to grind out two
victories. Fleet fans, on the other hand, will be disappointed with
just one point from their opening two matches.
The Fleet travel to unbeaten Eastbourne
on Saturday as they look for their first victory of the new campaign,
while Dover host new boys Concord Rangers.
Dover: Walker,
Kamara, Orlu, Forbes, Wynter, Stone, Modeste (Bakare), Carew,
Harrington (Cogan), Charles (Elder), Murphy.
Subs
not used: Ademola, Kinnear Jnr.
Ebbsfleet: Edwards,
Howe, Lorraine, Huke, Palmer, Corcoran (Rance), McMahon, Long
(Phipp), Green, Cook, Thalassitis (Bricknell).
Subs
not used: Hall, Sankofa.
Attendance:
1,562.
No comments:
Post a Comment