Dover extended their dismal record against Kingstonian to six defeats in the seven meetings between the two sides with a poor second half display against the team who were second bottom in the Conference before kick-off.

Kingstonian have tormented the Whites since 1994 when the sides first met. On that day Kingstonian, then playing in Division One of the Ithsmian League, caused an FA Cup upset by beating Dover, who were in their second season in the Conference, 2-1 in the Fourth Qualifying Round. Three years later the Ks, then in the Premier Division of the Ithsmian League knocked the Whites out of the cup again, and since their promotion to the Conference they have continued to heap misery on the Crabble faithful, with a Carruthers-inspired 5-1 victory at Crabble the only time Dover have escaped unbeaten.

It seemed likely that the sequence would continue when after only four minutes Kingstonian took the lead from a header by David Bass. Bass was having a more enjoyable visit to Crabble than last season when he was sent-off in ridiculous circumstances whilst playing for Scarborough.

However, Dover stuck to their task and equalised just seven minutes later. A succession of corners resulted in the ball ending up in the back of the net from Neil Le Bihan's corner kick. As the ball curled in, Jimmy Strouts went up with Kingstonian keeper Farrelly and Farrelly spilled the ball over the line under pressure from Strouts who appeared not to get a touch on the ball.

As on Saturday against Scarborough, Dover looked useful in the first half and certainly weren't second best as they reverted to a 4-4-2 formation with Simon Beard playing in an unfamiliar left-back role, Tony Browne at right-back, Stuart Munday playing in the centre of defence and Jake Leberl reverting to the midfield role he played last season. Steve Brown was making his first start since the opening day of the season. The reshuffle gave Neil Le Bihan the opportunity to play in his usual wide left position and he caused a number of problems for the Kingstonian defence. For Kingstonian the danger man was Sammy Winston, a player who caused problems for the Whites last season when playing for Sutton and a man Bill Williams was keen to bring to Crabble in the summer before he eventually joined the Ks for a significant fee.

Simon Beard looked comfortable as a make-shift left-back in the absence of both Steve Norman and James Virgo, and it was he who created Dover's best chance to take the lead as he combined with Neil Le Bihan on the left and dribbled the ball into the area to set-up Vansittart who was denied by Farrelly.

At 1-1, the game was finely poised at half-time with an intriguing second half in prospect. However, as on Saturday, the Whites put in a decidedly below par performance after the break and once again went behind within five minutes of the restart. Luckett's free-kick found Harris at the back post and the man who made himself unpopular with the Crabble crowd last season after a sequence of reckless challenges in the corresponding fixture did nothing to improve his relationship with the River End as he slid the ball into the back of the net.

Dover threatened sporadically but showed little fluency against opponents who could have beaten comfortably if they had played at their best. The best chance of the second half fell to Steve Brown who was put through by Le Bihan he was one-on-one with the keeper but he had made a difficult angle for himself and Farrelly palmed the ball out for a corner.

At the other end Tony Browne was having a disappointing performance following on from his man-of-the-match display at the weekend. Three times he gave away possession in his own half but he got away with it each time.

On 66 minutes Steve Brown made an early exit following a promising comeback and was replaced by Lee McRobert (the crowd had been calling for McRobert's introduction from as early as the first five minutes of the match). McRobert played out of position on the right with Matt Carruthers, who once scored a hat-trick against Kingstonian, moving into a forward position. The arrival of McRobert and the subsequent introduction of James Pinnock did little to change Athletic's fortunes, although McRobert did come agonisingly close to an equaliser when Simon Beard set him up in the area and his shot on the turn went no more than an inch wide of the base of the post.

The game was wrapped up for the visitors in stoppage time when Akuamoah put Pitcher clear and he beat Hyde to make it 3-1.