A first-half set-piece causes a nervous moment in the Woking area.
| Nationwide Football Conference Saturday 9 September 2000 Crabble Athletic Ground | ||
| Dover Athletic | 0 - 0 | Woking |
|---|---|---|
| Att: 1027 | ||
| Dover Team: Hyde, Munday, Norman, Leberl, Shearer, Beard, Carruthers (Pinnock 45), Strouts, Vansittart, Browne, Le Bihan |
| Substitutes Not Used: Hogg, McRobert, Moore, Hudson |
| DAFC Website Man-Of-The-Match: Paul Hyde |
| Dover Players Booked: Leberl |
| Dover Players Sent Off: Munday |
A goal-line hand-ball from Stuart Munday and a superb penalty save from keeper Paul Hyde narrowly avoided defeat for Dover in a game they could, and should, have won.
Following Tuesday night's woeful performance against Forest Green Rovers, Bill Williams dropped Lee McRobert and James Pinnock from the starting line-up, but kept faith with the other nine players that let him down in midweek. Tony Browne and Simon Beard were recalled to the side and the formation was changed from the familiar 4-4-2 to a 5-3-2 system. Stuart Munday played in the centre of a back three with Lee Shearer on his right and Simon Beard on his left. Jake Leberl stepped up into midfield alongside Jimmy Strouts and Neil Le Bihan, with Tony Browne and Steve Norman playing as wing-backs. Up front there was a change of partner for Joff Vansittart with Matt Carruthers reverting to his preferred forward position.
 Neil Le Bihan holds off Woking's Jamie Pitman. |
Dover had the better of the play but clear-cut chances were few. Joff Vansittart's header was denied by a 'photo save' from Mark Ormerod in the 31st minute and Lee Shearer also went close with a header, his cleared the bar. Perhaps the best chance of the half was created by Tony Browne, the most impressive Dover player going forward. His shot on goal was parried towards Vansittart by Ormerod , but Vansittart was slow to react and failed to connect with the ball which went wide by a foot. Steve Norman also went close with a low shot from 20-yards but Ormerod saved comfortably. At the other end there was the occasional nervous moment in the home defence but Paul Hyde was faultless between the sticks and never looked troubled.
James Pinnock replaced the ineffective Matt Carruthers at half-time. Five minutes into the second half, Mark Watson put the ball in the back of the net with a header but he was offside by some distance.
Dover continued to look the better side until the 76th minute when Richard Taylor's long throw was headed at goal by Nick Roddis. Hyde was beaten but Munday was on the line and prevented the ball from going into the back of the net with his hand. The referee was left with no option other than to show Munday the red card and award a penalty to Woking. Scott Steele took the penalty and struck it well but Paul Hyde dived the right way and palmed the ball wide with both hands.
The last 15 minutes saw Woking coming forward more, making the most of their numerical advantage, but they were unable to create much and the game finished 0-0, the first time in their last 71 competetive matches that Dover have been involved in a game with no goals. The Whites perhaps should have had a penalty in the last five minutes when a Woking defender controlled the ball in the area with his upper arm, but the referee, who had a good game, was not interested.
This performance was an improvement on Tuesday's but there is still work to be done. Today the Whites lacked width with no wide midfielders and their wing-backs unable to get forward enough to provide the service required by the increasingly isolated Joff Vansittart. Lee McRobert could return to the side to rectify this problem when the Whites travel to Stevenage on Monday, and Tony Browne did enough to suggest he could do a job for Dover on the righthand side of midfield when they revert to a 4-4-2 formation.
