Dover's defence was found wanting on Thursday night at Crabble as Millwall's first team ruthlessly exposed Athletic's short-comings at the back and netted eight times to inflict the heaviest defeat in the club's history.

The Whites have undoubtedly improved in terms of passing football since Gary Bellamy took over in the summer, but they are lacking shape as the large number of new faces have not had time to gel into a cohesive unit. It was this lack of solidity, combined with some below par individual performances, that Millwall exploited to great effect.

The Whites were playing in a 4-5-1 formation with Danny Hockton as the lone striker. Athletic's cause was not helped by the loss of Matt Carruthers after just 14 minutes to injury. His place at right-back was taken by susbstitute Jason Moore. A minute later Millwall opened the scoring through Tim Cahill.

Athletic conceded again just after the half hour when Paul Ifill netted and then Millwall put the game beyond doubt with two goals in the last five minutes of the half. Giovanni Savarese made it 3-0 on 40 minutes before Richard Sadlier headed home the fourth at the near post with Paul Hyde unsighted by a defender in front of him.

Dover were not without chances in the first half although they were unable to mount any sustained pressure. Athletic's best chances came through ex-Millwall pair Danny Hockton and Lee McRobert, although nothing caused any real problems for ex-Liverpool goalkeeper Tony Warner.

It's was the Whites' back four that was the biggest cause for concern. Only Lee Shearer looked up to the task with Colin Vowden and Steve Norman not performing to their usual high standards.

Gary Bellamy made three changes at the interval. Colin Vowden was replaced by Craig Etherington, with Jimmy Strouts dropping back to centre-half. Allman and Okafor also came on for Inman and Hockton as Athletic switched to a 4-3-3 formation with Allman, Elliot and McRobert in the forward roles.

Paul Hyde was replaced between the sticks by Kevin Hudson just before the hour mark but he fared no better and also conceded four goals.

Neill, Bircham and Reid all found the net for Millwall before John Elliot grabbed a consolation for Dover with a good low finish into the far corner three minutes from time. The previous seventeen goals scored at Crabble had all been scored by the visitors so Elliot's strike was particularly welcome from a Dover supporter's perspective. It was his second in three pre-season games for the Whites.

Millwall were not quite finished however, and Ronnie Bull became the eighth Lions player on the scoresheet in the dying seconds of the game. Final score Dover Athletic 1, Millwall 8.

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