Matt Carruthers unleashes a fierce right-footed free-kick in the second half.

It's often said that there's no such thing as a friendly match in football and this was a game that supported that claim. Whilst the fixture was arranged in the best traditions of friendship and cooperation, with Dover returning the favour extended to them when Hemel Hempstead brought a team to Crabble at short notice last pre-season, the match was not quite so amicable. Neither side was prepared to concede a tackle and there were a few heated moments particularly in the first half. A couple of Hemel Hempstead players had to be replaced due to injury and the game threatened to boil over in the 28th minute when a shockingly late challenge left Lee Spiller requiring treatment and several players from both sides became involved in an altercation in which the home side's number 3 appeared to throw at least one punch.

Spiller appeared to have lost his cool and he got away with a reckless challenge soon after the incident whilst the Hemel no. 3 did little to endear himself to the travelling support in the remainder of the match.

Lee Spiller receives treatment after being chopped down by a late challenge.

Dover, whose only team change was Kenny Dyer in for the hospitalised Mark Patterson who is suffering from a virus, created little of note in the first half. Tommy Tyne's header wide in the 32nd minute after a good spell of pressure was the closest they came to a decent chance.

The closing stages of the opening period were eventful. Firstly, in the 44th minute, Paul Hyde had to be alert to snuff out a Hemel Hempstead attack, rushing out to collect the ball from the feet of the attacker. Then in injury time Hyde was again called upon, this time to deal with Tony Browne's wayward back-pass, which was heading for the top corner until Hyde tipped it around the post for a corner. The referee chose to ignore the infringement, but Athletic won't be so fortunate if they do the same in a competetive match. Matt Carruthers was ideally placed to break the deadlock just before the half-time whistle but the flag went up quickly for a marginal offside decision.

Dover defend a first half free-kick.

Clive Walker sent out an unchanged team to start the second half but it wasn't until he started making substitutions that things started to go Dover's way. Darren Davies was first, nine minutes into the half, replacing captain Andy Arnott. Simon "Lipton Ice" Glover and Israel Amadi joined in on 62 minutes with Spiller and Dean Readings making way and new signing Craig Wilkins showing his versatility by moving from attack into defence. As against Sittingbourne on Tuesday, Amadi's introduction had an immediate positive effect, but Athletic really should have been behind by then. Hemel's best move of the game opened up Dover's defence in the 56th minute and though Hyde made one save he couldn't do anything to stop the home side from knocking the ball into an empty net. Fortunately, he didn't have to as the player with the seemingly simple task of scoring produced a spectacular miss that made Mike Newell's infamous blunder at Crabble a few years ago look like a good effort.

Spurred on by their reprieve, Dover stepped up a gear and began to look like the better side. Spiller hit a decent drive just wide of the post from Wilkins' chested pass on the hour. Then, boosted by the pace and trickery of Glover and Amadi, Dover went close in the 64th minute when Amadi rather selfishly took the ball from Tyne's feet just as the ex-Millwall man was about to lash it into the top corner. Amadi's dribble in the box came to an end when he went down under a challenge, a bit too easily for the referee's liking, and the penalty appeals were waved away.

A minute later and Amadi was causing problems again. A quick pass out of defence released Carruthers down the right and he took the ball into the danger area before poking the ball through to Amadi in the box. Amadi was denied by an excellent block from Hemel's no. 5. Why the officials awarded a goal kick though is a mystery.

By now Dover were in control and just a couple of minutes later Tommy Tyne had a decent shout for a penalty when he was obstructed by a pair of defenders after he burst into the box. Tyne came agonisingly close again eight minutes from time when he rolled a shot from an acute angle just wide of the bottom corner with Amadi not quite close enough to provide the decisive touch. In between, Wilkins should have scored with a header from Davies' corner, but with the goalkeeper and defenders all beaten it was Dover's Danny Chapman who inadvertently stopped the ball from crosing the line.

Steve Hafner and Aegnus Martin were the last of five substitutes used by Clive Walker in the second half and Israel Amadi became the second Dover player to receive a punch from Hemel's no. 3, who lashed out at him on the ground, out of sight of the referee.

There were a few positives to take from this match, other than the fact that no new injuries were sustained despite the uneven surface and physical nature of the game, but Dover will have to play better than this if they want to be title contenders this season. Paul Hyde was forced to deal with a few uncharacteristic errors at the back while up front the goal-scoring problems of last season have not yet gone away. Things got brighter in the last half hour. Amadi again showed potential and Darren Davies' crosses from the left provided some much needed quality delivery.

[ Home ]