Whites finished the season on a
slight downer after being defeated by a late goal by
Eastleigh, who finished in third place
after this result. Although the game had an ‘end-of-season’
feel to it, with neither side having much to play for, the
first half was a good spectacle and a draw would probably have
been a fair result. But the visitors snatched it with two
minutes to go, and Whites finished the season second-bottom in
the Ryman Premier.
With Dean Readings available after
missing the last two games through suspension, he returned to
the side, forcing Sam Vallance onto the bench. This meant that
Craig Cloke started at right-back instead of his usual
centre-back position, though he played in three different
positions during the game after a couple of injuries to Dover
personnel..
Unfortunately for the Whites, the
first action of the game was an Eastleigh goal, after six minutes.
Whites looked vulnerable from corners throughout, and Martin
Beck’s one was headed down, Craig McAllister was on hand to
thump the ball past Hyde.
Whites went close when a good run
from Carruthers found Hogg 18-yards out, but his well-struck
shot was palmed to safety by keeper Wayne Shaw, who shared
jokes with the home crowd throughout.
Cloke’s volley from a Carruthers
free kick also came close to bringing the scores back level,
but Whites’ resounding player of the year hit the ball just
over.
An injury to Anthony Hogg after
just 18 minutes meant readjustments to the side, with Sam
Vallance coming in into his right-back berth, and Cloke moving
to centre midfield – showing the versatility of the
player.
And it was substitute Vallance’s
decoy run that paid dividends two minutes after the changes.
His run enabled Carruthers to cut inside, his cross being
flicked on by Wilkins for Hamshare to head home the final
Dover league goal of the 2004/2005
season.
This served to remind Eastleigh that a win could have seen
them take second place, and therefore an easier play-off game.
They almost re-took the lead when Hyde pushed a header against
the post, and James Stokoe was unable to touch the rebound
home.
But it was the Whites who finished
the half on top, with a series of corners that were dealt with
by the visitors, though Braithwaite went close with a volley.
Renner also tried his luck with a curling effort from
25-yards, but the scores remained level at the interval, after
a thoroughly enjoyable half of football.
The same cannot be said for the
second 45 minutes however. Although Braithwaite forced a
superb save out of Wayne Shaw just after the interval, the
heat seemed to take it out of the players, and most of the
half was played out at walking pace.
Humphrey was injured on the hour
mark, forcing Cloke into his usual position of centre defence,
and Matata came on up-front, pushing Renner back into
midfield. But it was Wilkins who almost gave the lead to the
Whites, when he headed a Braithwaite cross onto the roof of
the net.
However, the final 15 minutes
belonged to the visitors, as substitutes Andy Forbes and Ryan
Ashford both had good chances, firstly shooting wide, and then
having a header easily saved.
Whites fans chose this time to sing
a song about every Whites player on the pitch, and it was only
punctuated when Matata almost snatched the winner, but in the
end it was the visitors who stole the three
points.
The game ended in the way that it
has all season, playing well but conceding a sloppy goal, as
Craig McAllister popped up unmarked 6-yards out to poke the
ball home after a Sean Dyke cross.
And
so Whites lost for the 23rd time this season, and
finished second-bottom. This was a disappointing end to the
season, but hopefully the chants of “we’re coming straight
back up” come true next season, and give us fans something to
really cheer about. The news that Danny Braithwaite and Walid
Matata signed contracts after the game was also welcome news –
there is serious hope for the future for the
Whites.
