DOVER 1 HEYBRIDGE SWIFTS 2

By KEVIN HARRIS

A game that should have been won at a canter by the Whites turned into another defeat, after a combination of missed chances and incompetent refereeing. Another depressing day at the Hoverspeed Stadium arrived after the Whites were able to take the lead, and seemingly have the beating of an uninspiring Heybridge side. However, the visitors scored twice on the break to gain three vital points, and left the Whites struggling near the foot of the table.

The side included a number of changes from the previous outing against AFC Wimbledon. Pat Mullin replaced the injured Paul Hyde, with Sam Vallance (gaining his first-team debut) and Chris Wright pushing Dale Skelton and Shaun Welford onto the bench.

Whites were the dominant force from the outset, and with only five minutes on the clock were unlucky not to take the lead. From a long ball forward, Wilkins flicked the ball on, and just when Chris Wright was through on goal and ready to shoot, Oliver Blackwell got back to make a vital tackle. Whites were having the majority of the possession, though were unable to create many chances until the first goal after 21 minutes. From another long ball forward, Oliver Blackwell hesitated this time and let Wright in on goal. He was being fouled by the defender as he tried to get back, but Wright forced the ball past keeper Darren Smith. The confidence flooded through the side, and we again went close when Cloke almost got his head on a Carruthers free kick.

However, within minutes, the visitors were level. A free kick was played short to James Rowe, who turned well in the area to touch the ball to Carl Griffiths, and he prodded home from 6-yards out.

It was still the home side that were providing most of the attacking threat however. Carruthers was unlucky after a fine run, as he curled his shot marginally wide, then an own goal was almost scored. A Carruthers free kick was prodded across goal by Wright, and as Heybridge defender Daniel Barber tried to cut it out, he knocked it towards goal, and keeper Darren Smith was forced to make a good save to keep the scores level.

Wilkins headed a Readings cross just wide before the visitors came back into the game. Dwayne Edwards was put through on goal, and Mullin fouled him as he stormed out of his area, the keeper was lucky to stay on the pitch, though the forward was running away from goal. However, from the subsequent free kick, Daniel Barber shot just wide.

Whites were desperately unlucky three minutes before the interval. As Wilkins and Wright caused problems in the area, Hickman was left free to shoot for goal, but the keeper got a vital touch on the ball to tip it onto the crossbar.

The halftime whistle came around quite late after an ugly brawl led to increased stoppage time. Heybridge defender Daniel Barber must have been angered by what he saw as a late tackle by Cloke, and so kicked out at the home player. He then went on the rampage, throwing punches at anyone who went near him, and ended up kicking the linesman's flag that was on the ground. He was rightly sent off, but the referee deemed that Dean Readings had done something wrong too, and sent of the Dover defender.

Reorganisation was needed to fill Readings' place, and Skelton had to replaced Carruthers who had got injured in the brawl moments beforehand. But as the football began again, Wright headed just wide, and then Dwayne Edwards found himself through on goal, but Sam Vallance produced an outstanding tackle to prevent him.

With the scores level, it was the Whites who again were the side who were pushing forward. The Heybridge keeper tipped a Cloke free kick over the bar, before Wilkins had a shot that unfortunately took two deflections on its path to goal, thus taking the power out of it, and so it did not cause much trouble.

Heybridge took the lead just after the hour mark. The ball was lobbed forward to James Rowe, who lobbed Pat Mullin from 20-yards out. The confidence was clearly knocked, but we were still creating the better chances. Wilkins crossed for Cloke to head over, and then Welford had his header saved from a long Cloke throw. The goal threat from Wilkins was still there, and following a Skelton cross, his volley was really well saved.

The wealth of injury time led to chances for both sides to score again. Cloke shot over and Wilkins headed wide twice for the Whites, and Russell Williamson and Dwayne Edwards both went close for Heybridge, but with none converted it was the visitors who left with the points. This was a game that the Whites should have been able to win, however this turned into a very disappointing defeat, and we need to bounce back with a result at Worthing on Saturday. The signs are there that we can do fairly well in this league, but we need to start picking up points again.

Dover Athletic:
Pat Mullin, Shane Hamshare, Nick Humphrey, Sam Vallance, Dean Readings, Craig Cloke, Tom Hickman, Matt Carruthers (Dale Skelton, 44mins), Craig Wilkins, Chris Wright (Shaun Welford, 60mins), James Rogers.
Subs:
Michael Smissen, Shaun Welford, Dale Skelton, Ricky Spiller, Lee Scott.
Bookings:
Tom Hickman (11mins), Nick Humphrey (24mins), Pat Mullin (38mins), Dale Skelton (61mins)
Sent Off:
Dean Readings (44mins)

Heybridge Swifts:
Darren Smith, Erdem Artun, Daniel Barber, Kelly John Pollard, Oliver Blackwell, Alan Kimble (James Baker, 56mins), Dwayne Edwards, Adam Gillespie, Carl Griffiths, James Rowe, James Robinson (Russell Williamson, 73mins).
Subs:
Sean Marks, Darren Placid, Ergun Artun, James Baker, Russell Williamson.
Bookings:
James Rowe (85mins)
Sent Off:
Daniel Barber (44mins)

Attendance: 511