Whites fell to another defeat, but the scoreline does not
do their performance justice. For 70 minutes, Whites were the
better side, but three goals in nine minutes sealed their
fate, as the visitors took their chances and subsequently all
the points.
Slight changes were made to the side that played on Tuesday
against Leyton. Lee Shearer had recovered sufficiently from
illness to start, as had Nick Grime. These two took the places
of Sam Vallance and Daniel Braithwaite, who were not even
included on the bench.
The Whites were first out of the blocks, and created three
corners in a row after only two minutes. From these, Paul
Armstrong saw his header cleared off of the line, and Dean
Palmer's shot had to be bravely blocked as it almost snuck
inside the post.
But after three minutes, Wealdstone took the lead. Just as
Whites' attacking force was causing problems, their defence
was going missing. Jermaine Beckford collected a long ball
forward from defence, and took a touch and unleashed a superb
half-volley into the top corner of the net. It was a great
effort, but left Dover chasing the game from this early
stage.
Far from being disheartened though, Whites continued to be
an attacking force. Victor Renner collected the ball 20-yards
out and unleashed a superb shot, but it went marginally
wide.
However, with 16 minutes on the clock, Whites managed to
draw level. Armstrong got the ball from a mistake in the
visitors defence, and although he saw his shot saved by keeper
Andy Carter, he fired the rebound home from a very tight
angle.
Half-chances were falling to the Whites, with the pick of
them a fierce drive from 25-yards by Renner, before a moment
that could have had a huge impact upon the outcome of the
game, after 41 minutes.
Carruthers was released down the right, and produced a
stunning cross into the centre. Renner got in front of his
marker, but saw his shot hit the inside of the post and bounce
out.
So halftime arrived with honours even, but optimism was
high within the Dover supporting ranks. This optimism could
have been punctured seven minutes into the second period, as
Richard Jolly went close, but Whites fans continued to sing
loudly to push their men on.
Chances were coming, and Marcus Sawyerr almost added to the
goal he scored on his debut on Tuesday night when a Carruthers
cross fell to him on the edge of the area, but he shot just
wide.
As the game began to open up, Wealdstone went down the
other end, and Jermaine Beckford tested Dominique
Jean-Zepharin, before another superb chance fell to the
Whites.
Nick Grime crossed well from the left touchline, and the
ball bounced out to the edge of the area to Paul Armstrong.
And although he had almost the entire goal to aim at, he chose
the area that the defender was covering, and the ball
ricocheted to safety.
But after 69 minutes, Wealdstone got their second. A
misplaced pass in midfield gave possession away, and Jermaine
Beckford was fed down the right. He took the ball on, and
forced a good save out of Jean-Zepharin, but the rebound fell
to Richard Jolly, who had the easy task of slotting the ball
into the empty net.
Just when Whites were shocked at conceding, they did it
again. This time it was Beckford who found the back of the net
again, as he blasted home from the edge of the area after 71
minutes.
Byron Bubb and Shaun Welford immediately replaced Marcus
Sawyerr and Victor Renner as Steve Browne attempted to get
back into the game. And it was Bubb who almost had an instant
impact, as he collected a pass from Grime, but dragged his
shot wide when well placed.
A superb fourth for the visitors sealed their win.
Substitute Robin Tucker collected the ball on the edge of the
area, juggled it over the defender and volleyed into the roof
of the net.
