Dover Athletic 2 Charlton Athletic 0
Friendly
Match
Tuesday
2nd August 2005
Dover
Athletic: Paul Hyde (Darren Smith,
64mins), Tony Browne, Daniel Braithwaite, Dean Readings,
Craig Cloke, Nick Humphrey, Danny Chapman, Lee Spiller (C),
Craig Wilkins, Tommy Tyne (Walid Matata,
81mins), Anthony Hogg.
Subs (not used): Dale Skelton, James Rogers, Sam
Vallance, Chris Wright, Tom Hickman, James
Gregory.
Charlton
Athletic: Darren Randolph, Osei Sankofa (Nathan Ashton,
73mins), Kelly Youga, Barry Fuller (Danny Phillips,
46mins), Gonzalo Sorondo (Jack Clifford,
64mins), Adam Cottrell (Laurie Wilson,
64mins), Myles Weston, Jason Euell (James Walker,
67mins), Shaun Bartlett, Kevin Lisbie, Jose Guimaerens (Alex Varney,
46mins).
Sub (not used): Robert
Elliot.
Referee:
Ian Gosling (1st Half), L Vennemore (2nd
Half)
Assistants:
P Kelly and L Vennemore (1st Half), P Kelly and M Staveley
(2nd Half)
Attendance:
469
Whites will have drawn immense
confidence after they beat a Charlton side containing four
fringe first-team players, and kept a clean sheet at the same
time. Craig Cloke continued his excellent pre-season scoring
record with another two goals, giving us cause to be
optimistic for the coming season.
Again the starting line-up showed
few surprises, with the side fairly settled now. For this
match however, Paul Hyde was preferred in goal for the first
hour, with Darren Smith replacing him for the final half hour.
There was also a place for Danny Chapman, as Clive Walker has
openly stated that he hopes to sign the player if the funds
become available.
The team list for Charlton however
contained some familiar Premiership performers. Gonzalo
Sorondo, Jason Euell, Shaun Bartlett and Kevin Lisbie were all
given the chance to perform on the illustrious Crabble turf,
giving the Whites defence a real test.
But it was the Whites who got out
of the blocks first though, and took the lead with only seven
minutes gone. Cloke launched a long throw towards the head of
Wilkins at the near post, but Shaun Bartlett pushed him,
leaving Cloke to fire the resultant penalty past keeper Darren
Randolph.
Although the game was a good one,
there were few chances being created, but Euell hit the base
of the post with a curling effort from the edge of the area,
showing what Whites were up against here.
However, it was the Whites who were
making the greater inroads on goal. Firstly, Wilkins was
quickly onto a through ball, but his lob sailed wide. Then a
quick free kick found Humphrey, whose lofted ball into the box
found the head of Tyne, but
his free header went easily wide to the disappointment of the
Dover End of the ground.
The half ended with opportunities
with both sides, and the visitors will have been disappointed
not to have drawn level. The chance fell to Kevin Lisbie, who
controlled the ball in the area, but his half volley rattled
the post.
Whites could have increased their
lead in the final minutes though, as the keeper dropped the
ball when under pressure from Humphrey, but even though it
fell to Cloke, he volleyed into the side netting, and the
score remained 1-0 at the end of the first
period.
The main change at the interval was
to the referee, as Ian Gosling had to be replaced by L
Vennemore after getting injured at the end of the half. There
were also a couple of changes for the visitors, but Whites
kept faith with their first choice line-up, giving most of
them a full 90 minutes.
The settled side seemed to be
paying dividends, as within a few minutes of the restart it
could easily have been 2-0. Spiller headed a cross down to
Tyne, but he scuffed his
volley straight to the keeper when well
placed.
A number of substitutions for the
visitors, and Smith replacing Hyde in the Dover
goal, broke the pattern of play up, so few chances came for
either side in the second half.
Tyne again went close from a Spiller
free kick however, before Whites displayed some superb passing
to create another chance. This time the ball was delivered
from the left by Tony Browne, and Hogg headed just
over.
Substitute Danny Phillips hit the
bar with a cross, before Whites sealed the win. Hogg swung a
free kick over from the left, and as the keeper stayed rooted
to his line, Cloke headed into the corner of the
net.
The final chance fell to Shaun
Bartlett, whose shot on target failed to unduly trouble Darren
Smith, and with that Charlton's hopes of a consolation went,
and Whites secured a confidence boosting
win.
This
was a really encouraging performance by the Whites, and we
looked really up for it tonight. If we can show this much
determination and play throughout the coming season then we
have a good chance of reaching our
goals.
