Dave Clarke battles for possession.
| Nationwide Football Conference - Saturday 11 December 1999 - Broadhall Way | ||
| Stevenage Borough | 3 - 1 | Dover Athletic |
|---|---|---|
| Alford (7, 42), Leadbeater (26) | Att: 1853 | Vansittart (5) |
| Dover Team: Hyde, Browne, Norman, Beard, Shearer, Dunne, D.Clarke, Wormull (Godden 85), Carruthers (Hynes 64), Vansittart, Bolt |
| Substitutes Not Used: Daniels, Iga |
| Booked: D.Clarke, Browne |
| Sent Off: None |
| DAFC Website Man-Of-The-Match: Joff Vansittart |
Dover Athletic's 10 match Conference unbeaten run came to an end at Broadhall Way, three months to the day since their last Conference defeat, Bill Williams becoming the latest manager to suffer the curse of the Manager of the Month award.
Getting all three points from this encounter was always going to be a struggle for an Athletic side that had been decimated by injuries and suspensions. Their opponents, despite not having won at home since the end of August, have experienced a return to the form that saw them take an early lead in the Conference with six consecutive victories, and in Carl Alford they have a man who would cause problems for even the best defences in the country.
The Whites team pretty much picked itself, with anybody still able to run assured of a place in the starting line-up. The good news was that leading scorer Joff Vansittart was once again available having served his one match suspension. Unfortunately he was unable to revive his prolific partnership with Steve Brown as the ex-Macclesfield man was suffering from flu and not fit enough even for a place on the bench, so Matt Carruthers retained his place up front. In defence, Dover had to do without centre-back Jake Leberl, who was serving a one match suspension for collecting five cards this season, and left-back James Virgo, who pulled a muscle at home to Altrincham last week. With Stuart Munday still recovering from the fractured cheek bone he sustained in this season's previous meeting with Stevenage, Leberl's place was taken by the versatile Simon Beard, who had played in midfield last weekend. At full-back, left winger Steve Norman filled-in for Virgo. In midfield Dover were boosted by availability of Dave Clarke and Simon Wormull, both of whom had missed their well-deserved opportunities to represent the FA XI on Wednesday night due to injuries. Neil Le Bihan resumed training this this week, following his broken arm, but is unlikely to be ready to play until Christmas. With Norman required in defence and Le Bihan unavailable, Bill Williams had been prompted to look for a temporary left-winger, Woking's Danny Bolt the chosen man, making his Whites debut at the start of a one month loan spell. On the bench, only four substitutes because there just wasn't anybody else left to pick.
Despite not having their strongest team out, Dover got off to the best possible start when Wormull's excellent through ball put Vansittart in the clear. The big forward made no mistake and netted left-footed to take his goals tally for the season in to double figures, only 5 minutes into the match.
That was to be as good as it got for Athletic and just two minutes later that man Alford popped-up to head home Robert Miller's cross, in off the bar for his 50th goal in a Stevenage shirt.
On 27 minutes Stevenage took the lead, again taking advantage of Dover's lack of a regular left-back, a Lee Harvey cross from the right was converted by Richard Leadbeater's diving header.
Three minutes from the interval Borough wrapped-up their third consecutive win. Michael Love's corner picked out Alford who doesn't usually miss with his head from a few yards out and he didn't this time either. The Dover fans have fond recollections of a memorable second half hat-trick scored by Alford in the white shirt of Dover against Telford a couple of seasons ago, but now Alford's name is accompanied by much cursing, the Conference's top scorer has now put three past Paul Hyde already this season.
After the break Dover had the best of the attacking play but Borough's defence was much more solid than it had been six weeks ago. Joe Dunne went close twice and new boy Danny Bolt narrowly missed with a powerfully hit strike.
Vansittart pulled one back for Dover on 72 minutes only for it to be wrongly disallowed for offside, the linesman obviously not taking note of Joff's position when the ball was played. That decision was the final nail in the coffin for the Whites, with no more real chances after that.
Alford came close to completing his hat-trick on 77 minutes, beating two defenders on the edge of the area only to drive his shot across the face of the goal. He had another chance 10 minutes from time but stubbed his shot straight at Hyde from close range after a good cross from Love.
So the unbeaten run has come to end. It had to happen at some point. What is important now is how the team reacts to this set-back. Let's put this result behind us and go out and achieve another 10 matches (or more) unbeaten, starting at Kettering next week, a game we really need to get a result from if we are to keep up with the top teams in the division. With Brown, Virgo and Leberl all set to return next weekend and Le Bihan (and perhaps Munday) expected to be available for our next home match, against Welling on the Christmas Bank Holiday, we should once again have a side capable (on their day) of beating any other non-league side in the country.
