Steve Brown's effort from Simon Wormull's cross went just wide of the far post.

Dover produced one of their most disappointing performances of the season, in front of the biggest ever crowd for a Conference game at Crabble, and were swept aside by a very professional display from Rushden & Diamonds.

There had been injury worries concerning both of Athletic's first choice front men. In the end Steve Brown was pronounced fit but leading scorer Joff Vansittart was absent, suffering from a recurrence of his hamstring problem. Vansittart's place was taken by Jimmy Strouts, who had been re-signed from Stevenage in midweek, thirteen months after leaving Crabble for Broadhall Way. Dave Morrison, cup-tied last weekend, returned to the side in a wide left position, with Steve Norman reverting to left full-back and James Virgo relegated to the bench. Midfielder Neil Le Bihan made an earlier than expected return to action, as a substitute.

After the kick-off had been delayed 10 minutes to allow time for the larger than normal crowd to get in to the ground, Dover made a bright start and forced three early corners. But after the opening 10 minutes, Diamonds came into the game more and started to dominate.

Dover gave sporradic glimpses of what they were capable of, with Simon Wormull and Jimmy Strouts showing some nice touches in the Rushden half, without really creating anything. The only Dover chance came midway through the half when Steve Brown raced through the middle, but the attentions of the Rushden defence restricted him to a tame shot straight at Turley. Had Brown looked up, he would have seen Simon Wormull to his left and Jimmy Strouts to his right, both better placed.

The first half was a pretty dull affair, but just as it looked to be heading for 0-0 at the break, Rushden took the lead on the stroke of half-time. With last week's defensive heroics just a fading memory, Dover allowed Paul Underwood to deliver a cross from the left that was converted unchallenged from close-range by Miguel De Souza.

Bill Williams changed the Whites line-up for the second period. Matt Carruthers replaced Stuart Munday. Carruthers took-up a forward position with Jimmy Strouts dropping back into midfield.

Three minutes after the restart, Dover came agonisingly close to equalising. Simon Wormull's swerving effort from the edge of the area took a deflection off a defender and cannoned onto the inside of the post with Turley beaten. The ball rebounded across the face of goal but it was a Rushden boot that got to it first, clearing to safety.

Soon after, Dover had another chance when a good cross from Wormull found Steve Brown in an excellent position in the area. Brown beat Turley with his shot but also beat the far post with an effort reminiscent of his miss at Gravesend.

On 65 minutes Rushden killed-off any realistic chance Dover had of getting anything from the afternoon when Lee Shearer handled in the area, seemingly deliberately. Shearer was lucky to escape with a caution but Hamsher converted from the spot to make it 2-0 to the visitors.

Bill Williams brought on Neil Le Bihan to replace the ineffective Dave Morrison on 68 minutes, and soon after the Whites had a chance to get back in the game. Wormull produced a low cross across the face of goal that Carruthers, Brown and Strouts all failed to connect with when it needed just a faint touch to deflect it over the line.

In the 71^st minute another Underwood cross was met by another De Souza header, resulting in another goal for the Diamonds.

The rout was completed two minutes later when Hamsher set-up Rodwell for the third headed goal of the afternoon, Paul Hyde once again left exposed by his defence, with no chance of saving it.

Dover were poor but the scoreline was slightly flattering to Rushden, but they took their chances and deserved victory. The only unsavoury aspect of the afternoon was the disgraceful tactics employed by the visitors to deal with the threat of Simon Womull. Three Diamonds players were booked for deliberate and dangerous challenges on the England winger, and at least two of them were lucky not to be dismissed. At Nene Park in November, Wormull and Dave Clarke both limped off the pitch before the end of the game as a result of similar tactics and Neil Le Bihan had his arm broken. At Crabble, the Rushden players repeatedly fouled Wormull, who needed three lengthy spells of treatment from the physio before eventually leaving the field on a stretcher. With Mark Hynes having previously replaced Steve Brown, Dover had used all of their substitutes and had to finish the game with only ten men.

This result brings to an end Dover's five month, nine match unbeaten home run in the Conference, and is a big blow to the promotion hopes, especially since Kidderminster also picked-up three points this weekend. It is also the first time a visiting team has kept a cleansheet at Crabble since April last year.

Next up for the Whites are four consecutive away games, three in the Conference and one in the Trophy. A feature of this season has been the way in which the players have come back so well after disappointing results, so we should expect a much improved performance at Hereford next Saturday, and hopefully three points against the side we beat 2-0 earlier in the season.

Jimmy Strouts (9) and Lee Shearer (5) attack a corner. Shearer's header just cleared the bar.

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