Dover are undone by a tidy Hampton and Richmond outfit.

It was a pretty even first 45 minutes here at Crabble with both sides spurning a decent chance each to take the lead but it was the visitors who broke the deadlock on the stroke of half time.

George Nikaj, still looking for his first goal since his return from his loan spell at Ashford, nodded a cross against the foot of the post in the 11th minute. That goal is just not coming for the young forward who is not getting the rub of the green in front of goal.

Hampton and Richmond had a couple of good chances themselves with Jake Goodman coming to the rescue with a timely block on the edge of the six yard box. Moments later and Jordan Thomas looked to have made enough ground at the far past but the cross just evaded him.

Visiting skipper Jake Gray blazed over in the 33rd minute from the edge of the penalty area when a little composure would have been the order of the day. Gray was in the thick of it again when in the last minute of stoppage time, Gray fired a shot past Stuart Nelson after the Whites goalkeeper had made a cracking save with his legs moments earlier. But it was all in vain as the hosts headed down the tunnel 1-0 down.

On the hour a slip from the Hampton defender enabled a cross from Paxman to find Ajayi but his control and shot was well blocked in a last ditch effort to keep the score line at 0-1.

Moments later and Jake Gray nearly doubled his and his teams tally with a dinked effort over Nelson which only found the side netting. With the Whites looking to force an equaliser, the hosts were starting to exploit the gaps left at the back.

In the 67th minute, that man Gray did manage to find the net. After a long ball through to Kurran-Browne, who looked to have been offside, he neatly played the ball back into the path of Gray who fired a low shot into the far bottom corner to give Hampton and Richmond breathing space.

Despite the setback, the Whites poured forward in the hope of making the last quarter of the game a contest. In the 73rd minute, Noah Carney’s spin and shot was wildly over the crossbar with the goal beckoning for the young forward.

With seven minutes left of normal time, Gray thought he was taking home the match ball when his effort beat Nelson, only to go narrowly wide, with half the ground thinking the ball was in.

Substitute David Fisher wrapped things up for the visitors in the 88th minute when he raced onto a through ball and placed his shot into Nelson’s bottom corner. 0-3

It was a wretched day for the Whites who are now only eight points clear of the drop zone. Hampton and Richmond leapfrogged us with that win, dropping us one place down to 15th in the table.

The lads will look to bounce back next week at St Albans and end this winless streak. We hope to see you there.

COYW.

Dover Athletic: Nelson, Judd, Paxman, Moses, Goodman, Sterling, Wanadio, Wilkinson, Pierrick, Baptiste, Nikaj

Subs: Janjeva, Boateng, Carney, Ajayi, Agbebi

Hampton & Richmond Borough: Julian, Donaldson, Inman, Fernandez, Whittingham, Gray, Kurran-Browne, Deadfield, Clifton, Dunne, Thomas

Subs: Barzey, Fisher, Johnson, Comley, Davis

Attendance: 605