Dover Athletic 4 Enfield Town 1

Report By Charlie Baker

Losing a man, or men in this case, was Town’s downfall as we drifted into the bottom four after yet another setback. But it could all have been so different.

Dover hadn’t won at home since August, while Town were looking for their first win in five.

Something had to give and while the Whites started on the front foot, with Alfie Matthews looping a shot onto the bar and Jalen Jones missing another chance, Town soon gained a foothold as Olly Davis, who scored a sublime freekick in Tuesday’s loss at Dorking, shot just wide.

On 15 minutes, more Town pressure paid off with great hold-up play in the box from the returning Cian Dillon, who put it on a plate for Billy Leonard to fire into the roof of the net.

But just when we were looking to push on, Adam Thompson was caught out by Rhys Forster and in the ensuing mix-up hauled down Rolando Onu when clean through. Inevitably Tommo was shown a red but unlike at Chesham, the hosts didn’t score from the resulting free kick.

Ollie Knight was soon sacrificed for Avan Jones as we bid to shore up the defence, but still we looked the more threatening side with Dillon having a header clawed off the line by Mitch Walker in the Dover goal.

The hosts also came close but we saw out the half relatively comfortably.

HT 0-1 

The second half began in  end-to-end fashion, a volley  from Dover’s George Nikaj just missing the target while Evan Jones went close with a header.

Town held out until the 69th minute when Dover’s extra man finally told as leftback Harrison Sodje picked up the ball on the edge of the box and rifled it into the bottom right-hand corner.

Having failed to break down 10 men for the majority of the match, Dover now had the momentum as winger George Nikaj shot just wide.

Town looked for damage limitation as Davis came off for Ruaridh Donaldson – but the centreback lasted just a matter of seconds.

As Dover launched a long throw into the box, a scramble ensued and Donaldson pulled down his man in front of goal and was also shown red. Harshly perhaps, especially when double jeopardy ensued, Matthews netting from the resultant penalty and putting any Town hopes to bed.

Moments later, Matthews struck again – and this time in spectacular fashion. The midfielder collected the ball 25 yards out and unleashed a rising drive that flew beyond Forster, sparking a release of relief and celebration around Crabble.

Dover controlled the final minutes with composure, drawing the sting from what had been a tight and tense contest. And it was no surprise when they added a fourth as Francis Mampolo, on as a second-half sub, threaded a quick-thinking pass to Ruben Soares-Junior who finished with aplomb.

Killed by the two-man deficit, Town had battled hard throughout and would certainly have fancied their chances with 11 players against a poor side who created precious little.

Next up Salisbury on Tuesday – now an even bigger game than it already was before suspensions kick in for both Thompson and Donaldson at unbeaten Harborough in the FA Trophy.

Town

Forster; Adom-Malaki, Benjamin (Ackason 89), Thompson, Hawkins; Knight (Jones 26), Bullas (Brown 84), Leonard, Davis (Donaldson 73), Gallimore, Dillon (Wood 84),.

(Edited by Andrew Warshaw)