Worthing 1 Dover Athletic 0

DOVER ended up empty handed for the third consecutive Saturday but they really should have earned something from this drab affair at Woodside Road.

In the event, the game can best be summarised as a tale of two penalties. And while the Rebels tucked away theirs to earn a fourth league win on the spin, Craig Wilkins’ second-half miss denied Athletic what would have been a very welcome point.

As had been widely anticipated, caretaker boss Gary Whittle made a number of changes to the side that had performed so abjectly during the home defeat to Heybridge Swifts. Kevin Readings, as ever doing everything that could be asked of him during a brief spell of army leave, took over in goal whilst Dave Clifford and Kevin Lott made league debuts in defence and midfield respectively. And while Dale Skelton, Chris Wright and Pat Mullin didn't even make the squad, suspension and injury kept Craig Cloke and Matt Carruthers out of contention.

Personnel changes apart, Whittle stuck with a policy that has served him well on the road during his time at the helm. Unfortunately, playing not to concede is fine all the while you don't gift your opponents with a goal, as Whites did in the 19th minute. It came via a set piece as Mark Pulling, from a position close to the right hand touchline, clipped a free kick towards the far post. And as Dean Readings handled under pressure from Matt Russell, the award of a penalty looked a fairly clear cut affair. Without bothering to glance down the throat of the gift horse, Phil Ruggles sent Readings the wrong way with a perfect spot kick.

Given that the remainder of a dismal first half can be filed under ‘least said, soonest mended,’ suffice to say that the second session perked up a little.

And whilst Whites hadn't really looked like scoring up to this point, they too enjoyed a rare stroke of good fortune when Rebels centre back Clay Lamont misjudged the flight of Sam Vallance’s deep cross, controlling the ball with his upper arm. Again, though protests were long and loud, the award of a penalty looked a straightforward call. With regular penalty taker Cloke watching from the stands, Wilkins accepted responsibilty. And despite sending Mark Ormerod the wrong way with a kick that went straight down the middle, Worthing's ‘keeper kept out the firmly struck effort with his legs, and then James Rogers fired the rebound over the bar.

Although Lamont should have sealed the win for Worthing, heading wide from a seemingly point blank position, Athletic continued to mount plenty of pressure and create enough chances to have earned at least a point. Most notably, following one momumental goal mouth scramble, at least three shots were blocked before Worthing full back Mark Knee did wonderfully well to clear off the line, thus denying second-half substitute Lee Scott a debut goal.

Athletic’s cause was further boosted when Rebels substitute Nko Ekoku, who had only been on the pitch for a matter of minutes, was red carded for an off the ball incident that only a linesman spotted.

Yet despite playing with a numerical advantage for the last ten minutes of the game, Whites were unable to make it count. And when Buster Smissen headed fellow sub Gary Wood’s cross over the top from a good position late on, it seemed unlikely that they would get another opportunity from which to salvage a point. They didn't and the final whistle duly gave Worthing a league double over Whites, following on from their 2-1 win at Crabble in August.

With the all the applications now in for the vacant head coach post, one thing is clear on the evidence of this game. Whoever gets the job will need to work miracles to turn Athletic into a winning side.

Dover Ath: K. Readings, Vallance, Clifford (Wood-65), Readings, Humphrey, Lott (Scott-46), Hamshare, Hickman, Welford (Smissen-75), Wilkins, Rogers. Subs not used: Austen, Smidmore.