Manager Jake Leberl admits table-topping Dover’s start to their Isthmian Premier season has even slightly surprised him.

The free-scoring Whites hit the summit in front of a massive crowd on the club’s community day with a 4-2 home win against Hashtag United on Saturday and sit ahead of unbeaten Billericay on goal difference.

It seems the feel-good factor is starting to return at Crabble after a second relegation in three years last season.

Asked if even he had been surprised with Dover’s early-season form, Leberl, who again named an unchanged starting line-up, replied: “A little. It’s a brand-new side.

“Obviously, you have targets in the summer that you try and get but - other than Mitch Walker, who was my No.1 keeper - I didn’t get any of my No.1 targets. So, we were going to (target) twos and threes, down the list, trying to get hold of boys.

“But I’ve been very picky and fussy about who I want to bring here. They have got to have certain attributes and I wanted a young side, I wanted an athletic side.

“I want boys that want to progress their careers and who hope to take us with them, really, to a certain degree. So far, it’s worked really well.

Report: Dover 4-2 Hashtag United

“But we’re 11 (league) games in, a quarter of the way through and there’s so much more football to play. Obviously, we have been very fortunate with injuries.

“We have had the same starting side for the seventh game in a row and, obviously, that really helps. The boys have really bought into that and they’re really looking after themselves away from here.

“Our discipline has been absolutely brilliant.”

Alfie Matthews put them ahead early on in front of a crowd of 2,732 and, although Hashtag equalised through winger Sakariya Hassan, Harrison Pont blasted Whites back ahead in fine style before fellow midfielder Luke Baptiste netted in first-half stoppage time.

Hashtag looked the better team after the restart, but Dover weathered the storm comfortably enough and top scorer George Nikaj shot home from distance.

While substitute Max Cornhill headed in during stoppage time for Hashtag’s second, it was a mere consolation.

Leberl enthused: “It couldn’t have gone better than that - what a fantastic day!

“If I’m honest, usually when we get a big crowd, we have disappointed over the years, haven’t we? So, I’m absolutely delighted to get the result.

“There was a fantastic atmosphere and I’m absolutely delighted to be in charge as things stand.”

While there is plenty of football still to be played this term, there is never a bad time to be top of the table.

“Especially after the couple of years that this club has had where they have been rock-bottom for so long and really have struggled to win games of football,” said Leberl. “To be top now, of course we will take it.

“We didn’t know what to expect, coming into the league. It’s a tough league.

“But from the first pre-season game, we have looked like a team capable of scoring a lot of goals and we have continued that on. Thirty-three goals in 11 (league) games is absolutely fantastic.

“Obviously, we’ve let a few in today and we’re disappointed with the first one.

“There was a great delivery for the second one but, all in all, I’m absolutely delighted.”

Whites attracted their best home crowd since a 1-0 National League loss to AFC Fylde in November 2017 for their first meeting with Hashtag.

Leberl said: “Hopefully, they enjoyed it.

“It was a bit of a strange game. Hashtag had a lot of possession, a little more than we had hoped.

“But when we went forward, we always looked like we were going to score. We have scored some outstanding goals, as well.

“Hopefully, they enjoyed the day. I know I did.”

But Leberl called upon some of those fans to start returning regularly to support the club if they are to earn a swift return to Step 2 football.

Asked if they would be ready to play in National League South again, Leberl replied: “I genuinely believe that depends on what the town and the community want to do.

“Staying in the league above, obviously, we’d need to have a bigger budget. At the minute, we don’t really know where we are as a club because crowds are fluctuating.

“We need to get to a point where the chairman, Jim Parmenter, is confident in how many are going to come up (to the ground) to allow the budget to be strong enough for us to be able to compete.

“But I don’t want to think about National League South because it’s so far away.

“That’s just the genuine answer it’s so difficult to budget for that at this stage.”

Whites continue a run of four straight home matches when they welcome promotion-chasing Isthmian South East side Sittingbourne to Crabble in the FA Trophy first round as they aim to extend their four-match unbeaten run next weekend.