Dover Athletic 0 AFC Fylde 1 - match report
Published: 16:50, 25 November 2017
Dover suffered a hugely disappointing afternoon at Crabble as they were beaten by National League newcomers Fylde.
The decisive goal came 13 minutes from time when Whites defender Manny Parry inexplicably gave the ball to league top scorer Danny Rowe who punished the mistake by firing into Mitch Walker's bottom left hand corner.
The goal was Rowe's 11th of the season and condemned Dover to a second successive defeat and a third match without victory, dropping them to fifth in the table.
Boss Chris Kinnear named the same side which had been beaten 1-0 at Dagenham & Redbridge on Tuesday - Dover's first loss in 11 league games.
Still missing were long-term injuries Tobi Sho-Silva and Jamie Allen plus full-back Josh Passley who is due to have an X-ray on his arm on Monday.
The match formed part of Dover's second Community Day of the season and attracted a crowd of 2,860 but there was little for supporters to cheer in a first half bereft of goalmouth action.
Dover striker James Alabi had an early sighter firing over after a surging run by Nortei Nortey but that apart Whites created little with nine-goal top scorer Ryan Bird hardly involved.
Defender Giancarlo Gallifuoco probably missed their best chance, sending a free header over from Mitch Brundle's corner seven minutes before the break.
Fylde striker Rowe created a decent opening for himself on 19 minutes but Whites keeper Walker got down smartly at his near post to save.
Rowe threatened again seven minutes later when he produced a good turn before hitting a bouncing drive that was well turned aside to his right by Walker.
The only other half chance fell to Fylde defender George Edmondson who was allowed to surge forward and hit a dipping shot from 25 yards which went just wide of the upright.
Boss Kinnear replaced Alabi with Kadell Daniel at half-time but although the winger immediately looked lively Dover still looked a little sluggish.
Fylde looked increasingly confident and they gave Whites a scare in the 55th minute when skipper Sam Finley's 20-yard drive forced Walker to parry well away to his left.
Dover then sprang into life and were denied three times in the final half-hour by Fylde keeper Jay Lynch whose first contribution was a superb point-blank save after Brundle's free-kick had been powerfully met by Bird. The ball then came out to Gallifuoco whose diving header went just over at the far post.
Kinnear replaced Nortey with recent loan signing Anthony Jeffrey and with his first touch the winger got to the byline before cutting the ball back to Pinnock whose shot was brilliantly saved one-handed by Lynch who must have seen it late.
The Fylde keeper completed a hat-trick of excellent saves on 74 minutes when he went full-length to his right to keep out Brundle's free-kick.
The significance of those saves only became clear when the otherwise tidy Parry lost out to Rowe whose low drive into the bottom corner left Walker no chance and secured his side the points. The defeat was Dover's third at home in the league this season.
Dover: Walker, Fazakerley (Deen-Conteh 82mins), Gallifuoco, Parry, Essam, Ilesanmi, Brundle, Nortey (Jeffrey 66mins), Pinnock, Bird, Alabi (Daniel 46 mins); Subs not used: Richards, Okosieme.
AFC Fylde: Lynch, Burke, Francis-Angol, Tunnicliffe, Edmondson, Bond, Finley (Taylor 87mins), Montrose, Rowe (Blinkhorn 84mins), Mangan, Tasdemir (Smith 60 mins): Subs not used: Grand, Jones.
Attendance: 2,860
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Mark Stokes