HASTING UNITED 1DOVER ATHLETIC 1

AFTER two home defeats in a row Dover were keen to get back to winning ways at Hastings.

Travelling Dover supporters boosted the crowd to 630, and for the first quarter of an hour it was all Whites as Hastings struggled to get out of their own half.

Following a bad challenge, Matt Carruthers needed touchline treatment and while he was off Hastings went ahead against the run of play in the 15th minute. A low, hard, cross split the Dover defence and although Landry Zahana-Oni’s shot was blocked, Chris Honey snapped up the rebound from a narrow angle.

The play then became more scrappy, but 10 minutes later it was Hastings’ turn to get into a tangle at the back. A ball into the penalty area seemed to hit a defender's hand, but instead of waiting to see if a spot-kick had been awarded Paul Sykes took his chance to equalise with a low shot into the far corner.

Jamie Day was then cautioned although it looked as though he had won the ball fairly, but a number of heavy challenges by the uncompromising home defence went unpunished.

There were no further goals before the break, but soon after the restart Hastings midfielder Paul Ruddy was given a yellow card for a challenge from behind on Lee Spiller.

Dover looked the better side for much of the second half, but a mixture of wayward passing and good defending saw all their attacks fail to produce more goals.

Hastings were rarely in the game as an attacking force and as the match wore on it was only a question of whether Dover could score a winning goal.

But they were unable to break through again, even after Hastings were reduced to 10 men in the 77th minute when Ruddy received his second yellow card.

From Dover’s view it must go down as two points dropped against a very ordinary side, and their frustration was increased by the injuries suffered by Mark Patterson, Carruthers and Sykes, all of whom had to be substituted.

Dover Athletic: Hyde; Browne, Patterson, Chapman, Arnott, Dyer, Day, Spiller, Sykes, Glover, Carruthers.

Referee: M John

Attendance: 630