Dover Athletic 1 Chelmsford City 1

SUBSTITUTE Walid Matata rescued a deserved point for Dover Athletic with his first touch against Chelmsford City on Saturday.

Matata struck with 10 minutes to go having evaded his marker at the near post and delicately touched the ball into the bottom corner. Earlier, a dubious penalty had given the visitors the lead.

There was a danger the match would fall victim to the weather, but an army of Whites fans worked all morning to clear snow off the pitch.

The visitors made their intentions clear early on and striker Gary Ansell scuffed a couple of decent chances wide in the opening exchanges.

But Whites had chances of their own and Matt Carruthers somehow hit the post with a header after 15 minutes and City were able to hack the ball clear.

A decent game was developing but two long stoppages disrupted the flow of the first half.

First, visiting full back Michael Haswell received lenghty treatment after colliding with Anthony Hogg. Then, bizarrely, City defender Simon Clarke all but disappeared down a hole in the centre of the field and the game was held up while kit man Robin Hastie repaired the damage.

The turning point came six minutes into the second period, as the visitors were awarded a controversial penalty.

Paul Hyde came off his line to claim George Lay's corner, but as he attempted to clear the ball, City skipper Russell Edwards appeared to block him off. But the referee thought differently and pointed to the spot. What Mr Crouch saw, which seems to be backed up by video evidence, is Hyde kick out at an opponent in his frustration at being impeded.

After extensive protests were waved away, keeper Nicholls, as he had in the corresponding fixture in October, thumped the penalty home in emphatic style.

For a spell the game threatened to boil over and it looked unlikely the match would end with 22 players on the field. One two-footed tackle by Edwards on James Rogers was particularly nasty.

Things calmed down though and Whites, determined to get back into the game, got their reward in the 80th minute.

Dover might even have snatched a late winner, but Victor Renner and Craig Cloke both fired over the bar when well placed.