Forest Green Rovers 3 Dover Ath 3

AN INJURY-TIME equaliser by Neil Grayson prevented Dover Athletic from knocking Conference side Forest Green Rovers out of the FA Trophy on Tuesday night.

Following last Saturday’s postponement, light rain again fell for the whole 90 minutes of this 4th round tie. But the pitch played pretty well throughout without noticeably cutting up.

Dover looked the better side for much of the first half, and after putting together some good moves, they were rewarded after 20 minutes when Matt Carruthers’ shot was blocked and Darren Davies shot home from 20 yards into the top corner.

Forest Green came back but rarely looked like equalising until five minutes from the break, when Grayson scored with a glancing header.

After half-time, the home side still failed to impress and it was Dover who again took the lead when Carruthers headed in Davies’s corner after 63 minutes.

Grayson then made it 2-2 from close range after 74 minutes, but within seconds a good move involving Jamie Day and Tommy Tyne, who had come on less than a minute earlier, ended with Tyne shooting home from eight yards to put Dover 3-2 ahead.

Dover’s Mark Patterson, who afterwards required stitches in a gashed ankle, was then sent off by referee Mr Mullarkey from Exeter, though his lunge only appeared to make contact with the ball rather than with a Forest Green player.

Whites still led as the match entered six minutes of stoppage time, but Grayson once again blasted home his third equaliser with five minutes remaining.

Chances to have won the match fell at both ends, but it finished 3-3, and the sides will now replay at the Hoverspeed Stadium next Tuesday.

Lee Spiller, Andy Arnott, and Lee Spiller of Dover, and Scott Rogers and goalkeeper Steve Perrin of Rovers were all shown the yellow card, with Rogers particularly lucky to have stayed on the pitch, after a late challenge on Dale Skelton after he had already been booked.

All in all, this was a very entertaining cup-tie played in difficult conditions, with Dover perhaps feeling a little disappointed not to have won after having led three times.

Dover: Hyde, Browne, Davies, Humphrey, Arnott, Chapman, Day, Spiller (Patterson 74), Wilkins (Tyne , Skelton (Cloke 77), Carruthers.