Dover Athletic 1 Braintree Town 3

WHITES were well beaten for the fourth consecutive game in this Ryman League, premier division, clash.

With keeper Paul Hyde, Nicky Humphrey and Dean Readings all fit enough to make the starting line up and with the sorely missed Craig Wilkins on the bench, Whites fans among the low crowd of 510 were certainly in a more optimistic mood than they have been of late.

In the event, it proved to be false optimism as Braintree, looking a solid and professional outfit for the most part, controlled much of the game and were only troubled defensively once the game had been decided.

In the first half, Whites rode their luck on a couple of occasions when George Borg's side had goals disallowed for offside. It proved third time lucky for the visitors after 37 minutes, however, as an astute ball from former Welling full back Billy Burgess sent midfielder Bradley Quinton clear into an acre of space.

As Whites' defenders looked in vain across the line, Quinton kept his head to round Hyde and roll the ball into an unguarded net.

Into the second session, Whites rallied briefly and Irons' keeper Danny Gay did well to block a Craig Cloke drive with his legs. Yet, despite a spell of relatively sustained Dover pressure, Braintree always looked a good bet to grab a second goal, particularly as front man Albert Brayley was offered the freedom of the park in which to operate, getting in behind Danny Spiller with alarming regularity.

Accordingly, it came as no great surprise when Brayley casually lobbed over Hyde to double his side’s lead after 73 minutes.

With Wilkins now called into the action, Whites at least looked better going forward. And they should have cut the deficit when Matt Carruthers blazed over from six yards after Wilkins had flicked on Cloke's long throw.

A goal at this stage might have made matters more interesting, but Braintree put the gloss on a good afternoon's work by scoring a third goal with a couple of minutes left.

Having previously caused havoc on the left, Brayley changed flanks to open Whites up with a run and cross that was drilled home from six yards by substitute Louie Evans.

For Athletic's long suffering fans, the afternoon's one bright spot came deep into injury time.

Unfortunately, many of them were already heading home when Wilkins got on the end of a Carruthers free kick to glance a perfect header inside the right hand upright.

Dover Athletic: Hyde, Spiller (Ball 74), Rogers, Humphrey, Cloke, Readings, Skelton, Hickman, Smissen (Wilkins 57), Wright (Smidmore 85), Carruthers.