Dover Athletic 0 Stafford Rangers 0

DOVER Athletic's recent barren run in front of goal finally put paid to their chances of joining the new Conference (South) division next season when they failed to score for the fourth time in their last five matches.

A dismal record of just four goals in their final 13 matches of the campaign underlines why Whites narrowly missed out on a second chance in the play-offs after having entered 2004 in seventh place in the table, albeit having played more matches than anyone else.

Assistant-manager Mark Patterson said afterwards: "The lads are all very disappointed but I think it's fair to say that the damage hasn't been done (today), it's been done over a period of time. Scoring only four goals in our last dozen or so games has been the problem.

In view of their woes in front of goal the last thing that Dover needed on Saturday, in a game which they had to win to guarantee a play-off place, was to come up against a Stafford side who showed why they possess the second best defensive record in the division behind champions Crawley.

Their giant centre half and captain, Wayne Daniel, was an imposing figure and he received solid support from his fellow defenders and goalie James Lindley, who time after time left his line to safely gather in crosses.

But one of the "positives" to emerge from the game from Whites’ viewpoint was that young “homegrown” products Danny Welch and James Rogers, down the left, and Dale Skelton and Craig Cloke on the right flank, all played their part in ensuring that Lindley was kept busy.

Stafford, playing their third match in four days, were understandably slow out of the blocks, but as the first half wore on they presented more of an attacking threat, chiefly thanks to experienced striker Neil Grayson, who showed why he is such a highly-regarded front man.

However, Paul Hyde in the Dover goal had few alarms in the first period, apart from just before half-time when Andy Arnott's back-header almost allowed lanky Daniel Davidson the chance to nudge the ball past Whites' keeper.

And with just a few seconds of the half remaining, Rangers midfielder Glynn Blackhurst slammed the ball against the underside of the bar following a short corner, but it would have been unfair on Dover if they had gone in behind at the break.

When Whites re-emerged for the second half the news from other grounds meant it was imperative that they went on to win the game, and their was no lack of urgency or commitment about their early work.

Rangers, for their part, were looking a little jaded but their defensive discipline now came to the fore and with an hour gone, and still no breakthrough, Langley gambled by replacing Simon Glover with young reserve team striker Chris Wright.

It was asking a lot for the youngster to end Whites' goal drought, but he acquitted himself well and the experience will have done him no harm.

James Millar and Tom Hickman were also brought on to give Whites fresh momentum as the minutes ticked away, but Whites fans probably feared it wasn't going to be their day when Patterson blasted a volley a yard over from the edge of the box 10 minutes from time.

Dover manager Richard Langley says he has a busy next few days, as he told KM-fm...