Dover 3 Nuneaton 2

DOVER, who parted company with manager Clive Walker last week, went into the game with only one defeat in seven home games. Although Nuneaton were top of the table before the game they had suffered one or two recent hiccups.

That said, there were still plenty of wide smiles around Crabble on Saturday night after Whites’ new managerial duo of Richard Langley and Mark Patterson had opened their win account at the first time of asking in an incident-filled 90 minutes.

To be strictly accurate it was 97 minutes, with referee Ian Crouch adding several minutes of stoppage time for the second-half incidents that played a key role in the final outcome.

The first came with an hour gone and Dover leading 2-1. Tommy Tyne went up for an aerial challenge with Leon Drysdale and the Nuneaton full-back fell to the ground clutching his face.

Referee Crouch, however, allowed play to continue for some time, infuriating Drysdale’s team-mates who felt the referee should have stopped play immediately because of the nature of the injury.

When Mr Crouch finally did call a halt to the action several Borough players charged over to him to vent their feelings, led by centre half Terry Angus, who made the mistake of catching the official with a raised arm.

Having been booked in the first half, his fate was certain and Mr Crouch wasted little time in brandishing a red card.

Then, 10 minutes later, Borough suffered another self-inflicted blow. Midfielders Matt Collins and Brian McGrory, who had been at the heart of Borough’s dominance of much of the first half, clashed heads as they tried to clear Matt Carruthers’ corner at the near post. Collins was led from the field suffering from concussion and McGrory played on with a cut, which later required stitches.

The double setback meant that Alan Lewer’s side never reproduced their quick passing and movement of the first period, and Whites virtually wrapped up the points four minutes from time with a classic breakaway goal.

Danny Chapman broke up a Nuneaton attack on the edge of Whites’ area before releasing Tyne with a 40-yard pass. Tyne ran on before picking out Craig Wilkins, steaming up the middle in support, and the hard-working striker slid home his 13th goal of the season through the legs of Borough keeper Darren Acton

That should have been the end of the excitement, but Whites’ fans were subjected to a nervy further five minutes of injury time after Darren Davies’s mis-directed back pass gifted Andy Corbet a second Nuneaton goal.

Thankfully, from Davies’s and Dover’s point of view, it didn’t affect the final result and it was a victory that Whites just about deserved on merit.

Langley’s first team selection had thrown up one minor surprise, Tony Browne being relegated to the subs’ bench so that Carruthers and Davies could play wing-back roles in the 3-5-2 formation that had served Walker so well.

And Whites started with plenty of verve and aggression, forcing Acton into the first of a number of errors that almost allowed Tyne to lob Dover in front with three minutes gone.

Soon after Collins rattled Paul Hyde’s crossbar from 12 yards, but it was Whites who went in front with 17 minutes gone.

Acton, under pressure from Andy Arnott as he came for Jamie Day’s free-kick, mis-punched to Tyne, who headed into the unguarded goal from six yards.

But within two minutes Borough were level, captain Neil Moore heading in at the far post from Michael Love’s free kick, and Nuneaton then began to show why have made such a strong start this season in their bid to return to the Conference at the first attempt.

Their pace and movement in midfield had Whites’ on the back foot for long periods. However, with Chapman, Andy Arnott and Dean Readings rebuilding the defensive blockade that was a feature of Dover’s play last season, Nuneaton’s impressive approach work did not pay off in terms of shooting opportunities, and Tyne and Wilkins both had half-chances to regain Whites’ lead before the break.

Neither were taken, but eight minutes after the restart Acton was again at fault as he half-came for Wilkins’ low cross, and as he and Drysdale looked at each other, Carruthers nipped in to poke the ball home.

It was just the sort of break that Dover needed and after that it was all downhill for Borough, including from their position at the top of the table.

Dover Athletic: Hyde: Arnott, Readings (Browne 94), Chapman; Carruthers, Day, Dyer, Spiller (Cloke 80), Davies; Wilkins, Tyne (Glover 87).