Bromley 1 Dover Athletic 2

A SWEETLY struck 25-yard shot by Dean Palmer two minutes from time gave Dover a hard-earned victory in the Kent Senior Cup first round at Hayes Lane on Tuesday.

Dover looked the better side in the first half and went ahead after 34 minutes when Matt Carruthers broke down the right and slid a precise pass in front of Craig Wilkins, who side-footed home from eight yards.

Wilkins had a good chance to make it 2-0 soon afterwards, but his header from a James Rogers cross was finger-tipped away by home keeper Andy Walker.

Bromley had a good spell at the start of the second half and they equalised after 52 minutes, when a long free-kick found the Dover defence lacking for the only time in the match, and Leroy Huggins bundled the ball in.

Whites came back into contention and created a number of scoring chances, with Wilkins firing just wide from the edge of the penalty area after a Carruthers back-heel.

The goal that decided a hard-fought tie came just as most people had resigned themselves to extra time - and it gave Dover their first away win since the end of March.

Dover: Zepherin, Vallance, Cloke, Palmer, Shearer, Braithwaite, Carruthers, Maynard (Spiller 80), Wilkins, Renner (Wright), Rogers (Grimes 60)