Dover Athletic 2 Newport County 0

WHITES manager Richard Langley admitted after this victory at the Hoverspeed Stadium on Saturday that it wasn't all that pretty, but from his point of view it didn't matter a jot.

Three points in the bag was the only real consideration as Dover achieved their first Dr Martens, premier division, win since early January through goals in each half from Craig Wilkins and Matt Carruthers.

With the battle to finish in the top 13, and so qualify for Conference Two South next season, now starting to get serious, victory over a Newport side was imperative.

Whites' captain Andy Arnott said: "That was an important game for us to win. We've been playing a bit better lately but we haven't been picking up the results, and getting a cleansheet is a bonus."

Dover's new boy Billy Bone, used to playing in sweltering and humid conditions in the Far East, must have found Saturday's bitterly cold conditions something of a culture shock.

But the 32-year-old Geordie did enough in the central midfield area to suggest that - when he has a few more matches under his belt - his experience will be a valuable asset.

He said afterwards: "It's a different kind of football to what I have been used to, but give me a bit of time and I will adjust. Dover are a perfect club for me at my age, and everybody has made me very welcome."

Dover Athletic: Wietecha; Arnott, Browne, Chapman; Carruthers, Day (Spiller 67), Bone, Cloke, Millar (Davies 67; Wilkins, Awuah.

FULL REPORT IN THIS WEEK'S DOVER MERCURY AND EAST KENT MERCURY