An Alfie Pavey penalty saw Dover come from behind on Saturday to draw with Farnborough in National League South.

The impressive Reggie Young put the visitors ahead in the first half but they missed a penalty at the start of the second period, before Whites' top scorer Pavey netted an equaliser from the spot to extend his team’s unbeaten run to five league games - their longest unbeaten streak in nearly three years - as they earned a 1-1 draw.

Early pressure from the away side, who were far better than their lowly league position suggests, resulted in a Jack Ball header that forced a save from Whites goalkeeper Stuart Nelson in the third minute.

The hosts continued to live dangerously and, three minutes later, a header from Jordy Mongoy - a late replacement in their starting line-up for Francis Amartey - rattled against the underside of the bar. But the ball bounced the right side of the line from a Dover perspective and was cleared to safety.

Boro did take a deserved lead in the 15th minute, though, in front of a crowd of 725 at Crabble. Stand-in skipper Tyrone Sterling almost sliced a corner into his own net, Arjanit Krasniqi clearing off the line, before the next corner was taken quickly and midfielder Young managed to fire past Nelson.

In the 28th minute, Young fed Selim Saied whose strike stung the palms of Nelson. The home keeper spilled the shot, however he collected the loose ball.

Soon after at the other end, Luke Wanadio whipped in a menacing free-kick but it evaded everyone and went out for a goal kick.

Dover were slowly starting to get into the game at this stage. A 33rd-minute Alfie Paxman long throw from the right-hand side was half-cleared and left-back Paxman, cutting back inside, dragged his effort wide.

The home side’s next opportunity fell to Pavey, only for the frontman to send his long-range strike ballooning over with 38 minutes played, which summed up a disappointing first-half display for them.

Farnborough had a golden chance to extend their advantage straight after the restart. Just 10 seconds into the second half, referee Steven Hughes was left with no choice but to award a penalty after Paxman dragged Young to the ground after he had driven into the penalty box.

Norville-Williams stepped up to take the spot-kick, only to see his left-footed effort go wide despite 41-year-old keeper Nelson having guessed the wrong way.

The home team responded well after the penalty miss but it was the visitors still having the better chances. Nelson tipping over a Mongoy effort after some good football from the visitors.

A double substitution by the Whites on 56 minutes saw young midfielders George Wilkinson and Luke Baptiste replace Will Moses and Krasniqi.

And five minutes later, Dover levelled in controversial fashion from their own penalty kick. A left-wing cross from Wanadio was glanced on by Chike Kandi and Farnborough skipper Kevin Lokko was furious to see handball awarded against them.

Away goalkeeper Jack Turner guessed the right way but Pavey, for the second week in a row, found the top corner from 12 yards for his fifth goal of the campaign.

As the match headed into the latter stages, there was an end-to-end feel to the game, with both teams thinking they could find a winner.

There was a long break in play when right-back Freddie Grant went down under a challenge from Wanadio, although he was fit to continue having had his head bandaged up.

Five minutes from time, Dover defender Jake Goodman nodded Wanadio's free-kick wide.

Both teams then had opportunities to snatch the points in stoppage time.

Turner denied the returning Jordan Higgs who had tried his luck from long range and Nelson made a great save to deny Young and earn Whites a point.

Home manager Andy Hessenthaler made one enforced change. Captain Lee Martin missed out as he served a one-match ban having picked up five bookings this season. He was replaced by Higgs in the side while defender Sterling took the captain’s armband.

Centre-back Lokko captained the visitors on his Crabble return.

Dover, who last went five matches unbeaten in all competitions in November 2019, will finish a run of four successive home matches against Concord on Tuesday night.

The last time they went on a longer unbeaten league run was at the end of the 2018/19 campaign - when they won six fixtures and drew three in a 10-game run in the National League, also beating Chesterfield at the start of 2019/20 before they lost to Dagenham.

Whites are now 11th, three points off the play-off places, while Farnborough are three points clear of the relegation zone in 20th.

Dover Athletic: Nelson, Judd, Paxman, Krasniqi (Wilkinson 56mins), Moses (Baptiste 56mins), Goodman, Higgs, Pavey, Wanadio, Sterling, Kandi. Subs not used: Carney, Byford, Grant.

Farnborough: Turner, Ball, Grant, Lokko, Deering, Young, Mongoy (Rowe 82mins), Kasimu (Fearn 86mins), Page, Saied, Norville-Williams. Subs not used: Robinson, Holmes, Amartey.

Referee: Steven Hughes.

Attendance: 725.