Dover Athletic 3 Bath City 3

DOVER led Bath City 3-0 at the interval of this Dr Martens League, premier division, clash, only for the bottom-of-the-table visitors to draw level with four minutes remaining.

No-one could deny that Bath were well worth a point after Whites turned in their most disappointing performance since Richard Langley and Mark Patterson assumed command four months ago.

Despite scoring three times in the first 45 minutes, Dover always looked vulnerable against a Bath side who hadn’t been able to buy a goal since Christmas, and with Whites’ “Goals Against” now reading 40 in 28 matches, some questions clearly need asking about their defensive frailties.

On Saturday, the amount of time and room that Bath were given in Whites’ half was bound to tell at some stage, although the early loss of Andy Arnott didn't help matters.

The big centre half went off after just 16 minutes with a pulled thigh muscle, but with Dover already 1-0 up by then thanks to James Millar’s first goal in a Whites’ shirt a minute earlier, there seemed little reason for alarm, especially as some of Bath’s distribution left plenty to be desired.

Gary Owers, City’s player-manager, was at fault himself after 26 minutes, his intended pass inside for Darren Hawkins instead going straight to Lee Spiller. The midfielder quickly put Craig Wilkins in on goal, and Whites’ top scorer ended his recent lean spell by lashing in his 19th goal of the season .

Two minutes later it was 3-0, Jamie Day rolling the ball home past City ‘keeper Paul Evans after an astute throughball by Millar.

Bath could hardly believe they were three goals down having had a fair share of the play, and five minutes later came what proved to be the turning point.

Day was hauled down by Iain Harvey as he turned in the area and Essex referee Mr Beck pointly without hesitation to the penalty spot.

Whites fans prepared to celebrate a 4-0 lead with only 35 minutes gone, but it wasn’t to be. The normally-reliable Day saw his penalty saved by Evans, and although Mr Beck ordered the kick to be retaken because the keeper had advanced off his line before the kick was taken, Day promptly fired his second attempt horribly wide.

Somehow it summed up Whites’ lackadaisical approach all the way through, and Bath gave a warning of what was to come in the second half when Matt Coupe’s header from a corner struck the underside of the bar before being hacked clear by Tony Browne.

So Dover went in at the break 3-0 up having only played well in patches, and within a minute of the restart the “yellow warning lights” which had been flashing in the first half turned to full-on red.

Drew Shore’s free-kick deep into Whites’ area wasn’t dealt with firmly enough and the ball fell for Josh Jeffries to rifle home from 10 yards. And 10 minutes later Partridge got the goal he fully deserved after Tony Browne had deflected Jeffries’ shot into his path.

Now surely was the time for Dover to regroup and take control, but instead they allowed themselves to be penned in their own half, and the inevitable happened four minutes from time when Owers, again allowed far too much time and space, drilled in a stunning equaliser from 25 yards.

The Bath players and their noisy band of supporters were understandably ecstatic, and all Dover could do was to hang on until the final whistle to ensure that they at least went away with something from a match which should have been all over after half an hour.

Dover’s new loan signing from Gillingham, young striker Jones Awuah, came on for Skelton with 25 minutes left and must have been feeling as bewildered as every Whites’ fan by the finish.