Bath City 1 Dover Athletic 0

IT WAS a sunny day in the spa city for this Dr Martens League, Premier Division, clash but the football was certainly not as bright as the weather.

The first half was rather scrappy, the ball was often hoofed into the air and the swirling wind made it difficult to put together good moves.

With Lee Spiller and Nicky Dent restored to the Dover side after serving two match suspensions, it was hoped that the Kent club would have a bit more punch up front, but the home goalkeeper was not seriously troubled in the first 45 minutes.

A Matt Carruthers free-kick that whistled inches over the bar was Dover's only effort worthy of note during that period. Both sides looked more threatening in the second half.

The home side nettewd the only goal on the hour mark. Dover's Danny Chapman failed to intercept a long punt upfield, and David Toomey was left with the simple task of lobbing the ball over Dover keeper Paul Hyde.

Paul Sykes and Tommy Tyne, and towards the end, Kristian James, were introduced, but they were unable to find the touch in the penalty area to give Dover some reward.

Dover's lack of goals in recent matches has caused some concern, and the poor run of results has seen them now drop to seventh. On this form, it is hard to see where the next win is going to come from, especially as there are a number of very tough-looking fixtures coming up.

Dover: Hyde, Browne, Norman, Chapman, Readings, Dyer, Munday (sub Tyne, 70 min), Spiller, Glover (sub James 85 min.), Dent (sub Sykes, 55 min), Carruthers. Subs not used: Hafner, Cloke.