Dover Athletic 2-0 Bishop's Stortford - We have a platform to build on, says Hessenthaler

Tuesday 11th August 2009

DOVER ATHLETIC 2-0 BISHOP’S STORTFORD
Blue Square South
Tuesday 11th August 2009
Mike Green reports from Crabble

DOVER ATHLETIC boss Andy Hessenthaler declared himself more than happy following his side’s win of the season in Blue Square South with what turned out in the end to be a very comfortable 2-0 victory over Bishop’s Stortford.

For long periods of the first half the two sides cancelled each other out as had been the case with Dover’s first game in the division at Maidenhead United on Saturday.

But whereas at the weekend Dover huffed and puffed without the creativity they showed when winning the Ryman Premier League last season, tonight was different - tonight Hessenthaler’s charges played the sort of football in the second half that destroyed so many sides last season.

The introduction of substitute Jerahl Hughes gave Dover balance and purpose going forward and whereas they had bossed the second half without really creating any chances, Hughes’ arrival saw Dover finally produce the danger of the final ball that had previously sadly been lacking.

“He owed me a performance,” a delighted Hessenthaler told www.kentishfootball.co.uk afterwards.

“On the pitch the boy’s a great player, but off it, he has to sort a few things out. He was late again tonight and I told him that he owed me a performance.

“But to be fair, before Jerahl’s introduction we had looked better but what he gave us proved to be what we needed.”

The first half was frustrating, where Dover huffed and puffed but failed to trouble Nicky Eyre in the Stortford goal, although the battle between Shaun Welford and visiting skipper Paul Goodacre was something to behold and showed why the former Ramsgate target man could be such an important cog in the Dover jigsaw this season.

The sizable Crabble crowd pondered the opening half in which despite dominating long periods of possession, their heroes only had a Lee Browning shot, which went just too high, and a deflected Sammy Moore drive to show for their domination.

Bishop’s Stortford weren’t just at Crabble to make up the numbers, however, and in striker Leon McKenzie had a forward which more than tested Dean Hill and John Keister at the heart of the Whites’ defence.

Indeed, Keister was named home man-of-the-match by the sponsors, but surely his central defensive partner warranted a mention after another near faultless display.

That said, Hill almost broke the deadlock for the visitors when following a McKenzie drive, in attempting to clear the danger, only succeeded in glancing the ball inches over his own bar.

After the break, Dover piled pressure forward and on 55 minutes a long ball down the inside left channel found Adam Birchall only for the former Barnet striker to be crudely shoved aside by Stevland Angus and referee Stephen Daly had no hesitation pointing to the spot.

Unfortunately for Dover their first choice penalty taker, Frannie Collin, was sidelined with an injury picked up at the weekend and so it was left for Browning to take the kick but unfortunately for the former Sittingbourne man, Eyre guessed right and palmed the ball away, diving to his right.

On the hour, Welford saw a header cleared off the line by Angus (from a James Rogers cross) and from the resulting corner Birchall was denied on the line by full-back Matt Jones.

Then came Hughes’ introduction for Tom Davis and within ten minutes the youngster had given Dover the lead.

Hill released Rogers down the left and when Goodacre could only half clear the cross, Hughes was on hand to drive the ball into the roof of the net.

As often happens when a side dominates but struggles to take advantage, when the deadlock is eventually broken, one goal is often followed by another.

And this was the case as ninety seconds later, following a mazy run on the edge of the box, Birchall’s shot deflected of Goodacre, completely wrong footing keeper Eyre and nestled into the bottom right corner of the net.

Birchall almost then turned provider for Welford, after escaping the clutches of Goodacre down the right, but his driven cross was just too far in front of his lunging strike partner at the far post.

A highly contented Hessenthaler admitted afterwards that before the weekend he would’ve taken four points from the first two games of the season.

“Two games, two goals, two clean sheets, I’ve got to be happy. We’ve got another home game coming on Saturday (at home to Dorchester Town) we’ll be looking to build on this although we’ll still be without Jake Leberl (calf) and Olly Schulz (suspended).

“We’ve given ourselves a platform - now we have to continue as we’ve done in the past.”

Dover Athletic: Lee Hook, Jon Wallis, James Rogers, Dean Hill, John Keister, Nicky Southall, Sammy Moore, Tom Davis (Jerahl Hughes 65), Shaun Welford, Adam Birchall, Lee Browning (Jake Marsh 89).
Subs: Danny Walder, Sam Gore, John Whitehouse.

Goals: Jerahl Hughes 76, Adam Birchall 78

Missed penalty: Lee Browning saved 55

Booked: Jon Wallis 48, John Keister 73

Bishop’s Stortford: Nicky Eyre, Matt Jones, Mark Wright, Ashley Taylor-Forbes (Max Lettejallow 71), Paul Goodacre, Stevland Angus, Danny Harris, Ben Bowditch, Leon McKenzie (Rory Hill 65), Charlie Sheringham (Roy Essandoh 71), Ashley Nichols.
Subs: Richard Jones, Tom Champion.

Booked: Mark Wright 68

Attendance: 1,210
Referee: Mr Stephen Daly (Staines, Middlesex)
Assistants: Mr Richard Hailstone (Aldershot, Hampshire) & Mr Simon Griffiths (Horsham, West Sussex)