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Dover 1-0 Shots

Adele Matthews reports from the Crabble Athletic Ground…

Dover Athletic clinched a last minute 1-0 victory over Aldershot Town as the relegated side fail to act on second half chances. Stuart Lewis scored the goal on Good Friday at the Crabble Athletic Ground.

Jake Gallagher led the side out for the annual Tour of Duty at the Crabble as the Shots looked for a win to soften the relegation blow.

Yet, a last-minute goal from a pressing Kent side saw a slowly unravelled Shots fall to a sixth game without a win Reece Grant hit the post whilst Jake Cole made some crucial saves in the frustrating fixture.

Early on, a corner from Adam McDonnell was quickly punched away by Lee Worgan, but John Goddard gained control on the edge of the box and spun it back in to meet Rollin Menayese.  The right-back headed it forward but the ball flew just above the crossbar.

Dover soon had a close opportunity near the stroke of half time when a cross from Anthony Jeffrey found an unmarked Bobby-Joe Taylor on the right, but the former Shots winger was unable to locate the goal with a header across the face of the goal.

The second half begun well with two shots on target in the opening five minutes. The first from Goddard, who twisted and volleyed a shot at Worgan, closely followed by McDonnell, who slid a long ball towards goal and waiting Worgan.

Reece Grant hit the post following a cross from Jacob Berkeley-Agyepong on the left channel. The striker’s advance deflected off Josh Debayo and onto the post before Dover scrambled to get rid of it.

Jake Cole made an important one-on-one block to deny Inih Effiong in the 60th minute and another just over 10 minutes later when Nortei Nortey fired a shot, which deflected and was swiftly tipped over the crossbar by Cole.

After 20 months out injured, Nick Arnold finally made his comeback from injury in the 72nd minute. This was shortly followed by a quick attack from Dover which saw Rollin Menayese crucially refuse Dover a goal after an attempt saw the centre-back hastily remove the ball off the line.

A clever pass from Goddard led Berkeley-Agyepong on a chase through on goal but the attacker’s effort fell straight into a crouched Worgan on 85 minutes. A key chance went begging.

By the 89th minute, Dover had pressed hard and were rewarded when a low cross from Nortey reached Jamie Allen. Allen’s effort was parried away by Cole, but the keeper was unable to react to Stuart Lewis’s rebound and slotted it into the bottom right corner.

ALDERSHOT TOWN: Cole, Bernard (Arnold 72), Menayese, Finney (Elokobi 60), McDonnell, Gallagher, Rowe, Goddard, Mensah (Kinsella 46), Berkeley-Agyepong, Grant.

Subs: Hall, McDonagh.