Excellent game of football, end to end with both teams going forward at every opportunity. We must not overlook the first half saves from Will Henry who kept us in it at that point. We clearly started with an attacking lineup and it paid off. Best I've seen us play for some time. Bring on Taunton Tuesday!

Agree with funny old game.Would prefer to see two proper defenders out wide.Glad to see Parker start, with Bray a joy to see two wingers taking on defenders and beating them with skill and pace.Hope Tizzard injury isn’t to bad.In our 15 home games goals for 17 goals against 17 . Last 3 games goals for 9 goals against 7.I know we shouldn’t depend on other teams results but Weymouth, Taunton and Hampton and Richmond have a vast majority of games against teams in bottom 11.

I always say each season we seem to play better when we are going up the slope in the second half, so I had a good feeling about the game straight away. Brave attacking formation looked to be deliberate but I became worried as we seemed to get out-numbered in midfield and Will Henry made at least 3 vital saves which could easily have got him MOTM. Both sides had chances going begging before Parker grabbed his goal. Hugely disappointed to see that equaliser go in and I thought we were in trouble then. At least one messy goalmouth scramble could have seen another goal for Dover, but somehow we held on and scored two very good goals from open play. Very entertaining if still frustrating to still see so much sideways and backwards play with many passes going astray, because then we put ourselves under pressure if we don't get out of our half with the ball. Alife in particular gave the ball away too often and I wasn't surprised to see him subbed. Matt signalled to the bench that he had turned his ankle so hopefully that isn't serious,but Tizzard seemed to have damaged his hamstring. For Tuesday I imagine we'll need a loan centre-half or one from the academy with Hamilton suspended too. Anyway fair play to all. Competitive games like that will bring the crowds back and restore some confidence to the dressing room. Still a long way to go but I left feeling more positive that we will avoid the drop this season, which would be a hammer blow.

Last edited by newfan (12/3/2023 10:19 AM)

I think GH has adapted throughout the season in terms of his substitutions, he always used to make them too late in the game to actually make any impact but we seem to change players a bit earlier now when things aren't going our way.
 

Reading some of the postings on this thread you would think we have been playing like we did on Saturday all season. Can’t comment about the Weymouth game as l wasn’t there but against Dover the whole basis of play had changed. Tactics, team selection (maybe those who seemed to think we would be ok without needing to change anything should ask themselves why Parker has been sat on the bench most of the season) seemed more positive. Exactly what a lot of comments on here have been saying. Not moaning just stating the obvious on what you see on the pitch. No doubt some up and coming games may require a cautious approach but particularly for home games an attacking game is a must.
Perhaps Willard’s description of the manager’s supporters was not the best nonetheless everything else he said was spot on. We may have a couple of games in hand over some of the teams above us but those points have to be won and recent results show the teams down the bottom aren’t giving up. We are where we are because that’s where we deserve to be.
On a different subject. Whilst the match previews are a welcome addition why does half the content include the details of the last match which would already have read in the match report? Whilst the match preview has improved communications there is still room for improvement For example no mention in the preview of Sam Heal who we supposedly signed last week.Injuried,left or simply unavailable? Would nice to know given our current squad availability. Even if not mentioned in the preview for whatever reason why not make some statement after the match? And who was Pele kouisseeoue????? Was there something on the PA that l missed