Stefan Payne’s late first half goal was enough to send Dover Athletic into the second round of the FA Cup for the second successive year after they triumphed over League 2 Morecambe.
Dover’s disappointing start to the season left them on 20th in the Vanarama Conference Premier, the Whites had also not won in the division since the 11th of October; despite this, a cup upset was still seen as a possibility as Morecambe came into the game with a similar record having not won in the League 2 since the 18th of the same month.
The Shrimps were also in the middle of a goalkeeping crisis, Barry Roche, their first choice ‘keeper was injured, Scott Davies who is on loan from Fleetwood was not given permission to play whilst Andreas Arestidou was still recovering from an illness, this meant that Joe Lumley who Jim Bentley signed the previous day on loan from QPR started his first game less than 24hours after signing for the Lancashire side.
This was one of four changes which Bentley made from his side’s 2-1 loss to Accrington Stanley last week.
In comparison Chris Kinnear only made one change from his side who drew 2-2 at Southport the previous weekend, this was as a result of Craig Stone’s broken ankle which he suffered against Southport. His replacement in that game also started today, Sean Francis came in at the back.
Dover got the game underway but nerves nearly got the better of them after two minutes when Tom Bonner was unable to clear a cross, allowing the ball to fall to Paul Mullin whose half volley flew over.
It wasn’t long before the hosts were creating opportunities either, with just five minutes gone Chris Kinnear’s cross found the head of Nick Deverdics but the striker whose goal in the replay over Eastbourne Borough got Dover to this point watched his header as it agonisingly looped over the crossbar.
Deverdics continued to cause Morecambe problems, just a few minutes later he was able to get onto the end of Richard Orlu’s long ball forward but the attacker’s shot towards the near post was parried into the penalty area before quickly being cleared away.
Jack Redshaw was Morecambe’s most influential player throughout he first half, he showed Dover what they should be fearful of after 10 minutes when he received the ball on the left wing before running at Connor Essam and cutting inside where he hit a powerful shot which was well blocked by Orlu.
The visitors were also very dangerous on the counter attack and they nearly made Dover pay for pushing too many players up for set pieces when Lawrence Wilson collected a clearance after a corner, Wilson’s cross was only cleared as far as Andrew Fleming who could not get a clear connection on his effort meaning the ball fell into the path of Wilson in the six yard box but he was unable to steer the ball goal bound.
The quick changes of momentum continued until Dover seemed to run out of ideas, for around five minutes they would break down any Morecambe attacks before launching the ball towards Deverdics and Payne who did not have the physical ability to hold up the ball, although the Shrimps continued to push forward the Dover defence was equal to everything the League 2 side attempted.
As half time approached Dover began to become more tactically aware again, they began to try and keep the pall down to play possession- based football.
This new style created more space in midfield, after some very quick passing in Morecambe’s half Chris Kinnear was given space to shoot from twenty yards out but Joe Lumley was able to tip the low shot around the post.
Dover were deservedly able to open the scoring through Stefan Payne who, after controlling the ball with his back to goal was able to push off two defenders and found enough space to cut inside before firing a low shot into the near post, out of the reach of Lumley.
Vitally, this was the last piece of action from the first half, meaning that Dover had the momentum early in the second half. This was shown in the opening minutes of the second half when Deverdics skilfully evaded a player whilst being able to bring the ball onto his right foot, although his shot went straight at Joe Lumley, the 19 year old goalkeeper did well to hold onto the powerful effort.
After another shift in momentum Morecambe had a brief spell of possession which allowed them to get back into their respective positions and earn a corner after pressuring Dover’s defence into conceding a set piece, from the right sided corner Alex Kenyan was unmarked as he flew towards the far post, after meeting the ball inside the six yard box his low header was hurried away by the Dover defence despite Kenyan and his teammates believing the ball had gone over the line.
This luck gave Dover belief that they would be able to go on and win the match, from another corner they were able to counter after Stephan Pane received the ball from a clearance he was able to give the ball to Tom Murphy on the right but the striker’s shot across the goal went inches wide.
The Whites kept pushing forward despite the constant threat of counter attacks from their opponents and they nearly doubled their lead when Tyrone Sterling’s low cross was met by Murphy at the near post but, yet again Murphy was unable to keep his shot on target.
With time running out, Morecambe pushed forward for another onslaught, Shots from Padrig Amond and Paul Mullin were all incredibly saved by Andrew Rafferty in the Dover goal before Kevin Ellison was able to get behind the host’s defensive line and found himself one- on- one with the in- form goalkeeper, despite the experienced midfielder’s best efforts Rafferty stood firm to ensure that Dover would remain in the FA Cup for another round.
The Whites will find out who their next opponents are on Monday when the draw for the second round proper of the competition is made. They will also be given £18,000 from the FA’s prize fund as the hope for a long, successful cup run continues.
However, it is back to reality for Dover on Tuesday when 15th placed Braintree Town make the trip from Essex to Crabble.
Dover Athletic: Rafferty, Essam, Sterling, Bonner, Orlu, Francis (Raggett), Kinnear, Deverdics (Wynter), Taiwo, Murphy (Bellamy), Payne
Subs not used: Reid, Lock, Hook, Rutherford
Booked: Kinnear
Morecambe: Lumley, Beeley, Kenyon (Williams), Edwards, Redshaw (Amond), Wright, Ellison, Mullin (Sampson), Fleming, Wilson, Parrish
Subs not used: Jones, Goodall, McGowan, McCready
Booked: Kenyon
Attendance: 1609