Two quick first half goals from Lincoln City ensured that Dover Athletic’s run without a win continued.
Both sides came into the game with a bad run of form with neither side having won since the last time they met in late January. Since the sides met at Sencil Bank just over one month previously the Whites have only gained one point in the league as well as getting knocked out of the FA Trophy whilst Lincoln had lost all three of their matches. Both teams were looking for three points to keep up with the playoff push as time begins to run out in the Conference Premier.
Chris Kinnear made three changes from the Dover side who started in their 3-1 loss to Aldershot, Chris Kinnear replaced Soloman Taiwo in midfield, Ricky Modeste came in for Dan Holman and Stefan Payne started his first game since he was sent off in the FA Trophy 4th round as he took the place of Barry Cogan.
During Dover’s 13 game unbeaten run in the league which came to an end at Lincoln they were able to score in the opening ten minutes, giving them a large advantage and they were able to go ahead early again when a powerful run from Stefan Payne ended with the attacker playing a low cross into the path of Ricky Modeste for the winger to slide a shot past Paul Farman, giving the hosts a 1-0 lead after just seven minutes.
Lincoln looked to get back into the game straight away and they nearly pulled a goal back less than five minutes later when Ben Tomlinson’s mazy run ended with the ball being played back to Alan Power whose sliced shot from outside the penalty area didn’t trouble Andrew Rafferty.
Ricky Modeste was nearly able to claim his second goal of the game when a long ball over the defence allowed him to go one-on-one with the Imps’ goalkeeper but his looping effort fell onto the crossbar before Tom Murphy’s rebound was cleared away for a corner.
Opportunities continued to fall for both sides with Lincoln’s Nat Brown unable to steer his close range header goalwards from a free kick but it was Dover who took control of the game as they piled on the pressure, first a counter attack ended with Stefan Payne holding up play before curling a shot just wide. Soon after a cross from the right was met by Connor Essam where the defender attempted a brilliant overhead kick which was saved just as spectacularly by Farman.
Despite this pressure Lincoln were able to get back in the game before half time after a series of mistakes from Andrew Rafferty. First, with ten minutes remaining in the half a low cross a tight angle by Delano Sam-Yorke was tipped into his own net by Rafferty.
The goalkeeper’s disappointment continued just four minutes later when after Sean Raggett conceded a foul on the left wing Jordan Cranston’s free kick was dropped by Rafferty allowing the ball to be bundled in by Hamza Bencherif, giving the visitors an unexpected lead at half time.
The whites looked for an early equaliser in the second half but Lincoln were able to stay strong, after Nick Deverdic’s cross resulted in a goal-line scramble which was eventually cleared away the Imps had a chance to counter attack, this came down the right but the cross into the area was unable to find anyone in the penalty area.
As the clock kept ticking and time was running out for Dover to get a point from the game, they resorted to long passes towards their attacking team mates, usually resulting in a groan of unrest and frustration from the Crabble crowd.
More misplaced passes meant allowed further counter attacks for Lincoln and Dover were nearly punished when a three-on-two situation ended with Sam-Yorke playing a pass across to Alan Power who slid the ball across one more time to Ben Tomlinson but the tricky winger could only hit the post from close range.
After a spectacular effort from Hamza Bencherif was volleyed over Dover had their best chance of the final few minutes when, after Barry Cogan’s shot from a free kick was saved at the near post the ball came to Sean Raggett but his header went straight into the hands of Paul Farman and the host’s frustration continued late into the game when they had a call for a penalty turned down after the ball seemed to hit the hand of a Lincoln defender, meaning their run without a win has now reached six matches in all competitions.
Dover will remain in 13th position in the Conference Premier as their already slim playoff hopes look all but over. They will now prepare for a trip to 10th placed Kidderminster next weekend.
Dover Athletic: Rafferty, Orlu, Essam, Francis, Raggett, Kinnear (Cogan), Payne (Poole), Sterling, Deverdics, Modeste (Mekki), Murphy
Subs not used: Wynter, Taiwo
Lincoln City: Farman, Miller, Bencherif, Cranston, Power, Tomlinson, Nolan (marsden), Sam-Yorke, Robinson (Marshall), Caprice, Brown
Subs not used: Burrow, Everington, Grant
Referee: Mr R Whitton
Assistants: Mr A Guy and Mr M Potkins
Fourth official: Mr A Da Costa