Following their meeting at the Crabble on Boxing Day, Dover Athletic and Welling United re-new their ‘derby’ at the other end of the county when they lock horns at Park View Road on New Year’s Day.

In the initial clash, Dover cruised to a four-nil victory, and as the Vanarama Conference Premier form team, they will probably be the bookmakers favourites to complete the double.

However, Welling are not easy to beat at home and will be glad to have had five days to rest their knocks and allow illnesses to run their course following their three games in six days batch of games.

Lively Tom Murphy and Stefan Payne were a handful for the Wings defence on Boxing Day, scoring three times between them. They continued where the left off at league leaders Barnet on Sunday when both netted within the first eighteen minutes.

Barnet had a strong second half and came back to pull level but the Whites were good value for their point which extended their unbeaten run to fifteen games in all competitions.

Meanwhile, patched up Welling earned themselves a point with a 0-0 draw at home to Torquay United. The Wings were the better team in the first half but struggled to create clear cut chances. The visitors then enjoyed a strong fifteen minute spell before the game opened up into an end to end tussle.

Chris Kinnear will be working hard to keep his team concentrating on the task at hand as, three days later, the Whites host Crystal Palace in the F.A. Cup third round tie that has got the town of Dover buzzing.

Jody Brown’s Welling will travel to Forest Green Rovers before they can freshen their squad as the transfer window. He and his assistant will then have two weeks to work with the current and new players before their next match.

Picture supplied by Dave Budden.