A meeting that has been 20 years in the making certainly did not fail to live up to expectations at Crabble on Tuesday evening during 90 minutes that had absolutely everything: 5 goals, a red card, offside controversy and drama by the bucket load.



The first league meeting for nearly 20 years, indeed only the 5th league meeting ever between these 2 clubs, had been hotly anticipated even long before Dover’s relegation from the National South was confirmed last season. The announcement that the fixture would not take place on Boxing Day, another Bank Holiday or even a Saturday may have been met with disappointment by supporters of both clubs, but it did little to knock the enthusiasm of the 2,495 supporters that climbed the hill and filtered through the turnstiles with the match delayed, first until 8pm and then by a further 5 minutes which only added to the tension both on the pitch and in the stands.

While Dover remained unchanged from their opening day win at Potters Bar, Invicta made 2 changes from the side that drew 1-1 with Carshalton Athletic. Josh Chambers and Tom Derry came into Andy Drury’s lineup in place of Matt Young and Ellis Brown.

Segregation had been a frequent question in the build up and while none was in place and supporters allowed to mix freely, most Invicta supporters either in black & amber or red & white took up a place in the “Town End” of Crabble that would usually house visiting supporters rather than to share the “River End” with a vocal home support.

With the rest of the night’s league fixtures already well underway, the two teams finally emerged from the dressing rooms in the Family Stand at around 8pm with chants of “Seasiders!” from their left and “Dover!” from their right ringing in their ears.

Chambers kicked us off as the chants turned to roars of encouragement, Invicta putting the ball straight into the Dover half and winning a free kick after just 14 seconds. Chambers lined it up but went short to Jamie Mascoll, who worked the ball to Kouassi then back to Chambers before a challenge sent it back into the Invicta left back who delivered a cross from deep to the back post, Tom Derry climbing high above Joe Tennent to nod the ball down into Dan Smith who struck it first time via the leg of Luca Cocoracchio and past Mitch Walker into the net. Invicta in front after just 66 seconds.

Dover’s young and energetic side were not to be knocked by the early setback, Jonny Henly called into his first action of the evening within a minute of the restart as he raced to the edge of his box to deal with former Invicta winger Ruben Soares-Junior.

Mascoll, who made an appearance for Dover during pre-season before opting to play in black & amber, delivered another dangerous ball at the other end just seconds later with Tom Derry getting a touch on it under intense pressure from his defender but unable to turn it on target. Dover cleared the ball and within seconds Lindell Stewart looked like he may be through on goal but for a perfectly timed challenge from Gavin Hoyte.

The evening’s pulsating start continued with Soares-Junior having Dover’s first effort on goal, picking up a loose ball wide on the right and driving inside before firing his effort well wide from a tight angle. On 13 minutes he went closer to levelling the scores as he tested Henly for the first time, receiving a pass from George Nikaj on the edge of the box but firing his effort straight at the Invicta keeper.

Eze Ebuzoeme may have been a little fortunate to avoid the game’s first booking on 16 minutes with a late tackle on Nikaj but Dean Rance received his own just 2 minutes later for a challenge on left back Fuad Sesay as he burst into the Invicta half. A number of white shirts surrounded the referee but he was quite correct in issuing the yellow card.

While the intensity never dropped, the goalmouth action was fewer and further between up until the half hour mark, Walker called into action just after it with a nice linkup between Kouassi and Derry ending with the latter flicking the ball over the defence for Smith to chase but he was beaten to it by the keeper.

Henly was put to the test as Dover came on strong with their best spell of the match, forcing a number of saves in just a few minutes that showed exactly why Drury brought the former Tonbridge Angels stopper to Cheriton Road. Firstly a dangerous Soares-Junior cross from the left found the head of Luke Baptiste who appeared to have found the bottom corner but for Henly’s giant glove pushing it away, but only as wide a Nikaj who controlled and fired at goal from a tight angle only to find Invicta’s no. 1 in his way to complete a fine double save.

The hosts had their tails up and just moments later Nikaj, operating from the right, cut inside onto his left foot and curled an effort against the very top of Henly’s right hand post. With Invicta now camped on the edge of their own box, Dover maintained the pressure and from 20 yards Stewart spun and fired an effort low to Henly’s right that the keeper did well to get down to and turn around the post. The corner struck a Dover body and dropped nicely for Henly to collect and relieve the pressure.

Having ridden out that storm, Invicta were quick to punish the hosts. After a Kouassi cross was blocked, Ebuzoeme laid the ball into the path of the overlapping Mascoll who was given far too much space to drive into and reach the byline, his cutback ricocheting into Tom Derry inside the 6 yard box who spun and fired past Walker. Dover arms were quickly in the air or pointing to the linesman who had his flag raised but the referee was straight over to his assistant for a discussion, seemingly to clear up who the flag had been raised against. Thankfully for Invicta the referee had spotted that it was a Dover leg that had diverted Mascoll’s ball into Derry and thus the goal was given, much to the ire to the home support who felt they had been hard done by without the ability to view the incident back, Invicta supporters at the far end of the ground not allowing the delay to dampen their celebrations, Invicta 2-0 up before half time.

It was a lead that was short lived however. Dover went on the hunt for their route back into the game and after Invicta defended a corner and a long throw into the box, a 3rd ball in was one too many as Nikaj rose highest at the near post to glance a corner inside the far post and cut the deficit in half.

In the 6th minute of first half added time Chambers delivered a corner from the left the Walker came to punch but failed to connect with, the ball cleared off the line and out of the box bringing with it the referees whistle to signal the end of an incredible 45 minutes of action.

Invicta almost began the second half as quickly as they had in the first, inside 2 minutes Smith headed a ball down for Derry to cross to the back post, Hoyte doing well to keep it in and find Smith in the box but the forward was unable to make a clean connection on his effort, eventually laying the ball into the path of Kouassi who hit a cushioned effort slightly high and wide.

Seconds later Dover had their own close call, Soares-Junior finding space on the right to cross and find Nikaj at the near post, his header looping over Henly and just over the crossbar onto the roof of the net.

After a quiet first half Kouassi was coming to life, another shot from the edge of the area blocked for a corner before having another shot from slight further back blocked, Ebuzoeme picking up the loose ball and giving to Rance who shot over from all of 40 yards.

Dover began to build their own pressure again 10 minutes into the second half with a series of corners that Invicta defended well, until the third produced possibly the key moment of the evening. After a third corner in 2 minutes was cleared, the ball was returned from deep and cleared wide, Chambers firing the ball up the line beyond both Ebuzoeme and Harrison Pont to find Kouassi who didn’t even manage to take a touch before he was caught by a lunging and forceful challenge from the Dover midfielder that saw the referee quickly brandish his red card and direct the youngster to the dressing room as Kouassi received treatment. Ellis Brown, who had been ready to come on prior to the incident, eventually replaced Chambers before the game resumed.

On the hour mark Invicta were denied what looked a certain penalty, Mascoll collecting a loose ball after Kouassi had a shot blocked, driving into the box only the be dragged down by a defender but the referee took no interest.

With a man advantage Invicta were now able to take control of the evening. It wasn’t until the final 20 minutes that the evening began to spark back into life, with Smith at the heart of it. A shot on 72 minutes flashed just wide of the base of Walker’s post, a few minutes later driving inside from the left at his defender and unleashing a low effort at the near post that Walker did well to push away for a corner, captain Ian Gayle rising highest in the middle of the penalty area to head just over.

If that had been a warning to Dover about the need to defend set pieces, it had not been taken. Moments later Ellis Brown took the ball high on the right and was shoved to the ground by Sesay. Mascoll stepped up to deliver and in-swinging free kick with his left foot. putting in a perfect delivery for Smith to rise highest and glance inside the far post before wheeling away to celebrate in front of a “Town End” now exclusively housing Invicta fans, now full of belief that the points were heading back to Cheriton Road.

Fullback Frankie Morgan replaced Kouassi with 10 minutes to go and got himself immediately involved, on the end of a cleared corner he turned his man Roman Charles-Cook inside and out to wriggle free of his attention and earn the space for a shot off his right foot that proved a fairly routine save for Walker.

But Dover were not to be written off yet. With little more than 5 minutes to play a long throw at the front post was headed into the path of substitute Jaiden Drakes-Thomas who fired a first time effort low through a crowd of bodies into the bottom corner to set up a nervy finish.

Invicta held firm as the 90 minute mark approached, Drury replacing Mascoll with former Dover defender Peter Ojemen shortly before the board went up to indicate 7 minutes of added time. Invicta dealt with a corner into the box early in added time before Chris Sessegnon was sent on for Ebuzoeme.

With Dover seemingly running out of ideas, Invicta held the ball in one corner and then the other to kill time. With little more than 30 seconds remaining a long ball into the box was claimed by Henly who cleared out his man, face planted into the pitch and won a free kick in doing so before receiving treatment just to prolong that agony a little longer. Eventually Henly pumped the free kick long, the ball taking a touch from a defender that ran it down into the corner in front of the majority of the travelling supporters who watched on as their heroes played out the final few seconds, the referee bringing the evening to a close after 105 minutes and 32 seconds of action, Invicta taking the points on the short trip home.

Manager Andy Drury was understandably buoyant after the match but quick to stress that the focus now quickly turns to Saturday’s trip to Wingate & Finchley where he expects the same level of performance from his players to follow up on the first win of the season.

Supporters meanwhile can certainly take a little longer to enjoy an evening that few will forget in a hurry and we can look forward to doing it all again in a few months time back at the Alcaline Stadium.