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Just
2 minutes later Dover opened the scoring when a ball forward
had Goode twisting to chase Grazioli as
he raced towards the edge of the box. As the ball bounced up
Goode used a long leg to nick the ball away cleanly but the
striker tumbled
over and referee Venamore (the nervous official from our first
match of the season) was fooled into awarding a free kick but
thankfully nothing more, although his hand was on his pocket
as he raced up and Goode was certainly the last man.
Wallis struck the free kick fiercely and although Dave King
parried it with both hands it squirmed over him and into the
top corner before he could recover.
The impressive Welford had a shot saved well by the
long legs of King in the 24th min and the Terrors
responded with a Hartburn free kick that saw Joe Vines
challenge the keeper and Paul Vines then head just over when
clear from the ball crossed back in. Tooting were generally
unable to hold the ball up front for very long, not picking up
the clearances in
midfield and conceding too many corners & free kicks. And
when the ball was cleared Dover broke swiftly with
good passing and movement by their front players who switched
positions frequently. And
that movement produced the second goal in the 35th
min when Fish was released down the right and crossed a ball
that just eluded Goode in the air and Moore raced in
behind Hunt to slide home.
Still time for the final nail as the ball was again not
won in midfield and Moore was set clear down the left
to slot home in the 45th min.
Half Time 0-3
Tooting
replaced Craig Pitterson with Jason Pinnock to bolster the
midfield energy and shortly afterwards McLeod received his
first booking for diving in to a tackle. Welford
was then allowed to pull away from the Tooting back 4, collect
the ball, turn and shoot wide before a Wallis corner on 60
mins was not cleared and slipped in to Hill who also shot
wide.
Terrors
fans were becoming fearful of what the final scoreline might
be but then King decided to atone for his previous error by
making himself Man of the Match with an incredible series of
saves.
First he blocked a Moore
drive from distance and then the Tooting colossi got up to
deal with follow up efforts from Hill and Grazioli in a triple
save. Having been jeered for his earlier error he was now
drawing applause from the Dover fans.
Goode was replaced by Jon Henry-Haden in a change that
saw Joe Vines restored to the back 4 but Tooting continued to
struggle with Welford in the air and the movement of their
forwards. Dover were reduced
to 10 men on 75 mins when Hill reacted after a tackle in the
box and being ‘encouraged’ to get to his feet by Joe
Vines. Whatever happened it was right in front of the referee
and he immediately flourished a straight red. King
then produced another great save after Hunt had missed the
ball leaving Welford one on one and Howell was booked for yet
another diving in foul with his player nearer to the halfway
line than goal.
Dover continued to press and had the
crowd appealing for penalty after penalty and we finally saw a
trace of the real Chris Sullivan at the other end when he
produced a typical mazy run that led to a Howell cross the
keeper got to just before Pinnock. Alas
the 83rd min saw the just returned McLeod also sent
off after a second yellow card.
Absolutely no doubt that he won the ball first and
perhaps even cleanly. But diving in to a tackle from distance
with both feet off the ground is now something from a
different era.
Still time for King to produce another
cracking save with a salmon like leap to tip the ball over his
crossbar.
Dover looked a quality side
and their passing and movement were top quality on the night.
Easily the best side in our division and will surely finish as
champions.
If Paul Vines had scored
first for us ……..?
Fanciful but probably not.
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