Lovett brilliance can't prevent torrent of goals at Beveree

Heavy rain in Hampton for a large part of the day looked as if it might cause this Blue Square South clash to be postponed for a second time, writes Paul Barker. In fact, had club secretary, Nick Hornsey, been successful in finding a local official earlier in the afternoon to inspect the pitch, it is more than likely than the match would not have started, as there were several large puddles lying on the pitch.

The rain stopped before referee Mr Busby arrived from Oxford at 6:30pm. Every effort was then made, by an army of people working on the pitch before the official decided it was playable.

Alan Devonshire was forced to patch up his depleted troops once more and send them into battle against another side chasing a play-off spot.

With John Scarborough, Craig Tanner, Dean Inman, Nathan Collier and James Simmons still unavailable through injury and Karl Beckford only fit enough for a place on the bench, it gave Beadle and Kanjor another opportunity to prove what they can offer at this level.

Despite being beaten four times, Matt Lovett in the home goal produced many fine saves, which prevented an even worse score line. That said, Hampton did create a good number of chances themselves and, on another occasion, could have more to show for their efforts. The star performer was undoubtedly Dover centre-back Olly Schultz, who not only helped himself to a hat-trick but also dealt with the twin threat of Ian Hodges and Craig Dundas. The Beavers defence also aided Schultz’s hat-trick with some charitable defending.

Dover took the lead on 19 minutes, when the home defence cleared the ball only to Wallis on the edge of the box. His accurate shot found the bottom left-hand corner of the net. Hampton forced several corners as they searched for an equaliser. On 26 minutes, Orlando Jeffery met Dave Tarpey’s flag kick but, unfortunately, it just cleared Dover’s crossbar.

Lovett made an astonishing save from point-blank range and, from the resulting corner, Schultz went close with his header.

As half-time approached, a throw-in on the left found Stuart Lake inside the area, but he was unable to keep his effort down. Then, a minute before the interval, Schultz struck for the first time, rising unchallenged to head home from close range.

The early stages of the second half saw Lovett in action again, as twice he raced off his line to clear the danger. But as the half wore on, Hampton began to get a grip on the game. Dev sent on Lawrence Yaku to replace Stuart Lake. This meant the versatile Dundas dropping back into midfield. Yaku had only been on the pitch for a few minutes, when he picked the ball up in centre field and, following a jinking run, shot into the corner of the net. Game on, or so the Beavers’ faithful thought.

The visitors appeared to step up a gear, with Birchall going close in the 79th minute. Lovett continued to be in fine form as they looked for the killer third. It came in similar fashion to their second. Lovett made a fine save and, from the resulting corner, that man Schultz repeated his first-half effort. The home side still pushed forward, with Tarpey having a couple of good efforts, one of which rebounded to Luke Kanjor, who let fly from 30 yards, but it was straight at Flitney, in the Dover goal.

With time running out, the Beavers conceded a fourth. Another Dover corner was met by Shultz, whose header was well saved by Lovett, but the Dover defended was on hand to stab the ball home. The final score line was a bit harsh on the home side, especially having got themselves back into the game. With two games over the Easter weekend, Dev is hoping for some good news on the injury front to help boost his battling troops.

Hampton: Matt Lovett, Chris Robinson, Barrie Matthews, Orlando Jeffery, Luke Kanjor, Dean Wells (capt), Stuart Lake, (Lawrence Yaku 67 mins), Craig Dundas, Ian Hodges, Louis-Rea Beadle (Ashley Quashie 79 mins)

Subs not used: Joey Collewijn, Karl Beckford, Trevor Roffey

Man of the match: Matt Lovett

Att: 380