Cambridge City put the disappointment of last weeks home defeat at the hands of Hednesford behind them with a second successive victory on the road, down in Kent. Richard Scott’s coolly-taken first half penalty proved to be the difference between the teams at the Hoverspeed Stadium, and handed City a 1-0 victory that owed alot to a stubborn and resolute second half defensive display by the visitors.

Stuart Niven gets his head to the ball despite heavy pressure

City went into the game with new signing Lloyd Blackman, on loan from Brentford, making his debut up front alongside Robbie Simpson who was preferred to Danny Bloomfield. Gary Roberts also opted to play Carl Williams and Rob Miller on the left and right flank respectively, continuing the formation that had worked so well in the previous away game at Welling.

Blackman made a promising start to his spell with the Lilywhites. As early as the third minute, Craig Pope launched a freekick up the righthand side, the ball was flicked on by Simpson and Blackman was suddenly presented with a clear site of goal. Unortunately, the pacy forward rather snatched at the chance and the ball flashed wide of the upright. The early stages were frenetic as both sides attempted to gain the upper hand. Dover were quickly on the offensive, James Rogers headed wide of the target from the home side’s first corner of the game.

City came very close to opening the scoring in the 16th minute, Richard Scott cut inside his marker out on the right wing before floating a teasing ball across the face of goal. The ball eluded Simpson’s attempted glancing header and arrived at the feet of Lee Chaffey who had arrived unmarked from the back. The central defender was probably the wrong man in the right place, but still managed to get a shot in which forced home ‘keeper Dave Wietecha to produce a smart block down by the foot of the post. Two minutes later Wietecha had his head in his hands but only after colliding with Simpson as the striker chased down Matt Langston’s searching ball upfield. The goalkeeper required lengthy treatment before shakily getting to his feet, while those with City connections politely inquired about a penalty kick.

City were generally in control at this stage of the game and pushing Athetic onto the back foot. With half an hour on the clock came the moment that was to decide the issue. Williams played an ordinary looking freekick into the box from the right, Danny Chapman pushed Simpson and the referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot, much to the dismay of the home supporters. To be honest, it was the kind of contact that defenders routinely get away with, but a penalty none-the-less. Chapman was incensed and took his protest too far, earning himself an entry in the referees notebook. Scott took on the responsibility and calmly sent Wietecha the wrong way from the spot.

Not me ref - Dover's Danny Chapman floors Richard Scott

On balance of play, City were good value for their advantage despite being frequently frustrated in the efforts by Dover’s well organised offside trap.

With five minutes remaing in the first half, Wietecha had to be alert to block at the feet of Simpson as Blackman waited to pounce in the six yard area. Another goal at that stage would have given City a firm grip on proceedings.

A minute later came a rare moment of consternation for the visitors. Martin Davies, up until then enjoying a quiet afternoon, spilled an aerial ball into the box amid a ruck of players. Luckily, there were enough blue shirts in attendance to force Lee Spiller to tamely chip the loose ball into the ‘keepers grateful arms.

If the first half had largely been controlled by City, the second was to prove almost exlusively the property of the home side. Dover really turned up the heat in search of an equalizer and City’s defence, built around the impressive combination of Chaffey and Langston, had to dig deep to preserve the slender one goal advantage.

In the 57th minute, Rogers swung in a right-wing corner and the ball arrived in the perfect spot for Craig Cloke who chested down the ball and crashed his first time shot against Davies’ crossbar. It was a very narrow escape for Gary Roberts’ men, and at that point one began to wonder if it was going to be City’s day after all. Martin Davies was in top form, his handling and distribution being of the highest order as his former club continued to dominate the action.

Robbie Simpson goes flying after receiving a shove from Chapman, conceding a penalty in the process

Jamie Day ballooned a decent chance wide of the target from another corner, before he turned provider in the 71st minute. His corner into the dangerzone saw Craig Wilkins get above City substitute Robbie Nightingale to power a header towards goal. Under pressure from Chapman, Davies flapped at the ball and it dropped perilously into the six yard area before being hacked away by the admirable Chaffey.

Five minutes later, the pressure continued when Rogers’ ball in from the left was met with a thumping downward header from Wilkins who had outjumped Chaffey. Davies pulled off an exceptional one handed save right on the goal line and Lewis Baillie was on hand to complete the clearance at the expense of a corner.

City’s second half attacks were sporadic in comparison, and not long afterwards Lee Pluck was introduced as City attempted to shut up shop. This policy was tested almost immediately as Wilkins again threatened to level the scores. Dover’s leading goalscorer flashed his effort a yard over the crossbar via the slightest of deflections off Craig Pope.

There were several other hair-raising moments for the visitors to negotiate during a heartstopping seven minutes of stoppage time before eventually the final whistle sounded. Three more valuable points gained, and with the league being so competitive in the middle third, a result which pushes City closer to qualification to the Conference set-up.

Post match reaction