Never say die City came from behind to snatch an amazing last gasp win against Dover to halt a run of four successive defeats in an ill tempered match that saw the Lilywhites play for more than half the game with only 10 men.

Resources stretched to the limit by injuries and suspensions and with no recognised senior full-backs available there was a somewhat unfamiliar look to the starting line up, central defenders Matt Rice and Lee Chaffey coming in at right and left back respectively. Milton Road regulars also got their first proper chance to see Lewis Baillie, returning from a lengthy injury lay-off, and slotting in on the left of midfield, together with Carlin Itonga, preferred to Danny Bloomfield in attack

Lewis Baillie gets the ball away

The home supporters didn’t have to wait long to see the potential of the Democratic Republic of Congo international (who can count Arsenal amongst his previous clubs). Feeding on a neat headed flick from Robbie Simpson, Itonga raced through the inside right channel, showed great strength to hold off Danny Chapman, advanced into the area and flashed a fierce drive narrowly wide of Paul Hyde’s left hand upright.

With City making a solid if unspectacular start they were dealt a massive blow with the game barely five minutes old. As Lee Spiller looked to get on the end of a ball played low into Martin Davies’ near post the pair collided in the six yard box, both going to ground heavily. After lengthy treatment it was obvious Davies was not fit to continue and he was stretchered off to generous applause from supporters of both his present and previous clubs. Fortunately for City Alan Calton had been named amongst the substitutes, and as Matt Carruthers swung in a right-wing corner to re-start the action he was grateful to see Andy Arnott’s powerful header sail over his crossbar.

Both sides struggled to stamp any real authority on proceedings however any free-kick conceded near to the danger zone allowed Carruthers to put the City goal under pressure. On 18 minutes James Quilter was penalised near the corner flag in the Lilywhites’ right back position providing Athletic’s number 11 with the opportunity to pick out Lee Spiller but he too headed off target.

Up until the 24th minute referee Mr Cann was little involved in proceedings, however when Quilter under-hit a pass to Rob Nightingale it invited a challenge by Carruthers which the Norwich official deemed worthy of a yellow card. This break in play allowed the visitors to introduce Michael Smisson, replacing Mark Patterson who had failed to shake off a knock picked up earlier in the game.

With goalmouth action at a premium a lofted clearance from Kenny Dyer allowed Craig Wilkins a run at City’s back-line, however, the alert Calton was quick to spot the danger racing out of his area to head the ball clear.

As Dover probed for an opening Lee Chaffey was adjudged to have handled a bouncing ball on the edge of the area. Despite the former Ipswich defender’s protestations that he had taken the ball down with his chest he was shown a yellow card. Inevitably it was Carruthers who lined up the place kick. A superb strike arrowed towards the top left hand corner of Alan Calton’s net only to crash off the underside of the bar and bounce down on the goal line and away to safety.

Carlin Itonga looks for the ball, closely watched by Andy Arnott

With half-time approaching City looked comfortable and capable at least of preventing the opposition scoring with the ease of both Welling and Havant in the last two home games. However, whatever Gary Roberts was planning to say to his players at the interval was thrown into confusion as Leon Bell clashed with Lee Spiller. Feeling he had been fouled by Athletic’s former Gillingham midfielder he lashed out wildly only yards from Mr Cann leaving the referee with no option but to produce a straight red card and reduce City to ten men.

With the game still simmering Smisson caught Lee Pluck high and late with what appeared to be a dangerous and reckless challenge. Having just seen Bell walk the Dover substitute must have been mightily relieved that on this occasion Mr Cann produced only a yellow card.

In order to restore some midfield balance Gary Roberts introduced Jamie Godbold at the start of the second half, the unfortunate Lee Chaffey making way for a tactical switch which saw City go three at the back with Rob Nightingale moving into the centre of midfield to accommodate Godbold on the right.

In the opening exchanges of the half Dover rarely produced the quality to suggest that they could make the man advantage count. As the game neared the hour mark it was City who had the clearest chance to break the deadlock. The persistence of Itonga forced Dover to concede possession on the edge of their own area, the ball running kindly for Simpson who had intelligently moved off the shoulder of Arnott. Initially the ball seemed to stick under the young striker’s feet but regaining his composure he side-stepped the recovering Arnott but fired too close to Hyde who was smartly down to his right to beat the shot away. As the Lilywhites looked to build on this opportunity good work by the tenacious Godbold on the right hand edge of the box kept the ball alive and presented the former Stoke City midfielder with a shooting opportunity, he fired across Hyde but the veteran ‘keeper was again down comfortably to smother. As City enjoyed their best spell of the match good hold-up play by Itonga on the right resulted in a low cross into the six yard box being skied clear by Dean Readings at full-stretch.

Simpson wins a header against Dover's Danny Chapman

Having successfully seen off City’s best efforts Dover began to work the ball wide to the right hand side where Carruthers was a constant thorn in the side of the home defence. With just over 20 minutes to go a quality cross from the right was met by Craig Wilkins who had stolen a yard on the Lilywhites’ stretched rearguard to crash a perfectly placed header back across Alan Calton and into the corner of the net. One nil down, one man down, 20 minutes to go, City were staring down the barrel of a third consecutive home defeat.

As Dover looked to consolidate they made an immediate change, Tony Browne making way for Simon Glover. There seemed at that stage every possibility that Dover would use the man advantage to see out the remainder of the match however there were still signs that they were capable of pressing the self-destruct button. As the game entered the final 20 minutes Jamie Day got involved in a heated clash with Jamie Godbold wide on the right. Based on previous decisions a card of either colour could have been produced but this time it was yellow.

City seemed somewhat deflated by the goal, having worked tirelessly to make up for the extra man fatigue was beginning to set in. Again finding space on the right hand side Carruthers was able to play in Smisson whose shot on the turn from distance was only narrowly off target. With the game nearly 80 minutes old Carruthers, by now pulling all the strings delivered a right wing corner that was met powerfully by Arnott who headed down and only a fraction off target.

As a last throw of the dice Gary Roberts introduced Danny Bloomfield into the action at the expense of the hard working Robbie Simpson who had by this time taken one heavy challenge too many. There was to be no respite for City however as Carruthers was again the provider, sending in yet another perfect cross for Wilkins whose header was deflected away from goal as the Lilywhites clung on desperately.

With time ebbing away City got the lifeline that had up until then seemed most unlikely. With Lilywhites’defenders committed up-field Lee Pluck swung in a cross from the left which Dover failed to clear effectively. Rob Miller had already had one effort blocked before the ball fell to Jamie Godbold on the right of the area. With Hyde out of his ground the City substitute fired low and hard at the centre of the goal and despite the ball being hacked away by the last defender the assistant referee, who was well placed, flagged that the ball had in fact crossed the line.

City's players celebrate Bloomfield's dramatic winning  goal

By now City were more than grateful to have salvaged a point from the encounter but with time as good as up there was still some desperate defending to do. Agonisingly for the home fans a free kick was conceded right on the edge of the box. Jamie Day’s blistering strike cut through the wall and was speeding towards the bottom corner of the net before a fully extended Alan Calton tipped the ball around the post with his outstretched left hand, a terrific save. From the resultant Wilkins corner Arnott rose highest to power a header goalwards only for Godbold to clear the ball off the line. More frantic defending saw City hack the ball to safety and in the chaos that followed Day was shown a red card (no sign of a second yellow) presumably for dissent centring around a penalty appeal in the goalmouth melee.

Dover continued to commit players forward and as City stifled yet another attack on the edge of their own area the ball fell to Rob Nightingale, who, rather than launch the ball to safety, showed the awareness to play a defence splitting 40 yard pass into the feet of Danny Bloomfield who was able to take the ball in his stride and outpace the chasing Arnott and Readings. There was still plenty to do at this stage as he took a step to his right, steadied himself and fired low across the despairing Hyde, placing the ball perfectly into the bottom left hand corner of the net. Cue wild celebrations from the City fans and stunned disbelief from the sizeable contingent who had made the trip up from Kent. The Lilywhites saw out the remaining moments of the match to record a vital victory which had looked an impossibility some ten minutes beforehand.

This was a gutsy battling display which showed immense character from City’s youngsters. Whilst essentially this was all about a good all round collective effort special mention has to be made of Alan Calton who capped a good solid performance with a remarkable save when the scores were level, thus making it possible for City to snatch victory.

Commitment of this kind in the challenging season ahead, whilst on its own not sufficient to make up for the others areas where there is still much room for improvement, will go a long way towards helping the Lilywhites to achieve their ultimate objective. This was a performance that gave everybody a massive lift, simultaneously creating a platform to build on in the search for more consistent results.