Bath City 0 Dover Athletic 0
By Tom Howard
Dover boss Andy Hessenthaler felt his side missed a chance to boost their play-off hopes after Saturday’s goalless draw at high-flying Bath City.
The Whites dominated the possession and created the majority of the chances, but were unable to find the cutting edge needed to find the net.
Shaun Welford skewed an early header wide and that was followed by Olly Schulz’s goal bound header which was cleared off the line by Chris Holland. Goalkeeper Ross Flitney was rarely troubled in the first half and Dover felt hard done by having not taken a lead into the break.
Bath made a better start to the second half and Danny Walder’s last minute goal-saving tackle managed to keep the score at 0-0.
The visitors responded well and striker Adam Birchall was twice denied by goalkeeper Ryan Robinson. Hakeem Adelakun and Jon Wallis both forced impressive saves from Robinson, as a dominant Dover had to settle for a point. The draw means Dover remain in third spot in the league.
Hessenthaler said: “I think looking at the game it was a missed chance for us as we dominated the game. We had plenty of chances, but we just couldn’t put them away. Adam Birchall had two great chances, but he just couldn’t finish them. On the whole though it is a good result when you look at Bath’s home record. They have managed to beat Woking and we more than matched them.”
The Dover boss handed debuts to two new loan signings, central defender Daniel Leach and right sided player Michael Abnett and was impressed with their performances.
The pair have agreed to one-month loan deals at Crabble with Leach joining from League Two' Barnet and Abnett coming from Championship side Crystal Palace. Dover have been trying to sign Leach for some time and could extend his deal if he continues to impress.
Hessenthaler said: “Both of them did very well. We needed cover with the injuries we’ve got at the club. You could tell that Leach is a class act the moment the game began. At the moment it is only a month's loan, but I would like to extend it, but it will all depend on the Barnet manager Ian Hendon and whether he needs him.”
Elsewhere at the club, central defender Craig Cloke has joined Ashford Town on a one-month loan in a bid to aid his recovery from injury.
POSTED: 08/02/2010 16:46:12
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