Specsavers
Friendly
7:45pm - TuesdayTue 16th JulyJul 2013
Crabble Athletic Ground | Att: 289

Dover Athletic
Dover Athletic
0 - 1

Woking
Woking

Cards off to Crabble on Tuesday

Brian Caffarey
9:51pm, Sun 14th Jul 2013
Dover Athletic v Woking
Pre-season friendly
7.45pm on Tuesday 16 July 2013

Garry Hill’s side run out at Crabble on Tuesday evening for their second pre-season friendly game. The Whites should provide a good test for the Cards with Chris Kinnear having assembled a strong squad as they look to go one better than last season’s play-off final defeat.

WOKING

Most football fans know that it doesn’t pay to take too much notice of the scoreline in pre-season friendlies, especially the early games when managers tend to play a lot of trialists and the established players are gradually finding their feet again. So, Cards fans won’t be too exercised by Saturday’s 3-2 defeat at Staines Town. Of the players already on contract, Kevin Betsy, Adam Newton and Aaron Howe did not take part. Sam Beasant and Nick Jupp (formerly with St Albans) shared the goalkeeping duties. Also amongst the trialists were ex-Shot Louie Soares (released by Grimsby Town), Anthony McNamee, formerly with Macclesfield and Aldershot amongst a number of other clubs, and John Goddard, formerly with Reading and Hayes and Yeading, scorer of both Woking goals in the second half as the Cards came back from 3-0 down. Gavin McCallum also appeared.

DOVER

Chris Kinnear’s return to Dover midway through last season sparked an upturn in their fortunes, propelling them into third place in the Conference South table. However, they were defeated by Salisbury City in the play-off final, having beaten Eastleigh in the semi-final.

The close season has seen quite an exchange of players between newly-moneyed Ebbsfleet and cost-cutting Dover, with former Dover assistant manager Steve Brown, now the new Fleet boss, taking Daryl McMahon (at a cost of £13k), Ben May and Billy Bricknell from Crabble. Going in the other direction were Nathan Elder, scorer of 15 goals last season, defender/midfielder Craig Stone and midfielder Liam Bellamy. Kinnear’s other new signing is striker Michael Bakare, previously with Bishop’s Stortford, Macclesfield, Southport and Chelmsford, who is expected to partner Elder up front when the season begins. Other familiar names include ex-Cards Moses Ademola and Michael Kamara and former Chelmsford winger Ricky Modeste.

Other players leaving Crabble included ex-Card Ian Simpemba, who’s moved to Eastbourne Borough, striker Calum Willock and Danny Webb, who’s joined Chelmsford.

Dover’s first pre-season game, in which Kinnear fielded a different side in each half, saw them lose 5-0 at home to a strong Dagenham side, while on Saturday they lost 1-0 at home to Kingstonian, Kinnear again fielding two different elevens. Kinnear admitted that he was disappointed by Saturday’s showing but is expecting a livelier performance on Tuesday evening.

GETTING THERE

Crabble Athletic Ground
Lewisham Road
River
Dover
Kent
CT17 0JB

By Car

Take M25, M26, M20 and then A20 into Dover. Go past the port, then at the York Street roundabout take the 1st exit onto York Street. Take 2nd exit at next roundabout onto Priory Road. Road then changes names to London Road and Crabble Hill. Take slight left turning onto Crabble Road, and the ground is then on the left.

By Train

Nearest station: Kearsney

The main railway station in Dover is Dover Priory, which is about two miles from Crabble. The closest station to Crabble is Kearsney, which is about a 15-minute walk from the ground.

Kearsney is the last stop before Dover Priory on the line from London Victoria (via Faversham and Canterbury East). Some trains on this line do not stop between Canterbury East and Dover Priory so if you are planning on getting off at Kearsney make sure that the train you are travelling on is a stopping service. There is a train at 17.27 from Victoria which gets to Kearsney at 19.25. Alternatively, the 17.42 from St Pancras would get you to Dover Priory at 18.48, where you could pick up the 19.05 to Kearsney, arriving four minutes later.

On the way back you’d have to make sure that you got the 22.21 from Kearsney to Dover Priory, then picking up the 22.45 to St Pancras, arriving at 23.51.

If you get off at Kearsney, turn right as you leave the station, go under the railway bridge and then take the first road on the left (Lower Road). Follow Lower Road all the way along, past a pond on your right and Crabble Corn Mill on your left. At the end you will see the Cricketers pub on the other side of the road. Turn right and you should see the entrance to the ground. If you get off at Dover Priory it is probably best to get a connecting train, bus or taxi to the ground as it is a long walk.

REMAINING FRIENDLIES

Saturday 20 July: Woking v AFC Bournemouth (k.o. 3pm)
Saturday 27 July: Woking v Gillingham (k.o. 3pm)
Tuesday 30 July: Eastleigh v Woking (k.o. 7.30pm)
Saturday 3 August: Woking v QPR XI (k.o. 3pm)

The Cards start their league campaign on Saturday 10 August at home to Lincoln City.

Come on, you Cards!

Cards gain narrow win at Crabble

Brian Caffarey
7:10am, Wed 17th Jul 2013
Dover Athletic 0 Woking 1
Pre-season friendly
16 July 2013

The Cards registered a narrow win, courtesy of a close-range header shortly before half-time from ‘man of the match’ Gavin McCallum (pictured), in this competitive encounter at Crabble on a very pleasant summer’s evening. Dover had more chances but some wayward finishing meant that for the third game running they failed to find the net.

Both sides fielded strong line-ups in the first half, gradually introducing substitutes from the break onwards. All Woking’s contracted players made at least a brief appearance with the exception of Kevin Betsy and Joe McNerney. The Cards’ first half line-up looked familiar as far as the defence was concerned, with Jack Parkinson partnering Brett Johnson in central defence, but in midfield ex-Reading John Goddard made a second start, alongside new recruit Josh Payne, whilst up front the main striker was the tall, ginger-headed Ollie Taylor, a 19 year-old from Wycombe Wanderers, flanked by McCallum and Anthony McNamee. The Whites’ side included ex-Cards Moses Ademola and Michael Kamara, with John Akinde and Michael Bakare leading the line.

The game started at a lively pace, which continued throughout most of the match. Woking’s passing – when they weren’t trying to find Taylor with long balls forward – looked slightly more fluent than Dover’s but the Whites seemed to carry more of a threat on the attack. Some nice interplay produced Woking’s first shot, from the typically busy Lee Sawyer, after five minutes but Craig Stone’s left-footed effort, after 13 minutes, was much more threatening, forcing a fine, full-length, save from Aaron Howe. McCallum, with some clever footwork and often moving inside to drive at the heart of the Dover defence, was involved in most of the Cards’ forays forward. He put Newton clear on the right flank a few minutes later, with Goddard registering a crisp shot from the ensuing cross. That was almost Goddard’s last piece of action, however, as he left the field, presumably injured, to be replaced by Harry Beautyman, the well-regarded Sutton midfielder.

Woking’s good spell continued as a cross from John Nutter on the opposite flank led to a blocked effort from McCallum, followed by a very deliberate strike from Sawyer, which was deflected over the bar.

In the 28th minute McCallum jinked his way through in a fine run into the box, where he went down as he was challenged but the referee waved away appeals for a penalty, probably feeling that McCallum had been ‘looking for’ the penalty.

As the game moved towards half-time the hosts had an excellent chance to grab the lead as Bakare escaped past Parkinson, only to blast his left-footed effort over the bar. Woking responded with a fierce drive from Payne following a short corner and then, with 40 minutes on the clock, took the lead themselves. McCallum moved the ball out wide to McNamee and was then in place to stoop low to score from close-range as the cross came in.

Dover wasted another good chance when Ricky Modeste got clear of Johnson’s tackle on the left of the Woking area but there was no one to force the ball home as his cross flew straight across the goal, and they were then thwarted by an excellent intervention from Parkinson as they threatened again.

Half-time: Dover Athletic 0 Woking 1

Moses Ashikodi, the ex-Fleet striker who put us out of the FA Cup last season, came on for Taylor at the start of the second half but it was Dover who resumed more strongly, putting quite a bit of pressure on the Woking defence but creating few chances.

It wasn’t until the 63rd minute that the Cards really threatened the Dover goal, with Ashikodi getting in a fine strike from a McCallum cross, which the Dover keeper saved. Ashikodi was on target again some five minutes later but this time his effort was finger-tipped round for a corner.

The game inevitably lost something of its shape as both sides made a number of substitutions, with Mark Ricketts and George Frith coming on in the 63rd minute, followed by Niall Wright, Gez Sole and Mike Cestor ten minutes later.

In the closing stages Dover spurned several excellent chances to equalise, with the pace and direct running of substitute Raggett creating openings, the first of which he himself wasted as he shot wide with only Howe to beat, with another substitute Chris Kinnear ‘skying’ the second over the bar. The final chance fell to Nathan Elder, who headed tamely straight at Howe.

Garry Hill will no doubt view this match as a very useful ‘work out’. For what it’s worth, I was impressed with McCallum’s work-rate, which, when allied to his skilful left foot and pace, can make him a potent attacking threat, and I also thought that Beautyman looked lively in midfield. Ashikodi managed to get in the game more than Taylor did in the first half.

Woking: Aaron Howe (Sam Beasant 61), Adam Newton, John Nutter (Mike Cestor 74), Josh Payne (Mark Ricketts 63), Jack Parkinson (Niall Wright 74), Brett Johnson, Lee Sawyer (George Frith 63), John Goddard (Harry Beautyman 22), Ollie Taylor (Moses Ashikodi 46), Gavin McCallum (Giuseppe Sole 74), Anthony McNamee


Attendance: 289


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