Dover Athletic on course for the title, says Hare - EXCLUSIVE

Dover Athletic are well on course of winning the Ryman League Division One South title, says assistant manager Darren Hare, writes Stephen McCartney.

The Whites are currently at the top of the table on 38 points from 15 games - two points clear of Tooting & Mitcham United - with two games in hand.

Following their FA Trophy exit at the hands of struggling Blue Square South outfit Sutton United in midweek, the Whites only have the Kent Senior Cup (and a trip to Dartford on 11^th December) and winning the title left to play for this season.

They travel to Walton Casuals tomorrow before welcoming their neighbours, Walton & Hersham to SeaFrance Crabble Stadium on Monday night, as the club look forward to a big month of mouth-watering fixtures.

“I don’t know how far apart they are the two of them, but we’ll be looking for three points against Walton Casuals on Saturday, we’ll be looking for three points on Monday,” Hare said EXCLUSIVELY to www.kentishfootball.co.uk following their 1-0 midweek defeat at Gander Green Lane.

“If I’m honest with you, if we play like we can play, I don’t think there’s a team in the league that can stop us.

“But we’ve got to keep performing consistently, day in day out and that means we’ve got to start putting balls in the back of the net and we’ve got to start making our superiority count in games.”

Making the trip to Franklyn Road tomorrow, to play a Walton Casuals side that’s in the bottom five, with 3 wins and 7 draws from 18 games, Hare warns their quest for glory will not be easy.

“It’s nice to say we’re sitting pretty at the top but I don’t think there’s an easy game in this division,” said Hare.

“It’s a big period for us, November and December and it’s interesting to see where we're sat in January and go from there.”

But Hare and player-manager Andy Hessenthaler have revealed that their side are well above their set-targets.

“We look at each game and we look at if we feel we can win the game or we might draw the game or feel we’d get beat in a game,” explained Hare.

“If I’m honest, we’ve just set a realistic points target each month that we think that’s going to win the league.

“We’ve above target at the moment. I’ve got to say that but that doesn’t say we don’t want to continue the momentum because if I’m honest, I think Tooting are well above target as well.”

He added: “I don’t think it’s going to be 78 points that’s going to win it this year, I think it’s going to be nearer ninety.”

John Keister, meanwhile, is relishing meeting The Waltons twice in a space of three days.

“We’ve got games coming thick and fast and we’ve just got to concentrate on the league now, which is our priority,” said the 37-year-old skipper.

The former Margate star midfielder admitted their FA Trophy third qualifying round defeat at Gander Green Lane was a “blessing in disguise” as the club concentrate on promotion.

“We’ve had a go at the cup and now we’re out of it, it gives us a good chances to try and put a run together again and try to achieve what we want at the end of the season,” said Keister.

Visit Dover Athletic’s websites: www.doverathletic.com & www.dafctv.co.uk

Walton Casuals v Dover Athletic
Ryman League Division One South
Saturday 1^st December 2007
Kick Off 3:00pm
At Franklyn Road Sports Ground, off Waterside Drive, Walton-on-Thames, Surrey KT12 2JP