Form books go out of the window in derby games, says Dover Athletic boss Martin Hayes

DOVER ATHLETIC boss Martin Hayes has told his side to cut out defensive mistakes during tomorrow’s Kent showdown against Tonbridge Angels, writes Stephen McCartney.


The Whites began their campaign with two 4-0 wins over Dorchester Town and Thurrock, before they went down to a single goal defeat at Truro City last Saturday and were held to an enthralling 2-2 home draw to early season table toppers Dartford in midweek.

Reflecting on their Blue Square Bet South campaign so far, former Arsenal star Hayes said on the eve of the Crabble clash: “I mean after the first two wins you start getting greedy I suppose.  If we look at the four games that we’ve played, the last two games have been against sides equally up there, started very well and I’m not terribly unhappy with seven points from four games.  It’s early days and we know there’s a long way to go.”

Dover Athletic have bagged 10 goals so far – with new strike pair Billy Bricknell and George Purcell scoring four goals apiece.

Hayes said: “It’s certainly nice.  Harry Baker has got two, so it’s nice to see goals being shared around and it has certainly helped them settle down. 

“Scoring the goals hasn’t been the problem.  We haven’t defended solidly as I would have liked.  We’ve just been a little bit careless and a bit sloppy with our marking around the box, but at the other end it’s ten goals from the four games and that’s a pretty good start.”

Dartford came away with a point on Tuesday night, a fair result according to the Dover boss.

“I think it was a pretty good derby game,” said Hayes.  “It was certainly quite intense.  It was a fast pace.  They’ve got a very strong direct style of play and to be fair they caused us problems for the first 20 minutes. 

“Again, we didn’t make good decisions around our box.  We certainly didn’t mark tightly enough and in that first 20 minutes we were a goal down and we could have been another couple down to be fair.  It certainly wasn’t a good start.

“But we worked out way back into the game and certainly the longer it went on we started to control it a little bit more.

“Second half, yet again, we had lots of play and pressure and Dartford had good chances as well.  It could have gone either way.

“It was certainly a much better competitive match than the last one we had (a 4-0 defeat at Princes Park over Easter), put it that way.

“A draw was possibly a fair one over the game.  They may feel a little bit aggrieved they didn’t get three (points).  We could have nicked it at the end.   It’s a point against a top side and we have to make it up now.”
Tommy Warrilow brings his Tonbridge Angels side to Crabble tomorrow, having sealed Saturday wins over Maidenhead United and Eastleigh – by four goals to nil  - and crushing midweek defeats to Sutton United (1-4) and Welling United (2-3).

Former Dover Athletic striker, Frannie Collin, has scored five goals already this season, and Hayes knows anything can happen in a Kent derby.

“Well, it’s going to be another derby game with a good atmosphere there,” he said.

“I’m sure they will come to prove a point.  They’ll come and have a go at us.  The pressure is on us to take the game to them and to win and it’s going to be tough.

“They’ve shown they’ve had some good wins and some bad defeats but on their day they’re capable of scoring goals and upsetting sides.

“I’m not seen a great deal of them, we’ve had someone watch them and we’ll go through that tonight and tomorrow.

“In derby games, sometimes form books goes out of the window and it’s just who deals with the occasion best and who is up for it more and sometimes a little bit of luck along the way.”

Hayes added: “We’ll treat them with the same respect as we did against Dartford and we have to look to get back to winning ways as quick as we can.”
Collin, Lee Browning, and Danny Walder are all former Dover players.

Hayes said: “It’s generally a case players want to prove a point.  Although it’s different personnel in charge now, they want to come back and still enjoy the occasion.  You can’t not enjoy coming to Dover to play a game of football because of the stadium and the pitch.  It tends to give everyone a lift anyway.

“I’m aware of the ex-players down there who have been at Dover and I’m sure they’ll enjoy it.  We have to make sure we are aware of that and we put them under enough pressure where we can be in control.”

Visit Dover Athletic’s website: www.doverathletic.com  

Dover Athletic  v  Tonbridge Angels
Blue Square Bet South
Saturday 27^th August 2011
Kick Off 3:00pm
At Crabble Athletic Ground, Lewisham Road, River, Dover, Kent CT17 0JB