We're showing signs of fatigue, admits Hessenthaler

DOVER ATHLETIC boss Andy Hessenthaler says he was disappointed with his side’s performance - despite grinding out a 2-1 home win over Canvey Island yesterday, writes Stephen McCartney.

The Whites are now seventeen points clear at the top of the Ryman Premier League table, but Hessenthaler, speaking to BBC Radio Kent yesterday, had mixed feelings about his side’s fifteenth home win of the season.

In Dover’s last home game, Jerahl Hughes netted an injury time equaliser to steal a point against Carshalton Athletic and two weeks later Hughes was the hero, as another late goal from the substitute, sealed the three points.

Canvey Island had put up a good fight, with John Curran drawing his side level after Lee Browning had given the Kent side a sixth minute lead.

Hessenthaler was quick to praise another substitute, Giuliano Grazioli, for his piece of magic, which set up Hughes’ winner.

“It just shows you where he’s played,” said Hessenthaler. “He’s been in a championship winning side in the Conference at Barnet, he came on and showed what the game was missing, the game was missing a little bit of quality.

“He came on and a fantastic little ball, a great touch, a great ball into Hughes’ and a great finish.”

Good sides tend to pick up points when they don’t perform well, and this was a case against Essex side Canvey Island.

“We didn’t get our game going today,” Hessenthaler admitted. “We scored that early, you would have thought that’ll settle everyone down and we’d pass the ball around.

“We didn’t pass the ball, we didn’t have much of spark in the side and it was just one of those days I felt.

“But if you can have one of those days and still grind out three points then I think that shows you what type of club we are and what team we’ve got at the club at the moment.

“Let’s say it was a good win, performance not great, and we’ve now got ten games to go.

“It puts us on 83 points, 87 won it last year believe it or not, but I think it’s going to take a lot more than that this year.”

Hessenthaler has promised that he will make changes for Tuesday night’s home game against AFC Hornchurch.

The tenth-placed Essex side were held to a home goal-less draw yesterday by a Maidstone United side that have now gone ten games without a win.

A draw will ensure the Kent giants will qualify for the play-off lottery at the end of the season, but Hessenthaler doesn’t want that.

“If we end up in the play-off’s I’ll be a very disappointed man,” he said. “But we’ve just got to make sure now we focus and look after ourselves off the field for the next couple of days because they don’t get any easier.

“We bring Hornchurch down to Crabble, who we owe one because they beat us. They are one of three teams that have beat us this year and they will cause us problems.

“And if we perform like we did today then we might have a few problems but the players will go away now and I’m sure they will all look at their individual performances and think they can do better.

“As a manager I will look at it and there will be changes because players maybe suffering with, I don’t know, fatigue, a little bit of form, I don’t know.”

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

Quotes courtesy of BBC Radio Kent - www.bbc.co.uk/kent

Dover Athletic v AFC Hornchurch
Ryman Premier League
Tuesday 3^rd March 2009
Kick Off 7:45pm
At Perry’s Crabble, Lewisham Road, River, Dover, Kent CT17 0JB