Dover Athletic 0 Tonbridge 1

Match 42/12/995 - Tuesday, 1 January 2013 - Conference South

Dover Athletic (0) 0
Tonbridge (0) 1 Ijaha 90+2
Att. 1,102

Entrance: £9 Senior
Programme: £2.00
Mileage: 99/3,460

Match Report

What a difference a couple of days can make, or more importantly a couple of players. Tonbridge put behind them their woeful home performance against Bromley with a hard-earned victory at arch-rivals Dover and in the process completed their first double over the Whites in 26 years. The Tonbridge midfield that was so poor against Bromley was strengthened with the inclusion of new signing David Ijaha and the return of Tom Davis and Lee Browning.

One of the charms of non-league football is the non-segregation of supporters and it is shame that this fixture has been blighted by bad behaviour in the recent past and, therefore, necessitates the imposition of segregation. Dover’s method of segregation involves the lengthiest and most arduous of detours away from the main entrance for the visiting supporters, “the walk of shame” as it was dubbed by one supporter. I can only presume that some arrangements must have been made for the elderly or infirm, because for them, it would have been mission impossible.

The result of the animosity is the sweetest of victories for whoever gains the spoils and, in the space of a week, Tonbridge supporters were able to celebrate on both occasions. The opening 20 minutes were evenly contested with Dover rattling the bar through Ben May and Tonbridge actually having the ball in the net only for this writer to see his eccentric celebration cut short by a linesman’s flag.

One of the major problems of segregation is the restriction of a position behind the goal and Crabble is a ground where the far goal seems even further away than usual, perhaps it is the slope that gives this perception. Consequently, when an almighty scramble ensued in the Tonbridge area with the ball coming back off the inside of a post and then the follow-up shot being stopped on the line by Sonny Miles, who injured himself in the process, it was head-in-hands stuff but not quite knowing just how desperate the defending needed to be.

The second half was played with Tonbridge kicking into the distance, but easy to see was the fine diving save needed by Mitch Walker to deny Ijaha. We then got treated, certainly not the right word, to another scramble in the Tonbridge area, but this time viewed at close range. Once again the woodwork was rattled by May after Moses Ademola had rounded Lee Worgan, but bodies were thrown in front of the ball to eventually shepherd it to safety.

Into the last 20 minutes and it was Tonbridge that stepped up and finished much the stronger, whilst I was spouting the old defensive “if I’m I willing to take a draw on the way in, I’ll take it on the way out”, there were signs that the home side had faded and it was now their turn to be holding on. Into five minutes of added time and two moments that will live in memory for the rest of the season. Ijaha rifled a loose ball into the net from 12 yards to silence the season’s best Crabble attendance and then, with breath held, a last kick of the match free kick from Dover’s Daryl McMahon clipped the crossbar on its way over and the points were ours.

The long trudge back to the car only served to prove the pointlessness of the segregation as we walked straight into the body of the Dover support coming in the opposite direction. If they, or us, wanted to start a fight then the segregation would only have served to identify who was who from the direction in which they were walking. A couple of Dover supporters offered their congratulations, perhaps recognising three old duffers that are not exactly going to cause mayhem, whatever the result. It is a real shame on both clubs that the small minority are not going to allow the rivalry between these clubs to be any less than bitter and that the gross inconvenience of segregation will continue in the meantime.