Tonbridge 0 Dover Athletic 2

Match 03/14/1112 - Tuesday, 15th July 2014 - Pre-Season Friendly

Tonbridge (0) 0
Dover Athletic (0) 2 Elder 61, Reid 89 (pen)
Att. 252

Entrance: £4 Senior
Programme: 50p
Mileage: 34/112

Match Report

Steve McKimm’s opening night at Longmead ended in defeat but he would surely have taken heart from a first half performance that matched that of their Conference Premier opponents.

A second eleven contested the second period and, naturally enough, Dover held control and scored a couple of goals to ease to a pre-season victory against their erstwhile rivals who now find themselves two divisions below them.

McKimm let it be known that the first half team is the one he considers his strongest with the players at his disposal at this present time. The back line of James Folks, Jerome Sobers, Jon Heath and Ben King dealt admirably with the threat of Nathan Elder, Barry Cogan and Tom Murphy restricting them to a couple of efforts that didn’t overly trouble Kyle Merson between the Tonbridge sticks.

In midfield, Harry Harding, Tom Parkinson and Lee Carey all impressed with their hard work and interchangeability whilst Dee Okojie showed that he has a few tricks in his bag. Upfront, the concern would be that, for all their endeavour, Billy Medlock and Tommy Whitnall looked rather lightweight but consideration should be given that they are not going to face the strength of Sean Raggett and Richard Orlu on a weekly basis.

The readily apparent concern is the lack of height throughout the team. Owen Kabodi played the second half upfront and Troy Ferguson and Nathan Campbell in midfield and offered a few extra inches, but the latter two are presently not Tonbridge players, although Kabodi was a reserve team player last season.

In the second half, when the Tonbridge back line comprised of three 18-year-olds and a 19-year-old, it was Dover substitute Ricky Modeste that always looked the likely candidate to break the deadlock. Just after the hour mark, he stood up a cross to the far post where Elder did what he has being doing for years and converted with a header. Although the pressure for a second goal was constant, Tonbridge just about held firm until the final minute when substitute goalkeeper, James Steel, brought down Matt Locke leaving Jake Reid to score from the spot.

Abidemi Bolaji, another from last season’s reserve team, showed some nice touches in his second half spell.

With the next couple of friendlies being against Eastbourne Borough from the Conference and Stevenage from League Two, it may be that we need to see the Ramsgate friendly to truly assess where McKimm’s side are in terms of quality. But, on the evidence of last night, the fitness levels are good and the desire is more apparent than at the end of last season. Somewhere, though, a bit of muscle and a few extra inches are very much needed.