Dover Athletic
1
Nikaj (84)
Slough Town
0
League
Attendance: 607
Slough Town found themselves on the wrong end of a cagey, single goal defeat after conceding a late George Nikaj winner against Dover Athletic at the Crabble Athletic Ground, writes Joey Gargini.
The Rebels came into the game after two positive results with a home win against FA Cup giant-killers Maidstone United, and a hard-fought midweek draw against high-flying Worthing.
It was a slow start to the game as both teams were looking to take control of the contest. Slough’s first meaningful chance of the game came in the 16th minute when David Ogbonna collected the ball down the right wing and found Slavi Spasov, who curled the ball just wide of the home side’s goal.
Dover then found themselves in a good position as they held possession around Slough’s box. George Wilkinson took control of the ball and struck from distance with the effort flying wide of the goal, offering Slough a firm early warning.
In the 27th minute, Tyrese Dyce found space in behind Charles-Cook and drove down the left wing, drilling the ball low and hard across goal but failing to connect with a Slough touch to tap it goalwards.
The Rebels continued the pressure with a corner swung in by Scott Davies in the 34th minute, which was finding its way into the top right corner before being parried away by Dover goalkeeper Daniel Jinadu.
Soon afterwards, in the 35th minute, the Rebels had another chance in the opposition box with Ogbonna finding the ball in a central position, taking a shot which was blocked, that came back to him and was met with another strong strike by Ogbonna, which was on target but well collected by Jinadu.
It was the home side who had the best and final chance of the first half. Nikaj gained possession on the right side of the Rebels’ box and crossed in with the outside of his boot, finding Baptiste who miraculously struck over Dan Lincoln’s goal from point blank range just before half time.
Both teams came out strong in the second half looking for a decisive goal which led to the most intense periods of the game. In the 60th minute, Slough substitute Johnny Goddard played a delicate ball through to David Ogbonna who dragged his effort just wide of the Dover net.
Just a minute later, Dover found themselves in behind with Sutherland clean through on goal. Although the shot was well placed, Lincoln met it with a more impressive save to tip it just wide. The resulting corner was met by the head of Mensah, whose headed effort was once again saved by Lincoln, which kept the game 0-0.
The deadlock was eventually broken deep into the second half. In the 84th minute, Dover substitute Destiny Oladipo flicked a cross over his head which dropped for Nikaj, who poked the ball home to give the home side the win.
Shortly after, Nikaj received his marching orders for a sloppy challenge which saw the Dover winger receive his second yellow card of the game. The Rebels kept pushing for the equaliser against their 10-man opposition, but it wasn’t to be.
Despite the defeat, Slough remain in a strong mid-table position, five points outside the playoff places with as many as three games in hand on some of the teams ahead of them. The Rebels will now look to bounce back on Tuesday evening with a positive result against table-topping Yeovil Town.
The Rebels came into the game after two positive results with a home win against FA Cup giant-killers Maidstone United, and a hard-fought midweek draw against high-flying Worthing.
It was a slow start to the game as both teams were looking to take control of the contest. Slough’s first meaningful chance of the game came in the 16th minute when David Ogbonna collected the ball down the right wing and found Slavi Spasov, who curled the ball just wide of the home side’s goal.
Dover then found themselves in a good position as they held possession around Slough’s box. George Wilkinson took control of the ball and struck from distance with the effort flying wide of the goal, offering Slough a firm early warning.
In the 27th minute, Tyrese Dyce found space in behind Charles-Cook and drove down the left wing, drilling the ball low and hard across goal but failing to connect with a Slough touch to tap it goalwards.
The Rebels continued the pressure with a corner swung in by Scott Davies in the 34th minute, which was finding its way into the top right corner before being parried away by Dover goalkeeper Daniel Jinadu.
Soon afterwards, in the 35th minute, the Rebels had another chance in the opposition box with Ogbonna finding the ball in a central position, taking a shot which was blocked, that came back to him and was met with another strong strike by Ogbonna, which was on target but well collected by Jinadu.
It was the home side who had the best and final chance of the first half. Nikaj gained possession on the right side of the Rebels’ box and crossed in with the outside of his boot, finding Baptiste who miraculously struck over Dan Lincoln’s goal from point blank range just before half time.
Both teams came out strong in the second half looking for a decisive goal which led to the most intense periods of the game. In the 60th minute, Slough substitute Johnny Goddard played a delicate ball through to David Ogbonna who dragged his effort just wide of the Dover net.
Just a minute later, Dover found themselves in behind with Sutherland clean through on goal. Although the shot was well placed, Lincoln met it with a more impressive save to tip it just wide. The resulting corner was met by the head of Mensah, whose headed effort was once again saved by Lincoln, which kept the game 0-0.
The deadlock was eventually broken deep into the second half. In the 84th minute, Dover substitute Destiny Oladipo flicked a cross over his head which dropped for Nikaj, who poked the ball home to give the home side the win.
Shortly after, Nikaj received his marching orders for a sloppy challenge which saw the Dover winger receive his second yellow card of the game. The Rebels kept pushing for the equaliser against their 10-man opposition, but it wasn’t to be.
Despite the defeat, Slough remain in a strong mid-table position, five points outside the playoff places with as many as three games in hand on some of the teams ahead of them. The Rebels will now look to bounce back on Tuesday evening with a positive result against table-topping Yeovil Town.
Slough Town Lineup
- 1 Dan Lincoln
- 4 Joe Dandy
- 6 Jeanmal Prosper
- 9 Nathan Minhas
- 14 Scott Davies 2
- 15 Eze Ebuzoeme 12
- 16 Temi Eweka
- 17 Tyrese Dyce
- 18 Munashe Sundire
- 23 David Ogbonna
- 24 Slavi Spasov 10
Substitutes
- 2 Josh Jackman 14
- 5 Dan Bayliss
- 10 Johnny Goddard 24
- 12 Leon Chambers-Parillon 15
- 13 Dawid Hamiga
Dover Athletic Lineup
Daniel Jinadu, Roman Charles-Cook, Peter Ojeman, Luke Baptiste, Freddie Oliver, Zidan Sutherland (Ifeanyi Allen 80), George Nikaj, George Wilkinson (Destiny Oladipo 70 (James Dunne 89)), Charlie Naylor, Jacob Mensah (c), Scott Holding. Unused substitutes: Nick Dembele, Henry Young.