Rare league blanks sees Dover grab win

A first league blank since the opening day of the season saw City suffer a single goal defeat against Dover Athletic at Twerton Park this afternoon. It wasn’t for a lack of chances, as City dominated the game for long periods, but in the end it was Wanadio’s strike five minutes before half-time that settled the contest. What turned out to be the closest they came to scoring arrived on 25 minutes when Cody Cooke stabbed a shot against the inside of the post after Whites keeper Nelson had spilled an Alex Fletcher header. The visitors were struggling to deal with City’s ariel threat as Cooke, Fletcher and Kieran Parselle all saw headers fly narrowly wide. Wanadio had always looked their biggest danger going forward and he proved just that in the 40th minute with a great curling shot from the edge of the area. Ryan Clarke – making his first appearance of the season in the place of the injured Joe Wright – did well to keep out another Wanadio effort early in the second half before Cooke was denied by a good Nelson block. The Romans were in full control of the game now but chances were becoming less frequent, Fletcher and Elliott Frear both failing to test Nelson when well-placed. Wanadio was again kept out by Clarke with ten minutes to go but City couldn’t fashion any further chances after this as Dover held on for the three points.