BLUES ROLL DOVER!
Ruthless Whites go goal crazy to heap more misery on managerless Chester
SOME CVs might be withdrawn on Sunday after Chester were drubbed by high-flying Dover at Crabble.
There were 120 ‘serious’ applicants for the Blues’ manager vacancy, but after seeing a defensive display that allowed Giancarlo Gallifuoco, Mitch Pinnock, Nortei Nortey and Mitch Brundle to hand Dover a comfortable win, any potentials for the Deva hotseat might feel survival is too big a task.
Player/caretaker boss Tom Shaw certainly seemed relieved to be handing over the reins after three games at the helm.
“I enjoyed this week, but not today,” he said. “We were in control for the first 20 minutes and shot ourselves in the foot from a corner.
“We are all ready for a new manager and he will need to get a real ruthless streak into a group of players that are just not firing at the minute.”
The visitors started brightly, with Kingsley James testing Mitch Walker from range and Andy Halls firing into the side-netting from an angle, but a fifth defeat of the season was on the cards once Gallifuoco headed in Brundle’s corner on 21 minutes.
It was almost an instant reply from Ross Hannah, but the striker could only fire straight at Dover’s keeper when found in space in the box.
Ryan Bird directed Pinnock’s cross wide of the mark and Kadell Daniel’s touch from Josh Passley’s pass allowed visiting stopper Alex Lynch to smother the ball.
Hannah curled over before half time and then forced Walker to dive onto the ball just after the break.
Harry White nodded Hannah’s cross wide and Lucas Dawson smashed over following good work from Kingsley James as Chester searched for a leveller.
The Chester defensive floodgates opened when Mitch Pinnock doubled the lead on 62 minutes with a sweet low 20-yard drive and Nortei Nortey swept in sub Tobi Sho-Silva’s cross seven minutes later.
Daniel struck the angle of post and bar, but the rout was completed in the 82nd minute when Brundle slipped the ball under Alex Lynch after Sho-Silva’s parry fell into the path of the home skipper.
There should have been fifth goal in stoppage time, but Lynch denied both Pinnock and Brundle following a lightning counter attack from a corner at the other end of the pitch.
Athletic’s Chris Kinnear was delighted to see his side bounce back from a midweek home defeat to Boreham Wood.
“Tuesday night was disappointing, but the lads worked really hard and played with great spirit,” he said.
“Going into half-time with a lead allowed us to change things about and after the restart they tired and we scored.
“Chester are a good side with decent players and they deserve credit for trying to come here and win. We have a bunch of young lads that are still learning and I believe they have got a lot more to give.”
“We have a bunch of young lads that are still learning and I believe they have a lot more to give”
Chris Kinnear Dover Athletic manager
“The new manager will need to get a ruthless streak into a group of players who just aren’t firing at the minute”
Tom Shaw Chester caretaker manager