The White Shirts of Dover

DOVER CAPTAIN, JACK PARKINSON "THERE'S NO PRESSURE"

"There is no pressure on us this season" were the words of Dover captain Jack Parkinson, just 4 days before the start of the League Two Season.

Parkinson said there is an air of excitement around the Dover training ground this week and that the team can't wait to kick off their first ever League Two campaign. But he insisted that the team could go into every game this season with no pressure. "We know we'll be underdogs going into virtually every game this year, so there is no pressure on us. Everyone expects us to fall at every hurdle and eventually succumb to the supposed inevitable relegation so what have we got to lose? We can only do our best and with the level of determination in this team, we're confident we can stay up. We've got some talented lads in this team and on our day we know we can beat anybody."

Dover take on Luton Town at home on Saturday and will be hoping to get off to a decent start in their fight for survival this season.

DOVER FACE TOUGH DRAW IN FIRST CHECKATRADE TROPHY

The draw for the group stages of the Checkatrade Trophy were drawn today and newcomers Dover Athletic were handed a tough draw.

Dover will take on two teams from League One in AFC Wimbledon and Southend United, whilst the three lower league teams will pit their wits against the U23s of West Ham.

Dover's first game will be a home tie against Southend on 29th August.

When asked about the draw, Dover manager Chris Ball said he had 'little interest' in the competition this year as he would be focussing purely on keeping his team away from a relegation battle to ensure they would be playing League Two football next year.

This would suggest that Ball will be looking at using this competition to rotate his squad and rest key players, but with competition rules stating that 5 players from the previous game must start, he will be restricted in the amount of resting he can do.

DOVER IN DISAPPOINTING COLLAPSE

A rampant Jack Marriott scored all 4 Luton goals, as Dover kicked off their League Two campaign with a 4-2 loss at home to Luton Town.

Marriott found himself wide open in the Dover box, and coolly slotted home to give Luton a 1-0 lead in the 29th minute.

New signing Steven Hewitt scored a cracking effort from 30 yards to level up the scores on 61 minutes and Dover were looking on for a perfect start to the season when Ricky Miller went through on goal and passed the ball into the back of the net only 5 minutes later.

However, the Dover defence went into complete meltdown in the final 10 minutes of the game and with some suspect defending conceded 3 late goals to lose their opening fixture 4-2.

Dover manager Chris Ball said " This hurts. We played better than the score reflects but to lose the game in such a manner is unacceptable and I will be expecting better from my team".

One defeat wont hurt just got to pick morale up and the momentum will follow

Hopefully the team will recover and bounce back with some wins!

Very unlucky but Luton have a top class attack and they can be difficult to defend against. Hopefully you can bounce back quickly.

Debutant Green Sees Dover Through To 2nd Round

Dover Athletic were worthy winners this evening in the 1st round of the EFL Cup, running out 2-1 victors over Championship side Cardiff City at Crabtree Athletic Ground.

Dover manager, Chris Ball, made no less than seven changes to his starting lineup that lost their opening game of the season to Luton on Saturday and the gamble certainly paid off. Although Cardiff were heavy favourites before kick off, Dover gave as good as they got throughout and in what was a fairly even game, came out on top and booked their name in the 2nd round draw.

Central midfielder George Green, a new arrival at Dover this Summer made his debut and did not fail to impress with a 9.1 match rating, scoring both of Dover's goals and taking the man of the match award too. Green, 21, came through the Everton youth academy before leaving the club for Burnley last year. He was sent out on loan to Salford City where he made 37 appearances, scoring 6 goals and contributing 8 assists. Burnley let the young midfielder leave the club at the end of his 1 year contract and Chris Ball wasted no time in adding him to the Dover ranks.

Ball commented after the game "George is a fantastic young talent and we're delighted to have him here at Dover. I firmly believe he can grow with this club and really make a name for himself. His composure tonight was excellent, passing the ball well from the midfield and he took his two goals as well as any striker in the game".

Dover put up a spirited performance this evening against a strong Everton side. The Toffees were expected to field a heavily weakened side against League Two Dover, with a number of youngsters expected to make a rare first team start. However, this was not the case as Everton fielded a surprisingly strong team.

Even more surprising was the fact that this game was not a complete walkover for the Premiership side. Far from it in fact, as Dover matched their superior opponents in every area of the pitch.

Dover took a shock lead within 3 minutes, with young striker Lukas Nmecha scoring a fantastic effort from just outside the box, a bullet of a shot that hit the top corner of the net leaving Everton goalkeeper Agustin Marchesin no chance.

Dover looked relatively comfortable for large parts of the first half, but a touch of sheer class from ex Barcelona academy player, Gerard Deulofeu, saw the visitors draw level.

With both teams having chances in the second half but failing to convert, the match went to extra time and then penalties. The excitement around Crabtree Athletic Ground was clear to see as the fans were in high spirits at the mouthwatering prospect of a penalty shootout that they couldn't have hoped for in their wildest dreams before the game.

However, experience told on the night and Everton won the penalty shootout 4-2. But it was the Whites fans that were leaving the stadium with smiles on their faces, justly proud of their team and the performance they'd just witnessed. Their team may be struggling early on in the league, but if they continue to perform like that then surely it's only a matter of time before they start to turn things around.

Talk about a cash windfall!

Very unlucky against Everton, to take a top side like them all the way shows good signs.

With that performance, hopefully your team can bring that drive in to the league!