Dover Athletic 3 Leyton Orient 4
Buildbase FA Trophy 3rd Round
Saturday 3rd February
Report by Scott Lanza
Leyton Orient finally made it into the Quarter Finals of the FA Trophy after a rollercoaster of a game at the Crabble Athletic Ground on Saturday. Going in at the break leading from a George Elokobi goal, the O’s seemed to be coasting after Macauley Bonne’s screamer in the 49th minute was then added to four minutes later by Matt Harold. However Dover fought back to level the game, scoring two goals in the space of two minutes that set up a nervy finale. However David Mooney proved to be super-sub as he came off the subs bench to loft the winner beyond Mitch Walker in stoppage time, ensuring that the O’s won the game that sees their name go into Monday’s draw.
Dover have posted their promotion credentials as the season has progressed and showed why they are in that lofty position as they went at the O’s straight from the start. Dean Brill was called upon as early as the 2nd minute as he tipped over a Ryan Bird shot. Mitch Pinnock had a swerving shot from distance stopped by the O’s stopper, who then denied Anthony Jeffrey who let fly with a ferocious shot that Brill tipped over the bar.
But the O’s eventually dug in and having stunted the Dover attack then started mustering some attacking forays themselves. Ebou Adams played a nice ball to his left that set Matt Harold free, with his shot being tipped away by Walker. Another nice O’s passing move saw Reynolds lay off Bonne, who crossed to Harrold, but the O’s forward was crowded out before he could make any usage of the ball. Then in the 20th minute Bonne picked up a ball outside the Dover box, moved forward but didn’t pick his spot well enough and scuffed his effort wide of the mark. At the midway stage of the half it was Orient in the ascendency, although Brill did have to claim a few crosses, while Caprice seemed to have the measure of Jeffrey who wasn’t able to get past the O’s defender.
In the 25th minute the O’s created another decent opportunity when Lamar Reynolds cut inside, switched the ball to his right foot and then drilled a shot that Walker palmed away. The resulting corner saw Coulson and Harrold both have shots blocked before finally being hooked clear. But Dover were dangerous on the counter, meaning that the O’s backline couldn’t take the eye off the ball and Widdowson had to put in a timely tackle to dispossess Jeffrey who had burst into the O’s box. And Brill had to show some good keeping denying Gallifuoco’s header with a full-stretch dive, while a Bird cross just missed Nortey at the back post.
But the O’s finally broke the deadlock in the 34th minute. Having won a corner, the O’s then made it count as Jobi McAnuff’s inswinger was met by the head of George Elokobi to open the scoring. Dover nearly equalised soon afterwards when Nortey turned and fired a shot towards the top left hand corner that Brill superbly cut out; the host’s went even closer with their next effort as some nice play from Mitch Brundell ended up with Bird poking wide from close range.
But the O’s nearly doubled their lead as they closed the first half with some attacking fervour, with Caprice on two occasions delivering crosses that threatened the Dover backline. Elokobi then pulled off an acrobatic header to clear the Orient lines as Dover mustered the last attack of the half.
The game was finely poised going into the second half, with Dover having the first chance of the half in the 48th minute when Bird had a header stopped by Brill. A minute later the O’s doubled their lead when Bonne shuffled to his right and then drilled a left footed shot that screamed past Walker and crashed into the top left hand corner. And four minutes later the O’s were well and truly in the driving seat when a corner fell into the path of Harrold who stroked the ball past Walker.
Elokobi was able to get his head on a McAnuff free kick that was blocked, and it looked like the O’s were going to add further goals to their tally, but the next goal was scored by Dover in the 56th minute when Bird fired a shot beyond Brill. It looked like his defence were waiting for an offside call from the assistant referee on the far side; that never came and all of a sudden Dover were back in the contest, with Jeffrey being only a whisker away from reducing arrear further minutes later. The hosts continued testing the Orient defence with Elokobi clearing one cross away with a superbly executed overhead kick.
In the 68th minute Adams put in a quality ball that Harrold fired goal wards, with Walker diving low to knock away. That started a spell of O’s pressure that saw Bonne denied by the Dover keeper; then Adams and Bonne both had shots that narrowly missed the target. Brill also showed safe hands when he claimed a deep cross which Bird would have pounced on had the O’s gloves man hadn’t made the catch.
The chances Orient spurned would have taken the game beyond Dover; however they pulled one back and then levelled up within two minutes. The first goal came in the 81st minute when Pinnock lobbed Brill, and then the home supporters were on their feet again in the 83rd minute when Bird popped up unmarked in the box to slot a shot past Brill to level the tie. The pendulum was now very much in Dover’s favour and the O’s had to dig deep to make sure that they didn’t throw away the tie completely.
The rollercoaster ride that was the second half continued as the O’s then secured victory deep in stoppage time when David Mooney chipped Walker to restore Orient’s lead. There was not enough time for Dover to come back into the game and so the O’s needed a last ditch winner to win a game that they had at one point been coasting. The O’s don’t do it the easy way but their inaugural FA Trophy campaign now sees them in the last eight, only three games away from a Wembley appearance.
Dover Athletic: Mitch Walker, Josh Passley, Femi Ilesanmi, Giancurlo Gallifuoco, Manny Parry, Connor Essam, Mitch Brundle (Capt), Mitch Pinnock, Ryan Bird (James Alabi 86’), Nortei Nortey (Liam Bellamy 61’), Anthony Jeffrey (Kadell Daniel 72’).
Scorers – Ryan Bird (56’, 83’), Mitch Pinnock (81’)
Leyton Orient: Dean Brill, Jake Caprice, Joe Widdowson, George Elokobi, Jobi McAnuff (Capt), Macauley Bonne, Josh Coulson, Craig Clay, Matt Harrold (David Mooney 86’), Ebou Adams, Lemar Reynolds (James Brophy 67’).
Scorers – George Elokobi (34’), Macauley Bonne (49’), Matt Harrold (53’), David Mooney (90+2’)
