Introduction – Pre-Season – August

Dover’s good start couldn’t last but the other two are picking up steam as we enter the month of September.

Dover Athletic

Athletic should have taken all three points against Altrincham over at Moss Lane after a perfect defensive strategy produced an 85th minute lead courtesy of Arjanit Krasniqi. Moments before, Martell Taylor-Croasdale was flagged for a tight offside having put the ball in the back of the net. Two minutes after the Dover goal, A-Jay Leitch-Smith won a penalty and dusted himself off to dispatch beyond Parkes.

And then came Chesterfield. Everything that could go wrong at the Crabble Athletic Ground did. A man 15 minute spell in the first half saw Dover take the lead through Ransom with eight minutes on the clock before Tshimanga equalised. Woods put Dover back in the lead, then promptly got himself sent off for a second bookable offence. Mandeville brought Chesterfield level, Arthur got s back in the lead and then Tshimanga squared the ledger again. Ten became nine men after Goodman received his marching orders for a two-footed lunge and Tshimanga notched two more to take his tally to four for the game. The first half performance merited hope, although nine yellow cards equated to a £750 fine from the league.

Another penalty was conceded days later against Eastleigh at the Silverlake Stadium, Allen stuck it away this time after Krasniqi opened the scoring by taking advantage of a poor pass by McDonnell. Another sending off in a Dover game, this time for the opposition, gave Eastleigh ten men for the remaining 20 minutes but the breakthrough came with seconds to spare. Koby Arthur performed a smash and grab, securing the victory and breathing a sigh of relief in celebration. I had hoped the disciplinary problems had ended against Chesterfield but two more players were sent off in a loss to Weymouth (more on that below) and with a depleted squad, Dover were vulnerable to defeat against Bromley with a depleted squad.

King’s Lynn Town

There should have been three juicy points in the bag to begin September against Eastleigh having took the lead via Malachi Linton with just five minutes on the clock. Unfortunately, that meant Lee Bradbury’s side had 85 minutes to get into it. Allen scored a penalty in the first half to level matters before Daniel Smith notched two late in the second half to earn plaudits. Linton had a second ruled out for offside. Some transfer business saw York City in with an offer to take Zain Walker on loan as Ken Charles was ruled out for up to five months with a torn calf muscle suffered during training. The sight of Angelo Balanta was enough to cause heart palpitations, one of my former Leyland Albion players, now turning out for Dagenham & Redbridge. He led a fightback for the Daggers after King’s Lynn had established a two-goal lead with Linton again amongst the goals. Balanta’s goal and that of McCallum made things very nervy in the final minutes as Kyle Callan-McFadden’s strike for KLT secured the victory with a score of 3 – 2. The win was followed up by a drab 0 – 0 against Altrincham in a game of few highlights with Kennedy Digie impressive for the hosts.

New signings came in the form of defender Jack Lee and French midfielder Julien Carré, who was last on the books of Brentford. Carré’s debut came at home against Wealdstone, he was part of a 2 – 1 win with Michael Clunan and Linton on the scoresheet.

Weymouth FC

Having not won one of the opening three games, expectations were not high for the visit to Solihull Moors and fears were confirmed when the home side took a two-goal lead. Manasse Mampala scored either side of the break to take the score to 2 – 2 before Brandon Goodship looped a header over the excellently named Ryan Boot to seal a comeback win. Notts County were all over Weymouth in the first half in the next league game, we were lucky to be in with a shout thanks to Goodship’s strike but Cal Roberts scored a penalty to win it in the final ten minutes, given away by McBurnie. He’s fucking dropped.

After having just tasted defeat against King’s Lynn Town, Dagenham & Redbridge hosted Weymouth in their next game. Two goals in the space of four minutes put Weymouth in charge before McCallum reduced the arrears. An eventual 3 – 1 win was well deserved. Weymouth were amongst the transfer activity, both Ben Thomson and Cameron Murray joined Hampton & Richmond on loan to free up some wage budget. Jamie Sendles-White arrived on a free transfer, he was last with Maidenhead United. In our first intra-three kings battle, Weymouth took advantage of a James Songo sending off for Dover in the first half to canter to a 3 – 0 win with Jack Lee also being sent for an early shower. A late winner from Ahkeem Rose helped Weymouth overcome Barnet by a score of 3 – 2, meaning that the side end the month just three points outside the play-offs.

Manager of the Month: Phil Parkinson – Wrexham

Player of the Month: Paul Mullin – Wrexham

Young Player of the Month: Manasse Mampala – Weymouth