Dover Athletic crashed out of the FA Cup in the qualifying stages for the eighteenth consecutive season as they failed to exorcise the ghosts of their past on Halloween night in Aldershot.

A combination of bad weather, closed roads and heavy traffic restricted the Whites' travelling support to a fraction of what it would have been had this game gone ahead on Saturday as planned. The weekend postponement did however mean that Simon Beard was fit enough to start. Athletic persisted with a 5-3-2 system with Munday, Beard and Shearer as the three centre-backs, Browne and Norman in the wide positions and a midfield trio of Anthony Hogg, Neil Le Bihan and Jimmy Strouts. Up front Joff Vansittart was partnered by Matt Carruthers. On-loan midfielder Ross Darcy was absent as Barnet did not want him to become cup-tied, Steve Brown and Lee McRobert were on the bench, along with Jason Moore.

The first half was closely fought and very even with neither side able to fashion any real openings. Neil Le Bihan, Matt Carruthers and Tony Browne were at the heart of Dover's best moves, but the Whites were restricted to a couple of headed half chances and Paul Hyde was equally untroubled at the other end.

The second period was much more open than the first, but it was Aldershot who capitalised by taking the lead on 53 minutes. Gary Abbott hit a shot from the edge of the area that beat the full-length dive of Paul Hyde and sneaked inside the far post.

After the goal went in Dover applied sustained pressure on the Aldershot defence. The Shots however continued to look dangerous on the break. A couple of minutes after the goal, Anthony Hogg had Dover's first real effort of the second half as he charged down a clearance and belted a shot at goal which went a foot over the bar. Hogg made way for the introduction of Lee McRobert a few minutes later.

Neil Le Bihan and Tony Browne were the main creative influences for the Whites and it was Jimmy Strouts who looked the most dangerous in front of goal. Strouts almost levelled the scores on 63 minutes with a bullet header from a left-wing corner, the keeper was beaten but the ball struck a defender on the line and stayed out. Strouts came close again a short while later when Neil Le Bihan delivered an excellent cross from the left. Strouts launched himself at the ball but his diving header failed to make contact with the ball when only a faint touch was required to convert the chance.

As time ran out, Dover's play became increasingly urgent. Striker Steve Brown replaced defender Simon Beard with 15 minutes left, and Lee Shearer, Tony Browne and Steve Norman all joined the attack, leaving Stuart Munday as the lone defender.

The best and final chance for Dover to equalise came a minute before time. After a scramble in the area the ball fell to Tony Browne eight yards out and he hooked a well hit shot towards the net. Again the keeper was beaten but somehow a defender on the line got the faintest of deflections. The ball span off the defender and back towards the goal but went just wide of the post. In any other competition the ball would have hit the back of the net, but when it comes to the FA Cup Dover just don't have any luck. The look on Tony Browne's face as the ball stayed out was one of pure agony, and the feeling among the travelling support was much the same. The game ended on a disappointing note when in injury time most of the 22 players were involved in a confrontation with much pushing, shoving and waving of arms.

Athletic's abysmal FA Cup record now stands at 18 failures to qualify in the 18 seasons since the club was formed in 1983. Last season an early FA Cup exit was the catalyst that spurred the Whites on to their best ever run in the Conference and saw them challenging for the title in February. Hopefully the disappointment will have the same effect this year. As for the FA Cup, 19th time lucky?