John Elliot, one of Dover's better players on the afternoon, makes a rare attack on Vince Bartram's goal.

Gillingham did to Dover Athletic at Crabble this afternoon what the Whites themselves did to Sittingbourne at Central Park on Wednesday. Gary Bellamy's Dover side, with just one match under their belts so far, came up against a well-prepared Gillingham side who created a glut of chances and converted most of them on the hostest afternoon of the year.

The scoreline did not tell the full story of the match as the Whites played some attractive passing football, which was at times as good as anything the visitors produced. The difference between the two teams however was the ability to create openings. Whilst most of Athletic's possession failed to break down the Gills' defence, the visitors repeatedly breached Dover's back line.

New signing Colin Vowden captained the Whites on his home debut.

The result was never in any doubt once Iffy Onoura netted twice in two minutes to put the First Division side 2-0 up after just quarter of an hour. Dover started with what many would see as being their first choice back four, with Shearer and Vowden in the centre of defence, Steve Norman at left-back and Jake Leberl reverting to the right-back role he used to occupy a couple of seasons ago. The home side managed to keep Gillingham out for the rest of the first half and created a few half-chances to get back into the game. Danny Hockton broke into the penalty area from the left but his shot from a narrow angle was weakly hit and Bartram saved easily.

The Whites also managed to win a few corners down the right and had a brief period of sustained pressure when they forced three consecutive corners without managing to really test Bartram.

Jamie Day was involved in some good midfield play but Dover struggled to breakdown the visitors' defence.

Half-time brought the inevitable substitutions and tactical experimentation. Jake Leberl was replaced at right-back by Sammy Okafor and Lee Shearer made way for James Campbell at centre-half. Matt Carruthers, who had been fairly quiet in the first half, was replaced by Jon Allman on the right of midfield with Craig Etherington, who again impressed in the midfield holding role, coming off for Jimmy Strouts. Gillingham replaced all eleven players.

King made it 3-0 to Gillingham five minutes into the second period, and Ipoua 4-0 just after the hour mark. James Campbell had to be withdrawn at this point after collecting a knock and he was replaced by Jason Moore, back at Crabble for a third time having been released last season. Moore assumed his preferred right full-back role as Okafor moved into an unfamiliar central defensive position. Moore looked fit and quick and, along with Jimmy Strouts, was one of Dover's best players in the second half.

Niall Inman made his first appearance in a Dover shirt and was involved in some of Athletic's best moves.

It was Strouts, Moore and Inman who provided most of the running from deep. Strouts turned defence into attack effectively on a number of occasions, picking up the ball in the Dover half and driving forward as the Gillingham midfield backed off. Moore overlapped to good effect on the right and combined well with Jon Allman. On the left Inman caused some problems and was involved in two of Athletic's best attacks. He got round the back of the visitors' defence before unselfishly trying to pull the ball back for the Dover forwards. But the Gills intercepted and in hindsight he probably should have had a shot himself. Inman did have a shot on goal late in the second half, spurning Athletic's best chance of the match as he shot just wide of the top corner when a goal seemed inevitable.

Matt Carruthers was one of the more familiar faces in the Athletic side.

Gillingham made it 5-0 on 76 minutes through Pennock and King completed the scoring in the 83rd minute with his second. The Gills could have had more. They hit the post on two occasions and wasted another couple of excellent chances.

Gary Bellamy made good his promise to give youth a chance by bringing on striker Dean Frost, who played for Athletic's Under 18s, Under 19s and Reserves last season, in place of John Elliot.

Gillingham emphasised the gulf that has grown between the county's top two football clubs over the last five or six years and there is no shame for the Whites in losing to such a class outfit. As Gary Bellamy said in his programme notes, results at this stage are not important. Dover's later friendlies, particulary those against Folkestone and Tottenham should give a better indication of what is in store for the Whites this season.

Steve Norman seems likely to be part of Gary Bellamy's first choice back four.

Inman was one of only a few players to last the full 90 minutes in the extremely hot conditions.

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