Dover retained the Malcolm Welsh Memorial Shield at Crabble this evening with a 4-1 victory over local rivals Folkestone Invicta at Crabble.

The Whites made two changes from the side that beat Purfleet on Tuesday. Craig Etherington was not in the squad, he was replaced at right back by Chris Dorrian who has linked up with the Whites from Leyton Orient. Lee McRobert was relegated to the bench in favour of Danny Hockton, with John Elliot dropping back into midfield. Former Leeds United goalkeeper Mark Beeney, who has been training with Dover and was on the bench for Athletic at Purfleet, was between the sticks for Invicta. The visitors also included ex-Whites Scott Daniels, James Virgo, Anthony Hogg and Paul Chambers.

It took Dover seventeen minutes to open the scoring, with a goal that was crafted by Keith Scott. The ex-Wycombe man was played through on the righthand side and advanced towards the corner flag before providing a testing cross that evaded John Elliot but was expertly finished by Jamie Day, who directed the ball high to Beeney's left and into the back of the net.

Keith Scott thought he had doubled the advantage mid-way through the half when he found the net from close range but the visitors were given the benefit of a close offside call and the goal was disallowed.

Athletic's teamwork is improving with each match and they played some attractive football in the middle of the park, but there were no additions to the score before half-time. Invicta were not without their chances but when they did manage to get past Dover's defence they were unable to really test Paul Hyde.

Dover's substitute goalkeeper Kevin Hudson turned out for the visitors in the second half, and the Whites made two changes of their own, bringing on Strouts and McRobert in place of Leberl, who had sustained a leg injury in the first half, and Inman.

It was substitute Jimmy Strouts who made Dover's second goal. Breaking down the right flank he delivered a perfect low cross that was turned into the net by Danny Hockton on 50 minutes.

The result was put beyond doubt by Keith Scott with half an hour still to play. Dover's impressive new forward beat Hudson twice in three minutes to give Athletic an unassailable 4-0 lead.

Three minutes later Anthony Hogg grabbed a consolation goal for Folkestone, and it was no more than they deserved. They had other chances to find the back of the net but most of their efforts were too close to Paul Hyde.

Dover were content to play the ball around for the final quarter which gave Folkestone the chance to play further forward. The Whites took the opportunity to give first team run-outs to reserve teamers Farrell Cox, Tom Hickman and Micky Lane in the closing stages of the game.

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