Steve Brown celebrates after opening the scoring.

What a difference four days makes. On Tuesday evening the Dover Athletic players and coaching staff were booed off the pitch after being dumped out of the FA Cup by a team two divisions beneath them in the pyramid. Today, the same players and staff were given a thunderous round of applause as they walked from the pitch having destroyed a Hednesford side that had been seven places above them in the Nationwide Conference at the start of the day.

Dover produced a vastly improved performance that resulted in their biggest win of the season, to reward those loyal fans who, despite Tuesday night's humiliation, kept faith in their side. The attendance was the lowest at Crabble for a long time.

Bill Williams retained most of the side that played against Worthing on Tuesday, making only two changes. Jake Leberl was serving a one match suspension after his red card against Scarborough, Tony Browne took his place, and Matt Carruthers was relegated to the bench, replaced by Steve Brown. Dover again played a 4-4-2 formation with Joe Dunne returning to central midfield and Tony Browne replacing him on the right side of defence.

Right from the start Dover took control of the game from midfield, with Dunne and Clarke marshalling the centre of the pitch and Wormull and Le Bihan providing the width. In the 15^th minute Clarke and Dunne combined to create an easy chance for Steve Brown. Clarke's deep cross drifted over everybody, except for Dunne who had ghosted in at the back post where he played the ball back across the face of goal for Brown to score from two yards.

Dover's second, after 26 minutes, was something you don't see very often. Simon Wormull's corner from the Dover left curled inside the far post with nobody getting a touch on it.

The closest Dover came to a third was when James Virgo's shot from a free-kick skimmed the outside of the post after 36 minutes.

Athletic had dominated the first period and ought to have gone in 2-0 up at the break. However, a momentary lapse of concentration in defence allowed Neil Davis to pull one back for Hednesford on the stroke of half time, with a header that seemed to catch Paul Hyde by suprise.

Joe Dunne did not reappear after the interval having picked up an injury in the first half. His place was taken by Mark Hynes, with Steve Brown dropping back to play on the right of midfield and Simon Wormull moving into the centre. This enforced reshuffle meant Dover lost their shape and allowed Hednesford into the game more. Brown showed his versatility by working hard in midfield but Hynes' performance up front was very disappointing. The bruised ankle which had prevented him from starting the match was obviously troubling him as he failed to chase most of the balls played ahead of him.

Hednesford took the game to Dover in the first 25 minutes of the half and very nearly equalised after 48 minutes when a blistering shot came back off the post. They had other chances but were unable to pull level. Paul Hyde made a couple of good saves and Stuart Munday was in excellent form in defence.

At the other end of the pitch Joff Vansittart was involved in most of Dover's best play. Firstly he did well to get above the keeper and head at goal but his effort went just wide. Shortly after, Vansittart was through on goal when he was brought down by Brindley. Brindley was the last defender and had already been booked so really should have walked but the referee did not even award a free-kick. A minute later, Joff was again involved when he challenged for an aerial ball with Hednesford keeper Hayward. Vansittart got the ball but the keeper went down injured and Joff was unfairly booked. Vansittart gave a whole-hearted performance and deserved a goal but he didn't get one and was replaced by Matt Carruthers with 11 minutes left.

It was Carruthers who grabbed Dover's third to secure all three points. Simon Wormull brought the ball out from defence and played it to Carruthers in the centre. Carruthers turned and advanced into the Hednesford half. He played the ball to Steve Brown who held it up in the corner whilst waiting for support. Brown then delivered a fine cross that was met at the back post by the unmarked Carruthers who nodded the ball into the net for his first goal of the season.

The scoring was completed four minutes from the end when centre-back Lee Shearer headed in Simon Wormull's corner for his fourth goal of the season, on his 22^nd birthday.

This was an excellent performance by Dover, with lots of candidates for man of the match. Simon Wormull was back to his best and his midfield colleagues, Joe Dunne and Neil Le Bihan, also had good games. Both full-backs, Browne and Virgo, were on form and up front Joff Vansittart worked hard and deserved a goal. At the back, Stuart Munday was rock solid. The strike partnership of Brown and Vansittart looked promising but leading scorer Mark Hynes and goal-scoring substitute Matt Carruthers will both be pressing for a place in the starting line-up against Stevenage next Saturday.

Joff Vansittart in action against Hednesford.

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