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Sport

Dover Athletic midfielder Joe Healy on National League promotion race

By: Alex Hoad

Published: 00:00, 23 March 2017

Joe Healy says Dover can be grateful they remain masters of their Vanarama National League play-off destiny but now’s the time to step it up.

Whites are two places and two points outside the top-five, with two games in hand, after Tuesday night's games, although the table has tightened up in recent weeks with only eight points separating eighth-placed Barrow from Tranmere in third.

Healy struck the only goal as Dover returned to winning ways against Bromley on Saturday, ending the team’s scoreless streak of more than six hours and banishing the memory of a one-point return from three games against Solihull, Woking and Boreham Wood.

Joe Healy, Dover's matchwinner against Bromley. Picture: Alan Langley

Healy said: “It’s great it’s in our hands. A month ago we felt like we had a run of games coming up where we could build up enough points to put us in a comfortable position for the run-in. Unfortunately, we’ve not got the number of points we thought we might.

“It’s frustrating but we’ve tried not to get too down and it does help to have level-headed management (like Chris Kinnear) at a time like this.”

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Dover have nine games to come this season with Saturday’s trip to Guiseley (3pm) followed by Tuesday night’s rearranged game at Tranmere (7.45pm).

Healy said: “We’ve still got some hard games to come against some big teams but these are the sort of games you want to be playing in.

“Tuesday is going to be a big game in front of a big crowd but we have got to focus on Guiseley first who have started to find some form.

“If we could get through those games with something then it gives us something extra to take into the next game (at home to fifth-placed Gateshead).”

Healy’s winning goal was his fourth in eight games since making his first Whites start, with Whites having only scored six other goals in that spell.

Five of those have come from Ricky Miller, who returns from his two-match ban at Guiseley, although Sam Magri (international duty) and Aswad Thomas (suspension) miss out.

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Healy added: “It was good to get another goal. Early in my career I played as a forward and even now I always aim for 10 a season, although I won’t have played a full season this year.”

Healy’s contribution was just as important at the other end as in the final 10 minutes he was called on to nod an Alan Dunne header destined for the top corner off his own line and over the bar.

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