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Dover Athletic 1-2 Dagenham & Redbridge: Mitch Brundle scores winner against his former club

Mitch Brundle scored against his old club as Dover were beaten 2-1 by Dagenham & Redbridge at Crabble.

Whites went behind to Angelo Balanta's close-range effort mid-way through the first-half before Alfie Pavey headed the hosts level.

Brundle then made no mistake from the penalty spot following Scott Doe's foul on Balanta early in the second-half.

Dover forward Alfie Pavey. Picture: Alan Langley
Dover forward Alfie Pavey. Picture: Alan Langley

Dover named two changes to the side that beat Chesterfield, with Saturday's match-winner Pavey and Jai Reason replacing Steven Rigg and Ricky Modeste.

Former Whites captain Brundle started against his former club after signing for Dagenham earlier in the summer.

Matt Robinson, James Dobson and Juan Luque came into the starting eleven as one of three changes from the defeat to Woking at the weekend.

Inih Effiong saw the first sighting of goal when he was inches away from running onto Reason's through ball, only to hesitate in time for Dagenham's back four to recover.

The deadlock was almost broken by the dangerous Luque, who somehow managed to miss a near-open goal with a header from two yards out at the back-post.

Joe Quigley was quick to follow up the rebound but saw his shot deflected into the side-netting, with Luque still wondering how he had not put the visitors ahead.

Effiong threatened again at the opposite end, failing to get the ball out of his feet in time to get a shot off.

The game began to level out mid-way through the first half as Jack Munns, Michael Woods and Reason began to interchange impressively in midfield.

Dagenham eventually opened the scoring in the 25th minute when Luque burst down the left-hand side before pulling the ball back to Balanta who made no mistake from close range.

Andrew Eleftheriou was then awarded a yellow card for a pull on Effiong's shirt just as it appeared as though the striker was racing through on goal.

Dover were again caught out-of-position at the back as Luque found himself in acres of space on the left-hand side of the box.

Having taken his time, the Dagenham man fired beneath Lee Worgan but saw his shot denied by a superb goal-line block from a retreating Doe.

Effiong broke straight down the other end, driving from his own half beyond three or four Dagenham shirts until his eventual shot was well-blocked on the edge of the box.

The equaliser followed soon after courtesy of Saturday's hero Pavey, who rose above his marker to meet Josh Passley's cross and direct a thumping header into the bottom corner.

His impressive connection with Dover's full-backs was almost demonstrated again later in the half when he met Bobby-Joe Taylor's perfectly-placed cross, just failing to keep his header down.

Mitch Brundle. Picture: Alan Langley
Mitch Brundle. Picture: Alan Langley

Dover were behind seven minutes after the restart when Brundle converted from the penalty spot following Doe's foul on Balanta.

Whites boss Andy Hessenthaler's response was to turn to the bench as he introduced Ricky Modeste and Nassim L'Ghoul in place of Munns and Reason.

He wasted little time in making his third substitution, replacing Effiong with summer signing Rigg.

The home side's search for an equaliser saw them rightly explore their threat in the wide areas, with another deep Taylor cross being headed just wide by a stretching Pavey.

Passley was next to threaten with a mazy run on the right-hand side to create the space for a cross that would go on to draw a corner.

Dagenham seemed increasingly happy to let Dover control possession as the second half progressed, posing a counter-attacking threat on the occasions they did win the ball back.

Substitute Reece Grant went close to scoring with his first touch of the game but couldn't direct his close-range header inside the near post.

A greater show of urgency saw Dover set up camp in the Dagenham half.

Pavey first couldn't quite reach a driven cross from Rigg, who then headed inches wide from a corner.

Rigg tried his luck again with a curling effort from the edge of the box, drawing a comfortable save from Elliott Justham between the sticks.

Dover appeared to run out of ideas late in the game as Dagenham defended well against a barrage of crosses into the box.

Brundle could have had his second of the game as he looked to take advantage of a slip from Worgan, who somehow managed to deflect his old teammate's shot out for a corner.

Dover pushed hard at the end but saw their 10-game unbeaten streak in the National League come to an end.

Dover: Worgan, Passley, Doe, Lokko, Taylor, Gobern, Woods, Munns (Modeste 57mins), Reason ( L'Ghoul 57mins), Effiong, Pavey. Subs not used: Mersin, Rigg, De Havilland.

Dagenham: Justham, Eleftheriou (Phipps 88mins), Clark (captain), Croll, Graham, Brundle, Robinson, Dobson, Balanta (Grant 71mins), Luque (Wood 71mins), Quigley. Subs not used: Wright, McQueen.

Attendance: 1,520

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