Dover Athletic 2 Crystal Palace XI 3

Despite scoring two corking goals in the latter stages of this entertaining friendly, Whites ultimately went down by the odd goal in five to Neil Warnock’s bright young wannabees at the Perry’s Crabble Stadium on Tuesday night.

And whilst Whites were the better side in parts, Palace taught them an object lesson in how to absorb pressure and counter attack, something that Dover will surely have to do frequently in the months ahead.

Although Shaun Welford’s honeymoon and knocks sustained by John Keister and Ollie Schulz had reduced Andy Hessenthaler’s selection options, Whites were the better side in the first half as they knocked the ball around crisply.

Though defensively solid, Palace hadn’t really shown as an attacking force until they took the lead in somewhat fortuitous circumstances after 21 minutes.

Going down at the feet James Dayton, Whites keeper John Whitehouse looked to have won a one-on-one confrontation by getting to the ball first and pushing it behind for a corner. Referee Paul Kelly saw an infringement, however, and awarded a penalty that Thomas Simon thumped straight down the middle and just underneath the crossbar.

Although Whites’ impressive approach play yielded just one clear cut chance – which got stuck under the unfortunate Bailey’s foot just before the interval – they deserved better than to be trailing at the break.

However, all that good work was undone early in the second period when Palace wide man Jamie Smith drove into an acre of space on the right and squared the ball for Billy Bingham to net a tap-in for 2-0.

And when Bingham provided a peach of a cross for Simon to head home emphatically, what had been a tight game began to look like a stroll in the park for the South Londoners.

But, with Whites belatedly ditching their earlier somewhat shot-shy approach, they pulled a goal back when Jon Wallis smacked the ball home from fully 40 yards with an effort that belatedly dipped under the crossbar.

And four minutes from time fellow midfielder Sammy Moore made it 3-2 with another absolute screamer that stayed at waist height as it zipped inside the right hand upright.

Dover Ath: Whitehouse (Lindley 82), Fish (Maasbach 73), Rogers (Gore 61), Ball, Hill, Moore, Wallis, Pouton (Jones 61), Bailey, Collin (Hughes 46), Browning (O’Brien 80).