Chris Kinnear hailed the character of his players as they provided him with the perfect response to the previous weekend's 4-2 defeat at FC Halifax Town.

Boss Kinnear described Whites' performance at the Shay Stadium as their worst of the season in the Vanarama National League so he was delighted to see his unchanged side hit back with Saturday's 5-2 home win over struggling Aldershot.

Kinnear was pleased, not just with the margin of victory, but by the way his team held their nerve after surrendering a 2-0 lead during the opening minutes of the second half.

He said: "They (Aldershot) caught us cold. Up until then Andy (Dover keeper Andy Rafferty) hadn't had a shot.

"Then it was two shots, two goals in a matter of minutes - not that we can say they were his fault, but they're learning, the lads, and they've got to learn that straight from the start they've got to be on it especially as the people playing us are now taking us a little bit more seriously. They're desperate to do well against us.

"The lads showed a lot of character though. Aldershot came out and scored two, and that after we'd talked about not letting them back in the game, but they didn't feel sorry for themselves, the players, they gave it a good go, scored five and could have won by six or seven, maybe more."

Centre-half Sean Raggett starred by scoring two second-half goals, with Jack Parkinson and Stefan Payne also on target but it was Nicky Deverdics who started the ball rolling with a superb second-minute strike which had Kinnear raving.

He said: "It came from a throw in that we work on but obviously you can't work on that shot, Nicky hit it so well. Phil Smith is one of the best keepers in the league but it went with so much power and it moved around a bit

"He probably saw it a little bit late because there were a lot of bodies in the way. It was going right in that corner and I don't know how anybody would have saved it."

Raggett's double earned him the sponsors' man-of-the-match but for Kinnear, two other players caught the eye.

He added: "I thought Ricky Modeste was outstanding, and Jack Parkinson had one of his best games, if not the best game he's had for us."