Dover Athletic boss Jake Leberl warns players ahead of FA Cup first qualifying round replay against Sittingbourne at Crabble
05:00, 03 September 2024
updated: 08:30, 03 September 2024
Jake Leberl has warned Dover’s players the hard work isn’t done yet ahead of their home FA Cup replay against Sittingbourne.
Whites staged a dramatic fightback on Saturday, scoring twice in stoppage time at Woodstock - once through keeper Mitch Walker - as they rescued a 2-2 draw against their lower-division hosts in the first qualifying round. That came after Henry Sinai and Ryan Kingsford had struck in the first half for Ryan Maxwell’s men.
The two teams meet again at Crabble tonight but Dover boss Leberl knows the Isthmian Premier club have much more work to do if they want to progress at the expense of last term’s Isthmian South East play-off semi-finalists.
“It wasn’t a great game,” reflected Leberl. “We sort of cancelled each other out a little bit with the way we go about things.
“They started on the front foot and we had spoken in depth about mentality - but mentality is something from within. I’ve been there and I understand it, it’s their cup final.
“It was just a really frustrating afternoon and, obviously, we’re lucky to have got another crack at it.
“The boys will never throw in the towel. They want to do well for each other.
“But if the boys think they have done the hard work, we will come unstuck and we will be out of the FA Cup this season.”
It looked like being an afternoon for Dover to forget but Walker inadvertently gave them late hope in the 93rd minute when a high free-kick went through a crowded penalty box and straight in before substitute Alfie Matthews netted two minutes later.
Leberl said: “There’s areas in the pitch that I want the boys to hit with set-pieces. We went against that a little bit on Saturday.
“Without being big-headed, I think - if we find those areas - we have got a chance with the first ball or second ball rather than having to try to recycle it and keep it alive.
“Obviously, Mitch wasn’t trying to score. He was more putting the ball into an area to cause carnage - which he did!
“For the second one, their keeper was a fairly young lad and he has made a bit of a hash of it, and we have put pressure on him.
“We were fortunate to come away with the draw.”
Leberl also condemned the actions of some Dover fans - already banned from Crabble - which led to a second-half delay.
“It was really disappointing,” he said. “We had an incident at Sevenoaks (in pre-season), as well, which I felt was disgusting. There’s a group that are banned from Crabble.
“I tried to reach out to the ring leader. I actually thought there would be trouble so I told my family not to travel on Saturday. It’s just mindless.
“I understand frustrations from years gone by - but this is a new era at the club. We want to promote families coming.
“We need to do what we can to make sure that this doesn’t happen again.”
Harrison Pont will be available for Dover as they again face one of his old clubs, the young midfielder returning from a three-game ban.
The winners of Whites’ replay with Sittingbourne have been drawn at Southern Counties East Premier Division team Lordswood, who are managed by ex-Dover assistant Nicky Southall.
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