Perennial slow-starter Ronnie Dolan has found his form at Lydd Town.

The former Folkestone midfielder scored an outstanding equaliser in a 1-1 draw at Whitstable in Southern Counties East on Tuesday night.

Dolan normally takes a bit of time to get going but there’s no stopping him now.

“Ronnie’s renowned as a slow starter to a season but once he gets into his stride he’s a really good player,” said Lydd joint-manager James Rogers.

“A lot of people I speak to have always said that about him.

“Cugs (ex-Folkestone boss Neil Cugley) is the main one who said he always starts the season slow and then comes into his own. I always knew he would hit form.

“He hadn’t been playing badly but it wasn’t the Ronnie Dolan I knew from Folkestone last year.

“Now he’s settled down, we’re seeing him produce week in, week out.

“He’s looked good in midfield. He’s comfortable on the ball, strong in the tackle and while he’s not the biggest, he’s good in the air.

“With the injuries we’ve had - me, Charlie Webster, Sammy Adams - Ronnie’s been a mainstay in midfield and done really well.

“The goal he scored on Tuesday night, I’ve seen him do that loads of times at Folkestone and he’s got a few for Lydd from long range as well.

“He’s got a great strike on him. When he gets in those areas and shoots you normally think if he gets it on target it’s going to fly in because he gets so much power behind it.”

Lydd trailed to Harvey Smith’s 37th-minute strike at the Belmont but Dolan levelled nine minutes into the second half.

Whitstable remain fourth in the league with Lydd back in 14th, although Rogers’ side have multiple games in hand on all the teams above them.

“Based on the game, a draw was a fair result,” said Rogers.

“I had a good chat with their manager after the game (Marcel Nimani) and he was full of praise for us.

“He said we’re the best team they’ve played and I’ve got to say they’re one of the best we’ve played as well.

“They’ve got some really good players and you can see they’ve taken to the system he wants to play.

“They’re a dangerous outfit going forward.

“I felt first half we were neat and tidy but we didn’t threaten enough, so second half I wanted us to go a bit more direct and try and get in behind them.”

Lydd visit second-placed Glebe tomorrow (3pm).

Rogers expects a tough game but knows his side are more than capable of getting a result.

He said: “It won’t be easy there but we’ve gone to Faversham (leaders) and won and drawn at Whitstable.

“I think Faversham will win the league but there’s a few good teams up there fighting for the play-offs.

“You’ve got Glebe, Whitstable, I think Punjab will be around it, and if we win our games in hand we can get ourselves in the mix.”

Lydd will be without Amin Gorgol, who’s returned to Sweden for personal reasons.

“Amin came on against Whitstable and was electric,” said Rogers. “He probably would have started on Saturday but he’s had to go back to Sweden.

“I’m not sure how long he’ll be away but I’ve told him we’ll welcome him with open arms when he’s back.

“He’s got that bit of quality a lot of players don’t have at this level.”