United 2
(Little 34′, 90′)
Dover 1
(Gregory 4′)
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Gary Johnson’s side left it late once again, as United came from behind to seal a vital three points against Dover at Plainmoor on Saturday.
An early strike from Travis Gregory gave the visitors a shock lead, however in front of guests from the NHS and care industry, Torquay roused themselves to level things up through Armani Little prior to the break, before the captain stepped up in the nick of time to turn one point into three.
The Gaffer made three changes to the side that secured that 1-1 draw at Wrexham, with Byron Moore, Keelan O’Connell and Tom Lapslie taking the places of Chiori Johnson, Connor Lemonheigh-Evans and Sinclair Armstrong.
The afternoon got off to the worst possible start for Johnson’s side, as they fell behind on four minutes. A cross from Travis Gregory wasn’t dealt with, leaving Gregory to head home by the penalty spot.
The home side went close to levelling it up in the 8th minute though.
O’Connell and Little linked up on the right wing, before the latter drove into the box and saw his low driven effort saved by Dover goalkeeper Adam Parkes.
Moments later, United came close again as O’Connell played a pivotal role once more, with Parkes forced to react smartly to deny an advancing Lolos.
A great move by Ben Wynter and O’Connell down the right in the 19th minute saw the winger play Wynter through on goal, but the right-back’s left-footed curler was off target.
There was a brief let-up in the yellow surges in the 21st minute, although Shaun MacDonald wasted little time in coming off his line to deny an advancing Ben Williamson a one-on-one effort.
United continued to press high and ten minutes later Wynter and O’Connell again combined down the right, before the winger’s cross found Lolos in the centre, however his header was off-target.
In the end, it was their ever-willing skipper Little who grabbed the equaliser in the 34th minute.
After patrolling the edge of the 18-yard line with intent, Little took a moment to look up before dispatching a low driven shot from 20 yards that arrowed past Parkes and into the bottom corner.
With the turn-of-tide now in full swing, O’Connell crowned a marvellous first half showing with a low cross towards the near-post that Lapslie steered goalwards, before the close range effort was desperately hacked off the goal line.
As the match headed towards the interval, Johnson’s men remained in full charge.
One minute later, O’Connell played Lolos through on goal inside the box, but Parkes managed to get a leg out to make to deny Lolos.
On 41 minutes the same two combined, as the ball was squared for Lolos, who took the ball down off his knee, before sending in a volley that forced Parkes to push the ball over the crossbar.
Parity remained until the change of ends though, and for a long time in the second period it appeared to be looking to stay that way, as both sides largley cancelled each other out.
The first chance of the second half came in the 54th minute when a free kick from the left hand touchline from Dean Moxey was flicked on and found Holman at the far post, however, off balance, his header went over.
There were worries for the Yellow Army at the other end with 17 minutes remaining, as Koby Arthur’s corner found Ryan Hanson at the back-post, but his header went wide of the back stick.
Despite chances remaining at a premium, United came close to taking the lead in the 75th minute, after substitute Jake Andrews’ low shot from outside the Dover box went narrowly wide of the upright.
Andrews’ introduction came about as the result of a spot of real misfortune, with Johnson entering the fray in place of Moore, before leaving it injured just two minutes later, a fate also suffered by Dan Holman with eight minutes left.
With a number of decisions going against them, it looked like the day would end in disappointment, until Little had the final word.
With the newly-refurbished scoreboard showing 90 minutes played, Little made it work some more, as a delicious ball to the back post from Andrews was knocked into the path of The Gulls’ captain, who delivered a wonderful volley into the roof of the net to make it 2-1, and ultimately seal all three points.
That result saw Johnson’s side move up to 14th, as their march up the table continues.
United: 37. Shaun MacDonald, 2. Ben Wynter, 4. Tom Lapslie, 10. Armani Little (c), 15. Harry Perritt, 16. Keelan O’Connell, 19. Klaidi Lolos, 21. Dean Moxey, 27. Byron Moore (14. Chiori Johnson 59′, 11. Jake Andrews 62′), 30. Dan Holman (17. Gabby Rogers 82′), 31. Joe Lewis.
SUBS NOT USED: 1. Mark Halstead, 5. Ali Omar.
Yellow Card: O’Connell 55′, Lolos 90+3′
Dover: 20. Adam Parkes, 4. Thomas-James Bramble (22. Koby Arthur, 69′), 5. Reda Johnson (16. Harry Ransom 8′), 6. Jake Goodman, 10. Ben Williamson (c), 11. Aaron Cosgrave, 17. Travis Gregory (27. Matt Bentley 84′), 18. Henry Woods, 21. Junior Tiensia, 23. Danny Collinge, 25. Ryan Hanson.
SUBS NOT USED: 1. Josh Bexon, 3. Sam Wood.
Yellow Card: Collinge 53′, Goodman 90+3′
Attendance: 2,892 (49 away)