Adam Birchall's double ensured Dover maintained their slender lead at the top of the Blue Square South standings on Saturday after a 2-0 win over Bath City.
The first half produced no successful goalmouth action but the Welsh forward was on hand to fire the hosts in front after 65 minutes. He struck again at the end of normal time, reducing Darren Edwards' 90th-minute effort to nothing more than a consolation strike.
The Whites are still one point clear of Newport County, who toiled to a 1-0 away victory to fellow play-off contenders Woking.
Irish striker Sam Foley's 29th minute goal was enough to see the Exiles keep pace with the leaders.
Meanwhile, third-placed Thurrock also managed a win to keep the top of the table tight. The Fleet edged out Worcester 2-1 at the Woodspring Stadium after Paul O'Lima and Leon McKenzie combined to cancel out Craig Wilding's 83rd-minute spot kick.
Basingstoke moved into the play-off places when they beat Braintree Town 2-1 at Cressing Road Stadium on Saturday.
The visitors made their intentions clear from the start when Steve Laidler opened the scoring as early as the sixth minute.
Jahson Downes then doubled Stoke's lead just after the interval to give his side a two-goal cushion.
George Purcell managed to pull a goal back in the 59th minute to set up a tense final half-hour, but the visitors held on for the win and a valuable three points.
Havant and Waterlooville slipped down to seventh in the table when they played out to a 1-1 draw with Hampton & Richmond as West Leigh Park.
Barrie Matthews gave the Beavers the lead in the 64th minute from the penalty-spot after the home side committed a foul in the area.
But Hutchings grabbed a late goal for the home side as they managed to salvage a point from the fixture.
Results in Full:
Bishops Sford 2-0 Dorchester
Braintree Town 1-2 Basingstoke
Dover 2-0 Bath City
Eastleigh 3-1 Chelmsford
Havant and W 1-1 Hampton & Richm
Lewes 1-2 Maidenhead Utd
Staines Town 2-2 Bromley
Welling United 3-1 Weston-S-Mare
Weymouth 0-3 St Albans
Woking 0-1 Newport County
Worcester City 0-1 Thurrock
Posted: Saturday , September 19, 2009
Congratulations to Newport County FC ....another ex League side coming back from the brink.They will ... MORE >>
By lutonphil on Tue, 16th March 10
| BlueSq South Standings | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Newport County | 88 |
| 2 | Chelmsford | 61 |
| 3 | Braintree Town | 59 |
| 4 | Staines Town | 57 |
| 5 | Bath City | 56 |
| 6 | Dover | 56 |
| 7 | Eastleigh | 53 |
| 8 | Welling United | 53 |
| 9 | Thurrock | 51 |
| 10 | St Albans | 51 |
| Full standings | ||
Your Comments
rushworthgary
"Good win Dover, keep it up..."
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