Andy Hessenthaler was left to rue refereeing decisions as Dover Athletic remain winless

Andy Hessenthaler felt his side should have been awarded a penalty and had a man advantage as Dover Athletic were pegged back from a goal up to eventually draw 1-1 away at Weymouth.

The Whites are still winless this season after six matches and sit on -10 points due to a 12-point deduction for failing to fulfil their fixtures amid the coronavirus pandemic last season.

Yet things could have looked far more positive had referee Scott Tallis awarded Dover a penalty early in the first half.

Dover’s skipper Ben Williamson made his way into the box and appeared to be dragged back by Weymouth centre-back Tyler Cordner.

However, the referee waved away the wild appeals and manager Hessenthaler felt the decision summed up their season so far.

“We would have definitely taken the point before the game, but I think we probably should have come into half-time up by at least a goal and definitely up a man.

“I’ve seen back the TV replays and it is a definite penalty and the Weymouth lad makes no attempt to play the ball so it should’ve been a red.

“That didn’t go for us and that is the sort of thing that is happening to us at the moment, but we had other chances and the criminal thing was conceding before half-time and the players know that.

“Yet, the character they showed in the second half to defend the goal and the point was brilliant, it shows how well they did because our goalkeeper hasn’t had to make any saves in the second half despite all their play.”

Despite being bottom of the league, Hessenthaler remained in positive spirits about the Whites’ fight against relegation.

“We’re disappointed to only have two points from the opening six matches and it is made even harder with the position we’re in after the -12-point deduction but we are all desperate to overcome that.

“We’ve been in all the games other than the Eastleigh match in midweek and we were well in the game today too.

“I know the wins will come if the players keep showing the character, we are an organised team but we have just got to take our chances.”

Slow start proves costly for Weymouth

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Weymouth manager Brian Stock felt his side missed an opportunity to take all three points due to a sloppy start in the draw against Dover.

The Terra’s struggled to keep possession in the opening half an hour of the match at the Bob Lucas Stadium and the Whites took a deserved lead in the 22nd minute through Koby Arthur’s magnificent 25-yard strike.

Dover should have doubled the lead on the half-hour mark when TJ Bramble broke from midfield and looked to find Williamson in the box but the final pass was over-hit and Ollie Harfield was able to clear and keep the Terras within touching distance.

The lifeline seemed to spark the hosts into action and Weymouth began to take control of the game from that moment.

Harfield, Cordner and Brandon Goodship all went close before the Terras eventually found the equaliser through captain Josh McQuoid, four minutes before the break.

Weymouth continued to dominate in the second half and Goodship was denied twice in an epic goalmouth scramble before Bradley Ash curled narrowly wide from a quick free-kick.

Yet despite their control, the Terra’s failed to really test Dover goalkeeper Adam Parkes in the second half much to the disappointment of their manager.

“The first 30 minutes was below our high standards in and out of possession.

“Maybe the midweek match was a contributing factor because it’s unlike us if I’m totally honest.

“We’ve started games really fast recently and that was probably the main message today because 80% of Dover’s goals have been conceded in the first half, so we didn’t really help ourselves.”

“I was pleased with our reaction to falling behind but obviously it’s a bit dissapointing that we lacked that little bit of magic to unlock Dover in the final third.”

“It shows how far we’ve come to be disappointed in not winning a game of football, when I first got the job we would be hopeful to just come away with a point.

“Whereas now we’ve come away from Dagenham, we’ve come away from Notts County and now we’ve come away from here disappointed not to win the game.”