Dover Athletic boss Jake Leberl on season-ending National League South 2-2 draw against Chesham United, crowd of 1,054 at Crabble and teenage defender’s Enyinnaya Ezenwanne debut

Jake Leberl felt encouraged by Dover’s attendance for the season-ending draw against Chesham United.

Whites concluded a six-match losing National League South run as top scorer George Nikaj bagged a brace in front of a crowd of 1,054 at Crabble and it ended 2-2 last weekend.

It came after Dover manager Leberl and chairman Jim Parmenter had been quizzed at a fans’ forum four days earlier.

“It was nice to have 1,000 up there,” Leberl said, who pointed towards Horsham boss Dominic Di Paola as an example that longevity helps bring success.

“That was encouraging. We had a really good fans’ forum last Tuesday.

“I was a little bit upset a few people who tend to be negative didn’t turn up because it was a good chance for them to speak to us.

“But overall, it was really encouraging. Everyone knows where we’re at and they’re on board.

“As disappointing as the last couple of months have been - we feel we should have done better in the last half-a-dozen games - you have to remember this is only our second full season.

“Someone like Dom has been at Horsham for 11 years. It’s a tough league.

“Ultimately, we need to stabilise at this level. We need to pick up more points, especially at home, and we’re fully aware of that. It was nice for the crowd to be loud at the end of Saturday's game.

“It was what led to a fabulous equaliser from George.”

Nikaj’s double was sandwiched between the Chesham goals, which came each side of half-time.

Leberl reflected: “It sums us up a little bit.

“Obviously, we were pleased to get to the 50-point mark and pleased to show a little bit of spirit.

“We conceded just before and after half-time - and that’s probably just about the worst thing you can do, especially with the second one where we made a mistake.