Dover Athletic manager Jake Leberl on table-topping squad which moved to Isthmian Premier summit with 4-2 home win against Hashtag United in front of big crowd at Crabble

Manager Jake Leberl admits table-topping Dover’s start to their Isthmian Premier season has even slightly surprised him.

The free-scoring Whites hit the summit in front of a massive crowd on the club’s community day with a 4-2 home win against Hashtag United on Saturday and sit ahead of unbeaten Billericay on goal difference.

It seems the feel-good factor is starting to return at Crabble after a second relegation in three years last season.

Asked if even he had been surprised with Dover’s early-season form, Leberl, who again named an unchanged starting line-up, replied: “A little. It’s a brand-new side.

“Obviously, you have targets in the summer that you try and get but - other than Mitch Walker, who was my No.1 keeper - I didn’t get any of my No.1 targets. So, we were going to (target) twos and threes, down the list, trying to get hold of boys.

“But I’ve been very picky and fussy about who I want to bring here. They have got to have certain attributes and I wanted a young side, I wanted an athletic side.

“I want boys that want to progress their careers and who hope to take us with them, really, to a certain degree. So far, it’s worked really well.

Report: Dover 4-2 Hashtag United

“But we’re 11 (league) games in, a quarter of the way through and there’s so much more football to play. Obviously, we have been very fortunate with injuries.

“We have had the same starting side for the seventh game in a row and, obviously, that really helps. The boys have really bought into that and they’re really looking after themselves away from here.

“Our discipline has been absolutely brilliant.”

Alfie Matthews put them ahead early on in front of a crowd of 2,732 and, although Hashtag equalised through winger Sakariya Hassan, Harrison