Dover Athletic manager Mitch Brundle’s pride as record-breakingly youthful side come from behind to beat Haringey Borough 2-1 in FA Cup Third Qualifying Round

Manager Mitch Brundle spoke of his pride after a record-breakingly youthful Dover side came from behind to beat lower-division Haringey in the FA Cup on Saturday.

Whites’ average age of their starting line-up was 20.72 after midfielder Iffy Allen, 29, pulled out in the warm-up with an existing quad muscle injury and was replaced by 20-year-old Luke Baptiste.

Defender John Oyenuga, 28, skippered the side but was some five years older than any of his team-mates who started!

Khalifa Jabbie gave early-season Isthmian Premier strugglers Haringey a half-time lead but substitute Zidan Sutherland’s brace flipped the game on its head at Crabble as Dover progressed to the Fourth Qualifying Round.

Brundle, himself only 28, said: “Some of the substitutions we have made [this season], they haven’t really come on and changed the game but, today, that’s actually what won us the game.

“First half, it’s the poorest we’ve played. But you just need to look at the average age of the team and that’s why I lose my voice so much because I constantly have to be shouting information on.

“They’re still young, they still do naive things, but they need support. I’ll give it to them.

Report: Dover 2-1 Haringey Borough

“Sometimes, they can’t hear me and, sometimes, they’re in the game. It didn’t work, first half, and substitutions needed to be made.

“It just wasn’t a game for certain people and I thought the substitutes that came on were absolutely outstanding. John going to right-back, arguably, that shut them down because they were looking sharp.

“Nick Dembele’s not had much game time recently and he came on and he affected the game in terms of things you can control which are determination and hard work. He chased after things he shouldn’t get