Dover had a wasted trip to Salisbury after the battle between the two Blue Square Bet South promotion chasers was washed out.

Saturday’s clash lasted 45 minutes before referee Simon Knapp abandoned the game as heavy rain made the Salisbury pitch waterlogged.

It was an unsatisfactory end to an eagerly anticipated match between two sides with an outside chance of catching leaders Welling.

Neither team had managed to find a breakthrough in the first half, although Dover had started the brighter, with Billy Bricknell coming close on a couple of occasions.

The home side came into the game as the half wore on and had the ball in the back of the net, before that was ruled out for off-side.

Rain and hailstones came down hard as the half-time whistle sounded and both Dover manager Chris Kinnear (pictured) his Salisbury counterpart Darrell Clarke left it up to the referee to decide if play should continue.

With some large puddles forming on the pitch Mr Knapp decided to halt proceedings and the pair must start again at a later date.

Dover ended the weekend sitting 13 points behind Welling with a game in hand.

Whites - unbeaten in eight - are back in action on Tuesday night when they host Bromley in the league.