Dover Athletic v Grimsby Town - Match Preview - Vanarama National League
Grimsby Town will look to edge closer to the play-off places when they travel to Crabble to face bottom side Dover Athletic on Saturday.
This will be the Mariners first game since their 3-1 home victory against Aldershot Town after last Friday's game away at Southend United was postponed due to stadium damage that occurred during Storm Eunice. Despite a red weather warning in place around Southend that day, the match was officially called off at 16:30pm as it was reported that advertising boards had been torn off their sightings as well as screws and other debris that have been strewn across the Roots Hall pitch. Also last Friday, in the mist of the aftermath of the postponement, Grimsby Town confirmed the signing of Tranmere Rovers striker Emmanuel Dieseruvwe on loan until the end of the season. Standing at 6'5, the striker has only made six appearances in League Two since joining the Birkenhead based side last summer and has made 12 appearances in all competition. Despite that, Dieseruvwe has experience in winning promotion to League Two after being involved in Salford City's National League promotion winning campaign, beating now National League North side AFC Fylde 3-0 in the play-off final at Wembley in which he scored the opening goal. He will wear the number 12 shirt during his stay in North East Lincolnshire.
In terms of injury news for the Mariners, despite Paul Hurst being 'hopeful' Jordan Maguire-Drew would've been fit to play in last week's postponed Southend game, he has since reaggravated the calf problem during training that has kept him out for the previous five fixtures. On top of that, Ryan Taylor has since suffered a groin strain whilst in training in which is set to keep him out of this one. Hurst has since said that both Maguire-Drew and Taylor will be absent for at least "a couple of weeks". As well as that, Max Wright looks to have picked up a fresh injury blow that will keep him out for the trip to Crabble. The winger was set to play 45 minutes in the Reserve League Cup match against Rotherham United on Tuesday afternoon but he could only manage half an hour as he seems to have rolled his ankle. With that, he was also seen limping away from the pitch with the help of the coaching team. Ben Fox is the other remaining absentee for this game.
As for the home side in this one, Dover Athletic are currently sat bottom of the Vanarama National League table. Dover were forced to start the season with a -12 point deduction after refusing to play the second half of last season due to a lack of funds. They placed their management, players, and staff on furlough despite the National League season continuing. Despite a failed appeal, their results from the 15 games they did play were expunged and they were also fined £40,000. After government grants ran out, the club were unwilling to take on loans, with chairman Jim Parmenter arguing it was against the league's own rules.
In terms of the football side of things, the Whites are currently sat on -4 points with only one win to their name all season. That win came at home to Eastleigh as a second-half goal from Alfie Pavey gave them their first victory in 25 attempts. Out of the 29 games Dover have played this season, they have lost 23 of them. On top of that, they have only scored 21 goals which is the lowest in the league as well as conceding 63 goals, the highest in the league.
Of the 63 goals Dover have conceded this season, six of them have come against Grimsby at Blundell Park back in October. The Mariners were 5-0 up at half-time thanks to goals from Luke Waterfall and John McAtee as well as a Ryan Taylor double and a strike from former Coventry City loanee, Will Bapaga. Waterfall managed to bag his second of the game and Grimsby's sixth with 20 minutes to play to send Town to the top of the National League table at the time. In the week, Dover held Aldershot Town to a goalless draw at The EBB Stadium whilst the Mariners were not in action.
So what can we expect from this fixture?
On paper, Grimsby are clear favourites to win this one but in order to sill be in the race for the play-offs, this is a game in which Town need to be winning. I do see this as a bit of a banana skin to some extent but if the Mariners turn up with the right mindset and not one that they think it's a given they're going to win, I think they'll win this quite comfortably. As I said in the Southend preview, Town's next aim is to improve results on the road and after winning their last away game at Notts County, they now need to build on that. Things like that could be key come the end of the season. I personally can't see Andy Hessenthaler's men giving Town too many problems in this one. I'm hopeful it will be like the reverse game at Blundell Park but as long as Grimsby get a result as well as potentially going five games unbeaten, it will be a good day.
Last five fixtures:
Dover Athletic - WLLLD
Grimsby Town - LWWDW
Last XI:
Dover Athletic: 20. Parkes, 23. Collinge, 6. Goodman, 4. Bramble, 25. Hanson, 32. Krasniqi, 18. Woods, 22. Arthur, 33. Gyasi, 26. Pavey, 16. Ransom
Substitutes: 2. Moses, 8. Caton, 28. Wilkinson, 34. Parfitt-Williams, 44. Andre
Grimsby Town: 21. Crocombe, 2. Efete, 5. Pearson, 6. Waterfall, 22. Amos, 15. Clifton, 17. Raikhy, 30. Burgess, 10. McAtee, 18. Sousa, 29. Taylor
Substitutes: 8. Coke, 9. Abrahams, 11. Scannell, 14. John-Lewis, 26. Smith
Date: Saturday 26th February 2022
Location: Crabble Stadium
Kick-off time: 15:00