Hartlepool United v Dover Athletic
National League
Saturday 21st September 2019, 3pm
Victoria Park
In Opposition
Dover Athletic drove themselves well clear of relegation trouble with an impressive second half to last season following the return of Andy Hessenthaler to the Crabble dugout.
The experienced boss oversaw a superb upturn in fortunes for
the club which meant they finished the season well clear of the danger zone
last term.They have built on that this time around too and currently
occupy the final play-off spot ahead of this weekend's epic trip to Victoria
Park.Perhaps they will prefer playing away from home though
because they've struggled for form on their own patch this season, in stark
contrast to life on the road where they've won four from five so far.One To Watch
Inih Effiong is one of those that Pools will need to keep quiet this weekend
because the powerful front man has enjoyed an impressive start to the new
campaign.The 28-year-old top scored for Dover last term with 11 goals
and has already hit the net six times in 2019/20 with all those strikes
arriving in his last eight games.Effiong has previous against Pools too; the former Boreham
Wood and Ross County forward was on target in Dover's 2-1 win at Crabble last
season.Head To Head
Saturday's game will be only the fifth time that the two sides have met in competitive action and Dover have won three of the previous four encounters.
However, Pools did come out on top in the last meeting even
though they did it the hard way by coming from two goals down to win it injury
time at The Vic back in March.Last Meeting
Pools 3 Dover Athletic 2
Saturday 9th March 2019
Pools: Loach, Donaldson, Kerr, Edgar (Amos 74), Anderson, Kitching (Molyneux 43), Noble (Hawkins 89), Donaldson, Hawkes, Featherstone, Kabamba, James.
Subs not used: Catterick, Muir.
Dover Athletic: Worgan, Lokko, McNamara, Jeffrey (Passley 89), Brundle, Gomis, Lewis, Taylor, Reason, Allen, Pavey (Effiong 66).
Subs not used: Walker, Debayo, Nortey.
On The Whistle
Joe Johnson has taken charge of six Pools game previously and will be the man in the middle again for Saturday's meeting with Dover Athletic.
The last time Johnson was on Pools duty was in the opening
month of last season when he watched us draw 2-2 in an entertaining game with
Harrogate Town at The Vic.The experienced official is now in to his fifth season on
the National League's list of referees and his most recent outing came during
Barrow's 3-0 triumph over Solihull Moors at the weekend.Live Commentary
Luke Molyneux is joining our commentary team on Saturday and the winger will be alongside Mark Simpson for full live commentary of the clash with Dover Athletic.
You can join Luke and Mark here on the Official Website from
2.50pm and you'll be able to send questions and comments through to them to be
read out on-air.Click here now to access the live online commentary.
Buying Tickets
Tickets for Saturday's game are available in advance online or from the Club's Ticket Office, while there will also be availability on the day of the game.
Click here for all the information you need on buying tickets for Saturday.
Betting Odds
Pools 7/5
Dover 9/5
Draw 23/10