Dover Athletic V Chelmsford City FC, National League South, Megger Community Stadium, Monday 1st April 2024, 3pm kick-off.
Chelmsford City’s Bank Holiday weekend concludes with a trip to neighbouring county Kent on Easter Monday, for a clash against already relegated Dover Athletic.
The Clarets comfortably overcame one of The Whites’ local rivals on Good Friday when they beat Dartford 4-1 at Melbourne Community Stadium. This victory maintained City’s current eight-point advantage over 3rd place Braintree Town.
Contrastingly, Jake Leberl’s Dover Athletic side experienced anything but a good Friday on Good Friday. The Kent club’s relegation from the National League South was mathematically confirmed after The Whites fell to a 1-0 away defeat against Welling United.
Leberl’s side now head into their final five games of the season sitting bottom of the league table, with nothing other than pride to play for.
Here’s all that Clarets supporters need to know ahead of the game…
Team & match stats:
· Dover are bottom of the National League South form table over the past ten games, having picked up just two points.
· Two of the Kent club’s three league wins this season have come in games at the Megger Community Stadium.
· However, Jake Leberl’s side still possess the weakest home record in the league, having picked up just 15 points in home matches Truro City are the side with the league’s second weakest home record; they have picked up 21 points in their home games.
· Nine of Dover’s home matches in 2023-24 have ended in a draw, no team in the National League South other than Weymouth (also nine) have drawn more games at home this season.
· The last four competitive clashes between Dover Athletic and Chelmsford City have ended in a draw.
Opposition:
Dover Athletic’s relegation from the National League South was confirmed on Friday, after Jake Leberl’s team suffered their 24th league defeat of the season against Rod Stringer’s Welling United side.
The Whites last recorded a league win in late-January, when they beat Slough Town 1-0 at the Megger Community Stadium. Lebrel’s side went without a win in the ten games following that victory and their Good Friday trip to Welling though, resulting in the already prevalent threat of relegation for the club growing even further. On Friday afternoon, relegation went from being a threat to being reality, when Dover’s winless run was extended to eleven games after another loss.
As well as extending the club’s winless run, defeat at the J Hearnden Skip Hire Stadium brought Dover’s 15-year spell in the National League and National League South to an end, confirming a second relegation in the space of three years.
Dover were relegated from the National League in 2021-22 after winning just two of 44 league games, with the current campaign echoing that miserable season. The club marked their return to the National League South last season by scraping survival on the last day of the campaign, with goal difference preventing Dover from falling into the final relegation place.
Manager Mitch Brundle, who helped guide The Whites to survival last year, was not afforded the same luck this season and got relieved of his managerial duties in December, after a 4-3 loss to then-bottom of the table side Havant & Waterlooville.
Brundle’s departure did not spark an escape from the drop zone for the Kent club though, with new manager Jake Leberl and his assistant Mike Sandmann winning just two league games since they were handed the reins by Chairman Jim Parmenter.
Dover took a point off of Chelmsford City when they visited Melbourne Community Stadium back in October though, meaning Robbie Simpson’s side will know all too well about the problems which Monday’s opponents could still cause them.
Team News:
The fitness of Robbie Simpson’s players will be assessed ahead of Monday’s game, following a quick turnaround from Friday’s win over Dartford.
Getting there:
Supporters travelling by car to Monday’s match should know that the journey from Melbourne Community Stadium to the Megger Community Stadium takes around one hour and forty-five minutes.
There is no parking for supporters within the ground, although parking is available in the rugby ground, which is just inside the main entrance – Dover’s stewards will direct you.
The Chelmsford City Supporters Club travelling to Monday’s game has sold out. The coach departs Melbourne Park at 11am on Monday, and will then depart the County Hotel at 11:15am.
The main railway station in Dover is Dover Priory which is approximately two miles from Crabble. The closest station to the Megger Community Stadium is Kearsney which is about a ten to fifteen-minute walk from the ground.
Ticketing information:
Ticket prices at the turnstiles for Monday’s game are as follows:
· Adult – £17
· Over 60 Concessions – £15
· Under 18 Concessions – £9
· Under 11’s – Free
Cash and card payments are accepted at the turnstiles.
How to follow the game:
Radio Clarets will provide live commentary of proceedings at the Megger Community Stadium.
Clarets fans can find pre-match coverage of Monday’s match and live updates of proceedings in Kent by following the club’s X (formerly Twitter) page: @OfficialClarets and Instagram page: chelmsfordcityfc.
Post-match reactions will be found on the club’s website, official social media channels and on ClaretsTV.
Words by Jake Dixon.
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