Match Preview: Dover Athletic (H) - 24th January 2026

Photo courtesy of Fin Hall

By Josh Cole

A fixture against Dover Athletic at the Snows Stadium is up next for AFC Totton in the Enterprise National League South!

Last time out The Stags faced another Kent team in Tonbridge Angels but unfortunately were on the wrong side of the scoreline. Click here to read the match report from that game.

DOVER ATHLETIC – THEIR SEASON SO FAR:

The Whites are currently in 15^th place in the league, on 34 points from 27 games. Click here to view the full league standings.

Dover started off the season with a home game against Totton, where an outstanding first half saw The Stags go 0-3 up! The second half ended 2-3 but it was a loss in their first game for Dover. They bounced back well to win their next three games before losing 3-2 away at Torquay, but they rounded off the month with a win against Maidenhead.

A successful August was followed up by an ok September as Dover recorded one win and three draws in the league, going unbeaten, but they suffered a 4-1 defeat in the FA Cup against Farnborough.

October was a winless month for Dover in all competitions. They played six league games which saw three draws and three losses, with the other game in October being a loss against Bromley in the Kent Senior Cup on penalties.

November was an unbeaten month for Dover as they started off with a 1-1 draw against playoff hopefuls Horsham. Following that they won four in a row, three in the league, which included a great 1-2 win away at title challengers Weston-super-Mare and one at home in the FA Trophy against Dorchester Town.

Their form from November briefly continued into the next month of December with a win in tehri first game against Chesham United (0-1). But they hit a rough patch, with two heavy defeats back-to-back, a 1-4 loss against Hornchurch in the FA Trophy, and a 2-5 loss against Eastbourne, both at home. Two more defeats came for Dover to round off the month, both against fellow Kent opposition in Maidstone (1-0) and Ebbsfleet (1-2).

In January so far, Dover started off with a home defeat against Hemel Hempstead, losing that one 1-2, but bounced back to beat Bath at home, however in their last match before this fixture they suffered a 2-0 away defeat at Dagenham & Redbridge.

LAST FIVE: AFC TOTTON

Vs Tonbridge Angels | Away | ENLS | Lost 4-1

Goalscorers: Ash Clarke 30'

Vs Enfield Town | Home | ENLS | Won 3-2

Goalscorers: Tony Lee 24’ 90+2’ & Ralph Vigrass 45+4’

Vs Chippenham Town | Home | ENLS | Drew 1-1

Goalscorer: Tony Lee 68’

Vs Salisbury | Away | ENLS | Lost 3-1

Goalscorer: Craig Tanner 47’

Vs Torquay United | Home | ENLS | Won 1-0

Goalscorer: Brandon Haunstrup 44’

LAST FIVE: DOVER ATHLETIC

Vs Dagenham & Redbridge | Away | ENLS | Lost 2-0

Vs Bath City | Home | ENLS | Won 1-0

Goalscorer: Jalen Jones 8’

Vs Hemel Hempstead | Home | ENLS | Lost 1-2

Goalscorer: George Nikaj 22’

Vs Ebbsfleet United | Home | ENLS | Lost 1-2

Goalscorer: Kenny Coker 56’

Vs Maidstone United | Away | ENLS | Lost 1-0

COMPARING THE STATS (all comps)

OPPOSITION PLAYERS TO WATCH:

DEFENCE: JALEN JONES

Standing at 6ft 7in, Jones arrives after an impressive 2024/25 season with Oxford City, where he made 38 appearances and scored four goals.

A product of Crystal Palace’s academy, Jones has previous spells at Worthing, Braintree, Cray Wanderers, and Aveley. Internationally capped 14 times for Guyana he is known for his aerial dominance and composure on the ball.

MIDFIELD: ALFIE MATTHEWS

The 23-year-old began his youth career at Arsenal, joining their academy at the age of eight and spending over a decade there. During his time at Arsenal, he trained with the first team and made notable progress through the youth ranks​. He was capped for England at U16 level, where he scored on his debut.

He later joined Crystal Palace U23s. Matthews joined Dover at the start of the 24/25 season having been at National League South sides Hemel Hempstead, Braintree and Welling.

Alfie made a huge impact on Dover's promotion winning campaign, scoring 13 goals including winners in both the Play-Off Semi-Final and Final.

ATTACK: GEORGE NIKAJ

George is a product of the Dover Athletic Academy and made his first team debut during the 21/22 season in the National League.

George has since made 51 National League South appearances and was named Away Player of the Season in 23/24. In their 24/25 promotion winning campaign he received the Dover Athletic Supports Club ‘Golden Boot’ award after netting 25 times in all competitions.

In the first game of the season against AFC Totton, George did score two second half goals proving himself to be clinical in front of goal if given the chance.

MATCH OFFICIALS:

Referee - Morgan Conn

Assistant 1 - Thomas Price

Assistant 2 - Sean Phillips

Fourth Official - Calum McFarlane

GO STAGS