AHEAD OF THE GAME: Marine AFC (A)

Marine AFC vs Woking

Isuzu FA Trophy – Quarter Final

Saturday 28th February

15:00 Kick-Off

One final February fixture sees the Cards in FA Trophy Quarter-Final action, as they travel to Rossett Park to take on National League North outfit Marine AFC.

On their run to the final eight, Woking have seen off AFC Totton, with a third-round 2-0 victory, Macclesfield, with a 2-1 win in the fourth round, followed by Walton and Hersham in round five.

In that fixture, a quick start to life at Woking saw Gbodé score just three minutes into his debut, with O’Brien’s 35th-minute goal enough to see the Cards progress, despite Walton halving their deficit in the closing stages.

Woking now make the journey up North, looking to secure themselves a place in the final four for the second year running.

Among positive signs, the Cards played National League North opposition away from home in the final eight of last campaign, and emerged victors of a penalty shootout against Oxford City.

Moreover, whilst these teams haven’t met all that often in their history, the Cards have battled with Marine in the FA Trophy before, back in 1980. On that occasion, Woking emerged victorious, with a 2-0 victory away from home, seeing the Cards progress to the fourth round.

A similar result will be welcomed on Saturday afternoon, as Woking strive to continue their charge to Wembley, with the hope of adding to their FA Trophy successes, having previously won the competition in 1994, 1995, and 1997.

Opposition Watch

Currently 10th in the National League North, Marine have won 14, drawn six, and lost 12 on their way to a current total of 48 points. Just four points behind Scarborough Athletic, who currently occupy the final play-off spot, a top-seven finish is certainly not out of reach for the side.

When looking specifically at their FA Trophy campaign, Woking are not the first National League opposition Marine have been drawn against, with their fifth-round tie seeing them overcome Tamworth, after a goalless draw turned into a 4-1 penalty shootout victory for Marine.

Seemingly convincing from the spot, their fourth round tie against Gloucester City also ended in a shootout victory for Marine, whilst their two previous encounters, against Stocksbridge Park and Curzon Ashton, were won in the 90.

They welcome Woking with recent home form seeing them unbeaten in seven consecutive games across all competitions. Moreover, when looking at their league form, they have lost just one of their last ten games as the home side, indicative that they are hard to beat at Rossett Park.

They do, however, host Woking off the back of a heavy 4-0 defeat away from home against Kidderminster Harriers, a result they will be looking to bounce back from as they strive to reach the final four for the third time in their history.

Those two semi-final appearances are the furthest the club have got in the competition, meaning they have never made the final, a stat in the back of their minds as they look to progress one step closer to Wembley

One to Watch

Well known to the club, George Newell signed for Marine in the summer, after two loan spells, firstly in the 2019/20 season, then more recently in the 2021/22 campaign.

Across both spells, he made 13 appearances, scoring a total of nine goals for the club, following his debut in November 2019.

He returned to the club over the summer, after a successful stint at Welsh side Bala FC, and so far this season has netted on seven occasions for Marine. This makes him the club’s joint top scorer this season at present, a title he currently shares with Finlay Sinclair-Smith, as both strive to get on the scoresheet once again on Saturday afternoon.