A spirited second half display on Tuesday night will leave Dartford in good stead ahead of their next fixture on Saturday when they entertain Dorchester Town.
Jacob Erskine: Scorer of his sixth of the season on Tuesday against league leaders Woking
Memories of last seasons fixture last November against The Magpies will hopefully be erased when the Dorset club turned on the style in the final twenty five minutes. Ryan Moss who left the Dorset club early this month due to work commitments, opened and finished the goal scoring in a 4-0 triumph against The Darts. Mark Jermyn and Nick Crittenden were also amongst the scorers as Dorchester recorded only their third ever victory from fifteen away trips to Dartford.
The Darts hosted league leaders Woking on Tuesday night and found themselves two goals down by half time. Alan Inns opened the scoring for The Cards and just before half time Craig Doyle extended the visitors lead. Tony Burman spoke to PURE DFC after the game and was “disappointed with the first half performance”, he added, “we didn’t come out at all and we just didn’t play”.
Tony Burman motivated his players during the break and despite defeat they put in an excellent second half.James Rogers netted with twenty five minutes remaining but Woking’s Elvis Hammond put the league leaders 3-1 up. Jacob Erskine gave the home support some hope but it was too late to salvage a draw. Burman felt his side “did ever so well in the second half and we did get the ball down and we did have a go at Woking.”
Ryan Moss scored twice against The Darts but has since left The Magpies
Dorchester Town drew away to Bromley on the same night which may have disappointed some fans considering current form. The Magpies were unbeaten in seven leading up to Tuesday evening and Bromley gained a solitary point in the same amount of games losing six in a row. The fixture ended goal less, Dorchester’s fifth clean sheet in six league matches. Drawing at Hayes Lane now means The Magpies are eight league fixtures unbeaten and only three points shy of the play offs in seventh place.
Tony Burman recognises the run put together by The Magpies and said: “Dorchester are on a run of not losing games so it will be a tough game. Hopefully we can create the same sort of atmosphere as the support was good for the team who encouraged the team to get back into the game in the second half. It’s another three points that we have to play for”.
The Dorset side are under new management due to the appointment of Alan Knight whose first game in charge was on 3 December 2011. Coinciding with Knight’s start is the form of forward Rico Wilson who has scored three in the last three league matches. The 20 year old seems to be linking up with summer signing Ben Dickenson who is being scouted by football league clubs.
Dartford Team News
Paul Goodacre (knee) and Danny Harris will miss this weekends match through injury, Lee Noble was an unused substitute in the week as he looks to regain fitness. Tony Burman has signed Gillingham youngster Connor Essam on a months loan. The 19 year old defender has already had loan spells with Bishop’s Stortford and Dover Athletic last season and has been drafted into the Dartford squad.
Statistics (league only)
Dartford (3rd) versus Dorchester Town (7th)
Current Form
| Last five Dartford matches at home | Last five Dorchester Town matches away |
| Lost 2-3 v Woking | Drew 0-0 v Bromley |
| Won 3-1 v Dover Athletic | Won 1-0 v Maidenhead United |
| Drew 1-1 v Weston Super-Mare | Drew 0-0 v Chelmsford City |
| Lost 1-2 v Truro City | Lost 2-4 v Havant and Waterlooville |
| Won 3-1 v Tonbridge Angels | Lost 2-3 v Welling United |
Attendances
Dartford average home attendance: 1227
Highest home attendance: 1558 v Dover Athletic/ Lowest: 937 v Hampton and Richmond
Dorchester Town average away attendance: 502
Highest away attendance: 937 v Dover Athletic/ Lowest: 223 v Bromley
Did you know…
Between the opening day and 5 November 2011 Dorchester went 17 games without a league draw, this seasons longest sequence.
The Magpies have fired the second most amount of blanks (8) behind Eastleigh
Dartford have scored in their last 14 league games and have failed to score just once in the league way back on 27 August 2011, no other team this season has scored in more consecutive league fixtures.
Alan Knight spent 25 years at Portsmouth and holds the record for the most appearances for a single club for a goalkeeper, having played 683 league games (and 801 in all competitions) for Pompey between 1978 and 2000.
