The 1sts were in League action on the last weekend of October against Aylesford, a team who knocked Dartford women out of the Kent Cup last year. Dartford were confident going into the game off the back of some high scoring wins but looked set to be challenged in this match with a penalty going against them within minutes of the game starting and Aylesford going 1-0 up.
Shauni Griffiths then pulled one back immediately to level the game and the Darts went on to be 4-1 up by half time. That included goals from Emily Vaughan, Paris Smith and a screamer from Shannon Wason.
Changes were made at half time to give Hannah Cleary her debut minutes for the 1st team. Paris scored again soon after half time followed by Hannah getting a debut goal and then an assist soon after for Shauni Griffiths’ second. An amazing debut performance from Hannah.
Paris Smith rounded off the match with her hatrick making the result 8-1, assisted by Emily Woodhouse. A disciplined and ruthless performance from the 1sts to continue their unbeaten run and means they’ve scored 47 goals in a matter of weeks.
It was then a week off for Dartford Women’s 1st team this weekend but they used the time to do a fitness session followed by watching the Development Team in their cup game.
They took on Tier 5 Crawley AFC in their league cup campaign. The Darts started strong, taking the lead within the first 10 minutes with a well anticipated goal from Chloe. Crawley were on the back foot and needed to dig deep throughout the first half. After an even play of 45 minutes, Crawley scored their equaliser just before the half time whistle.
The Darts came out from the half time break with a strong spirit to succeed. The team continued to battle hard and maintained the possession and pace of the game. With 15 minutes to go, Crawley managed to break the final line and score their second goal, putting them into a 2-1 lead. The Darts continued to press Crawley, dominating the final moments of the match, but unfortunately could not find the back of the net.
The Development side should be extremely proud of their performance against a team in the league above and look forward to their next cup match against the Dartford First Team on Sunday 19th November.
Before that, the 1st team have their first round proper FA Cup fixture against league above Abingdon United. It’s a 1pm KO at Princes Park on Sunday 12th November. We would love to share the moment with you and to get as many people there to watch as possible. Please come down and watch what will be a brilliant match. Up the Darts!
Lizzie Adams & Annie Whitey
(1st Team Captain & Development Team Captain)
