Dartford V Carshalton Athletic

Report

Dartford’s fourteen-game unbeaten league run at Bericote Powerhouse Princes Park was ended by an excellent Carshalton Athletic side in front of 1,851 supporters on a glorious afternoon.

It was a tough start for Ady Pennock’s side, as the Robins frustrated the Darts at the back and were efficient at the other end.

Bursting out of the blocks immediately, the warning signs were soon evident when Carshalton tested Jacob Marsden within three minutes, before the excellent Abdulla Salami did indeed fire the visitors ahead after ten minutes.

The hosts did begin to grow into the game after a while, with Michael Olarewaju forcing Aaron Watkins into a superb save from his long-range drive (26). Olly Box followed that up with a strike of his own, but it was deflected behind by a Robin defender (33).

Try as they might though, the hosts were struggling this afternoon, and it wasn’t long before Carshalton broke through with a swift counter-attack… only to see Salami fire agonisingly wide of the far post (39).

However that second goal did come, as Brian Ifeanyi tapped home to provide the visitors with a two-goal cushion at the break (45+5).

With his team struggling with injuries, Ady Pennock made three changes in personnel at the start of the second-half. Tyler Christian-Law, Samir Carruthers, and Callum Jones were the trio to depart, with Luther Williams, Jeremiah Pinder, and Eddie Dsane coming on. The Dartford boss would go on to replace Michael Olarewaju with Louis Dunne (75) in a bid to salvage something from the game.

The changes had a positive impact initially, with Eddie Dsane firing narrowly wide of Watkins’ upright (48), before George Whitefield met Hayden Bullas’ deep cross to head in his ninth goal of the season and halve the deficit (65).

Olly Box sent a free-kick straight into the grateful arms of Watkins (71), before Jeremiah Pinder missed a glorious opportunity to equalise from close-range (78).

However, substitute Nabael Ghannam restored the visitors’ advantage with a low strike (82), before netting his second of the afternoon to seal the win for the Robins deep into stoppage time (90+6).

Hayden Bullas’ excellent performance was a bright spark for the Darts this afternoon, a performance of which earned him a thoroughly deserved Man of The Match award to go along with his assist for Whitefield’s goal.

Whilst the result wasn’t ideal, Dartford had already confirmed a place in the playoffs which begin with the visit of Cray Valley PM next week. Josh Hill and Co will certainly be ready for the next stage of what has been a thrilling and competitive season.

TEAMS

DARTFORD: Jacob Marsden, Sam Odaudu, Michael Olarewaju, George Whitefield, Josh Hill (c), Tyler Christian-Law, Hayden Bullas, Denzelle Olopade, Samir Carruthers, Olly Box, Callum Jones.
SUBSTITUTES: Luther Williams, Eddie Dsane, Louis Dunne, Jeremiah Pinder, Jack West-Astuti.

CARSHALTON ATHLETIC: Aaron Watkins, Luke Read, Dylan Pepe, Fabio Camacho-Saraiva, Kyron Horsley-McKay, Abdul Sankoh, Mason Saunders-Henry, Tommy Bradford (c), Brian Ifeanyi, Kalvin Kalala, Abdulla Salami.
SUBSTITUTES: Paris Hamilton-Downes, Michael Dada, Nabael Ghannam, Kwaku Frimpong, David Smith.