Dartford have made big strides towards their promotion push and hope to continue moving up at Slough Town this weekend.
Consecutive victories without conceding against two teams in the top four have put the Darts in a stronger position for a playoff place. The starting eleven seems to have a more settled look and with thirteen games remaining there is a buzz back around the club.
If Tuesday night at Woking showed the work ethic of the squad, then their weekend’s showing against Bath City added extra quality. It took a Ronnie Vint header deep into injury time to secure maximum points at title chasing Woking, the Darts first ever win at the Kingfield Stadium. Joint manager, Jamie Coyle stated that his side needed to use the 1-0 triumph as a ‘springboard to go on another run’.
That run may just have started because the Darts followed up Tuesday night’s result with a second win in a row. Entertaining fourth place Bath City, Adam Flanagan and Jamie Coyle named an unchanged side, which was rewarded with a 3-0 win. Lee Noble opened the scoring with a cracking curling effort on sixteen minutes, the midfielder’s third goal this term. Charlie Sheringham made it 2-0 ten minutes later nodding in Ryan Hayes’s cross at the back post and the points were wrapped up in the second half when Phil Roberts bent the ball into the far corner from long range, his fourth goal in his last five appearances.
Dartford have tasted defeat just once in their last eight National South games and have yet to be beaten by Slough Town. In December, the Rebels took the lead at Princes Park when Josh Jackman’s low drive beat Bailey Vose on 37 minutes. In the second half, Andre Coker levelled up finishing a swift counter attack and leaving the points shared.
The Darts last visit to Arbour Park was as recently as October 2016 in the F.A Cup third qualifying round. At the time Dartford were a division higher with the hosts in contention at the top of the Southern Premier League. The Rebels, who were on a nine-match winning streak gave their visitors a run for their money, but Dartford’s determination and two late goals saw them scrape through in a 3-2 victory.
Less than five minutes had gone when Elliot Bradbrook scored an own goal, but the captain made up for it by scoring his 100th goal for the Darts to level the cup tie. In the second half, Deren Ibrahim gave away a penalty which James Dobson netted to give the hosts the lead again. With five minutes remaining, it was Bradbrook’s turn to score from the spot and with the tie heading for a replay Andy Pugh calmly slotted home the last-minute winner.
Since the New Year the Rebels form has been below par with just one league win in 2019. That victory completed a double over third place Chelmsford City, but the other eight fixtures have ended in three draws and five defeats. Management duo, Neal Baker and Jon Underwood have still led Slough Town to a healthy twelfth place, nine points behind the Darts, who occupy the last playoff place available.
The Berkshire club have taken one point from their last four games, losing to Gloucester city on Tuesday night. Matthew Lench, who rejoined the Rebels last month scored after thirteen minutes. Lench signed from Wealdstone, after some injury setbacks and a lack of opportunity, on the same day top scorer James Dobson left for Sutton United. That leaves Chris Flood leading the line who has one less goal than Dobson. Gloucester City came from behind to condemn Slough Town to a third defeat in four, a match which followed the Berkshire club’s 1-1 draw with Hampton and Richmond Borough. On that occasion Lee Togwell’s goal was cancelled out in the last minute by Marcel Barrington, denying the Rebels their first victory since mid-January.
Head to Head
Slough Town wins: 0 / Dartford wins: 3 / Draws: 1
Current League Form
| Slough Town (LDLLDW) | Dartford (WWDLWD) | ||||
| Gloucester City | H | 1-2 | Bath City | H | 3-0 |
| Hampton & Richmond | A | 1-1 | Woking | A | 1-0 |
| Billericay Town | A | 2-3 | Concord Rangers | H | 1-1 |
| Weston-super-Mare | A | 0-2 | Chelmsford City | A | 1-2 |
| Chippenham Town | H | 2-2 | St Albans City | H | 3-2 |
| Chelmsford City | H | 1-0 | Wealdstone | A | 1-1 |
Previous Meetings
| 08.12.2018 | Dartford | 1 | Slough Town | 1 |
| 01.10.2016 | Slough Town | 2 | Dartford | 3 |
| 29.10.1988 | Slough Town | 1 | Dartford | 2 |
| 10.01.1981 | Dartford | 4 | Slough Town | 1 |
Stats
The Darts named an unchanged side in their last match for only the third time in the league this season. The last time Dartford had no changes to the starting XI was in November when the same eleven played against Gloucester City, Oxford City then Hampton and Richmond Borough.
Lee Noble is now just five goals away from joining four others in the squad who have scored 50 or more goals for the club. Charlie Sheringham reached this milestone this season joining Elliot Bradbrook, Ryan Hayes, Andy Pugh.
Slough Town have conceded just ten of their goals in the first half, the fewest in the division.
On This Day
Two games away from a Wembley appearance in the F.A Trophy, Dartford left Blundell Park needing a miracle. Grimsby Town beat the Darts 3-0 in the first leg with two goals from Craig Disley and one from Andy Cook, Lee Noble was red carded in stoppage time. In league matches on 16 February, Dartford are unbeaten in five games. The last league outing on this day was back in 2008 when the Darts beat Redbridge in the Isthmian Division One North, Jay May and John Guest netted the goals. Dartford also won 2-0 six years earlier in the Southern League Division One South against Chatham and beat Witney Town 1-0 in the Southern League South in 1999. Two draws against Dorchester Town in 1991 and Salisbury in 1980 take the unbeaten run back to 1974, when Dartford were beaten 2-0 at Kettering Town.
DATE: Saturday 16th February 2019
VENUE: Arbour Park, Stoke Road, Slough, SL2 5AY
KICK OFF: 15:00pm
TURNSTILES: Open from 13:00pm
ADMISSION:
Adults: £13
Concessions: £9 *Concession – Over 65
Students: (16-17) – £5
Child (5 – 15) £3
FACILITIES: Bar and food open from 12:30pm
MATCH UPDATES: There will be no coverage on @dartfordfc, please follow Woking twitter for full match coverage.
COACH: – departure time 11:30am, £15 members, £17 non-members– To make your booking, please speak to Mick Austin either by calling/texting on 07969 181796.