The Darts travelled to Melbourne Park yesterday in their third league match of the 2016/17 Season.
The injuries of Elliot Bradbrook, Ronnie Vint and Duane Ofori-Acheampong (being rested as a precaution after sustaining hamstring injury midweek) meant The Darts had to change their starting line up once again ahead of the game, seeing Andy Pugh and Lee Noble both start the game, with Tom Bonner taking the Captains armband.
The absence of Ronnie Vint to the squad saw Keaton Wood move back into central defence, whose one match ban from a red card at Whitehawk earlier in the week not coming into play until the match against Weston-Super-Mare.
There were a good few chances throughout the first half for both teams, with a chance for Lee Noble from 40 yards out hit the top of the far post, and another chance fell to Luke Wanadio but no one could finish to get the lead before half time.
Goalkeeper Deren Ibrahim was tested with shots from Shamir Mullings and Anthony Church, but Ibrahim kept his cool and saved each attempt to deny a first half lead.
Just shy of 45 minutes, Andy Pugh went down in the middle of the pitch and was forced to be substituted with Ben Francis taking his place.
The second half started well with The Darts having a majority of the possession, and on 54 minutes Luke Wandadio scored the first goal of the game with a spectacular header from a Ryan Hayes cross.
Unfortunately, Chelmsford got right back into the game, and on 65 minutes Shaun Jeffers fired a low shot which Ibrahim failed to get his hand to.
The Darts held off for the remainder of the game, with a few more shots fired at Ibrahim which he saved easily to deny any chances for the Clarets to take the lead.
Dartford walked away from a hard fought game with a well deserved and earned point.
Tony Burman said of the game “I was very pleased with the performance from the players considering the circumstances with injuries before and during the game. It was great effort from everybody involved.”
Chelmsford City FC:
Joe Welch, Ashley Miller, Danny Blanchett, Max Cornhill, Christopher Bush, Mark Haines, Robbie Willmott, Anthony Church (C), Shaun Jeffers, Shamir Mullings, Bagasan Graham
Subs: Luke Daley, Adam Bailey-Dennis, Jake Reid, Hugo Skepelhorn, Frank Merrifield
Dartford FC:
Deren Ibrahim, Tom Gardiner, Tom Wynter, Tom Bonner (C), Keaton Wood, Alex Brown, Ryan Hayes, Lee Noble, Danny Harris, Andy Pugh, Luke Wanadio
Subs: Kaka Dembele, Ellis Brown, Ben Francis, Richard Seixas, Tony
Attendance: 780