Dartford suffered a second defeat in a matter of days, as bottom of the table Slough Town shocked the hosts in front of 872 supporters at Bericote Powerhouse Princes Park.
The first forty-five wasn’t pretty by any stretch of the imagination, as the visitors looked intent on causing an upset on a beautiful September evening. Both sides created early opportunities, but neither George Alexander (3) or Luke Coulson (4) were able to capitalise with the opening goal.
However, The Rebels did indeed take advantage in the twelfth minute to take the lead. A Dominic Hutchinson ball towards the Dartford box forced Mitchell Beeney to commit, and Alexander was there to pounce, round the goalkeeper, and open the scoring.
The Darts responded immediately and were unlucky to not equalise within seconds. Maxwell Statham’s delicious cross from the right-flank found Paul Rooney, but Slough managed to clear the goal-bound shot (13).
Unfortunately, Statham’s involvement came to an early end after he picked up an injury and was duly replaced by Archie Woods in the 21st minute.
George Alexander had an opportunity to double the visitors’ lead in the 22nd minute, but couldn’t keep his strike down, as the attacker was causing the Dartford defence all sorts of problems.
In all fairness, the only meaningful effort registered by the hosts came in the 35th minute via the substitute Woods. Having received the ball in the midfield, the West Ham loanee then proceeded to dance his way through several Rebels, before sending a neat lob narrowly wide of Rohan Luthra’s upright.
The second-half saw Dartford come out with all guns blazing, as they attempted to find the equaliser. And the high-press was rewarded when the ball found Baris Altintop on the edge of Slough’s area. Having made a couple of excellent defensive blocks in the first-half, the defender then smashed the ball in off the post with a superb effort (53).
Lewis Manor came close to pulling the hosts ahead five minutes later, only to see Rohan Luthra save his effort (58). Manor would be the next player to leave the field, as Alan Dowson swapped him with Charlie Sheringham in the 66th minute. That was soon followed by Moussa Diarra coming on for Paul Rooney (69) in what was the Darts’ final change in personnel.
As for Slough Town, they’d make their first substitution in the 77th minute, when Dominic Hutchinson made way for Nathan Minhas. Their two remaining substitutions took place deep into stoppage time at the end of the game, as first Johnny Goddard made way for Leon Chambers-Parillon, before Tom McElroy replaced George Alexander.
As we return to the action, The Rebels had weathered the Dartford storm and had begun venturing forward themselves once again, winning two corners in quick succession. The second of which undid the hosts, as Tyrese Dyce managed to reach the ball first to smash home what would prove to be the deciding goal this evening (77).
Unfortunately, try as they might, the closest Dartford came to an equaliser was via the Man of The Match, Baris Altintop in the 84th minute. Having gotten his head to the ball first, the defender directed it across the face of goal, but no teammate could reach it in time.
The hosts continued to press, but the Slough defence held station firmly, as Alan Dowson’s side suffered a third defeat in their opening eight games. Luke Coulson and Co will dust themselves down and be ready to go again on Saturday, where they make the trip to St Albans City.
TEAMS
DARTFORD: Mitchell Beeney, Jordan Wynter, Tyrell Miller-Rodney, Baris Altintop, Luke Coulson, Paul Rooney, Lewis Manor, Maxwell Statham, James Golding, Joash Nembhard, Harvey Bradbury.
SUBSTITUTES: Tom Wray, Archie Woods, Charlie Sheringham, Ollie Box, Moussa Diarra.
SLOUGH TOWN: Rohan Luthra, Josh Jackman, Dan Bayliss, Jeanmal Prosper, Matt Lench, Dominic Hutchinson, Scott Davies, Temi Eweka, Tyrese Dyce, Johnny Goddard, George Alexander.
SUBSTITUTES: Nathan Minhas, Munashe Sundire, Leon Chambers-Parillon, Tom McElroy, David Ogbonna.
Chris Palmer