Dartford’s unbeaten away form was shattered by a rampant Dover Athletic, who netted five times in front of 1,018 supporters at the Crabble Athletic Ground.
Despite a relatively even start to the game, it was the Darts who came close as early as the third minute when Sam Odaudu’s effort was deflected wide of Mitch Walker’s post.
Callum Jones then fired narrowly wide (8), before the lively Luke Baptiste forced Matt Kerbey into a good save a minute later (9).
The visitors responded via Olly Box, who came close with two opportunities in the 12th and 23rd minute. But, shortly afterwards The Whites took their opportunity to take the lead.
Once again, it was Baptiste who was making a nuisance of himself in his battle with Odaudu on the Dover right-flank. His cross was parried by Matt Kerbey, but Ruben Soares-Junior was alert to tap home the rebound (25).
The goal left the Darts in a state of shock and, as the defence failed to deal with another attack, George Wilkinson was on hand to double the hosts’ advantage in the 27th minute.
Olly Box tried to get his side back in the game, only to see Walker save his shot in the 28th minute. His audacious overhead effort in the 40th minute failed to test the Dover shot-stopper, as Dartford tried to pull a goal back.
However, having soaked up the pressure, the hosts roamed forward and two became three when another strike wasn’t held by Kerbey, leaving Luke Baptiste to fire in the rebound (43).
Now with a mountain to climb, Ady Pennock’s side came out on the front-foot in the second-half. Samuel Okoye beat his man to feed the ball to Tyler Christian-Law, but the latter couldn’t keep his long-range drive down (46).
Four minutes later saw the Darts punished once again, this time from a set-piece on the edge of the box following Okoye’s late challenge. Alfie Matthews took the free-kick, and subsequently sent the ball beyond Matt Kerbey and straight into the back of the net (50)!
Mitch Walker then pulled off an excellent save to prevent Eddie Dsane from scoring for the visitors (54), before Jeremiah Pinder did finally get Dartford on the scoreboard with a delightful drive from distance in the 56th minute. While his goal would end up only being a consolation one, the youngster can certainly be proud of his first strike for the Darts.
Ady Pennock then made his first of two substitutions of the afternoon, as Tyler Christian-Law made way for Ben Allen in the 59th minute. That would then be followed by Samir Carruthers replacing Denzelle Olopade (79).
The hosts, meanwhile, used all five of their available substitutions throughout the second-half. The first took place after 66 minutes, when Alfie Matthews made way for Henry Young. That would be followed by Tamas Amgbaduba coming on for George Nikaj (75), Lindell Stewart on for Luke Baptiste (83), Jayden Silcott-Brown on for Ruben Soares-Junior (85), and Jeremiah Gyebi on for Harrison Pont (90).
Returning to the action, we find the Darts enjoying a good spell of possession with the ball. Unfortunately though, they failed to test Mitch Walker… Ben Allen firing wide of the far post in the 70th minute.
And, ironically, the hosts duly punished them with eight minutes remaining, as Luke Baptiste found Ruben Soares-Junior with a neat pass, enabling the latter to fire in his team’s fifth of the afternoon (82).
Dover controlled proceedings from then on, as they condemned Dartford to a second defeat of the season. The result sees the Darts drop to sixth in the Isthmian Premier League table, but there’s still a long way to go.
TEAMS
DOVER ATHLETIC: Mitch Walker (c), Roman Charles-Cook, Fuad Sesay, Joe Tennent, Luca Cocoracchio, Luke Baptiste, Alfie Matthews, George Nikaj, Ruben Soares-Junior, Harrison Pont, George Wilkinson.
SUBSTITUTES: Jeremiah Gyebi, Lindell Stewart, Tamas Amgbaduba, Henry Young, Jayden Silcott-Brown.
DARTFORD: Matt Kerbey, Sam Odaudu, Josh Hill (c), Luther Williams, Samuel Okoye, Denzelle Olopade, Jeremiah Pinder, Tyler Christian-Law, Olly Box, Callum Jones, Eddie Dsane.
SUBSTITUTES: Jacob Marsden, Samir Carruthers, George Whitefield, Ben Allen, Mert Apat.
Chris Palmer