Last night saw Dartford travel to Gosport Borough in the Vanarama National League South.
The game started well and Dartford were denied two chances early on from a lively Andy Pugh. Both efforts were on target with Gosport Keeper Nathan Ashmore denying both goal scoring opportunities, with one of Pugh’s efforts narrowly being tipped over the crossbar.
Dartford forced a couple of corners taken by Jack Simmons; and one of his crosses was saved by Ashmore once again. The first goal of the game fell to Dan Wooden of Gosport, who 17 minutes into the game managed to deceive Deren Ibrahim with a deflected effort hitting the back of the net for Gosport to take the lead.
The remainder of the first half saw little action from both sides.
Dartford came back onto the field after half time and instantly looked the better side. The style of play was more controlled and Dartford dominated the second half easily.
Danny Harris made a great run forwards and took a shot on goal which forced Ashmore into action again. Shortly after this Gosport were forced into their third and final substitution due to more injury woes. This caused Assistant Manager Mick Catlin to rearrange his Gosport side and things began to unravel from then on.
The equaliser was evidently on the cards from the start of the second half, and the goal fell to Captain Elliot Bradbrook on the 61st minute who after a goal mouth scramble, bundled the ball home from close range.
Dartford pressed forwards and a powerful shot from Ronnie Vint was deflected away to safety from the face of Ryan Woodford who clearly felt the force of the attempt.
The Darts took the lead in the 76th minute after The Darts went on the counter attack following a Gosport corner. The Gosport defence didn’t seem to come into play at all which left a clear run for Elliot Bradbrook to make his way towards the goal alone, around Goalkeeper Nathan Ashmore and slot home in an open goal.
Andy Pugh wrapped things up for Dartford on the 80th minute scoring from a tight angle to seal the deal for The Darts at the Aerial Direct Stadium.
After the game, goal scorer Andy Pugh said “We started well and I thought we started bright. We played some good football and then got caught out with the Gosport goal. We had to then regroup at half time and carry on playing the same way with a bit more pressure piled on. We seemed to have better fitness levels and grew into the game easily. Once we managed to get the equaliser there was only going to be one winner. We picked them off on their counter attack twice and killed the game to make it 3-1 to us, holding on for a great 3 points.”
Gosport Borough FC: Nathan Ashmore, Luke King, Rory Williams, Mike Carter, Ryan Woodford, Sam Pearce (C), George Barker, Andy Robinson, Lee Wort, Justin Bennett, Dan Wooden
Gosport Borough FC Subs: Ben Harding, Adam Wilde, David Jerrard, Connor May, Adam Brice
Dartford FC: Deren Ibrahim, Tom Gardiner, Mark Onyemah, Ronnie Vint, Callum McNaughton, Tom Wynter, Danny Harris, Elliot Bradbrook (C), Andy Pugh, Tom Bradbrook, Jack Simmons
Dartford FC Subs: George Sykes, Ryan Hayes, Kaka Dembele, Ben Francis, Dajon Golding
Attendance: 386