Dartford v Eastbourne Borough Mon 1 Apr 2024

[Tall Dart]

If only we had put in the same amount of effort at the start of the game we may have stood a chance. Up until the last 20 mins of normal play we were woeful, inept going forwards and seemingly not a clue what the game plan is. Movement was painful to watch.

There are a few players still putting in a shift, but you could count them on one hand, which just isn't enough.

To be realistic now that's our lot, we have had the 6 pointers and failed. Relegation now seems a clear cert even for the most optimistic viewpoint, as we are not good enough.

As for the bad sportsmanship shown by EB, pathetic t##ts.

[Ken Shabby]

I won't comment on the match, as I wasn't there, but the stats speak for themselves. What was also frustrating was that while we stagger from one stupid defeat to another, down and out Dover beat the Chelmsford team we all wrote off as a free hit.
Recruitment, management, everything that could be done badly has been.
Knowing how much it cost to get promoted, this relegation is scandalous, and it sounds as if few of the current squad will be any use at a lower level. Heartbreaking to see us do poor, and infuriating that somebody this years squad were supposed to mount a promotion challenge.

[Grassbank]

What a dreadful afternoon. Three squads on the pitch, all of whom should be facing relegation. Yes, I include the refereee in that assessment, truely appalling.

Having seen a few games since Christmas, I am of the opinion that we are doomed to relegation, even though the mathematics suggest that there is still hope. Eastbourne clearly knew how to play the ref and how to get the game halted whenever they wished. They were always going to win. Two very strong penalty shouts for Dartford late in the game were laughed away by the referee. Those aside, I could never see where a goal was going to come from. In view of their antics, I hope that Eastbourne are relegated with us.

Congratulations to both Dover and Havant for winning today. I guess that means that we are now the team with the longest run without a victory. Ten matches and counting.

I hope that whoever was taken ill at the Weymouth match makes a full recovery. I do not know the full details, but I am a little surprised that the game was abandoned so late in the match. If there was really no way that the remaining time could be played, I trust that commen sense will prevail and the score will become a result. If not, at least Yeovil will not have to travel too far for another midweek fixture.

The cricket season can't start soon enough!

[KentC]

Havant only 4 points behind and we play them
Saturday.
I hope Taunton win their games in hand and Eastbourne go down.

[Bagdhad Billy]

We didn’t start the season as the poorest team in the league however from January onwards we have been the worst team in the division bar none.

Remember we sacked Dowse to have a play off push?? Did anyone on the board actually check to see if this squad was capable of staying in the division first?? Complete incompetence and we will get what we deserve which is cray valley paper mills on Boxing Day next year.

[Park Life]

[Ozytalksbull]

Sad day for all darts fans, but more the ref was poor and the other team were good with there acting tactics…Sounds all to familiar for me
As I’ve said before this has been coming for a while
Lack of investment in the top non league seasons have proved many fans right unfortunately, I’m very sad to see dfc in this position but some will go on defending the board, not everyone will agree and I’ll probably get the same abuse from the usual old boys
But that’s the truth of it like it or not
I hope Dartford can rise again but you can’t invest without people through the gates…..

[KentC]

Sad day for all darts fans, but more the ref was poor and the other team were good with there acting tactics…Sounds all to familiar for me
As I’ve said before this has been coming for a while
Lack of investment in the top non league seasons have proved many fans right unfortunately, I’m very sad to see dfc in this position but some will go on defending the board, not everyone will agree and I’ll probably get the same abuse from the usual old boys
But that’s the truth of it like it or not
I hope Dartford can rise again but you can’t invest without people through the gates…..

The referee was very very poor, you’d be shocked how bad.
The second goal was a very clear handball by them but that was not his only wrong decision.
I can honestly say I’ve not see so many players go down so often and that includes Braintrees of the world.
The thing was they would just drop to the floor with no one around them from very early on. that’s what made the cheating worse.

I don’t think there’s anyone who has not said how shocking it was today and there’s been criticism all over including the board and rightly so.

[Dicky Dart]

How much abuse will I get for this post I wonder. How anyone can have an ounce of positivity left in them after what I saw today I don't know. That could have been 5-0 we got lucky it was only 2.

Absolutely woeful. Never looked like scoring and MOST of the players simply do not care and aren't good enough. Box the first to clap the fans at the end of the game, Coulson actually made an effort to go over and have a conversation with a group and Rooney always puts in 100% effort despite being played out of his position, which shows those three do care. Other than that the rest of them made it look like an effort to come over and clap us and cannot make a case for any of them actually caring for the shirt they put on.

Pennock on the other hand, what an awful appointment he's turning out to be. We look worse than we ever did under Dowson and Burman. The board should be ashamed in taking 2 months to appoint him. Whatever recruitment process they had in place has clearly been a massive failure. We don't look like scoring, the players don't have any idea what their roles are half the time. There's no off the ball movement, they're too slow in tracking back etc etc I could go on all day.

We seemed to have got another keeper with poppadom wrists. Couldn't catch anything today, no command of his area whatsoever and a massive error for the first. I questioned Beeney at the start of the season, however aside from Sandford he's the best keeper we have had all season.

That's us down. I'll be shocked if we manage a win for the remaining games. Hopefully we have a complete clear out in the summer and that includes the manager.

The board need to take a long hard look at themselves also. They have to take a large part of responsibility for this season.


MOTM Block. None of the rest of them deserve it

Rooney is wasted at Centre Half, he should be playing further forward.

I’m not sure why fans are so bothered about whether or not players clap them, but apart from that, and I thought Olly Box did all right, I think you’re spot on.

We need a massive clear-out, including the manager. There are maybe three players I’d keep (Block, Box and Rooney) but I doubt at least one of those would want to stay anyway. The loanees will go back and the rest will sign for Hemel or Welling. Players who have proved not good enough for this division will end up staying in this division, whilst we pay the price.

[Dicky Dart]

I’ll also echo what others have said: I HOPE THAT EASTBOURNE ARE RELEGATED WITH US.

[The 5th Searcher]

As much as I like Ade’s enthusiasm I honestly don’t hold out any hope of us avoiding relegation with the team we’ve got. Ade needs to have one massive clear out come the end of the season with possibly Ollie Box being one of the only ones I would keep.
I like Tommy Block as a player but he is far too injury prone to warrant keeping him. He was out all last season and he’s been out most of this season with various injuries.
Rooney for me has only just started to come into the game more and considering the reputation he came with certainly hasn’t shown his potential. Luke Coulson 100% is not a captain or leader on the pitch, 1/2 possibly 3/4’s of the season he’s been ok but certainly the last 1/4 he’s been very poor and hasn’t created a single thing. As a captain he should be leading by example on that pitch constantly trying to lift the players and giving them a bollocking when needed but he doesn’t do a damn thing.

Greenidge & Wall I’m afraid are just a complete waste of space and how anyone could say Alex did well today is beyond me. He did absolutely sod all when he came in the pitch except constantly push & shove the opposition. Greenidge just seems to be a major lardarse who can barely walk let alone run, how the hell he scored so many goals for Tonbridge I don’t know.

Barzey was at least trying and kept chasing whilst on until he got his hamstring injury. The keeper had an absolute mare of a game today and cost us the 1st goal by flapping at fresh air and having the ball go over him. He almost did it again a bit later in the game, thankfully we cleared off the line.

I never feel comfortable with Nehmbard in the back line and think he’s been poor virtually all season.

At least we now know why the new striker Olly (on loan from Aldershot) hasn’t been in the team, it’s because he’s got a thigh / hamstring injury.

I will only be to pleased once this dreadful season is over with, let’s hope that Ade gets his black book out and his finger dialling very soon to bring a load of new players in.

[Hitchin Dart79]

Our home form has been truly appalling! Visiting teams barely have to break sweat to take home the 3 points!! No home win since November tells a lot of the story!

[Ajaxman DFC]

It was a strange feeling this afternoon. I should be angry, ranting and raving or drunk. Even both by now. But for 99 minutes I just felt heavily sedated. Indifferent due to being not in the least bit surprised by what I was witnessing.
To be honest I think many of us have known the writing has been on the wall for sometime.
As for Eastbourne I've got a slightly different take on their performance which betrayed their league position.
I thought Yahya Bamba was terrific for them today.
On one occasion he was hacked down on one of his sincillating runs in the first half. The referee was about to blow but the player regained his feet when it would have been easier to go down, giving his team a chance of scoring from a set piece.
As for cheating there was no time wasting or other nonsense in the first half and they could easily have gone into the break 3-0 up.
The second half, once they were 2-0 to the good I wouldn't say they were cheating then either. Gamesmanship yes. They treated it as a relegation 6 pointer, simply because that's exactly what it was.
They cared and wore the shirt with pride. If there was anything underhand at play then it's the officials job to deal with that.
It was do or die and Eastbourne did what they had to do. Today was about survival and they showed they could play a bit too.
It's not officially over for us yet but god knows where we go from here, irrespective of what league we find ourselves in next season.

[KentC]

It was a strange feeling this afternoon. I should be angry, ranting and raving or drunk. Even both by now. But for 99 minutes I just felt heavily sedated. Indifferent due to being not in the least bit surprised by what I was witnessing.
To be honest I think many of us have known the writing has been on the wall for sometime.
As for Eastbourne I've got a slightly different take on their performance which betrayed their league position.
I thought Yahya Bamba was terrific for them today.
On one occasion he was hacked down on one of his sincillating runs in the first half. The referee was about to blow but the player regained his feet when it would have been easier to go down, giving his team a chance of scoring from a set piece.
As for cheating there was no time wasting or other nonsense in the first half and they could easily have gone into the break 3-0 up.
The second half, once they were 2-0 to the good I wouldn't say they were cheating then either. Gamesmanship yes. They treated it as a relegation 6 pointer, simply because that's exactly what was.
They cared and wore the shirt with pride. If there was anything underhand at play that's the officials job to deal with it.
It was do or die and Eastbourne did what they had to do. Today was about survival and they showed they could play a bit too.
It's not officially over for us yet but god knows where we go from here, irrespective of what league we find ourselves in next season.

Pretending you’re injured to waste time to gain an advantage is cheating to me, you call it what you like. I’m glad you’re ok with feigning injury.

[Taunton Dart]

Only thing guaranteed is that we finish above Dover. I can still see one of Hemel or Torquay joining us in relegation - Eastbourne are certainly hitting form at the right time whilst Hemel & Torquay are imploding. We have hit rock bottom and I can't see where we get another point unless there is a miracle at Havant and/or Truro are completely knackered when they play us on the last day of the season as they still have so many games left to play.

[rambo]

Once block and barzey went off we were woeful and never looked like winning or even scoring
Once Box came on we got more in the game but the Eastbourne gamesmanship killed us off
Absolutely no criticism of AD as he can only work with what he has
I feel sure he knows a plethora of players willing to play for us next season in the isthmian league and whilst it won’t be easy I wish him luck next season

[Matt85]

Anyone blaming the ref or anyone else today needs a reality check.
Apologies to the positivity crew on here but enoughs enough.
We have a squad of players who aren’t good enough and don’t care.
Eastbourne wanted it 100% more than us today and that’s not acceptable.
Greenidhe makes wall look like an athlete, coulson is the worst captain the club has had for years. Pennocks signings have been worse than anything dowse signed, proved by the fact the left back came off the field smiling.
Waiting 7 weeks to appoint a bang average manager has cost us; we needed to act fast and appoint a horrible bastard in the style of rod stringer. Keep block and box and send the rest packing now.

[Darren]

Well we huffed and puffed but never looked liked blowing the house in. If relegation means that we will get rid off these charlatans then bring it on. We might as well play the academy side for the remaining games to get them ready for next season.

On entry to the ground today I was given a ‘player of the season’ voting slip - none of them deserve it so I didn’t bother. Whilst I admire AP not giving up, we are now needing a minimum of 2 wins out of the 4 remaining to even stand a chance, with a squad that’s has 1 win since Boxing Day and no win at home since end of November.

[Matt85]

How much abuse will I get for this post I wonder. How anyone can have an ounce of positivity left in them after what I saw today I don't know. That could have been 5-0 we got lucky it was only 2.

Absolutely woeful. Never looked like scoring and MOST of the players simply do not care and aren't good enough. Box the first to clap the fans at the end of the game, Coulson actually made an effort to go over and have a conversation with a group and Rooney always puts in 100% effort despite being played out of his position, which shows those three do care. Other than that the rest of them made it look like an effort to come over and clap us and cannot make a case for any of them actually caring for the shirt they put on.

Pennock on the other hand, what an awful appointment he's turning out to be. We look worse than we ever did under Dowson and Burman. The board should be ashamed in taking 2 months to appoint him. Whatever recruitment process they had in place has clearly been a massive failure. We don't look like scoring, the players don't have any idea what their roles are half the time. There's no off the ball movement, they're too slow in tracking back etc etc I could go on all day.

We seemed to have got another keeper with poppadom wrists. Couldn't catch anything today, no command of his area whatsoever and a massive error for the first. I questioned Beeney at the start of the season, however aside from Sandford he's the best keeper we have had all season.

That's us down. I'll be shocked if we manage a win for the remaining games. Hopefully we have a complete clear out in the summer and that includes the manager.

The board need to take a long hard look at themselves also. They have to take a large part of responsibility for this season.


MOTM Block. None of the rest of them deserve it

Rooney is wasted at Centre Half, he should be playing further forward.

Mark for what it’s worth I can’t find fault in anything you’ve said above.
Some people just don’t like the truth.
We are a bang average side with a bang average manager.
So much abuse has been aimed at dowse, he left 2 months ago and we’ve got worse since.
This squad deserves no support whatsoever, they are lucky to be at the club and the sooner they get released the better.

[Dicky Dart]

It was a strange feeling this afternoon. I should be angry, ranting and raving or drunk. Even both by now. But for 99 minutes I just felt heavily sedated. Indifferent due to being not in the least bit surprised by what I was witnessing.
To be honest I think many of us have known the writing has been on the wall for sometime.
As for Eastbourne I've got a slightly different take on their performance which betrayed their league position.
I thought Yahya Bamba was terrific for them today.
On one occasion he was hacked down on one of his sincillating runs in the first half. The referee was about to blow but the player regained his feet when it would have been easier to go down, giving his team a chance of scoring from a set piece.
As for cheating there was no time wasting or other nonsense in the first half and they could easily have gone into the break 3-0 up.
The second half, once they were 2-0 to the good I wouldn't say they were cheating then either. Gamesmanship yes. They treated it as a relegation 6 pointer, simply because that's exactly what was.
They cared and wore the shirt with pride. If there was anything underhand at play that's the officials job to deal with it.
It was do or die and Eastbourne did what they had to do. Today was about survival and they showed they could play a bit too.
It's not officially over for us yet but god knows where we go from here, irrespective of what league we find ourselves in next season.

Pretending you’re injured to waste time to gain an advantage is cheating to me, you call it what you like. I’m glad you’re ok with feigning injury.

And it winds me up seeing opposition players running to the ref wanting our players booked, which is what Bamba (and some others) did after Wall pushed one of their players (albeit cynically). I don’t care how you’ve played or what the offence was, that is unforgivable.

Not surprisingly, Bamba and co didn’t have a problem with their shirt pulling, or Diarra grabbing Wall’s neck!