Braintree v Dartford Tue 28 Dec 2021 at 3pm

[Grassbank]

I hope the fact that we snatched a late equaliser will not hide the fact that we struggled against the team second bottom, having recently beaten the bottom side thanks to a goal-keeping error.

I would love to know what happened to the team coach that set off on that fateful journey to Sudbury. I still hope that it may arrive at a game at some stage in the future. Next Sunday would be good.

Poor finish to an all-round dreadful year. 2022 can't start soon enough.

[Park Life]

FT 2 all.

[Harry]

Interested to hear from those that went, but we can take the point and move on, hoping we can get back to the dominant performances from earlier in the season.

[ozymandias]

BAWArmy, it is blatantly obvious you are NO Dartford supporter. You WALLOW in things when they start to go wrong with the teams performance and you secretly love it.
As soon as we started to lose a few, your head rose in splendour and then when we win you are NOWHERE in sight.
Where were you when we beat Cray in the Trophy? NOWHERE.
As soon as we went a goal down today you SLITHERED from the drain that is your domain. And now that we have salvaged a point you SLITHERED back.
Yes, we are disappointed with the result but we fought back and got ourselves a point.
We will no doubt have to put up with INANE DRIVEL throughout the rest of the season.
So do us all a favour and BUGGER OFF.

[rick]

Attendance according to Braintree twitter page was 456.

[The Duke]

I am delighted that Jack Jebb got the equalizer but as for the rest of the match - no comment !!!!!!!!!!

[dartLion]

BAWArmy, it is blatantly obvious you are NO Dartford supporter. You WALLOW in things when they start to go wrong with the teams performance and you secretly love it.
As soon as we started to lose a few, your head rose in splendour and then when we win you are NOWHERE in sight.
Where were you when we beat Cray in the Trophy? NOWHERE.
As soon as we went a goal down today you SLITHERED from the drain that is your domain. And now that we have salvaged a point you SLITHERED back.
Yes, we are disappointed with the result but we fought back and got ourselves a point.
We will no doubt have to put up with INANE DRIVEL throughout the rest of the season.
So do us all a favour and BUGGER OFF.

so spot on Ozy, I just presume BAW had a shi*e Christmas, Billy No Mates perhaps? Would be no surprise. You must realise BAW that every comment you make is a minus, never a plus. Also disappointed that a couple of others seem so negative on the strength of today's result. Kingy said right at the start, we should not expect to win every game and we will lose some. Today we did not lose. Result!
For me, yes of course a tad disappointed with the draw but as I have said before, any away point is a good point, and the way the team fought back to level a two goal deficit was positive. To be in the top seven at the halfway stage, (currently fourth with three more games to reach that halfway point yet) is acceptable for me, this position even with ten games left will be acceptable, hoping then for a final push on. Whilst my sights are set higher, one more main priority, today's point means we probably need just another ten to avoid relegation, that is the first box to tick for me.
Keep things in context.

[MickW]

Back to the bullying crap again- I thought we'd left that behind.
If people can't wonder at the state of the team without the tirade of abuse that we have just seen I'm outa here.
The real non fans are the full of crap bully boys.

[Kebabus]

Have to be pleased to get to 2-2 after being 2-0 down but it’s 2 points dropped. Not anywhere good enough tbh but look at the table, IF we can stay injuries/covid free, it’s all there for the taking.

No panic, been there, seen it and there are loads of points to play for. One player when fully fit and confident, we missed today is the lad we got from Sheppey.

Great free kick Jebby!

Onto the next game and 3 points the target (again)

[BRASSNECK]

Something is clearly not right. I can't remember the last time Murtagh played well yet he starts every week? We struggle to score, our defensive record that we had at the start of the season has gone and now we're paying the price by sliding down the table.

I don’t think we will slide down the league but the rest is spot on.Jebb must start in place of murtagh.
I can’t believe I agreed with BAWArmy.
I have never seen a time waste from the 15 th minute of a game,also ball tampering more time wasting and their number 9 time wasting should have been at least 10 minutes injury time we got 7 justice was done when Jebbs majestic free kick hit the back of the net.
The defence was a shambles like to see Ronnie and boner at the back.
Also the same ref as the Sudbury game he was awful again today.

[KSTDART]

Firstly the conditions today were never going to allow a classic , the field used as a car park so flooded so you can imagine how heavy the pitch was . And then if you played the ball in the air it was blowing all over the place . We dominated the first half but without really looking like scoring and the only time we looked looked in trouble was when we made errors.
Second half and we looked like a team of 11 strangers and were all over the place. After we went 1 behind, Braintree missed 2 sitters before they did get their second .
We finally woke up after SK made the changes and started to look like a team again . Jake pulled one back from the spot before Jebb rescued a point with the last kick of the match .
If was a damp , wet January day a few of our players looked like they really did not want to be there .
Oh my other gripe is a linesman that is shouting encouragement to the opposition players which was clearly heard by Dartford fans “” Yes well done “” to quote as a defender cleared a ball !

Here are the goals

[Tony H]

I’d have fumed if we lost that, but to salvage a draw from the jaws of defeat wasn’t bad in the end. Again, we were generally poor against a side that was typical of one at the wrong end of the table scrapping for points and, adding this to the conditions, the pitch, time wasting antics, poor officiating and “Ballgate” this was always going to be a difficult game. The season is a race, not a sprint they say and yes, let’s not forget, we’re still in the mix at the right end of the table.

[Park Life]

Steve's post match interview:-

[Davedart]

Another poor performance against a weak Braintree side, if our creativity wasn't bad enough our defending was bloody shocking,we look like conceding everytime the opposition get into the box. Today we looked disjointed all through the side which is not helped with unnecessary tinkering with players. No matter how good a player Murtah has been in the past playing at higher levels where he's record speaks for itself, he should not be simply selected on what he has achieved, he is far too slow and constantly gives the ball away. I would definitely start with a settled Husin, Hyde & Jebb in midfield.Though might be controversal to some, I would also perhaps give Azeez a rest who has been very good but a little disappointing of late, even though I had him to start today, and start with Robinson & either Porter or Roberts against the fleet on Sunday. What does amaze me on this forum is how people get criticized for any negative comments, it's a forum for Christ sake where one should have the freedom to express their views if we agree with them or not. I go to the games & I openly express my views good or bad as how I see it, I'm always open to a discussion if one disagrees with my opinion but to simply slag off ones negativity especially how we are playing at the moment I find silly.
The fact is, we were playing like a championship winning side playing some of the best football I've seen for years taking 22 points from 8 games against some very good sides. We have since taken only 10 points from the last 9 games playing some indifferent and at times poor football, it's only our incredible start we are still in the mix,but how long playing like we currently are going to stay there? Like everybody else on this forum I'm sure we will get back to the football we've been accustomed to, but just hope it's sooner than later.

[PeteSamson]

I was disappointed not to be able to listen to a match commentary, having to rely on only the the occasional visit and updates by Radio Kent to this game, with them covering the Maidstone v Welling game instead.

It is also a disappointment to drop 2 more points in our quest, but just having a look at the league table tonight, I see that whilst we are 4th, a win in our game in hand would take us back top, although we could also be joined by St Albans, and Dulwich Hamlet if they won their games in hand too. Considering the number of matches recently where we have been below par, that is quite a remarkable feat and shows it is still very much in our own hands. As managers themselves have been saying, this is probably the toughest the league has been in recent times, and is being shown to be the case with so few points between the leading bunch.

St Albans recently played the National Northen division leaders Brackley at home in the FA Trophy, drawing 0-0, but going through on penalties. Brackley have already hit the 40 point mark after 18 games, so some 6 points ahead of a pack of teams in the South, which perhaps goes to confirm just how tough our league is.

In the same way that Maidstone have returned to a rich vein of form after us defeating them after a poor period themselves, we now need to return to form ourselves, to the levels we set ourselves during the opening games of the season, which I am sure we can. There is still a long way to go this season.

Happy New Year to you all

COYD

[Clare]

I was disappointed not to be able to listen to a match commentary, having to rely on only the the occasional visit and updates by Radio Kent to this game, with them covering the Maidstone v Welling game instead.

Oh no Pete, sorry you didn’t find the online commentary. It was there as I listened to it. It was the blue boxes at the top of the page and you just scroll across until you get to the game of your choice. Bit late now, I know, but maybe next time

[DA Mikey]

Yesterday quickly transitioned from regret in going to the joy of witnessing an unlikely comeback.
Although the general standard of play from our team is nowhere near “pre-Sudbury” de rigeur, there are notable contributory factors. The lack of cutting wing play (ie. Leonard) costs us several attacking bites from crosses and changes our dynamic to a muddled midfield melee much of the time. Jernade Meade is also simply a better option than Michael Kedman and the comments regarding Murtagh are all sadly spot on. Sticking with this guy reminds me of TB’s last season where an insistence on fielding Danny Mills cost us a few games and made us reliant on the results of others. I also realise this morning that I didn’t even notice the new boy!

Anyway, there was a poetic justice to avoiding defeat at the death yesterday. We have a rotten record at Cressing Road and although we edged the first half, started to stink the place out again in the second. But even with a couple of smart goals and some innovative time wasting techniques, the Iron couldn’t seal the deal against us and that made me happy.

[The Duke]

Just to remind a few posters that Kevin Murtagh was a regular starter in the 1st 8 games of the season when we were on fire and its totally unfair to blame him for the last 10 games when our form has been mid table at best , a lot of Murtaghs work is breaking up play and giving the ball to the " creative ball players like Husin, Hyde , Jebb and Leonard " who are NOT creating chances for the strikers , yesterday being proof with very few threats on Braintree 's goal !!
Steve Kings post match assessment of the team was totally correct and we have to do better than of late or we will NOT be in play ofs , I feel sure that Kingy will get it sorted but I reckon we will see a few outgoings/ incomings in January

[KingKong]

Just to remind a few posters that Kevin Murtagh was a regular starter in the 1st 8 games of the season when we were on fire and its totally unfair to blame him for the last 10 games when our form has been mid table at best , a lot of Murtaghs work is breaking up play and giving the ball to the " creative ball players like Husin, Hyde , Jebb and Leonard " who are NOT creating chances for the strikers , yesterday being proof with very few threats on Braintree 's goal !!
Steve Kings post match assessment of the team was totally correct and we have to do better than of late or we will NOT be in play ofs , I feel sure that Kingy will get it sorted but I reckon we will see a few outgoings/ incomings in January

Absolutley spot on.

[Spike]

Did we deserve to win? No. Did Braintree deserve to win? Absolutely not. In fact their anti-football tactics were deserving of a good stuffing but we lacked the creativity to give it to them and only a touch of brilliance from Jack Jebb saved our embarrassment. I'm a big fan of Jebb's and I think a lot of people underrate his contribution. He's one of those players who can provide moments of magic that can win you games plus he's very mobile. I felt we looked a lot more dynamic in midfield after he came on yesterday.

I still look at our squad and see some of the best players ever assembled at DFC, so it's baffling to me how we've gone from the pre-Sudbury world-beaters to a team that, at times, looks devoid of ideas. Someone said to me at the end of the game yesterday that snatching the draw somehow papered over the cracks. Well that's not how I see it. I don't think anyone is foolish enough to think that was a good result or that we are playing well, but we have somehow managed to stay in the pack at the top and that point may prove to be very important come the end of the season. I think we have to trust that Kingy will get things sorted. His record since he arrived has been excellent so I'm confident he can turn things around and get us firing again. People are entitled to their opinions of course, but we are still up there scrapping at the top so it's not all doom and gloom just yet. Keep the faith.