Pure DFC Archive

Yes we were bad, but we had clear chances to win the game twice over. And Eastbourne show what having a bit of quality up front gets you- Whelpdale's goal was no more than half a chance which he brilliantly converted. But we are so short of quality up front it's laughable. If your top scorer is served up two chances on a plate and misses both in ridiculous fashion, you know you have a team bang out of form and bereft of confidence.

I know L'Ghoul has already had a fair amount of stick on here tonight, but in his defence i lost count of the amount of times Eastbourne doubled or tripled up on him when he had the ball out wide. If he doesn't have the opportunity to attack the full back, or have any space at all, his threat is severely diminished. Simple but effective tactics from Eastbourne, but really frustrating to see us continually look for the same ball to a player who is not getting any joy on either wing.

I rewound the stream and recorded the three penalty shouts to watch them back. The handball in the first half was one of the most clear cut penalties you'll ever see. The defender's back is turned and he jumps with his arm in the air, which blocks L'Ghoul's shot. Tell me how that isn't a penalty?! The linesman is also on that side of the pitch to make matters worse. The second half handball shout is hard to see, but the players seemed convinced. And when Essam is kicked in the head trying to head in the rebound after Bonner has hit the bar...anywhere else on the pitch i think the referee will give a free kick. So why not a penalty?

But blaming the referee is futile. If you can't score a header from a yard out, or a tap in that lands at your feet, then you don't deserve to win games. The way things are going I'm not even sure three penalties would be enough for us to score.

We didn't lose, but i think that's the only positive to take from this game.

It's the same problems again- slow to start and wasting chances. Aside from the goals I counted three 'must score' moments - Sheringham's one on one in the first half, Allen's free shot in the area which he hit straight at the keeper and Romain's 'header' at the end. We created enough chances to win the game but once again we come away disappointed. Having bad games is part of football, but you need a real killer instinct to come out of those games with three points.

Until injury time I was reasonably happy with a point- aside from the Hungerford keeper saving a Luke Allen shot I don't think we did enough after equalizing to win the game. But those two chances in injury time...the only mistake that Hungerford's centre half Emmerson (in my opinion the best player on the pitch) made in the game, the ball falls to Allen... and he misses. The keeper must have got a toe on the ball to divert it wide. And then from the resulting corner Hill/ Essam's header is somehow kept out. The players seemed convinced that the ball had crossed the line, but the ref wasn't interested and it was the wrong side of the pitch for the linesman to see clearly- on another day I wonder if a thousand screaming fans would have influenced the ref's decision? Result aside it was an entertaining game and a fair point against a good team.

Ijhala had another great game in the middle, as did Allen (wayward shooting aside). L'Ghoul was good again and he really ran his socks off. Most of our best moments came when he was involved. Wynter looked assured at right back before going off injured- which is a concern because we seem to be running extremely low on defenders. Thankfully we don't seem to have a game on Tuesday so hopefully a week's rest will do the team some good.

A great team performance and three very well deserved points. Obviously Charlie gets the plaudits for his hatrick, but I thought Ijaha was magnificent in the middle. Luke Allen had a very good game, as did L'Ghoul, who has probably been our most consistent player since he joined in December.

A few changes to the team after Saturday's game - I'm not sure if this was down to illness, injury or squad rotation, but either way all of the players who stepped into the starting XI - Hill, Allen, Ijaha, Sheringham- played very well. Wilks looked comfortable in goal- he had few saves to make but his distribution was good and he seemed happy with the ball at his feet, which is always a bonus.

A performance and victory to lift the spirits!

Another game goes by where we have enough decent chances to score 3/4 goals. I don't know what happened at the end; a goalmouth scramble, three players queuing up at the back post and we still don't score. Unfortunately it seems to be the story of the season. Once it clicks then we'll be ok.

Credit to Braintree, not the best footballing side but they worked a lot harder than Dartford from kick off to final whistle. Unlike Tonbridge , Braintree didn't tire as early on in the second half; they kept pressing, running and closing Dartford down. When we did get the ball in the box they won their headers or got a foot in. For all Dartford's nice passing in the middle of the park, sometimes hard work and a bit of luck is enough to win you games.

Three games in to 2020 and we could easily have 9 points. Instead we have four. Fortunately other results have been favourable and no one is showing signs of running away with the league- even St Albans lost today!

An improved performance compared to the lowly defeats against Eastbourne and Haringey. Unfortunately it's another game where we just don't look like scoring from open play. Once the ball gets near the opposition box a Dartford player inevitably makes the wrong decision- an extra touch, not releasing the ball, or just running the ball out of play. If we do get a cross in, chances are it's a poor one and easily cleared by the defence. It must drive King mental, it's bad enough watching at home and seeing players making the wrong choices time and time again.

However, we should have had a penalty in the first half. A very poor decision from the referee; he gave a number of soft fouls during the game, but managed to miss the most obvious foul you'll see all season.

Looked to me like Craig King might be in a bit of trouble as a result of the melee after the final whistle.

Really quite bad from all involved. Jacob's superb goal was the only positive moment in an otherwise poor performance.

Maybe you could say the conditions played a part, but how many times was the ball bouncing around the Eastbourne box or cleared off the line- i counted 4 times...At that point, the wind and rain have nothing to do with it, it's about finishing and composure. Unfortunately both are in short supply at the moment.

Two good goals from Jacob who clearly had a point to prove after last week's red card (albeit rescinded) and being dropped to the bench for today's game. We were unlucky to be heading in 1-0 down at half time after an extremely soft penalty decision went against us. However, a couple of good subs turned the game on its head and I don't think Hungerford every really threatened to get an equalizer. I definitely would have taken a point from this one, so coming away with three is brilliant!

Jacob is the only choice for MOM, but i thought Husin and Jebb both had good games in the middle. They weren't given the space and time they would have liked, but they both worked their socks off for the team. McCallum looked a bit off the pace in the first half and gave away the penalty but had a much better second half.

A very poor performance all round. Yet again so wasteful in front of goal. From minute 1 we looked off the pace. Every St Albans player worked harder than their Dartford equivalent.

Fine, they won it with a ridiculous goal from 35 yards out; on another day that goes miles over the bar. But we certainly didn't deserve anything out of that game.

You can't concede three goals at home and expect anything out of a game, so from that perspective we deserved nothing from today. Bonner and Vint were the main culprits, which is surprising given how well they've played up to this point. Unfortunately their off-days coincided and when up against an experienced goal scorer like Prior we were always going to be in trouble. 

As for Dartford, Jacob was brilliant and Ijaha was composed and a physical presence when he needed to be. Jebb and Husin combined well in midfield, with Jebb's free kick the highlight of the game.  Elliot worked hard and got an assist, but looks very short of confidence in front of goal. 

I'll reluctantly praise Dorking; three goals and three points away from home. They were clinical up front and cynical everywhere else- I lost count of how many bookings they received (6/7?); a risky tactic but one that paid off. Their game management was spot on, they slowed the game down when they needed to, committed lots of fouls to break up play and waited patiently for chances to come their way. It's enormously frustrating to lose to a team that plays this way but if the boot was on the other foot I wouldn't be complaining.