Dartford v Cray Wanderers Sat 21 Feb 2026

[KentC]

Attendance 1128.

Would have been more but I'm hearing they may have been stopping under 16s entry again??

Name me another industry where you actively turn away customers??

The Board have zero ambition. Words mean absolutely nothing from these people.

[Park Life]

What a load of dross and another poor game of football, this league may be "competitive" but it lacks quality and we are where we are because atm we aren't good enough to be any higher.

First half was a complete non event.

Second half we livened up and got into the game but some of this was because Cray started giving away loads of free kicks.
We could easily have been 3 down but for Henly's penalty save, one on one save and Cray not taking the other chances they had.

As for team selection, imo for the second week running a couple mess. It feels to me as if we played four forwards today because so much stick went around about Eddie and Ollie not starting last week they were included, Vaughan was always gonna start and Jones is untouchable. But we looked like a disorganized group of players just thrown together and hope for the best. Substitutions reactive and pretty much like for like again, maybe because we are so one dimensional and don't have any other option/ideas.

More worrying for me is some of the players body language doesn't look good.

As for the play offs, we look miles off it and will need a pretty impressive turnaround to get anywhere near them.

Jonny Henly MOTM again by a country mile, for the second week running we could easily have been 3-0 down if it wasn't for him. Says it all.........

As for the youngsters being turned away again, did not see this myself but was told by a couple of people again one who witnessed it. We've had this discussion with the club a few times and even recently at the AGM but still the same thing seems to be happening.......

As for stewarding behind the goal, another bottle thrown on by a kid and were it not for the older supporters waking the stewards up nothing would have happened. If only somebody would suggest getting three stewards to stand behind the goal facing the crowd to act as a deterrent it may stop. Oh hold on, we've been saying that for years.........

I am so disillusioned with everything atm and have not been enjoying it for some time. No atmosphere again and it's getting tough to turn up for the games.......

[Lars Resort]

Henley saved us but their forwards were woeful as , as we were. Worst performance this season (as I missed last week) for me. After an hour I was beginning to wish I'd missed this one. We were so bad.
Sam Oduado was awful, it wasn't until Dan Carter got on the pitch that we looked interested and even then Cray could have got a couple. Against poor opposition we looked absolutely shite.

[Ozytalksbull]

Attendance 1128.

Would have been more but I'm hearing they may have been stopping under 16s entry again??

Name me another industry where you actively turn away customers??

The Board have zero ambition. Words mean absolutely nothing from these people.

But this decline has been going on for the last six years or so,local people have voted with their feet and some people on here berated others opinions and were blinkered and in support of the old boys club

Sad times for Dartford but the diehards will still beleive in that five year plan bullshit
For a club to be turning away fans and have no control over the stewarding it’s just laughable and sad for the town and its supporters

I genuinely hope there is a big turnaround soon for all the loyal supporters but I doubt it very much, Dartford fc has been become the laughing stock of Kent

[The 5th Searcher]

It was down right bloody awful on the pitch again, players all over the place not really knowing where they are supposed to be. Why the hell Ade decided to play with 4 forwards I have no idea but it certainly didn’t work. It’s very early days for him but the loan forward Vaughan looked completely lost up front and don’t cause any problems at all for Cray but then again neither did the rest of our forwards.

The Cray goal came about by to many of our players just standing around watching the ball on the touchline instead of actually winning the ball with half the defence pushed right up out of place we got caught out on the break an it was an easy goal for Cray as we couldn’t get back.

As others have said if it wasn’t for Henly we would’ve been at least 3 down before we decided to wake up.

Just complete and utter dross I’m afraid and certainly can’t see us making the play off’s and even if we did I have absolutely no confidence in the team doing anything.

On a side note somebody at the AGM / Fans Forum asked about the ambulances being parked in the car park on match days taking up a load of spaces and not being used and we was told by Steve Irving that they are supposed to be moved on match days out the way to free up parking spaces except for the ones needed to which Jack agreed to speak to them about it.
Well today there was 11 ambulances all parked up in the car park as well as some lorrie’s, not one of them seemed to be in use and none got moved so quite clearly either they aren’t being asked to move as we was told or they just choose to ignore the club, either way something needs to be done about it.

I won’t hold my breath though.

[Paulcanary]

The laughing stock of Kent footie comment is the one that hurts so much - 13 years ago we were in the top 8 of the National Conference and had just played Grimsby in the semi-final of the FA Trophy - so many chances missed to be back in the top flight and we are now struggling in this league - oh for a Bradbrook Noble Hayes and the like player type like to be in our team now.

[Paulcanary]

IT issue. Sorry darts fans

[Babylon]

I too cannot see us making the play offs.

We were very fortunate to get a draw
Cray must be gutted after missing a penalty and an absolute sitter

Man of the match
JOE HENLEY .........

I am not going to slag off any of our individual players but imho we simply .........
AIN'T GOOD ENOUGH. to get out of this league.with this squad..

[rambo]

As others have said today this was a total load of rubbish from both sides. Nothing to be proud of from either side. I think this is the first time in my life I have seen four forwards take the field and not one of them winger. At times in the first half all four were on the left side of the pitch and none on our right. Absolutely awful to watch.
We are now settling down to be a long term Isthmian club and if we don’t watch out we will be relegated in2/3 seasons time.
The worst thing to happen today ( if true) is the treatment of the kids. This is suicide from the club and whoever is responsible for the order to not let them in needs their head examined
Please let this season end

[Odd-ball]

I'm not a fan of Henley but my god he saved us today ! The rest of team should be ashamed of themselves today and absolute shower of sh#t ! It's the worst performance I've seen this season apart from the last 10 mins when they woke up ! We ain't ready for the national league by a long shot !

[Kermo18]

Game should have been dead and buried before we equalised.
The best part of 85 mins was absolute dross.
Another 90 mins for Callum to do nothing
I’ve not been henly’s biggest fan this season but he was outstanding today.
Personally think the playoffs are dead and buried.

[Kermo18]

Ady doing the rounds in the bar after trying to keep people on side.
George back from a ban next week, in my opinion he comes straight back in.
Hoping we don’t go back to 5 at the back.

[Ajaxman DFC]

For anyone who's in any doubt as to where we're at it's quite simple.
Fan base = National League
Stadium = National League
Facilities = National League
Board = Isthmian League

Infact I'd say the latter's on par with Sittingbourne at the moment. I've lost count of how many of our Kent rivals have overtaken us over the past few years. One of them of which is currently way out of sight doing rather well in the Football League.
When Chatham Town were plying their trade infront of 150 fans in the South East Counties League I once remarked to a friend that we'd meet them in the league one day. The million dollar question was which tier? Well, now we know.
When I look back we've had two managers who've had success at a higher level yet compared with the General Manager's tenure at the helm have both lasted no more than five minutes. We almost hired a third before the current appointment but he did a U-turn 48 hours after accepting the job. I know why and maybe a few others do. But for those who don't will just have to work it out for themselves.
Under Alan Dowson I said before Xmas we could find ourselves in a relegation battle come the end of the season. Mainly due to how the fixtures were looking during the run up to the season's end. But the club wasn't looking over it's shoulder. It was too busy accepting the play-offs were a given every year and sacked Dowson accordingly. Yet I remember thinking at the time with the National South getting tougher every season it was gradually leaving us behind. Dowse is an experienced manager and I still believe he would have had enough know how to have kept us up. Instead the club panicked and made a right mess of the situation. And it was poor decision making which followed that sent us down.
Ade Pennock is getting a fair bit of criticism but he can only work with the tools he's given. From a work life balance point of view the position suits him and I don't blame him for hanging in there. After all, his last job saw him spend some considerable time away from his family while managing abroad. He'll decide if and when he's had enough. And besides, can the board afford to pay off a third manager?
As for club funds there was an innovative meeting not so long ago insearch of fresh ideas to bring more income into the club.
Well, for one thing why not maximise the business models already in place. One of those revenue streams comes from the Champions Bar. Sunday afternoons the bar post match is open until early evening. If there is hardly anyone there by that time then by all means close it if there is no financial gain to be had by staying open. But when it's still busy with players, their families and supporters, sometimes from both sides, and the bar still closes where's the business sense in that?
Also most teams in the South East Regional League kick off at 3pm. And no one kicks off at 1pm. Why should DFC be any different? So the bar can close earlier? I was supposed to be travelling overnight to the game with Millwall Lionesses this afternoon. With the weather being uncertain, with possible match postponements on the cards, I left it until first thing Friday morning to book my trip. The outgoing coach was full. Prices soared for the daytime journey which would have mean't booking a hotel on top. But you know what. It would have been cheaper to book a day return by train leaving Sunday morning. Far better than the tedious 16 hour round trip courtesy of National Express. The only problem being the first train down from the Northwest departs at around 9 o'clock Sunday morning arriving in Euston at 12:58. If the kick off time was in line with other clubs I would arrive at the ground in plenty of time and as a customer still be able to spend atleast a couple of hours in the bar after the game. When I travel by coach I normally stay overnight in the area anyway depending on the significance of the match. When that happens the bar is very busy. And when it closes, while the night is still young, the Champions Bar's loss becomes either the Irish Club's or the Sports Bar's gain.
It seems to me there are elements within the club who believe it can achieve a decent return with minimum effort.
In reality there's more chance of buying a winning lottery ticket. Rather than doing everything it can to increase revenue it drives business away instead.
Looking on the brightside it could be worse with Kier Starmer as General Manager, Rachel Reeves club treasurer and David Lammy hosting the quiz nights.
And before some twat tries to private message me again that's not bringing politics into it. You want to effing say something then do it in public this time and I will rip you to pieces. However, out of respect for the individual concerned, no names because I respect their views in general as they say things how they see it without fear of donning the hard hat.
I've no doubt they will also claim to champion free speech but, as we all know, some only endorse it until you disagree with them. Not that I'm bothered being a fully paid up member of the Free Speech Union. Should the thought police ever turn up at my door they'll soon be sent packing to find something useful to do. Apprehending criminals wouldn't be a bad start.

[Park Life]

[ozymandias]

What a crock of crap that was. Both will be in the same division next season. Very poor.
Terrible game of poor passing and hoofing. I was tempted at saying at times both our wide defenders were available when Henley decided to hoof it up the pitch. But have not seen Oduado have a mare of a game like that.
Can't put it all down to any one player, it was a team effort.
Thank goodness for Henley.MOTM

[ozymandias]

Must have been the last six minutes of the game. Very apt. No first half highlights?? Oh, yeah, there was no first half.

[Trevor B]

I will leave others to comment on most of the game as I am too discussed with this side, suffice to say that it is one of the worst performances that I have watched during 73 years of supporting the Darts home and away.
I can only endorse the comments of several fans made on here about the game, but especially one, all confirming similar statements to that of osymandias

Thank goodness for Henley.MOTM

I was one of those who earlier in the season that critised him on a number of occasions, but he appears to be getting more and more confidence pulling off numerous saves in the last few matches that have kept the goals against down.
I have to put this down to him getting match practice, not in training but in actual matches because of the continual ridiculous tackles being made by our players, not just outside the box for free kicks in dangerous positions, but inside it as well for penalties.
Well done Henley please keep it up

[Babylon]

All I can say to our board is there are quite a few long term supporters (40 years plus )who have followed the Darts for years and are fed up with what feels like a complete lack of ambition from the club.

We need investment but the club seem happy just to plod along in this pub league until dare I say it we are relegated again

As far as I know the council own princes park so there is no risk in property developers getting their
Hands on the land.
Ie WATLING STREET

We are.stagnating as a club and sadly I don't see us making the play offs this season because we simply don't have the quality on or off the pitch

We have no divine right to win games but our fortunate draw against Cray says it all for me.

[KentC]

All I can say to our board is there are quite a few long term supporters (40 years plus )who have followed the Darts for years and are fed up with what feels like a complete lack of ambition from the club.

We need investment but the club seem happy just to plod along in this pub league until dare I say it we are relegated again

As far as I know the council own princes park so there is no risk in property developers getting their
Hands on the land.
Ie WATLING STREET

We are.stagnating as a club and sadly I don't see us making the play offs this season because we simply don't have the quality on or off the pitch

We have no divine right to win games but our fortunate draw against Cray says it all for me.

Agree mate, I’d also add we have a huge community in our town that we are not tapping anywhere near enough. If anything we’re alienating a lot of them.

[Lars Resort]

Just seen the report in the NLP, talk about a hands on approach by Tom Bonner. Another player that should be hanging up his boots (again).
No quality anywhere on the pitch apart from Jonny.