DARTFORD 1-0 SALTDEAN UNITED
Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2025 10:01 am
A massive result for our ladies in a brutal no holds barred contest. I don't know what Sutton United's Lucy Clark would have made of the physicality of this game. No doubt she would have been in need of a generous dose of oxygen. Brentford have already been gripped with ice cold fear of facing our girls at Princes Park by postponing their game in a fortnight's time. They obviously want more time to think about it.
Both sides went for the jugular right from the off which was hardly surprising. With the oppo bigging it up on their Twitter feed neither team were in any doubt about the importance of this game.
And it was Saltdean who almost took the lead in the 6th minute.
A cross whipped in by Georgia Bridges was met by Danielle Jade Lane who saw her header hit the post. Their next header of note however had more of an impact on the game, with the visitors going one down courtesy of an X-rated own goal from Nikita Whinnet. The ball was nowhere to be seen either as Mercedes Bromfeld hit the deck sending Saltdean one down personnel wise just before the break. Basically Winnit lost it.
Fortunately Mercedes didn't retaliate. Not only is she smarter than that, she didn't need to. She'd already won her personal duel with Niknak by exploiting her opponent's weakness.
Nikita is arguably Saltdean's strongest player physically. But mentally? I know what tv presenter Anne Robinson would have said. And it did end in 'goodbye' too.
Then two minutes into the second half a neat cross from Leen Ekwo to the far post saw Paris Smith charging in with a powerful header, to show our promotion rivals how it's done. It was the first goal our illustrious guests had conceded in all competitions this season.
Saltdean may have shaded the first half but our girls had the better of the second. Although we had the numerical advantage it's never easy playing 11 against 10. You have to remain focussed and full credit to our ladies who did just that. Saltdean still had goals in them so there was no room for complacency. I know the supporters were relieved to hear the final whistle. And Darts nearly got caught out on the counter just before the end of normal time when Bridges struck the post.
Earlier in the 80th min captain Xayla-Rae Alberts was unlucky to see her shot crash against the woodwork after another excellent assist from Leen. Xayla then made a great tackle three minutes later only to have a free kick awarded against her. Amini Hanif was booked for tugging the arm of an opponent in an attempt to win the ball. Yet prior to that Ellie Dolby had her armed pulled so blatantly off the ball by an opponent, who must have thought she was pulling a Xmas cracker with the amount of effort and enthusiam she was putting into it. And the referee saw nothing, despite not being that far away.
As the game drew to a close Dolby played a great ball into the path of Shauni Griffiths who cut inside and unleashed a shot the went just the wrong side of the far post.
The referee was alright but for a game of this magnitude he wasn't a good fit. Hopefully a more experienced referee will be selected for the return fixture. Neither do we want the overzealous official who was in charge of our match at Saltdean last season. His pedantic antics is something we can definately do without.
Player of the match for me was Paris Smith. Scored the only goal of the game and it was quality. There were good performances all over the park particularly when it came to defending. Gabby Howell has been excellent playing back in the role she played at Crystal Place. Another solid performance from Abbey Davies and Ellie Dolby and last but not least our invincible Captain Xayla.
Both sides went for the jugular right from the off which was hardly surprising. With the oppo bigging it up on their Twitter feed neither team were in any doubt about the importance of this game.
And it was Saltdean who almost took the lead in the 6th minute.
A cross whipped in by Georgia Bridges was met by Danielle Jade Lane who saw her header hit the post. Their next header of note however had more of an impact on the game, with the visitors going one down courtesy of an X-rated own goal from Nikita Whinnet. The ball was nowhere to be seen either as Mercedes Bromfeld hit the deck sending Saltdean one down personnel wise just before the break. Basically Winnit lost it.
Fortunately Mercedes didn't retaliate. Not only is she smarter than that, she didn't need to. She'd already won her personal duel with Niknak by exploiting her opponent's weakness.
Nikita is arguably Saltdean's strongest player physically. But mentally? I know what tv presenter Anne Robinson would have said. And it did end in 'goodbye' too.
Then two minutes into the second half a neat cross from Leen Ekwo to the far post saw Paris Smith charging in with a powerful header, to show our promotion rivals how it's done. It was the first goal our illustrious guests had conceded in all competitions this season.
Saltdean may have shaded the first half but our girls had the better of the second. Although we had the numerical advantage it's never easy playing 11 against 10. You have to remain focussed and full credit to our ladies who did just that. Saltdean still had goals in them so there was no room for complacency. I know the supporters were relieved to hear the final whistle. And Darts nearly got caught out on the counter just before the end of normal time when Bridges struck the post.
Earlier in the 80th min captain Xayla-Rae Alberts was unlucky to see her shot crash against the woodwork after another excellent assist from Leen. Xayla then made a great tackle three minutes later only to have a free kick awarded against her. Amini Hanif was booked for tugging the arm of an opponent in an attempt to win the ball. Yet prior to that Ellie Dolby had her armed pulled so blatantly off the ball by an opponent, who must have thought she was pulling a Xmas cracker with the amount of effort and enthusiam she was putting into it. And the referee saw nothing, despite not being that far away.
As the game drew to a close Dolby played a great ball into the path of Shauni Griffiths who cut inside and unleashed a shot the went just the wrong side of the far post.
The referee was alright but for a game of this magnitude he wasn't a good fit. Hopefully a more experienced referee will be selected for the return fixture. Neither do we want the overzealous official who was in charge of our match at Saltdean last season. His pedantic antics is something we can definately do without.
Player of the match for me was Paris Smith. Scored the only goal of the game and it was quality. There were good performances all over the park particularly when it came to defending. Gabby Howell has been excellent playing back in the role she played at Crystal Place. Another solid performance from Abbey Davies and Ellie Dolby and last but not least our invincible Captain Xayla.