Concord Rangers v Dartford Thu 20 April 2023

[KSTDART]

What a steaming pile of c*nt that was !

[Sleightly Deceptive]

At half time we were talking of, at the very least, 4-1 to us. Concord heads had gone when we went 2-1 up and it was only a matter of time before we stuck the sword in and twisted it. And then something happened. Concord saw how shit we are and thought, “hang on a cotton-pickin’ we can win this!” Again, I saw it coming. (Easy to say, I know, but…) TH will tell you. It’s that all too familiar feeling that has been with us since the new year. I went to the ‘tunnel’ (ha!) at the end to try to rally the lads as they came off. It was pointless. Their expressions said it all. Absolutely out of ideas. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I think Dowse has lost the respect of the senior players. No I’m not calling for him to go - I’m saying what I see. The team selections, the disappearance of a central defender and the absolute inexplicable dropping of the best goalkeeper in this league, (and the one above!) it’s way past a mere coincidence. I’m absolutely f’kin seething. That’s the lowest I’ve seen for a bloody long time and is right up there (again, like Taunton) with that Poole Town debacle years back. I saw many Darts fans absolutely speechless tonight and I can’t understand why the handful (of the hundred or so of us there) bothered to applaud them off! Find a very large mirror boys and have a f*cking long hard look at yourselves!

[Park Life]

First half Concord started the better and had three decent chances before inevitably taking the lead. We got back into the game when there seemed to be some mix up and Harvey finished well. Sam then scored with a decent strike and we finished the half the better side but without creating any further meaningful strikes on goal.

Second half we came out and put them under a fair bit of pressure but again didn't have a notable strike on goal. They then got back into it, scored two and could easily have had another one or two had it not been for Captain Tom who incidentally had our only decent stroke on goal in the second half.

So overall whilst the balance of possession was probably even, the difference was they had several attempts on goal and we didn't, something that's been evident for quite a few recent matches.

What i couldn't understand tonight was how a struggling relegation bound team who have played 6 games in 14 days finished the game stronger than us?? Answers on a postcard please........

Tom.B was good again, Sam did ok and scored with a decent strike but i gave MOTM to Harvey who worked his socks off again and scored another goal.

[Grassbank]

Hard to know where to start. Great turnout by the fans, but not sure where the team bus went.

Darts very slow to start and deservedly fell behind. We improved slightly and quickly became more than a match for our opponents and it was no great surprise when we took the lead. Once ahead, we appeared to lose all confidence and I can recall only one shot on target in the second half. Yet again an overly physical team easily tied us up in knots with no intervention from the man in the middle. Yet another opponent showed us how to win decisions - go to ground and appeal. The ref was happy to oblige them all evening long. I was amazed that he saw the blatant dive in the box late on for what it was with the score at 2-2, but I was not surprised that he failed to caution the player involved.

It looked as though Concord had more running in them and that they wanted the victory more. How can that be? But for Ben, the score line could have been very embarrassing.

I am watching the Chelsea ladies in the Champions League on Saturday. I have no intention of looking at my phone during the afternoon that I will spend in London until after 5PM. We can beat the best team in the league easily, yet lose to some of the worst teams without troubling the man between the sticks. I have given up trying to predict what might happen. At least I now have low expectations for the play-offs. Dartford never do anything the easy way and it seems that this season will be no exception.

I hope that the players get their act together for those of you that are able to watch on Saturday. Finishing outside of the top three would be poor reward for some good results that we managed earlier in the season.

Come on you Darts!

[Undercover Elephant]

What an absolute pile of steaming sh@t, rubbish, garbage, crap and useless inept performance.
On that performance we don’t deserve to be in the playoffs, we are the absolute laughing stock of the National League south and on that performance couldn’t fight our way out of a wet paper bag!
Oh and before anyone asks, yes I am mad, absolutely steaming mad !
Yes I pay my money and take my chance the same as everyone else does.
But come on Dartford the fans deserve better than this, some say Douse has done well with the squad we have and we would have been lucky to get seventh place.

[Tony H]

As if last Thursday was bad enough, tonight? -worse! Frankly, that tonight was a performance bereft of any heart, belief, guts, passion and a will or desire to win with little, and at times, no skill or control. What the hell happened tonight goodness only knows. To lose to a team bottom of the League and destined for relegation says it all. Embarrassing! Speechless to be honest. Simply not good enough!

[Tall Dart]

Feel sorry for the fans that made the effort tonight, it seems clear from the comments we didnt impress. We seem to have run out of steam, same thing last season sadly. We are fizzling out, seemingly without a fight. I just hope this result will be a turning point for the team, and we see out the remaining games with some pride and belief in ourselves. Will be long overdue for me at PP Saturday, hope they can give us something to cheer for. COYDs sort it out, please.

[Park Life]

[Tall Dart]

Feel sorry for the fans that made the effort tonight, it seems clear from the comments we didnt impress. We seem to have run out of steam, same thing last season sadly. We are fizzling out, seemingly without a fight. I just hope this result will be a turning point for the team, and we see out the remaining games with some pride and belief in ourselves. Will be long overdue for me at PP Saturday, hope they can give us something to cheer for. COYDs sort it out, please.

Edit, after hearing the interview with Douse. I wont be holding my breath.. He was embarrassed by the sounds of it. Whatever is going on behind the scenes is very suspicious.

[Tony H]

Feel sorry for the fans that made the effort tonight, it seems clear from the comments we didnt impress. We seem to have run out of steam, same thing last season sadly. We are fizzling out, seemingly without a fight. I just hope this result will be a turning point for the team, and we see out the remaining games with some pride and belief in ourselves. Will be long overdue for me at PP Saturday, hope they can give us something to cheer for. COYDs sort it out, please.

Edit, after hearing the interview with Douse. I wont be holding my breath.. He was embarrassed by the sounds of it. Whatever is going on behind the scenes is very suspicious.

Simple - the club (Directors) and management want promotion, the players don’t

[Sleightly Deceptive]

Edit, after hearing the interview with Douse. I wont be holding my breath.. He was embarrassed by the sounds of it. Whatever is going on behind the scenes is very suspicious.

Is that what he said? Might actually have to listen to that one. (I stopped watching his interviews a while back. Same old BS.) But there’s something deffo wrong and I just can’t see Tom Bonner being any part of it.

[The Duke]

Dowse taking one for the team , the fact is that once they go over the white line its down to them and since Christmas a number of them have NOT had the desire / effort to comfortably secure 2nd spot , the vast majority of the team havent a prayer of getting a contract IF we get promoted and I trust that Dowse will dispense with their services and get some players in who have the necessary bottle to go with the class needed to be successful

I hope Dowse has learned from his mistakes this season and is ruthless pre season and gets rid of several of the current " non achievers " and puts it right next season or it has to be " bi bi Dowse " >>>>

[DA Mikey]

Dowse taking one for the team , the fact is that once they go over the white line its down to them and since Christmas a number of them have NOT had the desire / effort to comfortably secure 2nd spot , the vast majority of the team havent a prayer of getting a contract IF we get promoted and I trust that Dowse will dispense with their services and get some players in who have the necessary bottle to go with the class needed to be successful

I hope Dowse has learned from his mistakes this season and is ruthless pre season and gets rid of several of the current " non achievers " and puts it right next season or it has to be " bi bi Dowse " >>>>

All well and good to say ring the changes for next season, but if we are 100% staying part time, isn’t that a deterrent for players with other jobs? I guess we would just have to hope for a part time team of players akin to TB’s squad in 2012/13, although quite a few of them rolled over from the promotion winning side IIRC.

[Sleightly Deceptive]

Dowse is gonna have to make massive changes wether we go up or not. If we go up he’s just gonna have to make even bigger changes. (Surely we have to become full time to compete in NL?) If we stay in NLS, I’d say he has a little bit more flexibility. I’m all for him staying because, as we know, his remit was to achieve play offs and he’s done that. And after a start that was forced on him. But it’s ALL his show from the final whistle of the last game of this season. Then we’ll see what he actually is all about. Wholesale clearout of the junk we’re carrying, for a start, that’s for sure.

[Tony H]

Responsibility should be laid firmly at the feet of the players who, imho have been going through the motions this calendar year, particularly the senior players, content to pick up a pay packet each week playing at NLS level. I can’t think of any other reason for our indifferent form and, particularly our defeats over the past two Thursdays. It is very clear to me watching that lot that there’s absolutely no desire amongst this group of players to win promotion. Don’t blame the board or the manager and his back room staff - this is entirely down to the players.

Unfortunately it’s too late to make changes now BUT I can honestly see wholesale changes in Summer. I’ve always said tgat if players cannot “die for the cause” should do the honourable thing and piss off. They should not be a part of any club - f**g mercenaries!

I’m not going to call out any individual players on here but half that team last night should hang their heads in shame. Ultimately the manager will be responsible for results but I genuinely feel for Dowse right now. But for the lack of desire and shear will to win the squad we have should still be challenging Ebbsfleet this season for the title.

[Mark Sweet]

The one thing we have been good at this season is bouncing back after a defeat. That is a reason why we are still, somehow, in the fight for 2nd. I just hope this defeat doesn't have a worse effect on everyone because it certainly feels like that from a fan perspective. You can tell how much this defeat has hurt Dowse just from his interview and I actually felt sorry for him listening to it. He's given everything this season to try and get this club promoted despite the tough circumstances when he came in late and he feels let down by some players.. Can you blame him?

Win at home against St Albans on Saturday and help from elsewhere means we could have 2nd secured. It's going to be a tough ask but we all need to get behind the team to help them over the line.

[Sleightly Deceptive]

The one thing we have been good at this season is bouncing back after a defeat. That is a reason why we are still, somehow, in the fight for 2nd. I just hope this defeat doesn't have a worse effect on everyone because it certainly feels like that from a fan perspective. You can tell how much this defeat has hurt Dowse just from his interview and I actually felt sorry for him listening to it. He's given everything this season to try and get this club promoted despite the tough circumstances when he came in late and he feels let down by some players.. Can you blame him?

Win at home against St Albans on Saturday and help from elsewhere means we could have 2nd secured. It's going to be a tough ask but we all need to get behind the team to help them over the line.

That’s for sure - we’re still in command. But if Tony H is correct in his assumptions (and they’re shared by many others) and some players don’t ‘want it’ then, are we supporters being ‘cheated’? I’m still absolutely fuming about last night. (It’s usually worn off by now to some degree! And that’s testament to how often it is these days!)

[Tony H]

The one thing we have been good at this season is bouncing back after a defeat. That is a reason why we are still, somehow, in the fight for 2nd. I just hope this defeat doesn't have a worse effect on everyone because it certainly feels like that from a fan perspective. You can tell how much this defeat has hurt Dowse just from his interview and I actually felt sorry for him listening to it. He's given everything this season to try and get this club promoted despite the tough circumstances when he came in late and he feels let down by some players.. Can you blame him?

Win at home against St Albans on Saturday and help from elsewhere means we could have 2nd secured. It's going to be a tough ask but we all need to get behind the team to help them over the line.

Exactly that Mark, totally agree mate. A number of those players have let the club, the manager and the fans down.

It’s not over yet, we still have a seat at the play-off feast, BUT without putting too finer a point on it, do these players have an ounce of desire to string 4 results together? Sadly, I think not and that’s very dissappointing to say the least.

Still, we’re Dartford fans and we should still get behind the lads.
(Pre-season will be interesting!!!!)

[Park Life]

It’s not over yet, we still have a seat at the play-off feast, BUT without putting too finer a point on it, do these players have an ounce of desire to string 4 results together? Sadly, I think not and that’s very dissappointing to say the least.

We were having a similar conversation on the way home that in all probability we need to win four games on the trot, a tall order........

[Tony H]

It’s not over yet, we still have a seat at the play-off feast, BUT without putting too finer a point on it, do these players have an ounce of desire to string 4 results together? Sadly, I think not and that’s very dissappointing to say the least.

We were having a similar conversation on the way home that in all probability we need to win four games on the trot, a tall order........

It could happen but overnight changes in hearts, minds and attitudes required. I can’t see it mate!