Dartford 0-2 Crystal Palace - Sawyer hands over the Darts in good shape

It has taken three well taken goals from Coca-Cola Championship sides to defeat a Dartford squad that’s preparing for Ryman Premier League football next month.

On Tuesday, Tamer Tuna’s stunning 90^th minute strike helped Charlton Athletic grab a 1-0 win in front of 2,210, before another young side, this time in Crystal Palace, came away from Princes Park 2-0 winners tonight.

But the five league difference was not evident, and this has pleased the Dartford camp.

Assistant manager Sawyer can report nothing but good news to Burman, who can now prepare the side for next Tuesday’s trip to Ryman League Division One North outfit East Thurrock United.

“He’s been on the phone a couple of times,” Sawyer told www.kentishfootball.co.uk  after tonight’s warm-up match, which was watched by 792 fans.

“We’ll have a meeting when he gets back, between myself, Steve Moseley and Tony and we’ll sit down and tell him about the two games that we’ve had.

“The two games have gone relatively well. We knew it would be tough against two professional teams, who have been training a lot longer than us.

“We’ve just said to the lads in there, we can take a lot of positives out of this week.

“We’ll go back now into our bread and butter, into our training and playing teams at our own sort of level.

“It’s always difficult, (the professional sides) keep the ball very well, when they’ve got it.

“But I think we’ve matched both teams this week. I feel they could have gone other ways. Tonight, we didn’t create too many clear cut chances, but I feel if the ball could have dropped a bit kinder to us at times, I think the scoreline could have been different.”

Dartford’s better chances came during the first half, but on both occasions, big target man, Rob Haworth, didn’t find the target.

His first opportunity arrived after 18 minutes when he met Mark Green’s whipped in cross from the left with a glancing header, which dropped agonisingly past the foot of the right-hand post.

And the former Margate striker, who interested Wealdstone before signing for the Darts, powered a near-post diving bullet header agonisingly past the post after Lee Noble reached the right by-line before whipping in a cross.

The only-well known player in the visiting ranks, striker Shefi Kuqi, failed to impress with some woeful finishing when given opportunities in front of goal.

But James Dayton showed him the way, breaking the deadlock after 56 minutes.

He unleashed a left-footed drilled shot from thirty-yards, finding the back of the net, via the foot of the right-hand post.

The Eagles netted a flattering second thirteen minutes from time when James Comley steered the ball past Kessell, after the goalkeeper had initially beaten out a long-range shot, that moved in the mid-flight.

And Sawyer said: “But in fairness to them, their first goal was a very good goal and the second goal, the lad hit it very well and talking to Kess, the ball’s moving all over the place and it was probably a little bit unfortunate that the rebound dropped straight to their player.

“The results aren’t the be all and end all at this stage of the season, it’s all about getting our match fitness.

“These are just early days, we’ve got (more) pre-season games and a number of training sessions and we’ll make sure we’re ready for August 16^th and that’s the target.”

Dartford begin their Ryman Premier League campaign at last season’s surprise package Hendon, before the eagerly awaited showdown against Dover Athletic at Princes Park on Tuesday, 19^th August.

“I think this week has been a positive step in that direction,” admitted a satisfied Sawyer.

“There’s nothing like playing for points or cup games but it’s a stage of the season that you have to go through.

“Once you have a couple of months off in the summer, you’ve got to work on the fitness. It’s just not the physical part, it’s actually getting match fitness, which is the hard bit.

“That takes time, we’ve still got a number of friendlies left and I’m sure we’ll get it right. Come August 16^th, we’d like to think all the players that are in the squad at that time, we’ve had plenty of time on the pitch and they’re ready for the season ahead.”

Goalkeeper Kessell, meanwhile, is now the only player in the Dartford squad that has played 180 minutes of their first two warm-up games.

And the former Folkestone Invicta goalkeeper, speaking to www.kentishfootball.co.uk, was pleased with the way his team-mates performed against two sides that play five divisions above them.

“I think we’ve done ok in our (first) two games,” he said. “Fitness wise, we’ve kept up there to be honest.

“Both the pro sides we’ve played against, I thought Palace had a slightly stronger team out tonight than Charlton did on Tuesday, but we kept up with them.

“The last fifteen minutes, the legs started to look a bit heavy, other than that, I thought we played quite well.

“We’ve had quite a few half chances in there, didn’t take them but at least we’re creating them.

“I thought a few of the lads have knocked in quite a few decent balls in the box, just didn’t really take any of the half-chances that we got, but like I said, we’ve created a few.”

But the 28-year-old, who has conceded only three goals against professional players, knows East Thurrock United will not pose the same problems on Tuesday night.

“Games like Tuesday and tonight were to try and draw in the crowds,” he said. “Obviously tonight we didn’t have as big a crowd but Tuesday we had a decent one.

“They’re going to be tough games from now onwards. We’re going to be playing against sides that are obviously more to our standard, games that show how well we’re getting on.”

Despite their lofty status, Crystal Palace were far from professional when handing their team-sheets before the game.

Written on a tacky lime green piece of A4 paper were the names of “N Martin,” in goal, “K Sansom” in defence and “A Plum”, wearing the number seven shirt.

This showed a lack of respect to their Kent hosts, knowing full well that Nigel Martin and Kenny Sansom were no where to be seen.

In goal was Paul Wilkenson, who enjoyed a loan spell here in Kent last season with Dover Athletic, and he played 65 minutes in total. The Selhurst Park outfit made a total of six substitutions.

Dartford, meanwhile, used all of their nineteen man squad.

Dartford: Tony Kessell, Tommy Osborne (Richard Ketchell 45), Mark Green (Scott Holding 45), Adam Flanagan (Seun Eferakorho 77), John Guest, Danny Dafter (Ray Powell 45), Steve Butterworth (Ryan Hayes 45), Nick Barnes, Rob Haworth (Brendon Cass 45), James White (Luke May 77), Lee Noble (Yohance Lewis 45).

Crystal Palace: (Starting eleven only): David Wilkinson, Nathaniel Clyne, Royce Wiggins, James Comley, Aaron Dalhouse, Cedric, Keiran Djilali, Billy Bingham, Shefki Kuqi, Jamie Smith, James Dayton.

Goals: James Dayton 56, James Comley 77

Attendance: 792
Referee: Mr Ian Cooper (Rochester)
Assistants: Mr Ian Fessenden (Rochester) and Mr Lee Dyson