Kentish Football

Dartford 0-4 Dorchester Town - Burman: I'm looking for my players to respond to horror defeat

Saturday 13th November 2010
DARTFORD  0-4  DORCHESTER TOWN
Blue Square Bet South
Saturday 13th November 2010
Mike Green reports from Princes Park Stadium

WHAT a difference a week makes; after the Lord Mayors Show; the morning after the night before… All cliché’s that could quite easily describe this Dartford performance as after scaling the heights of their FA Cup draw and the 2-0 win at Crabble against Dover Athletic on Tuesday, Tony Burman’s side were as flat as the proverbial pancake as Dorchester Town became the first side to win at Princes Park this season.

This was the classic drab encounter that had 0-0 written all over it unto the visitors scored twice at the midway point of the second half and then just to add salt into the Dartford wounds, Dorchester scored twice more in the closing minutes to give the result a slightly lop sided if fair scoreline.

With all four goals coming in the closing quarter, Burman was far from happy when he spoke to www.kentishfootball.co.uk after the game. 

The Darts boss admitted: “It was a poor 26 minutes from us I’m afraid and the heads went down too quickly I’m afraid and that’s not good enough!” 

Clearly angry, Burman went on: “We didn’t have enough passion – our organisation went and that’s wrong and that just shows how quickly things can change in this game. We did a similar thing to Dover on Tuesday to what Dorchester have done to us today. But fair play to Dorchester they set their stall out; they had a plan and they stuck to it and fair play to them.”

Despite the game be billed as Princes Park 4th birthday party, there was little to cheer for the 1,105 crowd, and indeed there were time when the 1,105 sounded like 105! There was a almost an atmosphere of anti climax around the ground which in fairness wasn’t helped by the game itself which wont live too long in the memory.

Indeed, you really had to feel for Charlie Sheringham who ploughed a lone furrow up front and worked tirelessly with very little service or support and absolutely no luck at all. 

A point that was perfectly illustrated six minutes from half time. Michael Shinn whipped in a free kick from the left and the bouncing ball just wouldn’t drop for Sheringham who just couldn’t get enough on the ball to steer it into the net. 

Sheringham though will be disappointed at not hitting the target a few moments earlier as Elliot Bradbrook’s fine through ball released the striker but at full pace his shot fizzed just past Simon Evans’ right post in the Dorchester goal.

What proved to be the Darts best chance of the entire game came just before the break when Ryan Hayes (who was as ineffectual this week as he had been outstanding against Port Vale) sent over a delightful cross which lee Burns got the slightest of flicks too, but his header flashed inches wide of the right post.

And so the game meandered into the second half and beyond before exploding into life on 64 minutes. Ryan Moss sped down the visitors left leaving Darts defenders in his wake. He pulled the ball back from the goal line for Nick Crittenden who’s first time drive had the winger turning away to salute the goal. Yet somehow Andrew Young in the Darts net threw himself to his right to pull of a sensational save. 

Only problem for Young was that the ball rebounded to Moss who drilled the ball into the roof of the net from a tight angle. 

Things got worse for the Darts 90 seconds later as Danny Ings this time sprinted clear of the Darts back line before he pulled the ball back to Mark Jermyn who rammed the ball home from the penalty spot.

Despite a triple change on 74 minutes the Darts just couldn’t get any sort of foot hold in the game and in the closing minutes they were ruthlessly punished again.

Three minutes from time, Ings was rewarded for a fantastic personal performance with Dorchester’s third goal as he again outpaced the Darts defence before drilling the ball wide of the advancing Young and into the net. 

And just to add insult to injury in stoppage time Ings again sprinted clear leaving defenders in his wake before rolling the ball back for Moss who side footed number four to really leave the Darts boss a frustrated man as he admitted to us after the game, “I’m disappointed that we couldn’t break them down – we felt at half time if we could have raised the tempo a bit in the second half that we could do it. There were a lot of things that were a bit too slow but we gave the too much time to settle. 

“Having said that they’ve smashed us basically – their midfield have ran past ours as though they weren’t there. They put the ball into a good areas and got round the back of us and the three guys who have scored the last three goals have ran past our midfield to get on the end of the ball – they’ve bust a gut a to get in the box and hounded our defenders.”

With one eye on Tuesdays FA Cup replay in the Potteries, Burman said, “At least if Port Vale did watch us on today they’d have seen us at our worst, and will probably be licking their lips at the prospect of the replay. And if that happens we could get hammered – lets be honest if they’d have played to their full potential in the first game we could have got hammered at home but it wasn’t to be and we didn’t. 

“Now we’ve just got to hope that the same thing happens on Tuesday night and that we’re able to put in a good performance. After this horror showing I’m now looking for a reaction from my players and I better get it!

Dartford: Andrew Young, Billy Burgess (James White 74), Tom Bonner, Tom Champion, Paul Goodacre, Michael Shinn (Lee Noble 74), Ryan Hayes (Carl Rook 74), Danny Harris, Charlie Sheringham, Lee Burns, Elliot Bradbrook.
Subs:  Joe Bruce, Ollie Berquez

Booked: Charlie Sheringham 61

Dorchester Town: Simon Evans, Kyle Critchell, Neil Martin (Jake Smeeton 82), Mark Jermyn, Nathan Walker, Gary Bowles, Nick Crittenden, Jamie Gleeson, Ryan Moss (Regan Coward 90), Danny Ings (James Coutts 90), Steve Devlin.
Subs: Rico Wilson, Jamie Hudge

Goals:  Ryan Moss 64, 90, Mark Jermyn 66, Nick Crittenden 87

Booked: Neil Martin 72

Attendance: 1,105
Referee: Mr Jake Hillier (New Barnet, Hertfordshire)
Assistants: Mr Garry Maskell (Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex) & Mr Craig Pullen (Ilford, Essex)

 








 

Created by Red Dragon I.T. Ltd