Dartford 1-0 Welling United - We'll endeavour to catch Welling, says Darts boss Tony Burman

DARTFORD 1-0 WELLING UNITED
Blue Square Bet South
Bank Holiday Monday 2^nd January 2012
Paul Parkinson reports from Princes Park Stadium

DANNY HARRIS’ 59th minute header was enough to seal the three points for Dartford in a feisty North Kent derby, that at times threatened to boil over; a victory that moves Tony Burman’s charges to within two points of third placed Welling United.
Burman was full of praise for his players, saying, “After getting a point last week from Welling, we’ve been fortunate enough to come away with four from the two games.  Welling are a decent side, they proved it today, and they are above us in the league.  

“We’ve got to try to catch them and that’s what we’ll endeavour to do.  This was a good game again, in front of a big crowd and we’ve got the three points because we’ve kept a clean sheet.”

“Defensively we were excellent, and we’ve kept a clean sheet against a good forward line.  I wouldn’t say they were all over us.

“I think the first half was a close affair, not that many chances, but then first five minutes of the second, Danny Harris has got through and curled one over the bar that he should have put away.  Then they’ve hit the bar, the keeper’s pulled off a good save, and then we’ve scored.  From my point of view I think it was a fair result.”

His opposite number, Wings’ Jamie Day, serving a one match suspension for the accumulation of five yellow cards, was disappointed, stating, “Looking over the two games, we’ve certainly deserved more than one point.  In both games, I think we’ve been the better team.”

“Today, I thought we’d played well, created a number of chances and didn’t take them, then they’ve scored from a set piece, but I’m pleased with the performance, if not the result.  

“First half it was quite an even game, we almost cancelled each other out, but second half the game opened up a little bit and we created a handful of chances, but couldn’t take them.  In the end we’ve paid the price for it.”

Day added:  “I don’t mind watching, obviously games like these you want to play in, the atmosphere and it being a derby.  But at the same time, it’s nice to take a step back, watch and see how the boys are getting on, see how they deal with things on the pitch.

“You get to see a bit of a player’s character, making their own decisions and I thought today they made a lot of good decisions.  It’s just a shame we couldn’t take one of the chances we created. You get a good view and I’m pleased with the way they played, just not with the result.””

As both managers said, the first half was reasonably forgettable, with neither team able to find the space to trouble the opposition goalkeeper.  

For Welling, both Ben Martin and Joe Healy were unable to put chances on target, before James Rogers couldn’t control Jacob Erskine’s lob and the ball ran through to Nick Pope.

Andy Sambrook, for the visitors, and Darts’ Harris were next to fire over, before Ryan Hayes finally forced a save from Pope, albeit from a tame free kick curled right at the Charlton loanee.

Louis Wells was called into action after Dean Cracknell’s ball over the back four released Luis Cumbers, but the Welling forward’s attempted lob over the advancing keeper was comfortably held.

On the stroke of half-time, the temperature was cranked up following a scything challenge by Tom Champion on Joe Healy for which the Dartford midfielder was cautioned.  Whether or not there was any afterthought from the challenge on Champion that saw Healy dismissed on Boxing Day, only the two will know.

Early in the second half, Erskine broke into the Welling area and laid the ball back to Harris, whose curling effort from the edge of the box flew into the home support behind Pope’s goal.

With Day calling for a response from his team, Welling spent the next 10 minutes camped in and around the Dartford area.  

Cracknell saw an effort skim the bar after good work from Andy Pugh and Cumbers, then Wells pulled off a wonderful full length one-handed save to turn Jack Evans’ shot behind.

After a corner-free first half, Welling gained 9 corners to Dartford’s one in the second, and from a series of Jack Obersteller corners, one fell to Martin, whose shot was headed off the line by Adam Green.  

The full-back repeated this feat from a Jack Parkinson header, after Wells had been alert to tip over an Evans cross.

Against the run of play, Dartford took the lead from their second corner of the half in the 59th minute.  

Hayes’ drilled set piece was headed goalwards by Tom Bonner, and Harris, encamped inside the six-yard box, flicked a header past Pope to give the hosts an advantage.

Welling, from the restart, immediately attacked and Sambrook played a ball into the Dartford box, where Obersteller found himself one-on-one with Wells, only for the keeper to pull off a great block to maintain the lead.

Connor Essam, starting his second game of a loan spell from Gillingham, saw a towering header well saved by Pope by the left hand post, then Erskine hit a skimming shot that the keeper handled well.

Welling’s 19-goal talisman, Andy Pugh, was never allowed any room to threaten Wells’ goal, but still had four chances in the final 10 minutes.  

The first three came in a three minute spell of Welling attacking.  First, firing a snapshot at the keeper, then seeing a left foot shot drift past the left hand post, and finally hitting a shot on the turn, following a Cracknell free kick, that Wells gathered by his right post.

Finally, deep in stoppage time, Ben Martin headed an Obersteller corner back to Pugh, whose volley arced over the right corner of post and bar, and into the safety of the crowd.

Dartford:  Louis Wells, Matt Jones, Adam Green, Tom Bonner, Connor Essam, Tom Champion, Ryan Hayes (Lee Noble 78), James Rogers, Jacob Erskine, Elliot Bradbrook, Danny Harris.
Subs: Richard Graham, Tony Garrod, George Monger, Deren Ibrahim

Goal: Danny Harris 59

Booked:  Tom Champion 45, Adam Green 90

Welling United:  Nick Pope, Jack Evans, Jack Obersteller, Andy Sambrook (Ryan Dolby 86), Jack Parkinson, Ben Martin, Dean Cracknell, Lee Clarke, Luis Cumbers, Andy Pugh, Joe Healy.
Subs: Tamer Tuna, Jordan Johnson, Anthony Acheampong, Loui Fazakerley

Booked:  Dean Cracknell 76, Ben Martin 89

Attendance: 2,559
Referee: Mr Colin Lymer (Basingstoke, Hampshire)
Assistants: Mr Carl Pearse (Colchester, Essex) and Mr Chris Pollard (Stowmarket, Suffolk)