FA TROPHY SPECIAL: Placing O'Brien on the transfer list was a difficult decision, admits Burman

DARTFORD boss Tony Burman admits placing influential midfield rock Alex O’Brien on the transfer list was a “difficult” decision to make, writes Stephen McCartney.

The contracted midfielder has been placed on the transfer list by Burman, who admits the former Tonbridge Angels player needs games under his belt.

Burman also explained the reasons behind showing goalkeeper Tony Kessell and defender Richard Ketchell the door during last week’s shake up at Princes Park.

“We’ve released Tony Kessell and Richard Ketchell and I’ve made Alex O’Brien available for loan or transfer,” Burman told www.kentishfootball.co.uk.

“Tony is a number one keeper in his own right and over the last couple of years he’s been great for us.

“I just felt we couldn’t keep two number one keeper’s happy and had to make a decision. Andrew Young has come in and done very well and he has taken over the number one spot.

“Tony has been very professional and he understood the situation.”

Ketchell, the former Brentwood Town defender, has also been shown the door, despite only joining the club in pre-season.

“He’s been injured (with an ankle injury) and I felt he needed to get some games in and we were going to put him out on loan with a view to keeping our eye on him in the future,” explained Burman.

“He’s been released with a view that we can keep an eye on him at centre half but I can’t put him at centre half at the moment.”

Leader O’Brien was instrumental in the Darts claiming the Ryman League Division One North title at the first attempt last season, but a tendonitis injury has cut short his season this time out.

“Alex has been injured for most of the season and has had three reserve outings and I felt it would be better for Alex to go out on loan to get quality games in to get up to Ryman Premier League standard,” said Burman.

“We have a high number of players in the centre midfield area and I’ve made the difficult decision making Alex available for transfer.”

Everybody has to feel sorry for left-back Danny Barber, who suffered a cruel cruciate ligament and cartilage damage within the first minute of his Darts debut at Tooting & Mitcham United.

“We had Danny Barber, who I signed last week, who came in at left-back from Boreham Wood, but unfortunately Danny got injured on Saturday in the first minute of the game against Tooting and he will be out for the rest of the season,” said Burman.

“We’re all absolutely choked about it and he’s not been injured in his career. He didn’t even kick a ball. It was a terrible injury.”

Despite that set-back, the Darts bounced back to secure a 2-0 win at Imperial Fields before an
extraordinary game against AFC Hornchurch at Princes Park last night.

“We felt, at Tooting, we played very well,” said Burman. “We changed one or two things and after a difficult week of releasing players, it was nice to get a good response.”

And last night, AFC Hornchurch found themselves 3-0 up at the break, but goals from Codey McDonald, Rob Haworth and a Jamie Day screamer earned the Kent side a point when all seemed lost.

Dartford are now sitting comfortably in 12^th place in the Ryman Premier League table, much to the delight of the Princes Park faithful.

When asked about the game, Burman replied: “I wasn’t there! I was in hospital yesterday with a knee infection and I couldn’t get to the game.

“Unfortunately I was in the sick bed and I didn’t get any better when I heard the score at half-time.

“It’s never nice to be 3-0 down at half-time but some of the reports said the players could’ve had two goals ourselves and in the second half the performance from the players’ was excellent.”

Attention now turns to Saturday’s FA Carlsberg Trophy Second Qualifying Round tie against Oxford City at Princes Park.

Oxford City are currently sixth-bottom in the British Gas Business Premier League table with 11 points from 9 games and Burman sees this as an ideal opportunity of getting his side into the final qualifying round.

“We’ve got a home draw, which is what you want in the cups and I think we’ve got to go out and enjoy ourselves,” he said.

“It’s the FA Trophy and we want to get through to the next round.

“Over the last few weeks we have started to play some decent football. The last few games we’ve had some good wins and some good results. We’re getting there, that’s for sure.”

Danny Dafter sits out this game, serving a one-match suspension.

www.kentishfootball.co.uk will be covering this game.

Visit Dartford’s websites:  www.dartfordfc.co.uk & www.dartfordfootballclub.co.uk

Dartford v Oxford City
FA Carlsberg Trophy Second Qualifying Round
Saturday 1^st November 2008
Kick Off 3:00pm
At Princes Park Stadium, Grassbanks, Princes Road, Dartford, Kent DA1 1RT