I think we've been unlucky in some of the games, admits Dartford boss Tony Burman

DARTFORD boss Tony Burman says he is looking forward to their trip to their traditional bitter-rivals Ebbsfleet United on Saturday.


The two north Kent clubs lock horns at Stonebridge Road in the final qualifying round of The FA Cup with much more than local bragging rights at stake.

Dartford kick-off their FA Cup campaign at this hurdle thanks to their status as a Conference Premier club, whilst the Fleet have had to negotiate ties against Folkestone Invicta and Eastbourne Borough to reach this stage.

Burman said: “It’s obviously a local derby and it’s good for the area.  It’s created a lot of interest and hopefully it becomes a good game.  It’s a mouth-watering tie.”

Dartford arrive at Stonebridge Road as favourites – but league form goes out of the window in Kent derbies and FA Cup ties.

The Darts appear to be suffering from second season syndrome – after finishing last season as the highest ranked part-time club - and are in eighteenth-place in The Skrill Premier, having collected five wins and three draws from their 16 league games.

The Fleet, meanwhile, are starting to hit form at the right time after a slow start to their campaign. 

Steve Brown’s side have climbed up to seventh-place in The Skrill South, having collected four wins and six draws from their 13 league outings.

Burman said: “They’re one-off games. We are in the higher league so yes, you’re right in saying we are probably the favourites but at the end of the day both teams are part-time clubs.  They’re obviously favourites to come up and we’re doing what we’re doing to stay in the league that we’re in.”

When asked how Saturday’s derby game will be won, the Dartford boss replied: “If we work hard and we stick together as a unit and as a team.

“We’ll be telling the players what they’ve got to do and how to do it and then it’s down to them to implement what we ask them to do.  I’m confident in the squad what we’ve got and hopefully that will happen for us.”

Reflecting on their league campaign, Burman insists his side are not suffering from second season syndrome.

Welling United were promoted as Conference South champions last season and Jamie Day’s side are in ninth-place in the table after sixteen games, two points adrift of the play-off zone.

“It’s not really been what we really want but it’s had to be,” admitted Burman.

“We have a small squad and it’s been interrupted by injuries and that’s nothing we can do about that. I think if we hadn’t had a small squad I’m sure we may have picked up some more points but it wasn’t to be.

“But we are where we are, but it’s not a sprint. It’s a marathon and I’m sure that we’re going in the right direction.

“I don’t think (it’s second season syndrome). It’s just the way the results have gone and how things have happened for us. When you get results it breads belief and confidence.

“I think we’ve been unlucky in some of the games. We could have got three points in some of the games we’ve played but last year we got three points but we was fortunate in a lot of those games but we still had bad spells last season and it was lucky we accumulated as many points as we did.”

Visit Dartford’s website: www.dartfordfconline.com

Ebbsfleet United  v  Dartford
The FA Cup with Budweiser Fourth Qualifying Round
Saturday 26^th October 2013
Kick Off 3:00pm
at Stonebridge Road, Northfleet, Kent DA11 9GN