We've got a massive hurdle to overcome, admits Darts boss Tony Burman

Sheringham then scored his second to give the Kent side a two-goal advantage, but Hayes saw a decent chance saved and substitute Adam Burchell struck the post, before Crawley grabbed a draw with two late goals from a Craig McAlister penalty and Dean Howell’s last-gasp free-kick.

“We were a little bit disappointed in respect that we had a 2-0 lead, then 2-1, then a 3-1 lead and at that stage we hit the post and had a really good chance, which was put over the bar,” Burman told www.kentishfootball.co.uk.

“We had a penalty given against us to make it 3-2, which was a very, very harsh decision.

“The third goal, was it a foul? I don’t think it was and I’ve looked at it on the video and we’ve done a bit of schoolboy defending, where we’ve jumped up high in the wall and the guy’s hit it low and it’s gone in and I think it was very unfortunate.

“But I can’t praise the players’ enough with what they attempted to do on Saturday.”

Burman has been in a similar position already this season as an Elliot Bradbrook goal gave his side the lead over League Two side Port Vale in the First Round of the FA Cup before Micky Adams’ side grabbed a late leveller.

But Dartford travelled up to Vale Park and were thumped 4-0 in the replay.

Burman said: “It’s a similar situation like Port Vale.  I know Crawley made a few changes but they’ve got one of the strongest squads in non-league football so when they make changes it shouldn’t make that much difference.

“We had four players out ourselves, we was down to 12 of the squad players and two of the academy players on the bench.

“I expect Crawley know a little bit more about us now than they thought they did and it’s going to be tougher for us at home, but we’ll have a go.”

Explaining the situations concerning the missing quartet, Burman said: “Elliot Bradbrook and Tom Champion were on work commitments, which they could not get out of, it wasn’t in this country and they had to go.

“James White was out with the flu’ and George (Purcell) wasn’t allowed to play.  We tried to get York to let him play but they said he couldn’t, which I can understand but unfortunately they don’t want him to play for the replay.”

Burman says his side will have to be at their best if they are to knock Crawley out of the FA Carlsberg Trophy to set up a Second Round trip to Ashford Town (Middlesex) on 15 January 2011.

The Darts will be favourites to beat their next opponents, considering they play two divisions lower than the Kent side and are in 12^th place in the Zamaretto League Division One Central.

But Burman knows it will be a tough ask to beat Crawley.

“It’s a tough game. Listen, listen, they’re one of the best in non-league, their league position states that and we’re going to have a tough game.

“But we want to have a go, the pressure’s not on us, it’s on Crawley and they’re a decent side.

“We should have finished the job but we didn’t and we’re going to have another go on Tuesday night.”

And on their potential Second Round opponents, Burman had this to say, “I’m not even going to talk about it as we’re not there yet!  As far as I’m concerned we’ve got a massive hurdle to overcome and then we’ll worry about and think about who you might get once the Crawley game’s settled.”

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

Dartford  v  Crawley Town
FA Carlsberg Trophy First Round Replay
Tuesday 14^th December 2010
Kick Off 7:45pm
At Princes Park Stadium, Grassbanks, Darenth Road, Dartford, Kent DA1 1RT