Kentish Football 
We want home comforts during play-off's, says McClements
The Darts were held to an enthralling 1-1 draw by play-off contenders Dulwich Hamlet in front of 1,409 excited fans at Princes Park yesterday.
Third placed Darts are eight points adrift of Ryman League Division One South leaders Maidstone United and six behind Hastings United.
But the 23-year-old playmaker targets finishing above the east Sussex side to ensure both play-off matches are played at the £6.5m Princes Park Stadium.
Last May, Tonbridge Angels took advantage of home soil by defeating Tooting & Mitcham United and Dover Athletic in nerve jangling play-off showdowns to secure their place in the Ryman Premier League.
And the former Gravesend & Northfleet midfielder believes Dartford are well equipped for promotion via the lottery.
“I said from day one, from pre-season, that if you look around our changing room, the quality that we’ve got individually, we’ll be letting ourselves down big time if we weren’t up there,” he told www.kentishfootball.co.uk after yesterday’s game.
”It’s not an arrogance but a confidence about us, let us dominate teams and let other teams worry about us.”
McClements was one of very few players that were with the club whilst groundsharing Gravesend & Northfleet’s Stonebridge Road ground when it struggled to keep it’s head above water – both on and off the field.
But now at the stunning Princes Park Stadium, Dartford have played in front of a whopping 22,460 fans in fifteen games since coming home on 11th November – a 4-2 win over Horsham YMCA in front of 4,097 proud fans.
“It’s brilliant. I absolutely love playing here,” said McClements.
“Yesterday (Friday) I was just buzzing basically. I can’t wait every week when we’ve got a home game.
“It just notches up the excitement every time, especially with the crowds – the crowds are brilliant.
“From the opening day in November, you can’t ask for any more. Dartford are lucky to have what we’ve got here.”
Darts have only five games to cement their play-off place – starting with a trip to Kingstonian next Saturday.
One thing is for certain at Kingmeadow, Darts will be able to play on an excellent playing surface.
“Looking forward to it,” said McClements. “I think it’s going to be a game like every other week – take it as professionally as we can basically and try force our influence on the game and earn the right to play and just play the way we like to play.”
Darts then welcome struggling neighbours Chatham Town to Princes Park on Easter Monday before travelling to Hastings United on 14th April.
Walton Casuals visit Princes Park on 21st April before a trip to Metropolitan Police ends their league campaign seven days later – then all the fun begins.
“I think the most important thing is, in terms of play-off wise, is to finish as high as we can so we play our games here,” said McClements.
“I’d like to think other teams wouldn’t fancy coming here to play against us in a game such as the play-off’s.
“If we can’t win the league, it’s a little bit out of our hands talking about winning the league, so that happens, great!
“I’m not into relying on other teams so we’ve got to do what we can do to finish on a positive note.”
RYMAN LEAGUE DIVISION ONE SOUTH TABLE – TOP SEVEN
P | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | PTS |
1 | Maidstone | 36 | 21 | 8 | 7 | 70 | 39 | 71 |
2 | Hastings | 37 | 20 | 9 | 8 | 69 | 52 | 69 |
3 | Dartford | 37 | 18 | 9 | 10 | 79 | 56 | 63 |
4 | Dover | 36 | 17 | 11 | 8 | 59 | 37 | 62 |
5 | Dulwich | 36 | 17 | 10 | 9 | 71 | 45 | 61 |
6 | Tooting & | 34 | 16 | 11 | 7 | 57 | 35 | 59 |
7 | Fleet | 35 | 16 | 10 | 9 | 55 | 49 | 58 |
THE FINAL COUNTDOWN
Maidstone United:
Fri 6 April: away Whyteleafe
Wed 11: HOME SITTINGBOURNE
Sat 14: away Metropolitan Police
Sat 21: HOME KINGSTONIAN
Tue 24: away Ashford Town
Sat 28: away Walton Casuals
Hastings United:
Sat 7 April: HOME CROYDON ATHLETIC
Mon 9: away Dover Athletic
Sat 14: HOME DARTFORD
Sat 21: HOME CORINTHIAN-CASUALS
Sat 28: away Godalming Town
Dartford:
Sat 7 April: away Kingstonian
Mon 9: HOME CHATHAM TOWN
Sat 14: away Hastings United
Sat 21: HOME WALTON CASUALS
Sat 28: away Metropolitan Police
Dover Athletic:
Sat 7 April: away Fleet Town
Mon 9: HOME HASTINGS UNITED
Sat 14: away Cray Wanderers
Sat 21: away Burgess Hill Town
Tue 24: away Corinthian-Casuals
Sat 28: HOME HORSHAM YMCA
Dulwich Hamlet:
Tue 3 April: HOME FLEET TOWN
Sat 7: HOME HORSHAM YMCA
Mon 9: away Tooting & Mitcham United
Sat 14: HOME WALTON CASUALS
Sat 21: HOME ASHFORD TOWN
Sat 28: away Cray Wanderers
Tooting & Mitcham United:
Tue 3 April: away Leatherhead
Thur 5: away Corinthian-Casuals
Sat 7: away Burgess Hill Town
Mon 9: HOME DULWICH HAMLET
Sat 14: away Whyteleafe
Tue 17: HOME WALTON CASUALS
Sat 21: HOME GODALMING TOWN
Sat 28: away Ashford Town
Fleet Town:
Tue 3 April: away Dulwich Hamlet
Sat 7: HOME DOVER ATHLETIC
Mon 9: away Godalming Town
Sat 14: HOME CORINTHIAN-CASUALS
Tue 17: HOME ASHFORD TOWN
Sat 21: HOME CROYDON ATHLETIC
Sat 28: away Sittingbourne
Darts boss Tony Burman expects his side to come away from Kingmeadow next Saturday with all three points in the bag.
The K’s were held to a goalless draw at bottom side Corinthian-Casuals yesterday and find themselves under-performing in the bottom eight.
“Kingstonian are in a transition stage at the moment, they have a new manager and results just recently have been up and down but we’ve got to go there and win the game,” said Burman.
“We’ve kept a little run going, we’re unbeaten in five and we go to Kingstonian knowing it’s going to be tough.
“But we’ve got to have the courage to say we want to go and win it and that’s what we’ll endeavour to do.”
One thing for certain, however, is the next five weeks will have us all on the sides of our seats as we’ll see which two clubs (one automatically and one via the play-off lottery) will be playing Ryman Premier League football in August.
Meanwhile, Princes Park stages the Nationwide Conference South clash between Welling United and Salisbury City - two sides in the play-off hunt - on Wednesday, 4th April (7:45pm).
Visit Dartford's websites:
www.dartfordfc.co.uk & www.dartfordfootballclub.co.uk/forum
Red Dragon I.T. Ltd