MATCH PREVIEW – Chichester City v Dartford

Dartford face Isthmian South East playoff winners Chichester City for the first time ever on Tuesday night.

The Darts have never visited Oaklands Park and will be keen to extend their unbeaten league run to six. Adrian Pennock’s side moved to within four points of the top five, but are down in twelfth in a tightly congested table. Playing in the Isthmian Premier for the first time in their relatively short history, Chichester City are just a place and point behind the Darts.

Eleven days without a game did Samir Carruthers, Sam Okoye and Oliver Box a world of good allowing the trio to recover from recent injuries and start against Lewes. However, the game came too soon for Michael Olarewaju, who is expected to be out for another four to five weeks with a hamstring injury. Eddie Dsane may be in contention this week after sustaining a shoulder injury in the League Cup win at Erith Town. Duane Ofori-Acheampong missed the Lewes match through suspension, but will be available on Tuesday night. Ade Yusuff, who is on dual registration was unavailable on the weekend as his parent club Hornchurch named the forward in their squad.

After a run of one point from an available 15, Dartford’s form is improving. The 2-0 victory over Lewes on Saturday means Pennock’s side have now won two and drawn three of their last five Isthmian Premier matches. In recent matches, the Darts created plenty of opportunities without taking full advantage. A dominant display against Lewes, who were occupying the final playoff spot ended in a deserved win on the weekend. Carruthers had his free kick tipped onto the post with quarter of an hour gone. Then the Darts edged closer to scoring an opener towards the end of the first half. Box, Callum Jones and Denzelle Olopade had chances before Box scored his fifth of the season.

Highlights courtesy of Dartford FC TV

Early in the second half, Jacob Marsden had to be alert by tipping a deflected cross onto the crossbar, then saving a one on one. However, just before an hour had been played George Whitefield put daylight between the hosts and the visitors. Scrambling in the second goal, the defender has now netted twice in his last two home appearances. Jones went on to hit the post in search of his first goal in ten appearances. Moments later the striker was fouled, leading to Ethan Kaiser’s second yellow card that left Lewes down to ten men.

Pennock is putting trust in his young squad and once again six players with links to Dartford’s academy featured on the weekend. October’s academy Player of the Month, Blu Husthwaite came on as a late substitute making his first league appearance. The youngster had already made his debut as a starter in the Kent Senior Cup tie. With the recent upturn in form and the use of the youngsters, Pennock is happy with progress being made, he told Dartford FC TV after the Lewes win: “We’re going in the right direction, but there is a long way to go and still a lot to do. We’re looking forward to Tuesday, another tough one and then we’ve got Hastings away on Saturday. So the games are coming thick and fast and we need everybody ready”.

Interview courtesy of Dartford FC TV

Looking ahead the Darts could make a push towards the playoff places. After taking on Chichester City they face two more Sussex sides both currently in the relegation zone. On Saturday they visit Hastings United, then a week later host Bognor Regis Town.

Dartford’s fixture with newly promoted Chichester City was due to take place last month. But with the Lillywhites still in the F.A Trophy the game needed rearranging. This means Chichester City play host for a fifth time in a row on Tuesday night. In that time the Sussex club have picked up a win, draw and suffered defeat in the league, as well as losing their F.A Trophy second round tie to Dartford’s F.A Cup conquerors Worthing. The Lilywhites, similarly to the Darts, were dealt a blow by Danny Cashman. The forward netted the winner with three minutes remaining in a game that finished 3-2.

So after a break from league action the Lilywhites faced another tough fixture at Oaklands Park against title challengers Billericay Town. Chichester City’s performance in the trophy was an improvement on their previous Isthmian Premier outing, in which they were beaten 4-0 on home soil against Hashtag United.

The Lillywhites came from behind to beat Billericay Town, who had taken the lead through former Dart, Tyrell Miller-Rodney. In the space of three first half minutes the hosts turned the game around. First, Jimmy Wild equalised and then Ethan Prichard put Chichester City ahead. Prichard scored again in the second half to add a third.

The Sussex side have performed better at home winning half of their Isthmian Premier fixtures at Oaklands Park. Helped by the goals of Wild, who has netted 16 this term, Chichester City have settled into the division during their debut campaign.

Current League Form

Statistics

• Dartford are on their longest unbeaten run in all competitions under Adrian Pennock (W3, D3).
• The Darts are on their longest unbeaten league run since February 2023 (5 games)
• Dartford have won just one of their last seven away games in all competitions drawing the last two
• Oliver Box is now Dartford’s second highest scorer from the current squad with 11 goals. His goal on the weekend took him past Duane Ofori-Acheampong and he’s now two goals behind Samir Carruthers

On This Day

Elliot Bradbrook scored a F.A Trophy hat-trick on this day eight years ago to send Dartford into round one. Weston-super-Mare took the lead through Bradley Ash, but before the break Andy Pugh levelled. Bradbrook put the Darts back in front and the tie could have turned after Tom Bonner was sent off. Ash converted the subsequent penalty equalising for the hosts. A replay would have been a good result with ten men, however Bradbrook had other ideas scoring twice to claim the match ball and a 4-2 victory. That win is Dartford’s only triumph on this day in the last six outings. Three years later Dartford went out at the same stage of the competition to local rivals Maidstone United.

In 2022, the Darts secured a 3-1 home win over Concord Rangers to move top of the National South. Carruthers opened the scoring in the first half, but prior the interval the visitors were level from the spot when Mo Bettamer made it 1-1. The Darts ran out winners in the second half with goals from Pierre Fonkeu and an own goal by Aron Pollock.

The post MATCH PREVIEW – Chichester City v Dartford appeared first on Dartford Football Club Official Website.