MATCH REPORT | CARSHALTON ATHLETIC 2 DARTFORD 2
The first-half was one to forget for Ady Pennock and his players, as a combination of windy conditions and a “difficult” pitch meant that goalscoring opportunities were few and far between.
The Darts did look the more likely to open the scoring in front of the 720 supporters in Surrey, despite struggling to gain a foothold. Callum Jones came close (13), before Michael Olarewaju fired over Hubert Graczky’s crossbar following good work by Dan Smith (24).
Smith came close himself shortly afterwards (26), before the hosts broke the deadlock against the run of play…
With the visitors pushing forward, the Robins caught them out with a swift counter-attack which saw Nathan Young-Coombes’ clever flick release Ryan Huke. He raced clear to be one-on-one with Jonny Henly, before firing the hosts into a half-time lead (38).
Dartford started the second forty-five determined to get back into the game. But with nothing concrete being created, Ady Pennock decided to make a change. Dan Carter was the player to make way, with Olly Box coming on to replace him (54).
The Dartford boss would then go on to make a double substitution, with Luther Williams and Rohan Vaughan coming on to replace Samuel Okoye and Evans Kouassi respectively (61), before Callum Jones made way for Sammie McLeod (80).
As we return to the action, we find Sam Odaudu alert to pounce and poke home the equaliser during a goal-mouth melee (59).
Dan Smith then saw his strike on target deflected behind for a corner, following good work by Jones (63), before the Darts did indeed turn the game on it’s head.
Once again, it was mayhem inside the Robins’ box and, in amongst the bodies was Rohan Vaughan to bundle the ball over the line to score his second goal for the Darts (65).
The host’s got a second wind from then on though, as they threw men forward in an effort to find an equaliser themselves.
With a majority of their attacks coming down the Dartford right-flank, George Whitefield in particular was immense in dealing with the danger.
However deep into stoppage time, Denzel Akyeampong’s dangerous cross was met by skipper Fabio Saraiva first, who headed in the equaliser (90+3) which earned Carshalton a precious point in their bid to keep away from the relegation zone.
The result means that Dartford remain unbeaten in five, and close the gap to Brentwood and Monday’s opponents Chatham Town to just three and five points respectively. Which means that there’s everything to play for with just four games remaining.
CARSHALTON ATHLETIC: Hubert Graczky, Denzel Akyeampong, Laurence Ernest, Oluwafikayo Atewologun, Renedi Masampu, Nathan Young-Coombes, Tolu Ladapo, Fabio Saraiva (c), Luke Read, Eddie Allsopp, Ryan Huke.
SUBSTITUTES: Leo Young, Tommy Bradford, Charlie George, Robert Howard, Abdullateef Salami.
DARTFORD: Jonny Henly, Sam Odaudu, Michael Olarewaju (c), George Whitefield, Samuel Okoye, Denzelle Olopade, Dan Carter, Jeremiah Pinder, Evans Kouassi, Callum Jones, Dan Smith.
SUBSTITUTES: Olly Box, Joe Tennent, Luther Williams, Sammie McLeod, Rohan Vaughan.
Chris Palmer