Trophy hopes are Dover for Darts (From News Shopper)

Dover 3-2 Dartford

9:10pm Sunday 22nd November 2009 in Sport By Mike Brett-Smith

DOVER emerged winners in Saturday’s full-blooded FA Trophy tie with Dartford, which was a fine advert for the higher echelons of part-time football.

On the day, the home side had a couple of breaks which made the difference between winning and losing.

Before kick-off, much talk centred around whether an 11-day lay off would mean a bit of ring-rust setting into Darts play.

Within six minutes it appeared it had, as Dover took the lead when Adam Burchall placed the ball wide of Andrew Young from a Fish feed.

Undeterred, Darts began to fillet the home defence with both Jay May and Danny Harris just off target before a scintillating four-man move of one-touch football ended with a May drive, which left Whitehouse floundering.

And nine minutes later the visitors took the lead when goal-a-game Danny Harris powerfully headed past Whitehouse from a Ryan Hayes cross.

Dover then enjoyed a moment of luck.

The otherwise impeccable Mr Breakspear spotted an infringement which escaped most other people’s notice and Frannie Collin converted from the penalty spot, allowing the home side to reach the break undeservedly on equal terms.

Darts played the best football of the match at the start of the second half, so much so Dover’s Yado Mambo had a rush of blood to the head and was red-carded for injudicious use of the football boot.

Around this time the declaration of the 1,084 attendance brought a degree of amusement from both sections of the crowd.

Dover just could not get into the game and, in fact, had Whitehouse to thank as the keeper brought off a series of breathtaking saves, both heroic and flamboyant, to keep his side in the tie.

In any game there is an occasion when the side under the cosh gets a break and so it was with Dover, as break number two arrived in the 69th minute.

A rare counter-attack saw Jamie Rogers cross and there was Nicky Southall was on hand to head home a fortuitous winner.

Dartford: Young, Burgess, Gross, Beales, Coyle, Dafter (Crouch 81), Hayes, Noble, May (Haworth 81), Burns, Harris. Subs not used: Dent, Eferakorho, Kessell. Att:1,084.