Darts held at Basingstoke (From News Shopper)

Basingstoke 2-2 Dartford

10:46am Monday 14th March 2011 in Sport By Mike Brett-Smith

DARTFORD shared the spoils and four goals with Basingstoke on Saturday.

The Camrose is a deceptive ground with a decided slope from side to side and an almost indiscernible one from end to end.

Basingstoke couldn’t have got a better start, winning a corner within seconds.

The flag kick found the powerful Delano Sam-Yorke, who got to the ball first to nod past Andrew Young.

Basingstoke’s front-runner, who didn’t quite make it at Millwall, was a thorn in Darts’ side all afternoon, giving the visiting central defensive duo plenty to think about.

Before the home support had finished cheering the flying start, Ryan Hayes controlled a long ball, cut past two defenders and slotted home the equaliser.

Hayes was instrumental in the next goal in the 24th minute when his free-kick was flicked onto the post by the home keeper and Danny Harris reacted first to the rebound.

Just as it semed Darts were going in with a deserved half-time lead, the ubiquitous Sam-Yorke out-muscled his marker to power home his second goal.

The second half brought alarms and scrambles in equal measure and any score combination up to 6-6 was possible.

Joe Dolan saw red for persistent bad-mouthing as Basingstoke were reduced to 10-men.

Highlights of the second period included a rasping Charlie Sheringham 30-yarder which hit the angle of bar and post with Chay Morris flat-footed.

At the other end, Andrew Young tipped a cheeky lob from Matt Patterson over the bar.

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Dartford: Young, Jones, Bonner, Bruce, Goodacre, Champion, Hayes (Burcell 82), Burns, Sheringham, Harris, Bradbrook. Subs not used: White, Burgess, Noble. Att: 460.