8:27pm Friday 19th March 2010
By Mike Brett-Smith
DECADES ago on US television, audiences were invited to pick the correct candidate in an identity parade show to the enjoinder: ‘Will the real Mr X please stand up'.
Last night at Horsham, the real Darts stood up tall and by doing so, defeated the doubters as well as their opponents on the night.
With the evening weather a mix of cool night air and ever-increasing onslaughts of drizzly rain, Darts played their third fixture in a run of four games in eight days.
Dartford were quickly into their stride and, with five minutes on the clock, Ryan Hayes threaded a cross from way out right to Horsham’s near post, where Elliot Bradbrook was lurking to deliver a firm header past home keeper Josh Pelling.
Horsham replied with a header of their own, but Andrew Young was too good for the effort.
With Danny Dafter and Bradbrook peerless in the middle, Horsham had a let-off when Bradbrook wacked the bar.
The passing and running was such that the hosts were becoming unpicked at the seams and were thankful to be just one behind at the interval.
The second half carried on the same way and another Dartford goal was becoming inevitable, particularly when John Beales’s long throwing ability was added to the mix.
On 52 minutes, the busy Hayes found Allan Tait with an accurate cross and the striker forced a shot past Pelling.
Danny Harris was his normal effective self and was denied when he swept home a Hayes cross, which was turned down for offside in a bit of deja-vu.
However, there were no problems when Harris set up Bradbrook, who coolly slipped a shot under the overworked Pelling for goal number three.
Horsham still had a bit of go about them and snatched a goal back when, after bringing out an excellent save from Young, the ball flew back past the Dartford keeper via substitute Tony Nwachukwu.
The match petered out amidst a flurry of substitutions as Darts widened the points gap into double figures again.
Dartford: Young, Burgess, Gross, Johnson, Beales, Dafter, Hayes (Noble 86), Bradbrook, Tait, Burns (Rook 75), Harris. Subs not used: Haworth, White, Coyle. Att: 333.
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