Trophy progress for Darts (From News Shopper)

Dartford 4-2 Boston

12:57pm Wednesday 18th January 2012 in Dartford By Mike Brett-Smith

DARTFORD deservedly won the right to entertain Wealdstone in the third round of the FA Trophy with an emphatic 4-2 win over a dogged, but rather limited, Boston United at Princes Park on Saturday.

United started brightly enough as co-manager Jason Lee's flick-on went loose in the Darts' penalty area.

Sadly for the visitors, the ex-pro spent the rest of the game with an increasing level of negativity, which neither helped his team nor won approval from the crowd that included a lively bunch from Boston who had helped to create a great cup-tie atmosphere.

At the other end Dartford took a fifth minute lead when James Rogers found space to put in a cross, which Jacob Erskine cheekily back-heeled past Paul Bastock in the visitors' goal.

Buoyed up, Darts created two more chances in quick succession but Boston weathered the storm, began to get into the game and levelled matters when a right-side corner was prodded home from three yards by the re-signed Spencer Weir-Daly.

Just before the interval Darts had to thank ever-present Tom Bonner for clearing off the line to prevent the visitors taking an unlikely lead.

The second half saw Dartford turn up the wick and, deservedly, retake the lead with a delicate piece of Erskine magic when he displayed a bit of Jimmy Greaves-like thinking to deliver a shot from a supine position which seemed to take an age to cross the line just inside Bastock's right post.

On the hour Lee Noble, bloodied but unbowed from an elbow to the face, found himself in space and drove a shot past Bastock for Darts' third.

Thereafter it was Bastock taking on the world as the veteran custodian made a succession of saves to keep the score respectable.

Lucky for Boston that he did for, on eighty-two minutes, substitute Leon Constantine hit home a cross from Ward.

This gave Boston false hope of dragging the tie back to Lincolnshire, which was expunged by Erskine's hat-trick goal on full time.

And there even remained time for Erskine to be substituted in order to receive deserved applause for his hat-trick.

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Dartford: Wells, Jones, Green, Bonner, Essam, Champion, Noble (Graham 87), Rogers, Erskine (Garrod 90), Bradbrook, Harris. Subs not used: Hayes, Wallis, Ibrahim. Att: 1,166.