DARTFORD manager Tony Burman feels referee Nick Kinseley was right not to red card keeper Alan Julian after conceding a penalty in today’s 1-1 FA Cup draw at Ebbsfleet.

Julian upended Fleet’s Anthony Cook in the tenth minute of a lively north Kent affair which attracted almost three thousand paying punters to a wet and windy Stonebridge Road.

But Mr Kinseley opted to brandish a yellow card instead of a red before Ebbsfleet’s Ben May squandered the penalty opportunity by blazing his spot-kick over the bar.

Burman said: “It is wide of the keeper and it is whether someone else is behind the keeper and he isn’t last man.

“The referee was quite straightforward with his decision and I thought he has handled it quite well.

“I think it is because he saw there were other people behind the keeper and their player looked like he was going away from goal.

“The referee has got it quite right.”

Dartford were without the services of five key players for the tie through a combination of injuries and the unavailability of loanees Matt Godden (Scunthorpe) and Adam Birchall (Gills).

But despite this, and the early penalty scare, they grew in confidence as the opening period wore on and took a deserved 1-0 lead on the stroke of half-time through Lee Noble.

However, they were pegged back by Cook’s 65th minute leveller and will now have to do it all again in Tuesday evening’s replay at Princes Park, an outcome the Darts boss was happy to accept.

“I’m pleased with a replay,” said Burman.

“The pressure was on us to win the game today and we haven’t, but I’m delighted with the performance of the players, especially as we were depleted as a squad.

“Losing five members of your squad is not easy and it was a big ask for us coming here with that in mind.

“I felt we came here with a game plan, it worked in the first half but possibly didn’t quite work as well after the break.

“We started to cause them problems as the first half went on and began to get a foothold on the game.”

And Burman is refusing to get carried away yet about tomorrow’s draw, pointing out the Darts still have some way to go yet before booking a spot in the first round proper.

He added: “We’ve got to get the replay out of the way first before we can even think about what might await in the next round.

“If we are to go through then ideally you want to get a Football League club at home.”

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