Sittingbourne 1-5 Dartford

DARTFORD eased into the stage of the FA Cup with an emphatic Kent derby replay victory at Sittingbourne last night, writes Mike Brett-Smith.

Darts welcomed back Alex O'Brien after his three-match suspension with the skipper replacing Dave Moore, who reverted to the bench in an otherwise unchanged line-up.

The evening was clear and crisp as the Darts kicked off on a newly re-seeded pitch, a stark contrast to their last visit to Central Park.

For much of the opening quarter it was a case of shadow-boxing with each side testing out the other under the control of a fussy referee.

Darts soon showed their intent with a Steve Norman run and cross testing Josh Willis in the home goal.

Once settled in, Darts showed their intent Saturday's laxity would not be repeated. The floodgates opened on 22 minutes when a free-kick just outside the Brickies' box caused mayhem in the home defence with the ball being parried twice before Adam Flanagan got the vital first goal.

Five minutes later, Brendon Cass chased a deep high ball from Darts' defence, timing his run to perfection to beat the advancing Willis and lob over his head into the vacant goal.

Darts took hold of the game and added a third on 36 minutes when Eddie McClements finished off a smooth three-man move with a neat bit of control and a shot into the far corner of the goal.

It almost became 4-0 when a Jay May effort was defected for a corner.

Then it did become four when a fine solo Cass run ended with a crisp shot.

Willis was stretchered off just before the break with torn ligaments when he caught his foot going for a cross.

The second half saw Darts move down through the gears in keep-ball mode and they went nap when Cass completed his hat-trick when a cross from the left was crashed home.

Sittingbourne were awarded a late penalty for a bit of shoving just inside the box and Bradley Spice became the first player of the season to beat Tony Kessell from the 12-yard mark.

Dartford: Kessell, Coyle, Norman, Flanagan, Guest, O'Brien, Potter (Avery 80), May, Cass (Bradbrook 75) McClements (Moore 80), Green. Subs not used: Lawrence, Tedder.