Barton Rovers 0 v 2 Dartford

Southern League Division One East

DARTFORD missed out on the Southern League play-offs by one point after Wivenhoe United got the draw they needed to secure sixth spot.

Tony Burman's men needed to win at Barton and pray Winvenhoe lost at Enfield and while goals from Anthony Henry and Brendon Cass got the victory, Wivenhoe's goalless draw was too much.

Brad Potter was fit to resume in the line up and James Carter made a rare appearance on the bench.

Once Darts took the lead midway through the first half there was no doubt as to the outcome and the visitors played out the game comfortably.

To be fair the home side posed few threats and once Darts' defence took measure of their opponents there could be only one outcome.

Urged on by the travelling band of supporters Dartford easily withstood an opening flurry by Barton and then gradually took control.

Dave Martin's and Ryan Hayes' runs set the pattern and on 22 minutes Darts duly took the lead.

A free-kick on the half-way line reached Henry who back-headed the ball over the giant Steve Graham in the Barton goal.

A raking Hayes cross was met by Brendon Cass but his header was turned away by Graham for a corner.

The second half was more of the same and just after the hour a clumsy tackle on Hayes on the right touchline led to Darts' second goal.

Hayes took the kick, arcing in a precise ball and Cass neatly headed past Graham to round off the scoring and to maintain his one-goal-per-two-games scoring average.

Darts almost grabbed a third goal in the dying moments of the game when Teddy Ansell cut along the by-line and slipped the ball to the in-rushing Steve Hafner whose smart shot took two rebounds to ultimate safety.

MATCH FACTS: DARTFORD: Hudson; Olson; Osborne; Henry; Avery; Hayes; Briggs; Ansell; Cass; Potter; Martin (Hafner, 83).

SUBS NOT USED: J Carter; Maguire; G Carter; Simpson.

ATT: 160.