AFC Hornchurch 0-0 Dartford

DARTFORD must do it all again this evening at Princes Park after Saturday's first round FA Trophy qualifying tie ended scoreless in Essex.

Both teams made late changes with Hornchurch's Mark Jenny suffering a last minute injury, while Richard Avery came in for flu victim John Guest in the Darts' line-up with the midweek change of Junior Kadi in for suspended Jay May being continued.

On a perfect autumnal afternoon Dartford defended the pavilion end and were soon under pressure from a determined Urchins outfit.

They employed the typical Isthmian approach, sending in wave after wave of howitzer bombardment which kept the Darts' well-organised rearguard busy.

Behind the excellent Dartford defence, keeper Tony Kessell turned in another faultless display claiming his eighth clean sheet in 15 outings.

Urchins' relentless approach meant little was seen of Darts in midfield or, in the absence of May, up front.

In fact, apart from a Hayes free-kick following a foul on McClements, Darts were quiet for the first half-hour.

The home side gained a number of corners, but the most dangerous one of them all was well gathered by Kessell under the crossbar.

Darts' best effort of the half was a long range shot from McClements, which cannoned off a home defender's face to safety.

Dartford came out for the second half in sleeves rolled up mode, injecting a degree of pace into the game and for much of the remainder of the contest, Hornchurch were reduced to long range and largely inaccurate shooting.

Tony Burman's side were getting a grip on midfield with Green showing plenty of pace through the middle and along the left with Hayes matching him on the right. Behind them Kadi and McClements were chipping in with some astute through balls and with 15 minutes to go, a Steve Norman run was halted only by a comprehensive tackle which required lengthy treatment.

Hornchurch did have occasional moments forcing two quick corners late on, but they came to nought.

With three minutes to go Hayes was replaced by new signing from AFC Sudbury Yohance Lewis, who added one or two nice variations to the afternoon's activities. Sadly a small section of the crowd, obviously not intent on supporting their team, spent the first half hurling invective at all and sundry.

Praise, then, to Hornchurch officials who dealt with the matter head-on.

Dartford: Kessell, Coyle, Norman, Flanagan, Avery, O'Brien, Hayes (Lewis 87), Kadi, Cass, McClements, Green. Subs not used - Moore, Potter, Youle, James. Att: 636