Dartford 4-0 Horsham

TONY Burman's Darts conjured up their best result of the season with an emphatic success against Horsham.

Darts attacked the Academy End on a fine Indian summer afternoon, with goalkeeper Andrew Young being the eighth player to debut for the Darts this term.

The opening skirmishes gave little hint Dartford would turn in the sort of performance which was commonplace last season.

Certainly Horsham showed first with Sam Page testing Young with a shot on the turn after just five minutes.

The resultant corner was cleared, enabling Ray Powell and Steve Butterworth to lead counter-attacks.

Neat approach work from the Hornets saw Haddow test Young, but soon afterwards Page was stretchered off having fallen awkwardly from a tussle with Rob Haworth and Page's dislocated shoulder was reset by Darts' doctor.

Perhaps it was a turning point, but one suspects Darts were already turning the screw.

Expansive, on-the-deck football became the norm for the rest of the game as Ryan Hayes displayed many moments of pure gold and almost none of pyrites.

Butterworth was an ideal foil and patrons' man-of-the-match Lee Noble was irrepressible.

At the back, Young had settled in and, on the rare occasion when Hornets won a free-kick, he organised his wall precisely and the danger was snuffed out.

The midfield was buzzing and switching the direction of play constantly, so it was no surprise when Darts opened the score.

Brendon Cass received a canny through ball from Butterworth and a little shimmy got him round Sueke in the Horsham goal and it was 1-0.

Moments before the break, Danny Dafter was upended on the edge of the area and, spotting a gap in the Horsham wall, Noble curved a groundball into the visitors' net.

Noble outjumped his six-foot plus marker to head a cross past Seuke three minutes into the second half, billowing the net when making it 3-0.

Thereafter it was showtime and how the crowd loved it.

Cass rounded off the scoring with a typical dipping header from a cute cross.

Late in the game Nic Barnes came on for Dafter and James White for Noble, the latter move allowing the crowd to applaud Noble's fine work.

Dartford: Young, Coyle, Osborne, Powell, Guest, Dafter (Barnes 78), Butterworth, Hayes, Cass Haworth, Noble White 86). Subs not used: Flanagan, Norman, Ibrahim. Att: 1,006.