NOT often do games have turning points prior to the start but Darts’ did on Saturday when, during the warm-up, Danny Harris had to be replaced by Lee Noble thus denying the team his vital pace and work ethic.

It also meant a tactical re-think.

Darts started brightly enough and had the ball in the net after 13 minutes but Carl Rook’s header was ruled out for a push which only the referee appeared to spot.

Soon after Lee Burns beat four players in an incisive dribble but, still lacking his goal-scoring edge, saw his shot deflected.

Keeper Andrew Young received four minutes of treatment on a calf injury midway through the first half for which the referee added only one additional minute at the end of the half.

Eastleigh took the lead two minutes before the interval when a half-cleared shot was driven into Young’s right side corner by Richard Graham.

Half-time saw JohnWhitehouse given a full-work-out prior to substituting Young between the posts at the restart.

The real turning point arrived just after the hour when Richard Gillespie burst down the right wing and his low cross ended up in the back of Whitehouse’s net, a replica of Boreham Wood’s second a fortnight earlier.

Dartford made a double substitution with Ryan Hayes replacing Lee Noble and Adam Burchell coming on for Rook with 19 minutes to go.

The visitors piled forward but, in the very last minute of the game, Eastleigh had the last laugh with a Comic Cuts goal.

With everybody up-field, Eastleigh hoofed the ball deep into Dartford territory.

The isolated Whitehouse rushed out of his area to head the ball away from the on-rushing Richard Graham but instead it fell nicely for Anthony Riviere to apply the coup de grace.

Dartford: Young (Whitehouse 45), Bonner, Gross, Bruce, Goodacre, Shinn, Noble (Hayes 71), White, Rook (Burchell 71), Burns, Bradbrook. Subs not used: Sheringham, Berquez. Att: 727.