MATCH REPORT | BILLERICAY TOWN 4 DARTFORD 0
Dartford remained winless in the league since August, after Billericay Town condemned them to another defeat in what was a poor night in Essex for Ady Pennock’s side.
With the news of the signings of striker Ade Yussuf and defender Michael Olarewaju being announced before tonight’s game, optimism was relatively high amongst the travelling Dartford supporters. However, such optimism vanished within seconds of the kick-off when Tom Bender headed the hosts ahead from their first corner of the evening.
The Darts responded positively and were awarded two free-kicks within a matter of minutes, the second of which saw Samir Carruthers force goalkeeper Sam Donkin into a good save after thirteen minutes.
Yet, the visitors looked extremely fragile at the back and a swift counter-attack released former Dart Tyrell Miller-Rodney one-on-one with Matt Kerbey. The goalkeeper, who was in for Jacob Marsden this evening, won this particular battle to keep the deficit at one goal with a fine save (14).
Josh Hill and Co worked hard to get themselves back into contention, as they saw a lot of the ball but with very little end product in the final third. In fact, they were restricted to set-pieces, one of which saw Carruthers force a fine save out of Donkin on the half hour.
But, just like the first goal, Billericay pounced again with a second in the 37th minute to double their advantage. Once again it came from a corner, which the visitors failed to deal with, enabling Frankie Merrifield to fire home.
And, as the Darts pushed forward to try and find a goal themselves, the hosts caught them on the break once again. Ibrahim Jalloh was the man through one-on-one on this occasion and, just like before, Matt Kerbey stood strong to thwart the Ricay player’s effort (45+3).
The start of the second forty-five saw Ady Pennock move immediately to swap Denzelle Olopade with new arrival Michael Olarewaju. In fact, the Dartford boss would use four of his available substitutions this evening, with Ade Yussuf replacing George Whitefield (65), Tyler Christian-Law replacing Josh Hill (69), and Ben Allen coming on for Samir Carruthers (80).
The second-half was a little slow in gaining any momentum, with only Eddie Dsane’s half-chance from distance in the 55th minute easily saved by Sam Donkin.
Unfortunately, any chance of a comeback was soon ended by the hosts when Moses Emmanuel completed a good attack down their left-flank by firing beyond Matt Kerbey in the 61st minute.
Jeremiah Pinder came close to netting a consolation goal for the Darts with a great long-range effort, only to see Donkin equal to it with a fine save (74). Samir Carruthers then came close three minutes later, but his effort flew narrowly over the crossbar.
Matt Kerbey was then called into action to tip Montel McKenzie’s long-range drive behind for a corner (83), before Matt Johnson added salt into Dartford’s wounds by scoring the hosts’ fourth of the night from the resulting set-piece (84).
The result means that Dartford sit in tenth place in the Isthmian Premier League table, with twelve points from their opening eight games played, having lost their last three in all competitions.
TEAMS
BILLERICAY TOWN: Sam Donkin, Montel McKenzie, Matt Johnson (c), Tom Bender, Jay Porter, Tyrell Miller-Rodney, Jack Paxman, Ashley Nzala, Frankie Merrifield, Ibrahim Jalloh, Moses Emmanuel.
SUBSTITUTES: Tommy Davis, Ben Steward, Ansu Janneh, Cain Keller, Decarrey Sheriff.
DARTFORD: Matt Kerbey, Sam Odaudu, Luther Williams, Josh Hill (c), George Whitefield, Samuel Okoye, Denzelle Olopade, Jeremiah Pinder, Samir Carruthers, Callum Jones, Eddie Dsane.
SUBSTITUTES: Jacob Marsden, Ben Allen, Tyler Christian-Law, Ade Yussuf, Michael Olarewaju.
Chris Palmer
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