Ady hails ‘experienced’ players after Chichester draw keeps Darts top of the table 

By Gareth Morgan

While the younger stars have received plenty of accolades in recent weeks, Darts boss Ady Pennock turned his focus towards the squad’s more experienced players after a well-deserved point against Chichester.

With the opposition having 10 days’ rest compared to the Darts team who played on Saturday, it was always going to be a difficult match. The fact Chichester were one of the in-form teams in the division, made it all the harder.

However, a strong performance with plenty of chances to win, finished 0-0, to stretch the side’s amazing unbeaten run to 20 matches and put them a point ahead of closest rivals Billericay.

It was a draw Ady was particularly pleased with – and he was quick to praise the more experienced players in the group.

He said: “I’m pleased with the point, very pleased. We’ve just had two tough games in Hashtag and Chichester and I had said I would be happy with four points from them.

“Chichester are a very good team and in terrific form and having that extra period of rest made it even tougher.

“We have been talking a lot about the younger boys recently – and rightly so. But I want to give a special mention to the older players – the more experienced ones, today.  I thought Jacob, Michael, Josh, Tyler and Eddie were excellent. Even Samir off the pitch this week.

“Michael, Jacob and Josh kept the defence tight, too. All the older players are invaluable to us – it’s a whole squad effort right now and everyone is playing their part.”

Both sides had chances to win, with Darts having a number that went close, especially in the second half.

Ady continued: “We normally have a tactics session on a training evening before the match, but couldn’t this week because of our games coming on Saturday and Tuesday.

“I felt we needed to close down quicker and after tweaking a few things at half-time, we came out much better.

“Both sides had chances, but we had some good ones. They just didn’t go in this week.”

Despite 10 wins on the bounce, supporters and all involved in the club were more than happy with a draw. But for some players, it was harder to take.

Ady continued: “To a few of them it almost felt like it was a loss. I went into the changing room after the game and it was so quiet. Some were really down.

“I said to them, ‘Hang on a minute. We’re 20 games unbeaten. You just played a very good side here. You got a 0-0 draw which is exceptional. You worked so hard and deserve so much credit.’ I said, ‘and we are top the league. If someone said we’d be top of the league with 12 games to go at the start of season, I’d have bitten their hand off.’

“I added, ‘No sad faces.’ I was very proud of the boys after that performance.”

Ady saved a special mention for the supporters, who sang from start to finish and clapped the players off at the end.

Ady continued: “We had almost a thousand people watching us on a cold evening. Chichester didn’t bring many, so they were nearly all Dartford supporters. They were absolutely fantastic. 

“It doesn’t go unnoticed by all of us. At half-time, the boys mentioned going out to try to win for the fans because they had turned out in their numbers again.

“They cheered us on, kept singing and clapped us off and it means a lot to all of us.”

Next up is Hendon away on Saturday, with Ady hoping to get back to winning ways.

He added: “It is going to be a tough match, they are fighting for their lives and it will be on a 3G pitch.

“I’m sure we will have a good number of supporters there and we need them behind us every single game going forward.  

“We will have training on Thursday, and we’re just going to regroup and see who’s going to be fit and not quite there for Saturday, and then go again.” 

And lastly, Ady had some words to say about the team’s league position after gaining a point at the top over their promotion-pushing rivals.

He added: “It’s a great position to be. We’ve just got to enjoy it. The whole club is enjoying it. 

“To go 20 games unbeaten is incredible. But we’ve got 12 very hard games to go. 

“We know it’s going to be difficult, but we just need to enjoy the ride as we go along, keep together and keep going in the right direction.”

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