MATCH PREVIEW – Playoff Semi Final
Dartford have a second chance to win promotion back to the National South when they start their playoff campaign against Cray Valley Paper Mills on Wednesday.
The Darts came close to winning the Isthmian Premier title falling short in the final two games of the season. Whilst the Kent derby win over Dover Athletic on Good Friday extended their lead at the top, the Easter Monday draw at Cray Wanderers took title hopes out of their hands. Level on points with Billericay Town and Horsham going into the last match, the Darts needed to win against Carshalton Town and for the other two to slip up.
Whilst Horsham pipped Billericay Town to the championship, Adrian Pennock’s side were comfortably beaten on the weekend and now have to settle for their seventh playoff campaign.
Dartford’s 14 game unbeaten home run came to an emphatic end when Carshalton Athletic won 4-1 at Princes Park on Saturday. Pennock made one change bringing in Tyler Christian-Law at full back to replace Sam Okoye. The Darts were shell shocked on 11 minutes when Kola Salami was given time and space to put the Robins ahead. Then just before the interval the vistors went two up through Sharon Ifeanyi. Midfielder, Samir Carruthers was taken off at half-time after looking like he was struggling with injury. Defender, George Whitefield pulled a goal back in the second-half, his ninth of the season. Then Nabeel Ghannam struck twice for the Surrey side.
It’s now down to the management team to put defeat aside and lift the players ahead of Wednesday’s semi-final. Assistant manager, Roland Edge feels the Easter Monday draw had an impact on the players mentally, he explained to Dartford FC TV after the Carshalton Athletic loss: “It’s been a fantastic season. Yes, you want to win every game, but losses happen in football. I think our mind wasn’t quite at it today. We was a little bit down because we worked so hard all year, put in some great performances. Then you come to the final game of the season, your equal points, but the goal difference was never ever going to matched and I think our mind was half on that and a little bit deflated”.
Interview courtesy of Dartford FC TV
However, Edge is hoping the negative experience will spur the players on for one final promotion push, he added: “The pain of losing today will be with them until Wednesday. Sometimes that’s a good thing to kick you on again…a loss is part of football, it’s how you react after it”.
The build up will focus around getting everyone in the right frame of mind, the assistant boss commented: “Sometimes you can drop out of winning the league on the last day and you can end up going into a league by winning playoffs, me and Ade have been in that situation before, so we’re well aware of it. It’s about how we change our mindset ready for Wednesday, get ourselves prepared for a battle and another tough game”.
As shown in Dartford’s previous two matches against Cray Valley Paper Mills, Steve McKimm’s side are well organised and have had a fantastic season themselves. If successful in the playoffs the Millers will make it consecutive promotions.
On the opening day of the season, Cray Valley Paper Mills made their Isthmian Premier debut, but it was Dartford who took home all three points. Pennock handed out eight debuts of his own, made up of new signings and academy graduates. Preparations weren’t ideal when new goalkeeper Jacob Marsden was injured in the final pre-season friendly, Samir Carruthers and Duane Ofori-Acheampong were injured as well.
However, Olly Box linked up with new striker Callum Jones in the first half and the pair combined for Dartford’s first goal of the season. The away side went in at the break ahead, but it could have been more than 1-0. Early in the second-half Cray Valley Paper Mills had Hassan Ibrahiym sent off, however the Millers still managed to equalise through Tom Chambers. Then a moment of magic by Denzelle Olopade won Dartford the game when he curled home a shot from 30 yards.
Highlights courtesy of Dartford FC TV
At Princes Park a 0-0 draw with the Millers extended Dartford’s winless run to six matches. Little did they know that the draw was the start of a record equalling 21 game unbeaten league run for the club, which included another joint best ten match winning streak. The stalemate came after a League Cup victory over Erith Town and Edge said at the time that the pair of results will lay a foundation for short term form to improve, it turned out to be for the long term instead.
Under McKimm, Cray Valley Paper Mills won the Isthmian Division One South East in his debut season. The former Tonbridge Angels boss also guided the Millers to the F.A Cup first round for the first time, taking Charlton Athletic to a replay. With the likes of Freddie Parker and Tom Beere scoring goals they also have a blend of experience in Adam Coombes and Danny Waldren. Former Darts, Andre Coker, Fumnaya Shomotun and Marcel Barrington are also part of the Millers squad.
Coker scored the last minute consolation on the weekend when Cray Valley Paper Mills lost on the final day. They were denied a sixth consecutive victory when Folkestone Invicta won 2-1 at the Badgers Sports Ground. McKimm decided to rest key players having already secured a playoff place.
The Millers have won their previous three away fixtures beating Wingate and Finchley with goals from Denzel Gayle and Waldren. Hashtag United were defeated 3-1, which included a Parker brace and one from Tom Beere. In their last match on the road they won 1-0 against Chatham Town, Dan Bowry scoring the only goal of the game.
Dartford will be hoping to channel the spirit of 2012 when they won the National South playoffs. Cray Valley Paper Mills are in the playoffs for just the second time in their history.
| Carshalton Athletic | H | 1-4 | Folkestone Invicta | H | 1-2 |
| Cray Wanderers | A | 2-2 | Chatham Town | A | 1-0 |
| Dover Athletic | H | 3-1 | Whitehawk | H | 3-0 |
| Whitehawk | A | 1-0 | Hashtag United | A | 3-1 |
| Folkestone Invicta | H | 2-2 | Dulwich Hamlet | H | 3-1 |
| Dulwich Hamlet | A | 3-0 | Wingate & Finchley | A | 2-0 |
Head to Head
Dartford wins: 1 / Cray Valley Paper Mills wins: 0 / Draws: 1
Previous Six Meetings
Dartford 0 – 0 Cray Valley Paper Mills (02/11/2024 – Isthmian Premier)
Cray Valley Paper Mills 1 – 2 Dartford (10/08/2024 – Isthmian Premier)
Statistics
- Dartford have lost just one of their last 15 home matches (W10, D4)
- Only champions Horsham kept more clean sheets (18) than the Darts (17) this season
- Cray Valley Paper Mills were the only side to take a point from the Darts at Princes Park out of the playoff contenders
On This Day
Dartford finished their away campaign of the 2021/2022 season strongly racking up 13 goals on their travels in the final two league matches on the road. On this day Slough Town were thrashed 6-0 in a dominant Dartford display. Marcus Dinanga opened the scoring with just two minutes on the clock. The striker netted a brace either side of Keiran Murtagh’s goal. In the second-half the Darts added more through Kalvin Kalala, Jordan Greenidge and Olumide Durojaiye.
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