MATCH REPORT | DARTFORD 3 BURGESS HILL TOWN 3
The unchanged Darts flew out of the blocks on this lovely September night, and were ahead after just three minutes when Olly Box reacted to Sam Odaudu’s long throw to fire a delightful low drive into the bottom corner.
The hosts were denied a second six minutes later, when Joshua Spinks put in a terrific block to prevent Eddie Dsane’s effort from going in! The Dartford striker then came agonisingly close to scoring a minute later, but his effort flew the wrong side of The Hillians’ upright (10).
Burgess Hill responded via Hamish Morrison who found Benjamin Pope, but his effort was cleared by the Dartford defence. Harry Lawson then won a corner for the visitors, which Christopher Whelpdale reached first but failed to hit the target with his header (13).
Dartford responded with a good attacking move on the right-flank, which enabled Callum Jones to strike home the second goal of the night in the 17th minute.
Christopher Whelpdale tried his luck with a rather audacious effort from distance, which failed to trouble goalkeeper Jonny Henly (20) during a period when The Hillians enjoyed some time in possession of the ball.
The visitors thought they’d pulled a goal back in the 32nd minute when Hamish Morrison and George Vorster combined well to allow Benjamin Pope to tap home, only to see the referee chalk off the goal for offside.
The Darts were then given an opportunity to stretch their lead even further when a penalty was awarded for a foul inside the box. However, Alfie Mansell got down well to save Eddie Dsane’s spot-kick (42).
The start of the second forty-five saw the visitors swap Harry Lawson with Marcus Allen, in a move that would completely change the outcome of this game.
And within seconds, he pulled his team back into contention by smashing the ball beyond Henly following a free-kick (46).
Despite being pegged back for the opening eight minutes, the hosts soon responded with a swift counter-attack which saw Callum Jones floored by Benjamin Pope. However, the free-kick was deflected behind and the resulting corner cleared by the Burgess Hill Town defence.
The visitors then swapped Brannon O’Neill with Stefan Vukoje (60), and would go on to swap George Vorster with Thomas Chalaye (77) and Luke Ashburn with Reggie Ward (88).
Ady Pennock, meanwhile, would go on to replace Eddie Dsane with Dan Smith (68) and Sam Smith with Samir Carruthers (77).
As we return to the action, we arrive at the point when Joshua Spinks dragged Olly Box to the ground during a Dartford counter-attack. The Hillians player was shown a second yellow card and the subsequent red, so headed off for an early shower (63). Yet the referee, Mr Gerry Heron, wasn’t done there… with both sets of staff unhappy with the way Mr Heron was “refereeing” the game, Burgess Hill Town’s joint manager Gary Mansell was booked for voicing his opinion too loudly! And it wouldn’t be the last time that Mr Heron made a poor decision.
Seven minutes later saw another visitors’ free-kick cause mayhem inside the Dartford box, whereby Marcus Allen lobbed in the equaliser (70).
Callum Jones came close to edging the hosts ahead once again when he got to Sam Odaudu’s long-ball first, only to see Alfie Mansell make the save (74).
Dartford did indeed retake the lead nine minutes later when Sam Odaudu’s free-kick took a deflection to wrong-foot Mansell (83).
However, three minutes later saw Olly Box sent off after receiving his second yellow card of the night, before Joe Tennent was booked for a late challenge on Thomas Chalaye on the edge of the Dartford box deep into stoppage time.
And Christopher Whelpdale sent a thumping free-kick beyond Jonny Henly to level the score once again (90+3).
Callum Jones’ efforts earned him a deserved Man of The Match award, but both he and his teammates will be disappointed at letting two leads slip. However, the result does keep their unbeaten league run intact at six games, which is something positive to build on.
DARTFORD: Jonny Henly (c), Sam Smith, Joe Tennent, George Whitefield, Samuel Okoye, Denzelle Olopade, Sam Odaudu, Jeremiah Pinder, Olly Box, Callum Jones, Eddie Dsane.
SUBSTITUTES: Samir Carruthers, Dan Smith, Carter Sullivan, Luther Williams, Michael Olarewaju.
BURGESS HILL TOWN: Alfie Mansell, Luke Ashburn, Hamish Morrison, Harry Lawson, Ryan Worrall, Joshua Spinks, George Vorster, Kieran Rowe, Christopher Whelpdale, Benjamin Pope, Brannon O’Neill (c)
SUBSTITUTES: Alexander Malins, Thomas Chalaye, Reggie Ward, Stefan Vukoje, Marcus Allen.
Chris Palmer