Tony Burman saw his injury hit Dartford side fight their way to a point in National South today and stated “I’m pleased that we got a point because of what happened to us on Monday.” 

“We looked well organised.  Maidenhead are a difficult side to break down.  They get the ball forward early and play in good areas.  I felt that after Monday we got back on track but still felt that we had to take the impetus as the home team as the game went on.”

Ronnie Vint, although Burman later said that he wouldn’t have been playing today, was not given permission to be considered by the referee over issues with the cast on his forearm, and was joined on the sidelines by Lee Noble, who has been suffering from back spasms.  This was further exacerbated by a knee injury to centre back Keaton Wood and Academy graduate Ben Francis was lucky not to stretch the medical staff further after a collision with Magpies goalkeeper late on.

Burman explained how it affected his team, adding “It’s unfortunate that we’ve had the injuries, but you’ve got to take it on the chin and move on with things.  We had a blip on Monday, but have responded in a positive way.  Even before Keaton was injured we were concerned about their set pieces, but I felt we handled that quite well and it didn’t cause as many problems as it might have done.  They had their top scorer missing today, which might have made a difference, but we’ve done well today.”

So a point apiece resulted from a competitive match, extending Dartford’s winless run to four, but after the Bank Holiday mauling at Hampton & Richmond Borough, there were enough encouraging signs for the Princes Park faithful.  Burman agreed, saying “they’ve got an experienced team and do the basics very well.  They’ve had a great start to the season, but I thought we came back well after Monday.  We’ve got quality in the changing room and I need to bring it out a bit more.  You’ll see that happening over the next few weeks and we’ll be a decent side.”