Although still relatively early in the season, Dartford hosted Welling United in a true local derby at their Princes Park ground and it was the Darts that came out the victors.

Despite going behind, Welling were the better team in the first half and deserved their equaliser. However, the second half was short in quality until Ryan Hayes’ excellent cross was finished by Elliot Bradbrook at the far post to win the points for the hosts.

Early on, Dartford looked good and Luke Wanadio caused a lot of problems. His first cross found Andy Pugh who shot straight at Chris Lewington then his next picked out Duane Ofori-Acheampong who failed to hit the target.

Danny Waldren had a couple of efforts from outside the area as Welling started to take a grip on the game.

Pierre Joseph-Dubois burst through and his shot was only half saved by Deren Ibrahim however the Dartford goalkeeper recovered quickly to grasp before Adam Coombes reached the rebound.

It was slightly against the run of play when the hosts went ahead. Jordon Brown was adjudged to have fouled Ofori-Acheampong when contesting a deep cross along with Danny Harris but referee Paul Howard pointed to the spot. Bradbrook stepped up but Lewington went the right way and blocked. Unfortunately for him, Alex Brown was first to the loose ball and bundled home.

Their lead lasted just five minutes before Welling equalised. Coombes stepped up to take a 25 yard free kick and planted it in the top corner.

Ex Wings Pugh and Wanadio had half chances for Dartford before the break but the teams went in level.

Neither side created much in the second period until Dartford manager Tony Burman introduced experienced substitutes Ryan Hayes and Lee Noble.

From then, the Darts were finally able to contest midfield and it was no surprise that the winner came from a raid down the wing.

After the match, Burman was surprisingly subdued. Although pleased to win, he was disappointed with his team’s overall performance citing a lack of sharpness. He also felt that he wanted to look at the goal conceded to see if it could have been stopped.

Mark Goldberg, Welling’s manager, was also unhappy. He felt the first half performance was good but that he did not have the same quality on the bench that Dartford had, so could not refresh the team. The prolonged delay in getting international clearance frustrated him and bemoaned the fact that when Lewington saved the penalty, no Welling player reacted before Brown bundled home.

 

Dartford: Ibrahim, Harris, Wynter, Bonner, Gardiner, Brown A, Brown (Noble 72) E (Hayes 60), Bradbrook, Ofori-Acheampong, Pugh (Francis 76), Wanadio.

Unused substitutes: Seixas, Coxall.

 

Welling United: Lewington, Nelson, Brown, Fuseini, Francis, Hayles, Joseph-Dubois, Waldren, Walker (Whitely 77), Coombes, Della-Verde.

Unused Substitutes: Agu, Banton, Johnson, Leacock.

 

Referee: Paul Howard

Assistants: James Simpson and Stu Kyle

 

Attendance: 1,210

 

Man of the match: Tom Wynter

Pictures supplied by Dave Budden.