On Saturday, Dartford host Welling United in part two of the clubs’ festive season Vanarama National League South derby double header.

When the two teams met on Boxing Day, over two thousand people watched a pretty low key match between the two sides at Welling’s J. Hearnden Skip Hire Community Stadium. Unsurprisingly, the only goal of the match came from a defensive mistake that ended with a tap in for Dartford’s Richard Chin.

That result gave Dartford a healthy buffer between them and the bottom four, and another victory would mean that they will be looking upwards rather than down. However, the defeat for Welling, combined with events elsewhere, left the Wings in deep trouble, eight points adrift of the safety zone.

At home, Dartford’s league form this season is reasonable with four wins, four draws and five defeats, while away from home, Welling have won just once, drawn four and lost seven in which they conceded four or more on five occasions.

However, the Wings have won on the road in the F.A. Cup, and that was at Dartford. Lewis Manor put Dartford ahead in the eighteenth minute but Antony Papadopoulos equalised just before half time. Manor restored the Darts’ lead seven minutes after the break but Papadopoulos again levelled ten minutes later before completing his hat-trick with the winner with just under quarter of an hour remaining.

When the two teams last met in league action at Princes Park, in November 2022, the Darts won convincingly. Pierre Fonkeu put the hosts ahead in the eleventh minute and they never looked back. Davide Rodari made it two from close range just shy of the half hour mark and former Wing, Maxwell Statham added a third before half time.

Ade Azeez charged down a clearance to pull one back against his previous club early in the second half, but Jack Smith and Luke Coulson were both on target for Dartford as they cruised to victory.

Whilst league form is not always an accurate guide in local derbies, Dartford certainly have the upper hand in the games between the two clubs over recent seasons. Other than this season’s F.A. Cup success, Welling have not won at Princes Park since Boxing Day 2013, claiming just one point there since that day, so the hosts will start the day as hot favourites.

Images courtesy of Dave Budden