Dartford manager Steve King felt that his team had done just about enough to have deserved all three points against Ebbsfleet United.

Although played at a tremendous tempo with players of both teams giving their all, the North Kent derby between Dartford and Ebbsfleet United ended goal-less. 

King believes his side had done more than enough to win the entertaining clash. He said: “I think we should have won the game in the end. Don’t get me wrong, I think it was an even game, I think it was end to end like a basketball match. 

“They attacked, we attacked, they attacked, I think it was like that but clear cut chances, we had them and if it didn’t hit Dicko (Chris Dickson) on the line, it was a goal so he’s put one in the net. I need to see if it was offside or not. I haven’t looked at the video yet but of the chances, I think we had the better chances. If there was three thousand people in here, it would have been fitting for them.”

Going into more detail, King continued “I think we stepped up (in the) second half. Noor Husin was the best player on the pitch by an absolute country mile. A way above the level, his performance was today, for me, but I felt that we got to grips better. 

“We said that we need to run as hard forwards as we do going backwards and that’s a tendency for most clubs. Most players at these levels are brilliant going forwards but going back, they’re not so clever. We wanted more of that in the second half and I think that if you were a neutral in there you would have come away saying that you got your money’s worth.”

He didn’t feel too downcast about not claiming all three points explaining “We’ll build on that. It’s a clean sheet. It’s another point. Thirteen games and twenty-six points, two points a game and you’re not doing far wrong. Two points a game gets you somewhere near first, second or third place in my opinion. 

“Eighty-four points so we’re on schedule for where we’d like to be. I think it was a good second half performance, better than what we have been playing in my opinion. I don’t think we’ve hit the levels that we’re capable of in recent weeks but we’ve done alright today.”

There was a shout for a penalty in the first half when Nassim L’Ghoul was felled in the penalty area but King was not keen to commit himself on his thoughts. “I’m one of those that doesn’t like to say anything until I’ve seen it back and I’ve got proof in the video. 

“I’ve always been like that but I felt that it was a tackle from behind. He’s got control of the ball and someone’s come in through the back of him but I don’t want to say one hundred per cent definite until I’ve seen it again because normally, it will give you the conclusive answer.”

It was Dartford’s first game for two weeks and King is a bit frustrated with the current situation. “It’s unprecedented times. It is what it is, I did an article last week saying that maybe there should be a month’s break because there was only five games today instead of ten, there was only three games instead of ten the other day. 

“I just felt that if we had that break for a month it might calm things down. There’s been Christmas. There’s been New Year. A lot of people have obviously broken rules so for me a clear break for a month, revisit it, get this level testing, get the players tested again. People are not testing anymore which I think is not right. Sport England have helped us financially, the lottery etc etc. I do believe at this level we should be testing once a week at least.” 

King feels that it’s important that all the clubs in the league are proactive in getting the fixtures played. He explained “We looked at our next ten days, including today, we’ve got four games in ten days so for me, I’m trying to bang games out as much as I can. If we’ve got a free week we’re talking to other teams (and asking) ‘Do you want to play us?’and just keep banging the games out. That’s the best way we can do it I think.. 

“Other clubs should take that initiative as well. If there’s a spare week and someone else has got a spare week then try and get a fixture. You’re a bit all over the place but you’ll get your fixtures in. It’ll probably go on beyond the end of June in my opinion but there are a number of spare weeks. I’ve looked at things. There are spare weeks.”

As there may be spells of a number of games crammed in, King was appreciative of what he has been able to do. “We need a big squad because games come thick and fast with injuries.” he explained. “Look at Ebbsfleet today. Lee Martin’s injured. Jake Goodman’s injured so you have to run with big squads. 

“It’s a financial strain but we went that route. We got set a budget and calculated how many players we would need on that budget and we had eighteen fit today. We’ve got four or five injured so in a way, we’re glad we’ve been able to do that.” 

Pictures supplied by Dave Budden.