DARTS AIM TO DOUBLE DOWSE DOSE!
ALAN DOWSON knows his Dartford will need to be even better on Sunday than on Boxing Day when a wounded Ebbsfleet United make the short trip to Princes Park.
The Darts took bragging rights as they blew away the Fleet 4-1 to take the points and jump to the top of the National League South.
Goals from Luke Allen, Luke Coulson and Maxwell Statham put Dowson’s side 3-0 ahead inside 11 minutes.
Dennis Kutrieb’s shellshocked side fell four behind on 40 minutes to Alex Wall’s goal before Craig Tanner immediately pulled one back but it was the Dartford side who went home happy.
Former Kingstonian, Hampton and Woking boss Dowson enjoyed the occasion – but expects a reaction.
“People say about Sunderland-Newcastle, Man United-Man City, but Non-League has got proper derbies as well,” Dowson said. “There was nearly 3,000 people there the other day and there will be 3,000-4,000 at our home game. It means a lot to the people.
“You get your bragging rights. Supporters have that extra oomph because you want to beat your rivals.
“We went there to have a go. A lot of teams go against the top teams and might say, ‘We’ll sit behind the ball for 6070 minutes’ but I’ve never done that in my career. I’ve always tried to win a game of football from the first minute to the last, even if it’s 0-0 on 89 minutes I will stick a forward on to try and win it.
“But listen, I’m not daft. The return is going to be more difficult. They’ve got good players, goo dmanager, games in hand, we’ve got to be up for it. The message will be: same again, but we’ve got to be more on top of it and have more about us.
“It will be another great game. They will not like the fact of what we’ve done. They’ve got a very good manager, who I like, they’ve got a bigger squad than us so they can make more changes and it will be game on.”
It was a happy Boxing Day for the Darts as title chasers
Havant & Waterlooville fell to a 2-1 defeat at home to Eastbourne Borough. Jaden Perez grabbed the winner on 80 minutes after Joe Oastler had cancelled out Jake Hutchinson’s early opener.
Chelmsford City grabbed Essex derby bragging rights with a goal from Tom Blackthe well and Reece Grant’s penalty in their 2-0 win over Braintree Town.
St Albans City continued their fine recent form with a 3-1 win at Hemel Hempstead Town. Elliott Romain cancelled out Shaun Jeffers’ third minute strike that had given the Saints the lead before Zane Banton hit a second-half double to bank the points for David Noble’s side.
Liam Vincent hit a hattrick for Hampton & Richmond Borough but it wasn’t enough to beat Worthing, who grabbed a dramatic 4-3 win in
89th minute through Ollie Pearce.
Slough Town beat Oxford City 3-1, Alfonso Tenconi, grabbing two, Taunton beat
Weymouth by the same score, as did Chippenham Town against their rivals Bath City.
Ade Azeez hit Welling’s winner in a 1-0 win over Tonbridge Angels and Cheshunt grabbed a vital 4-2 win in their battle with fellow strugglers
Concord Rangers.
Dulwich Hamlet shared a 1-1 draw with Dover, as did
Farnborough who came from behind at Hungerford Town.