Four years on, Hawks and Darts in big trouble
Four years ago, Hawks met Dartford in the National League South play-off semi-final at Westleigh Park.
Tomorrow the two clubs meet again at the same ground with both in serious danger of relegation to the seventh tier.
Second-bottom Hawks really need to win all four of their remaining games to give themselves even a fighting chance of avoiding the drop.
But confidence should hopefully be boosted by Easter Monday’s shock 2-1 success at play-off chasing Aveley, sealed with Ryan Seager’s 87th minute decider.
Dartford are also in the drop zone after a horror run of just one win - at already relegated Dover - in their last 19 games.
Boss Alan Dowson was sacked in early January with the Darts 10 points above the drop zone. By the time successor Adrian Pennock, the former Gillingham manager, was appointed seven weeks later, they were just four points above the bottom four with 11 matches of their season remaining.
Pennock has only taken two draws from seven games, with Monday’s 2-0 home loss to fellow strugglers Eastbourne a depressing low.
For Hawks, tomorrow is the first of three successive home games - Welling (April 10) and Braintree (April 13) are the others - before a last-day trip to Torquay, who are not yet free from relegation worries.
*Mo Faal, on loan from Hawks to Maidstone, netted the only goal in Wednesday’s 1-0 win at third-bottom Taunton.
Due to the Somerset club’s ongoing pitch problems, the league ordered the fixture to be played at Gloucester City’s ground. Another NLS club, Truro, have also been playing home matches at the TigerTurf Stadium.