Dartford stretched their unbeaten run to six games, after goals by Olly Box and George Whitefield saw off Lewes in front of 806 supporters at Bericote Powerhouse Princes Park.
The hosts’ confidence was clearly on show from having suffered just one defeat in the previous seven matches, and they dominated the opening exchanges in horrible weather conditions.
Denzelle Olopade saw his shot blocked in the opening minute, before the excellent Callum Jones fired narrowly over the crossbar (8). The brilliant Olly Box forced a corner seconds later, before the equally brilliant Samir Carruthers saw his free-kick saved onto the crossbar by Lewes goalkeeper Toby Bull (15).
Having weathered the early storm, the visitors began venturing forward more themselves, and Calvin Ekpiteta saw his effort blocked by George Whitefield in the 16th minute.
The game then became a little scrappy, as the horrible weather lashed around the pitch and surroundings. Yet, only a Luther Williams intervention prevented the Darts from being caught out by an ambitious Lewes long-ball (41).
But it was Ady Pennock’s side that went in ahead at the break, after Olly Box cooly finished having being played through by Callum Jones (45).
The Rooks started the second-half well, with Danny Bassett hitting the crossbar, before Jacob Marsden saved well to keep out Gianluca Botti’s 51st minute effort.
But six minutes later saw the hosts double their advantage, after Carruthers’ free-kick caused mayhem in the Lewes box, enabling George Whitefield to score his second league goal of the season (57).
The Darts were purring now and only a good defensive block prevented Olly Box from netting his second of the afternoon (72), before Callum Jones struck the crossbar with a neat header (74).
Any hopes Lewes had of making a recovery were all but ended, when Ethan Kaiser received two yellow cards, followed by his marching orders, within three crazy minutes as the visitors struggled to deal with the Dartford attack.
Such was his team’s dominance this afternoon, that Ady Pennock didn’t need to make any changes in personnel until late in the game. A trio substitution took place in the 86th minute, as Olly Box, Samuel Okoye, and Samir Carruthers all made way for Gabe Campbell, Dean Nayler, and Tyler Christian-Law respectively. That was then followed by Blu Husthwaite coming on for Jeremiah Pinder deep into stoppage time.
Returning to the action, we find Craig Nelson’s ten men working through a late rally in a desperate bid to get back into the game. Yet their efforts were in vain…
Jacob Marsden prevented Botti from pulling a goal back, before Whitefield cleared a late effort off the line to help his goalkeeper claim the clean sheet.
Samir Carruthers was rewarded for his efforts by being voted as the Man of The Match, as the dominant Darts stretched their unbeaten run to six games in all competitions.
TEAMS
DARTFORD: Jacob Marsden, Sam Odaudu, Luther Williams, Josh Hill (c), George Whitefield, Samuel Okoye, Denzelle Olopade, Jeremiah Pinder, Samir Carruthers, Olly Box, Callum Jones.
SUBSTITUTES: Blu Husthwaite, Dean Nayler, Tyler Christian-Law, Todd Brand, Gabe Campbell.
LEWES: Toby Bull, Jerry Puemo, Jack Enkh, Matthew Warren, Ethan Kaiser, Marcus Sablier, Danny Bassett (c), Hamilton Antonio, Gianluca Botti, Calvin Ekpiteta, Marcel McIntosh.
SUBSTITUTES: Edward Allsopp, Nabeel Ghannam, Shae Hutchinson, Maliq Morris, Tolu Ladapo.
Chris Palmer
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