Dartford stretched their unbeaten run to eight games in all competitions, after brushing aside Hastings United in a dominant display in front of 1,438 supporters at the Pilot Field.
It was a relatively even start to the game, with Olly Box firing narrowly wide of the Hastings post (4), before Davide Rodari smacked the crossbar with a long-range drive at the other end a minute later.
The Darts soon settled though and, as Olly Box raced into the U’s box, he was hacked down by a defender. The referee pointed to the spot, and Samir Carruthers made no mistake to fire the visitors ahead in the fifteenth minute.
From that point on, the result never looked in doubt, and the Darts continued to force their hosts into making errors across the pitch.
Despite their dominance though, Ady Pennock’s side would finish the first-half with just the solitary goal. Samir Carruthers (27), Denzelle Olopade (30), and Callum Jones (39) all had opportunities to double Dartford’s lead, but none were able to capitalise on some poor defending by the hosts.
The opening exchanges of the second-half did see Hastings make a quick start, but the Dartford defence stood strong to snuff out any threat coming from the likes of Davide Rodari, Freddie Legg, Will Harley, or Thomas Fagg.
In fact, it was the visitors that came close to scoring the second goal of the afternoon when Louis Dunne (on loan from Chelmsford City) found Olly Box with a neat pass, only for Matt Kerbey save Box’s powerful strike (52).
Ady Pennock made his first change in personnel in the 63rd minute, when Samir Carruthers made way for Jeremiah Pinder. That would then be followed by Duane Ofori-Acheampong and Eddie Dsane replacing Olly Box and Louis Dunne (80), before Dean Nayler came on for Samuel Okoye in the 83rd minute.
Returning to the action, we arrive at Callum Jones and Louis Dunne combining well, with the latter just missing the top corner with his fine effort (70).
Three minutes later saw the Darts finally rewarded for the efforts, when Olly Box found Jeremiah Pinder with a neat pass which enabled the substitute to fire a low strike beyond the hapless Kerbey (73).
Having now scored, Pinder looked for his second of the afternoon only to fire narrowly wide (81), before Denzelle Olopade fired narrowly over the crossbar (88).
The Darts weren’t finished yet though! And, as Eddie Dsane drove forward, no defender challenged him, which enabled him to run into the box before curling the ball beyond Kerbey and into the bottom corner (90+5).
Goalkeeper Jacob Marsden collected another clean sheet to add to his tally, as the Darts climbed up to ninth in the Isthmian Premier League table while maintaining their current unbeaten run.
TEAMS
HASTINGS UNITED: Matt Kerbey, Leo Young, George Walker, Jack Dixon, Finn O’Mara, Kyron KcKay, Davide Rodari, Adam Lovatt (c), Will Harley, Thomas Fagg, Freddie Legg.
SUBSTITUTES: Tyrone Mlotshawa, Thomas Howard, Finley Chapman, Jamal Lubanga, Kian Moynes.
DARTFORD: Jacob Marsden, Sam Odaudu, Luther Williams, Josh Hill (c), George Whitefield, Samuel Okoye, Denzelle Olopade, Samir Carruthers, Louis Dunne, Olly Box, Callum Jones.
SUBSTITUTES: Duane Ofori-Acheampong, Dean Nayler, Eddie Dsane, Josh Atkinson, Jeremiah Pinder.
Chris Palmer
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