Dartford came from behind to stretch their unbeaten run to ten league games, after returning from West Sussex with all three points.
As the 735 supporters got comfortable in the cold weather under the floodlights of The Fusion Aviation Community Stadium, Ady Pennock’s Darts had to soak up a little pressure, as The Hornets tried to gain the early advantage.
They won the first corner of the night in the 4th minute, but any hopes of capitalising were soon ended when Jacob Marsden confidently punched the danger clear.
The first real opportunity didn’t arrive until the 23rd minute, when Charlie Hester-Cook unleashed a 25-yard pyledriver which Marsden had no chance of saving.
However, barely had the Horsham faithful digested the goal when Dartford responded with an immediate attack. Josh Hill’s quick thinking and long-ball caused confusion for the Horsham defence, and Samir Carruthers took advantage to extinguish their lead within seconds of the restart (24)!
From then on, there was very little in terms of goal-mouth action for the remainder of the first-half. That was until the 45th minute, when Jacob Marsden slipped in his area before recovering superbly to prevent the ball from trickling into his goal.
The opening exchanges of the second-half saw much of the same from both sides, as the visitors soaked up the Horsham pressure with relative ease. And, with very little end product, the hosts looked to become more tired because the Darts began to exploit the pockets of space that were materialising.
Ady Pennock made his first change in personnel after 58 minutes, when Hayden Bullas replaced Louis Dunne. The Dartford boss would go on to use all his available substitutions this evening, as Olly Box and Samir Carruthers made way for Eddie Dsane and Jeremiah Pinder (72), Callum Jones made way for Duane Ofori-Acheampong (85), and Tyler Christian-Law came on to replace Denzelle Olopade (89).
Rewinding back to the 70th minute though, we arrive at the pivotal moment in the game where the visitors exploit the space provided by their hosts. Only on this occasion, the Darts punished The Hornets. Samir Carruthers’ patience paid off, as he fed Olly Box the perfect ball which enabled the young starlet to take his time to pick his spot, before firing in his ninth goal of the season (in all competitions).
Dartford then went on to control the remainder of the game, while waiting for another opportune moment. That duly arrived eight minutes from time, when Denzelle Olopade eventually received the ball following a corner, and fired in his team’s third of the night to seal the points (82).
Substitute Eddie Dsane almost added a fourth as we entered additional time at the end of the ninety, but his long-range drive flew narrowly wide of Lewis Carey’s upright. Meanwhile, Ola Ogunwamide had an opportunity to grab an even later consolation goal for the hosts, but his effort proved to be an easy save for Jacob Marsden.
The result sees the Darts move up to fourth in the Isthmian Premier League table, as they recorded a third victory in four games and second consecutive win on the road.
TEAMS
HORSHAM: Lewis Carey, Harvey Sparks, Isaac Philpot, Jack Strange, Charlie Hester-Cook, Shamir Fenelon, Bobbi-Joe Taylor, Jack Brivio (c), Montel Agyemang, Reece Myles-Meekums, Chris Dickson.
SUBSTITUTES: Danny Barker, Daniel Ajakaiye, Ola Ogunwamide, Joel Daly, Lee Harding.
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, Tyler Christian-Law, Eddie Dsane, Jeremiah Pinder, Hayden Bullas.
Chris Palmer
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