Dartford gifted points as chances go to waste

The Bulls went down at Princess Park this afternoon after gifting an opening goal and spurning a host of chances to win the game.  For the avoidance of doubt, it might be worth pointing out that Smiths make shoes for horses.

Martin Foyle made a bunch of changes following the Luton humiliation with Rhys Evans getting the nod in the sticks in place of Danny Lloyd-Weston.  Rod McDonald took over from Chris Bush at left back to complete a back four that included Leadbitter, Graham and Dom Collins.  A midfield four of Walker, Frankie Artus, Jon Brown and Rob Purdie set up to supply the strike pairing of Smith and Rankine.

The Bulls started brightly with an early Rankine shot from the edge of the box blocked and a Brown header easily collected by Alan Julian the former Stevenage stopper.  A free kick for the hosts driven low in to the box caused consternation when the ball was poked inches wide of the upright.  Then, on twelve minutes, Dartford took a fortunate lead.

Alex Wall tried a speculative effort from the angle of the box and with Rhys Evans not getting across in time the ball took a bounce off the surface to evade his outstretched hand and finish in the net.

Dartford's First Goal

The Bulls were struggling to cope with the bobbly pitch but a couple of Artus’ free kicks did present opportunities to test Julian.  Rankine won a header to set up a chance for Rob Purdie but his effort was just wide while another cross was over hit and fell for a goal kick.

Chance For Michael Rankine

Rankine made a forceful break out wide to win a fruitless throw and Jon Brown’s effort was comfortably dealt with by Julian.  A Dartford cross from the left almost caught The Bulls napping when Evans failed to come to collect and he was lucky that Luke Graham’s late header fell safely into his arms. 

Alex Wall’s free kick from distance drew a more confident collection by Evans before Rankine fed Sam Smith but his poor first touch on the move allowed the ball to be cleared upfield.  A brief period of Darts pressure followed but United weathered the storm with a couple of desperate clearances. 

A Frankie Artus flag kick, following a Leadbitter break, found McDonald at the back post but his header was straight at Julian.  Some decent pressure from The Bulls produced some backs to the wall defending by the hosts but despite a good number of on-target efforts during the half United reached the break without finding the net.

HT Dartford 1 Bulls 0

Mitchell-King’s defensive header was misdirected out for a corner and Purdie’s flag kick found Graham who directed the ball down and on target with a bullet header but somehow Julian kept it out when a goal looked certain.  

Luke Graham Gets His Head On The Ball

A couple of quick breaks by Leadbitter looked threatening but the final balls failed to create a real chance while at the other end in a rare break Dartford had a great double chance to increase their advantage but Evans scrambled across to gather on the line.

Leadbitter broke away to release Walker and his cross was headed just wide by the advancing Frankie Artus with fifteen minutes of the second period played as The Bulls started to build a head of steam.  Purdie and Rankine combined to create a chance for Smith but his quickly taken shot rose over the bar as United were very much dictating the play.

Dartford made a change adding midfielder Lee Noble in an attempt to wrestle control of midfield from the dominant visitors.  A Walker cross was headed wide by Smith when well placed as The Bulls continued to create goal scoring opportunities.  A Dartford free kick on the right was only partly cleared and when the ball came back in the headed clearance was hit first time by substitute Noble that flew in from 22 yards with eighteen minutes remaining.

Foyle made an immediate double change replacing Purdie and McDonald with Bush and Sharp.  Bush had an early chance but blasted over before Cory Williams was given fifteen minutes in place of the tiring Michael Rankine.

Cory Williams Came On For Rankine

Julian spilt a Walker shot but sadly it fell the wrong side of the upright before the subsequent corner was hacked away.  Leadbitter whipped in a cross that Sharp failed to get on target.  Bush’s attempted diagonal ball was intercepted but the industrious Brown battled to win it back as the hosts were sitting increasingly deep and looking to shut up shop.  Cory Williams worked hard to find space with some intelligent runs.  Noble was a little lucky to avoid a card for a late one on Jon Brown.  Leadbitter found Chris Sharp but three defenders crowded him out.  Another Sharp run earned a corner, which Walker curled in and was knocked out for another corner.  Artus produced a dangerous in-swinger that was collected by Julian at the second attempt.

Three added minutes were offered by the referee as Walker miss-hit his shot then a ponderous home substitution was used to run down the clock but no further chances fell to The Bulls and the 100 odd fans who made the trip were left to reflect on the fairly long list of missed opportunities.

FT Dartford 2 Bulls 0

Attendance – 1137

Bulls: Evans, Leadbitter, Graham, Collins, McDonald (Bush72), Walker, Artus, Brown, Purdie (Sharp 72), Smith, Rankine (Williams 77) Unused, Edge, Lloyd-Weston

Dartford: Julian, McAuley, Sterling, Mitchell-King, Stevenson, Cornhill, Bradbrook, Burns, Woodyard (Noble 67), Harris (Clark 91), Wall (Swallow 84). Unused, Suarez, Collier.

Another Chance For Luke Graham

This was a story of what might have been.  The Bulls created a hatful of chances from which Luke Graham was mightily unlucky not to score and Sam Smith failed with a couple of good opportunities.  The opening goal by the hosts benefited from a huge slice of luck courtesy of a nasty bounce but it might be argued that Evans should have been across quicker to cover the shot.

Martin Foyle’s reshuffle probably did bring a more determined performance but the lack of a reliable second striker was again the downfall and why on earth you would take off the man creating the chances and leave on the man who’s missing them is anyone’s guess.  On the plus side, we will face a Macclesfield side on Tuesday night that also fell to defeat this afternoon.

See you Tuesday at The Street.

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