2nddec04

Injury-hit Dartford slide into bottom three

DARTFORD manager Tommy Sampson has admitted his young side are struggling at the moment, writes Stephen McCartney.

Last Saturday’s 5-0 defeat at promotion chasing Uxbridge saw the Darts slip into the bottom three in the Southern League Division One East table for the first time this season.

Sampson, who was without several key players, including striker Tostao Kwashi (suspended), Eddie McClements and Jim Carter, who was forced off the pitch in the first half with a re-occurrence of a hamstring injury,  the Darts did reasonably well until the sending off of Uxbridge skipper Stuart Bamford for stamping on Steve Hafner.

The former Margate and Folkestone Invicta left-sided player was making his debut for the Darts, having signed from Hastings United following the fall-out after manager Steve Lovell's departure from the East Sussex club.

The 21-year-old impressed Sampson on his debut but the Darts boss wasn’t so pleased with some of the other members of his team who lost concentration after the West Londoners were reduced to ten-men.

Sampson admitted: “For 55 minutes we were excellent.

“We were 1-0 down,  we hit the bar, had one cleared off the line ourselves and we played very well in the first half.

“We were doing ever so well and they had a guy sent off and I shuddered as he went off the pitch.

“It wasn’t good for us as we switched off.

“Over the next eight minutes we gave two incredibly soft goals away which is par for the course for us, and the game was lost.

“They were down to ten men, they aren’t a bad side to be fair, but we did everything we could, pushing four up, and they scored two goals at the end of the game.

“The last 35 minutes were unbelievable.  Players who worked ever so hard thought it would be easier against ten-man.

“Seven minutes after the guy got sent off, we conceded two totally preventable goals.”

Sampson announced his Nineteen-year-old goalkeeper Dale Brightly has been released.

Sampson briefly explained: “Dale never lived up to any potential really.”

Dartford are finding it very tough at present and are forced to throw young players in at the deep end.

Youth team captain, seventeen-year-old centre half, Keith Jackson was handed his debut in west London and eighteen-year-old right-wing-back Tommy Olson played only his second first team game having been promoted from the club’s reserve team.

With other results going against them, Dartford are now third from bottom with only 14 points from 18 games, and Sampson admitted: “We’ve had a shocking week.

“We’ve got a terrible points tally from the games we’ve played.

“We’ve thrown points away – a good 7 or 8 points since the start of the season.”

But he insisted: “I am at pains to say – I will protect all the young players that play for me.

“It’s not their fault they are too young and have to play at any one time.

“The nature of our squad is, if we get one or two injuries, we drop into reserve and youth team players and it’s taken it’s toll on two or three of them.

“At present we are not good enough to play – we need our best team on the pitch and I need two or three new players at the club.

“If I am at fault for anything this year, it’s I’ve put a lot of faith in the players I’ve got.

“I still have faith in them – they play well in patches, but with too many mistakes being made.

“We are trying our hardest.  We have got young because of injuries.  We don’t have any depth, I knew that at the start of the season.”

Kwashi, however, will walk straight back into the depleted team for Saturday’s home game against Boreham Wood at Stonebridge Road. 

Dartford v Boreham Wood
Saturday 4th December 2004
Southern League Division One East
Kick Off 3:00pm
at Stonebridge Road, Northfleet