My players will put things right, says Darts boss Tony Burman

Monday 21st February 2011

TONY BURMAN says Dartford's 4-0 home defeat to Hampton & Richmond Borough was “shocking”, writes Stephen McCartney.

The disappointed Darts boss saw his side put in a sorry display as their seven match unbeaten run came to an end by Alan Devonshire’s men at the weekend.

He said: “After doing so well over a number of weeks and being undefeated for seven games, defensively it was a shocking display and I think the players knew it, they didn’t need me to tell them too much.

“After playing so well in previous games defensively as well, the players had a very, very poor game.”

Burman added: “But I’ve said they are good players but I can’t put my finger on what happened on Saturday but too many of them were way below par.

“I’m not expecting that they were tired on the day, that’s not an excuse, we were just poor on the day.

“Hampton wanted it more than us and we will get a reaction tomorrow night against Dorchester, which I think I think we will and then we move on to the next game on Saturday.

Burman demands a reaction when they clock up the miles, travelling to Dorchester Town on Tuesday night and then Havant & Waterlooville on Saturday afternoon.

“I’m sure I will get a reaction from the players,” said Burman.

“They’re long trips again but having said that, that’s part and parcel what you have to do in the football world but hopefully we will get a better reaction from the defeat on Saturday.”

“We know that Dorchester are good as they smashed us 4-0 in the last 20 minutes at home and they will be organised like the teams are in our division and we know we’ve got a tough game.

“We’ve had a poor performance on Saturday and the players have done well for us and they are hurting from the result.

“Hopefully they’ll put things right for us tomorrow.”

James White, Adam Burchell and Charlie Sheingham should be drafted into the squad at Havant & Waterlooville on Saturday.

Burman, meanwhile, confirmed goalkeeper John Whitehouse has made his move to Blue Square Bet South rivals Welling United permanent.

Originally on the books at Charlton Athletic as a junior, Whitehouse has mainly travelled around the clubs of Kent, including (not in chorological order) Greenwich Borough, Fisher Athletic, Ashford Town, Erith & Belvedere, Corinthian, Tunbridge Wells and Chatham Town.

He signed for Dover in January 2008 from Chatham and became a firm favourite with Whites` supporters, helping the club to promotion.

He finally left Crabble at the end of last season and signed for Conference South new boys Dartford.

However, a move to Ryman League Division One North outfit Maldon & Tiptree followed before he returned to Kent with Ryman Division One South side Sittingbourne early last month.

Whitehouse, Welling`s third custodian in seven days and fifth of the season, made his debut in the 2-1 win over Maidenhead on Saturday.

“John is a number one goalkeeper in his own right,” explained Burman. “Unfortunately he didn’t remove Youngie (Andrew Young) from that position and came in just to help us out first of all, but we kept him on longer, which I’m grateful for.

“An opportunity came up for him to go to Welling and I couldn’t stand in his way. He’s not a number two, he’s a number one and I can’t understand why it’s not happened a long time ago. It’s happened now and John’s gone to Welling.”

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Dorchester Town v Dartford

Blue Square Bet South

Tuesday 22nd February 2011

Kick Off 7:45pm

At The Avenue Stadium, Weymouth Avenue, Dorchester, Dorset DT1 2RY