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The Stones are still searching
for their first win of 2009 after a rare mistake from
Andy Walker gave Dartford their second win of the season
over Maidstone.
Despite losing Ben Lewis with a back injury in the
first half, The Stones defence had managed to keep Cody
McDonald quiet but it was McDonald's strike partner,
Rob Haworth, who was to prove the match winner when
on 63 minutes he chased a long ball forwards. Walker
came to the edge of the area and gained possession but
unfortunately his clearance fell straight to Haworth
and although the Maidstone keeper managed to divert
the ball away from goal, Haworth was not to be denied
and he lashed an excellent finish into the net from
a tight angle.
The goal came at the end of a sustained spell of Dartford
pressure and the home side had enjoyed a greater share
of possession in the first half too. Ryan Hayes was
a constant thorn in the Maidstone side and on five minutes,
he curled a deep free-kick into the box and McDonald
saw his header held by Walker.
Then two minutes later, Hayes ghosted past Ashley Ulph
and drove a dangerous ball across the face of goal but
no Dartford player could get the vital touch to divert
the ball into the box.
And it was not until the 31st minute that Andrew Young
was called into action when Meshach Nugent showed great
skill to create room on the edge of the box and his
shot on the turn was touched wide by The Darts keeper.
As the game moved towards the break, the home side
then had two good chances to take the lead. On 41 minutes,
a cross from Hayes was met by John Guest and from a
good position he headed wide before another ball into
the box from Hayes was punched by Walker to the edge
of the area but Jamie Day's shot through a crowd of
players was saved by the diving Maidstone keeper.
After the interval, Dartford looked to push forwards
at every opportunity and on 52 minutes, the Dartford
fans were aggrieved not to see their side awarded a
penalty when they thought that Nathan Paul had handled
an attempted cross from Adam Gross.
Three minutes later, a corner from Hayes picked out
McDonald at the far post and the Dartford striker failed
to hit the target with his header but the home side
then took the lead just past the hour when Haworth slammed
the ball into an unguarded net following Walker’s
error.
For most of the second half, The Stones had failed
to create a single goalscoring chance but on 75 minutes
they were desperately unlucky not to equalise when excellent
play from Elliot Bradbrook ended with the Maidstone
player crashing the ball off the underside of the bar
for the second game in succession.
Five minutes later, Dartford came close to scoring
again when Day's corner fell to Jamie Coyle and his
shot was blocked on the line before a free-kick from
substitute Lee Noble only just missed the goal.
Then on 87 minutes, James Peacock found Bradbrook who
whipped in a cross but substitute Craig Thompson headed
over and the defeat means that Maidstone have now only
picked up just one point from their last four matches.
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