After relegation from the Conference
Premier last season, fans of Ebbsfleet United wouldn't have been
expecting to play Dartford this soon, but the FA Cup has paired them
together at the fourth qualifying stage. The winners could
potentially face the likes of Wolverhampton Wanderers or Portsmouth
in the first round proper. The
Darts hold bragging rights at the moment, but can the Fleet grab them
back in one of the most eagerly anticipated derby for years?
Let's take a look at the sides...
Dartford FC
Founded – 1888
Nickname – The
Darts
League – Conference
Premier (known also as the Skrill Premier)
Ground – Princes
Park
Manager – Tony
Burman
Captain – Elliot
Bradbrook
Last season's finish - 8th
Current position - 18th
- Founded in 1888, Dartford were only playing friendly matches at the time and begun entering Cup competitions later.
- Reached the Kent Senior Cup final (losing to Royal Ordnance Factory) in the 1893/94 season and became founder members of the Kent League the following season.
- Entered the FA Cup for the first time in 1895/96.
- Became founder members of the Southern League Division Two in 1896/97 and won the title at the first attempt. Would then yo-yo between the Kent and Southern Leagues for the next few seasons.
- Became recognised nationally between 1935 and 1937 for becoming the first club outside of the Football-League to reach the FA Cup third round proper in two seasons in a row.
- Spent numerous years in the Southern League Premier after the league was reorganised in the 1950s.
- 1973/74 was a successful season for the Darts as they won the Southern League Premier and reached the FA Trophy final at Wembley, although they just missed out as they lost 2-1 to Morecambe.
- Former Tottenham and England player Peter Taylor was appointed manager in 1986, and he was very successful. In his four seasons with the Club, the Darts never finished outside of the top four in the Southern League Premier Division. Incredibly, in each of the four seasons Dartford scored over 100 goals – a record that still stands.
- Financial difficulty lead to the Darts dropping out of the Southern League in 1992/93 after just four games. The rejoined the Kent League the following season.
- Played away from Dartford for a while at Erith and Belvedere, Purfleet and, of course, Gravesend and Northfleet.
- Played the first game at Princes Park in November 2006 against Horsham YMCA. The Darts won 4-2 in front of 4,097 spectators.
- Dartford finally completed their rise back to the top of Non-League football when they beat Welling United (1-0) in the Conference South play-off final at Princes Park in front of 4,088 people. Their first season in the Conference Premier was a very successful one as they finished in eight position beating the likes of Mansfield Town, Grimsby Town and Luton Town (twice!) along the way. They made the FA Trophy semi finals in the same season, although they lost 3-0 on aggregate to Grimsby.
- Current manager Tony Burman, in his second spell as boss, has been in charge since 2005.
The Squad
Goalkeepers – Alan
Julian, Deren Ibrahim, Tommy Forecast (on loan from Chelmsford)
Defenders – Tyrone
Sterling, Matt Fry, Jay Porter, Lee Burns, Kenny Clark, Mat
Mitchell-King
Midfielders – Elliot
Bradbrook ©, Max Cornhill, Ryan Hayes, Lee Noble, Mohammed Eisa,
Ronnie Vint, George Monger
Attackers – Jason
Prior, Danny Harris, Uche Ibemere, Nathan Collier, Adam Birchall (on
loan from Gillingham), Matt Godden (on loan from Scunthorpe)
The Fleet will be
familiar with some of the Darts squad. Of course, Matt Godden will be
known to all Fleet fans for his natural instincts in front of goal
during his short term loan deal at Stonebridge Road last season.
Still out of favour at Scunthorpe, the youngster opted to join
Dartford on loan recently and has already scored four goals,
including a superb hat-trick against Hyde.
Lee Burns, Ryan
Hayes, Lee Noble, Danny Harris and Elliot Bradbrook have all been
involved in North Kent derbies before, the latter has been on the
score sheet a couple of times before.
Adam Birchall's
best chance to prove himself in the Football-League has been hampered
by injuries since he joined Gillingham from Dover – where he scored
against the Fleet in a Blue Square Bet South match.
Finally, Mat
Mitchell-King will be briefly known to Fleet fans as he played a part
in pre-season this year – he even featured against the Darts! He
opted to join the Darts after trialling with both sides – Steve
Brown will be hopeful his Fleet side can make King realise he joined
the wrong side!
The Form Guide
After the high of
last season, the Darts fans will be disappointed with the start they
made to the season. They've suffered eight losses so far this
campaign and sit a lowly 18th, although they are currently
on a three match unbeaten run. You'd be a fool to read too much into
previous form of the two sides. It's a one-off Cup match and a derby
match; anything can happen.
Last five matches
Dartford 4-3 Hyde
– 19.10.13
Hereford United
2-2 Dartford – 12.10.13
Dartford 1-1
Salisbury City – 08.10.13
Gateshead 2-0
Dartford – 05.10.13
Dartford 1-0
Southport – 28.09.13
The Darts have
also been in County Cup action during this period as a young side
beat Charlton's Development Squad 1-0 at Princes Park.
WDDLW – eight points from a
possible fifteen
Scored – 8
Conceded – 8
0
Last time out
Dartford 4-3 Hyde.
Dartford came out
4-3 winners at Princes Park after they let slip a two-goal lead
against bottom side Hyde.
The visitors came
into this match having not won in fifteen matches this season and
fell two behind after 15 minutes with both goals coming from the
on-loan Matt Godden. The Darts looked to be heading for a comfortable
win, but the Tigers fought back brilliantly and went into the
half-time break on level terms courtesy of goals from Scott Spencer.
Louis Almond
looked to have given the visitors a surprise three points when he
scored ten minutes into the second half, but it wasn't to be.
Youngster George
Monger, on as a sub, brilliantly curled an effort in from the edge of
the area on 83 minutes and then man of the moment Godden volleyed
home with just three minutes on the clock.
The victory moved
Dartford up to 18th, level on points with pre-season title
favourites Forest Green and just one point behind beaten play-off
finalists Wrexham.
Attendance: 1,083.
Key players
Elliot Bradbrook.
The Darts captain is extremely vital to the side and was sorely
missed last Saturday as they just scraped past Hyde. As touched on
before, the influential midfielder has experience in this derby and
has scored two goals in four matches. He scored the Darts only goal
as they lost 2-1 at Stonebridge Road in 2010 and scored the third
goal from 25 yards in the 3-1 victory at Princes Park last season.
Alan Julian will
need to be on form to keep out a Fleet attack confident of winning
this tie, and Mat Mitchell-King will be wanting to perform well
against a side he could well have signed for just a few months ago.
Team news
Striker Matt Godden has been refused permission to play by Scunthorpe. Adam Birchall will definitely be missing from the Darts squad. Full
back Tryone Sterling looks set to miss the game, while Jason Prior
(ankle) and Kenny Clark (hamstring) are doubts. Captain Elliot
Bradbrook returns from suspension. Goalkeeper Tommy Forecast will be
in contention after signing on an emergency loan deal from Chelmsford
City.
Previous FA Cup campaigns
As mentioned, the
Darts were the first side outside of the Football-League to reach two
FA Cup third rounds on the trot. In the 1935/36 season they beat
Cardiff City (3-0) and Gainsborough Trinity (4-0) before losing to
Derby County (2-3) in round three, and the following season they beat
Peterborough United (3-0) and Shildon (3-0) before losing 0-1 to
Darlington.
Since then they
have reached the second round on five occasions (Reading, Bristol
City, Port Vale, Kettering and AFC Bournemouth the opponents) but no
further. They have reached the first round numerous times, the most
recent being in 2010/11 – a 0-4 replay loss to Port Vale after
holding them in the original tie.
Last five campaigns
2012/13 – Dartford
fell at the first hurdle as they lost out in a replay to Forest Green
Rovers.
4th qualifying round
Forest Green 1-1
Dartford
Dartford 1-4
Forest Green
2011/12 – The
Darts won two games before losing out to Bromley in the 4th
qualifying round.
2nd qualifying round
Dartford 5-0
Harrow Borough
3rd qualifying round
Cray Wanderers 1-2
Dartford
4th qualifying round
Dartford 1-2
Bromley
2010/11 – Dartford's
most recent cup run ended with a big loss away at League Two Port
Vale.
2nd qualifying round
Dartford 2-1
Lowestoft Town
3rd qualifying round
Canvey Island 2-2
Dartford
Dartford 3-3
Canvey Island – Dartford won 9-8 on penalties
4th qualifying round
Leiston 0-0
Dartford
Dartford 3-2
Leiston
1st round proper
Dartford 1-1 Port
Vale
Port Vale 4-0
Dartford
2009/10 - A couple of decent wins came to a halt at Conference South side Chelmsford.
1st qualifying round
Chipstead 1-6
Dartford
2nd qualifying round
Worthing 1-2
Dartford
3rd qualifying round
Dartford 1-4
Chelmsford City
2008/09 - A disappointing campaign for the Darts as they slumped at home in the 2nd qualifying round.
1st qualifying round
Dartford 3-2
Hastings United
2nd qualifying round
Dartford 0-1
Hampton and Richmond Borough
Ebbsfleet United
The
Squad
Goalkeepers
–Preston Edwards, Brandon Hall
Defenders
– Joe Howe, Aiden Palmer, Osei
Sankofa, Paul Lorraine ©, Shane Huke
Midfielders
– Anthony Cook, Dominic Green, Chris
Sessegnon, Dean Rance, Michael Corcoran, Daryl McMahon, Tom Phipp,
Stacy Long
Attackers
– Ben May, Billy Bricknell, Alex
Osborn (on loan from Dagenham), Michael Thalassitis (on loan from
Stevenage), Andy Pugh (on loan from Cambridge)
The
Form Guide
Tuesday
night's disappointing loss away at Bishop's Stortford put an end to
the Fleet's seven match unbeaten run in all competitions. The Fleet
have won their last four home matches scoring eight goals in the
process, and conceding two. The boys in red have played two FA Cup
ties at Stonebridge Road this season, beating Folkestone (1-0) and
Eastbourne Borough (2-0).
Last
five matches
Bishop's
Stortford 3-2 Ebbsfleet United – 22.10.13
Ebbsfleet
United 2-1 Gosport Borough – 19.10.13
Ebbsfleet United 2-0
Eastbourne Borough – FA Cup – 12.10.13
Ebbsfleet United 3-1
Eastleigh – 08.10.13
Weston Super-Mare
0-6 Ebbsfleet United – 05.10.13
LWWWW
Goals
– 15
Conceded
– 5
+10
Last
time out
Bishop's Stortford
3-2 Ebbsfleet United.
It was hardly ideal
preparation for the Fleet as they slumped to a disappointing loss at
Woodside Park on Tuesday evening.
Cliff Akurang put
the hosts one up just before the ten minute mark with a superb swivel
and shot from outside the area, and the veteran striker added a
second soon after before going off with a hamstring strain.
Youngster Kyle
Vassell gave the hosts a three goal advantage shortly after the break
as he turned in George Sykes' pass.
The Fleet looked to
be heading for a big loss until the last couple of minutes of the
match when two brilliant goals from Shane Huke and Anthony Cook made
the score at least a little bit respectable!
The win pushed
Stortford up to second in the Skrill South, while the Fleet dropped
to seventh.
Attendance: 511
Key
players
The Fleet will look
to Anthony Cook to break down the Darts defence and create
opportunities for himself and the rest of the Fleet attack. The
winger has been in good form for the Fleet this season, and certainly
knows where the goal is. It would be easy to underestimate a side
lacking in attacking options, but captain Paul Lorraine will need to
be on the top of his game if the Fleet are to progress. The central
defender has experience of this derby and knows what it means to the
fans, he'll be doing all he can to make sure the Fleet get through.
Team
news
The Fleet will be
without on loan striker Andy Pugh, who has been refused permission to
play by his parent Club Cambridge United. Joe Howe (groin) looks set
to miss out after going off injured against Bishop's Stortford but
Alex Osborn (leg) is likely to return to the side.
Previous
FA Cup campaigns
The Fleet's most
memorable FA Cup campaign came way back in the season of 1962/63 when
they progressed all the way to the fourth round and a tie with second
division side Sunderland; the Fleet even took them to a replay! It
started in early September and ended some five months later on 18
February.
In eight rounds, the
Fleet were the home side for seven on them. The one away game came
away at Carlisle in round three where the Fleet won 1-0. The six
rounds previous to Carlisle, the Fleet overcome Chatham Town (2-1),
Sutton United (2-1), Erith and Belvedere (5-0), Lewes (1-0), Exeter
City (3-2) and Wycombe Wanderers (3-1) all at their Stonebridge Road
home.
So the fourth round
had arrived and the Fleet were paired with Sunderland. The Fleet
managed a 1-1 draw at Stonebridge Road in front of 12,032 fans –
the Fleet's record attendance. One fan recalls the pitch being very
muddy and standing at the Swanscombe End terrace he saw Brian Skingly
slide in the mud and force home the equaliser. The atmosphere was
electric.
A resilient
performance away in the replay wasn't enough for the Fleet as they
lost 5-2 to their much higher opponents, but it was a run they can be
proud of.
Another memorable
campaign came in the 1995/96 season when the Fleet made it all the
way to round three and a match against Premier League Aston Villa!
The Fleet ploughed
through the earlier rounds beating Godalming & Guildford 7-0 and
Molesey 6-0. The third qualifying round produced a closer game in
which the Fleet ran out 2-1 winners against Carshalton Athletic and
the Fleet needed two replays against Marlow to make it into round
one! They beat them 4-0 at the third attempt.
Round One saw the
Fleet beat Colchester United and Cinderford Town, 3-0 after a replay,
in round two.
The Fleet were drawn
at home to Aston Villa, although their Stonebridge Road home wasn't
big enough so the game was switched to Villa Park. 7,000 Fleet fans
had travelled to the game to see the Fleet give a good account of
themselves, although it wasn't to be as the Premier League side came
through comfortably 3-0.
Since then the Fleet
have made it to the first round five times, losing out to Notts
County (2000), Huddersfield Town (2001), Crewe Alexandra (2008), AFC
Wimbledon (2010) and Carlisle United (2012).
The Fleet also made
it to round two in the 2003/04 season, losing to Notts County at
Stonebridge Road.
Last
five campaigns
2012/13
– The Fleet made the long
trek to Cumbria fifty years after 'that' Cup run, but lost out to
Carlisle United of League One.
4th
qualifying round
Woking 0-1 Ebbsfleet
United
1st
round
Carlisle United 4-2
Ebbsfleet United
2011/12
– It was disaster for the
Fleet as they lost out to lowly Redbridge at the first hurdle.
4th
qualifying round
Redbridge 2-0
Ebbsfleet United
2010/11
– From disaster to
heartbreak. The Fleet went on a run until they were stopped by
Conference Premier side AFC Wimbledon. The Fleet lead the replay 2-1
until the 94th
minute of the match when Sammy Moore struck to send the tie to
extra-time. It looked to be heading for penalties until that man
again struck in the 121st
minute to send the Wombles through to a home tie with Stevenage,
leaving the Fleet devastated.
2nd
qualifying round
Cray Wanderers 2-2
Ebbsfleet United
Ebbsfleet United 4-2
Cray Wanderers
3rd
qualifying round
Needham Market 0-1
Ebbsfleet United
4th
qualifying round
Ebbsfleet United 3-0
Boreham Wood
1st
round proper
AFC Wimbledon 1-1
Ebbsfleet United
Ebbsfleet United 2-3
AFC Wimbledon (AET)
2009/10
– Another disaster for the
Fleet as they were hammered by lower opposition.
4th
qualifying round
Bromley 3-0
Ebbsfleet United
2008/09
– After beating Woking, the
Fleet were handed a tie against Crewe Alexandra. Despite performing
well against their higher opponents, the Fleet couldn't find the net.
4th
qualifying round
Woking 2-2 Ebbsfleet
United
Ebbsfleet United 1-0
Woking
1st
round proper
Crewe Alexandra 1-0
Ebbsfleet United
Fleet
v Darts
Over
the years
The two sides have
met over 100 times competitively and you'll have to travel back to
September 1946 for the first meeting; a 4-0 Fleet victory in round
one of the Kent Senior Shield.
The Fleet's highest
victory against the Darts came way back in December 1946; a 5-0
Southern League Cup victory, however the Darts have trumped that.
They hammered the Fleet 6-0 the following year in the Southern
League.
The sides would meet
(in the League) almost every year until the Darts dropped down to the
Kent League in the 90s. The derby was reignited in 2010 when the
Darts were promoted to the Conference South.
Fleet
wins: 49
Darts
wins: 50
Draws:
22
In
the FA Cup
The two Clubs have
met ten times in the country's most famous Club competition. The
Darts have the highest win (4-0) but the Fleet have the most wins
(5). The Darts have won three times and two matches have ended in a
draw with the Fleet going on to win both replays.
Last
five meetings
Ebbsfleet United 2-2
Dartford – Blue Square Bet Premier – 01.01.13
Dartford 3-1
Ebbsfleet United – Blue Square Bet Premier – 26.12.12
Ebbsfleet United 2-1
Dartford – Blue Square Bet South – 28.12.10
Dartford 1-1
Ebbsfleet United – Blue Square Bet – South – 28.08.10
Ebbsfleet United 4-1
Dartford – Kent Senior Cup – 29.01.08
Last
time out
Ebbsfleet United 2-2
Dartford.
Nathan Elder's
stoppage time goal was enough to rescue a point for the Fleet against
their North Kent rivals.
Jon Wallis and Harry
Crawford had put the Darts ahead but Elder's double prevented them
from doing the double over the Fleet.
Attendance: 2,242
Who's
your money with?
Despite the
difference in Leagues, the Fleet are slight favourites with Ladbrokes
at 29/20 with the Darts at 33/20. A draw for this match sees odds
of 9/4. If you fancy the Fleet to grab a sneaky 1-0 win then the odds
for that are 8/1 with a 1-0 away win 9/1.
The Fleet are also
slight favourites with Bet Victor at 31/20 while the Darts are
7/4. You can get odds of 12/5 on a draw. If you fancy it to be a 2-2
draw like the last time the sides met at Stonebridge Road then the
odds for that are 14/1. Both teams to score is 8/13.
 |
| The time for fun and games are over. Picture by BBC Radio Kent. |
If you're able to
make this game then admission prices are as follows:
Adults
- £10
Concessions
(students, OAPs) - £8
Under
16s - £5
Under
12s – FREE with a paying
adult
The turnstiles at
Stonebridge Road are open from 12:30pm and the bar will be showing
the early Premier League kick off.
Local pubs are open
during the morning sometime. The Closest to the ground are the Rose,
George & Dragon and the Edinburgh Castle amongst others.
If
you're unable to attend the match then follow @EUFCofficial,
@dartfordfc, @BBCKENTSPORT or @stevetervet for pre-match talk, live match updates
and post-match reaction.
Also, BBC Radio Kent will have live match commentary with lineups and pre-match talk on air from 2pm.
Enjoy the game.
COME ON YOU REDS!
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