Mike Jones reports
Oh dear . Rod Stringer was not a happy man as the ref blew the whistle on this derby match between league leaders Dartford and the not so far behind Aveley.
A good crowd at this match as well. Dartford are well supported and they swelled the gate to almost 550.
He had just witnessed his side lose to ten men and to be honest the scoreline could have been heavier. The first half was fairly even with Dartford’s Elliot Bradbrook scoring what can only be described as a soft goal after 17 minutes.
Aveley responded well with good work by the wingers and this display bought rewards on 34 minutes with Ryan Edgar netting after intense pressure.
Then the handbags. Dartford captain Adam Flanagan threw a punch and the ref temporarily lost control; as there were minor scuffles all over the place. The Dartford Captain then had to threw his armband to a teammate as he was the player that walked.
Dartford mustt have eaten better oranges because three minutes from the half time kick off a great header from Jamie Coyle put Dartford 2-1 up. His joy was shortlived though as he got an early ride back to Dartford via the hospital with a serious ankle injury.
Elliot Bradbrook netted his second and Dartford’s third after an hour and Aveley’s misery was finalised in the seventh minute of added time when another goal flew in.
Rod kept his team out on the pitch for a good twenty minutes and it wasn’t pleasant. This is a young team and they cannot make catastrophic defensive errors and stay at the top end of the table.
Former Grays Athletics Adam Gross played very well for Dartford and he was watched by another Grays man Jamie Day from the stand
Rod Stringer and Aveley have had a great run recently and in his words “the party is over”. Hard work to be done then and Canvey are next.
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