Created 7-Nov-24
82 photos
5 November 2024. Potters Bar Town 1 (Brandon Adams, 70'), Dartford 1 (Samir Carruters 62' P) played at Kings Langley ground.
Samir Carruthers scored from the penalty spot, as Dartford earned another valuable point against Potters Bar Town on a cold and foggy night in King’s Langley. The Darts dominated for a majority of the first forty-five, but couldn’t take advantage of the opportunities they created at The Orbital Fasteners Stadium. Duane Ofori-Acheampong failed to take advantage of Callum Jones’ good work in the 3rd minute, before the former then saw his shot blocked by a Scholar defender (28) after a relatively even period of the half. The hosts, meanwhile, came close via Brandon Adams who fired wide of Jacob Marsden’s upright in the 13th and 21st minute. Josh Hill sent a fierce strike narrowly wide of Laurie Shala’s far post (34), before the Potters Bar shot-stopper pulled off an excellent save to prevent the lively Callum Jones from firing the visitors ahead three minutes before the break.
The opening exchanges of the second-half saw a more even encounter, that was until the 57th minute… when Duane Ofori-Acheampong made an unnecessary late challenge on a Scholar defender. His reward was a second yellow card and, with it, his marching orders to leave his teammates a man down. But the Darts continued with their game plan and when Callum Jones was brought down inside the box, they were awarded with a penalty. Samir Carruthers duly stepped up to smash in his second goal in a week to give his side a deserved lead (61). However, the hosts weren’t going to accept defeat. And, when David Hicks’ long diagonal ball released Prosper Keto along the left-flank, there was only going to be one outcome… a dangerous cross into the Dartford box, which Brandon Adams reached first to level the score (71). From that point on, the hosts dominated a lot of the play, as they searched to make their additional man count. Ady Pennock responded by swapping Samir Carruthers with Tyler Christian-Law in the 73rd minute, before George Whitefield came on for the injured Samuel Okoye shortly afterwards. Despite their late dominance, the hosts couldn’t test Jacob Marsden seriously enough, as the Dartford defence dug in to secure the point. In fact, the visitors could have stolen all three points late on when Denzelle Olopade saw his strike well saved by Laurie Shala (82), before Tyler Christian-Law’s effort from a tight angle was also saved by the Scholars’ goalkeeper (89). Despite the draw being a good result on the road, overall this was another frustrating night for Ady Pennock and his team. This was made more so by the performance of referee, Mr F. Roque, who handed out yellow cards to Dartford players as he pleased… Aside from Duane Ofori-Acheampong’s red, the official booked Sam Okoye, Josh Hill, Callum Jones, and George Whitefield. The last three of which were extremely harsh indeed.
Ady Pennock summed it up after the match "A point on the road against an in-form team told only half the story of a game Dartford dominated but saw a host of decisions go against them. A disallowed goal for an adjudged foul and a red card that left the team playing with 10 men for almost 45 minutes, took the shine off a performance that should have seen all three points taken. But after the players were clapped off the pitch by supporters for a determined second half, Ady paid them a special mention. He said: “The supporters got behind the team as they came off, it wasn’t just one or two, it was nearly all of them clapping. They could see we had been the better side and that the players had put in a really good shift, so I wanted to say thank-you. It was really pleasing to see and meant a lot to us. I had a lot of positive comments as we came off and I think ultimately, everyone is equally as frustrated as we are. We should have been a few up at half-time but they just wouldn’t go in. Then we had a goal disallowed for a foul that I’ve now seen back and I can’t see what it was given for. There was also a handball that wasn’t given."
POTTERS BAR TOWN: Laurie Shala, Isaac Currie, Prosper Keto, Joe Re, Ricky Hayles, Ronnie Henry (c), Harry Brant, Nana Kyei, Brandon Adams, Steve Cawley, David Hicks.
SUBSTITUTES: Chaynie Burgin, Ben Ward-Cochrane, Jamie Dicks, Ola Williams, Ryan Hervel.
DARTFORD: Jacob Marsden, Sam Odaudu, Luther Williams, Josh Hill (c), Michael Olarewaju, Samuel Okoye, Denzelle Olopade, Jeremiah Pinder, Samir Carruthers, Callum Jones, Duane Ofori-Acheampong.
SUBSTITUTES: George Whitefield, Olly Box, Tyler Christian-Law, Eddie Dsane, Josh Atkinson.
Referee: F. Roque
Samir Carruthers scored from the penalty spot, as Dartford earned another valuable point against Potters Bar Town on a cold and foggy night in King’s Langley. The Darts dominated for a majority of the first forty-five, but couldn’t take advantage of the opportunities they created at The Orbital Fasteners Stadium. Duane Ofori-Acheampong failed to take advantage of Callum Jones’ good work in the 3rd minute, before the former then saw his shot blocked by a Scholar defender (28) after a relatively even period of the half. The hosts, meanwhile, came close via Brandon Adams who fired wide of Jacob Marsden’s upright in the 13th and 21st minute. Josh Hill sent a fierce strike narrowly wide of Laurie Shala’s far post (34), before the Potters Bar shot-stopper pulled off an excellent save to prevent the lively Callum Jones from firing the visitors ahead three minutes before the break.
The opening exchanges of the second-half saw a more even encounter, that was until the 57th minute… when Duane Ofori-Acheampong made an unnecessary late challenge on a Scholar defender. His reward was a second yellow card and, with it, his marching orders to leave his teammates a man down. But the Darts continued with their game plan and when Callum Jones was brought down inside the box, they were awarded with a penalty. Samir Carruthers duly stepped up to smash in his second goal in a week to give his side a deserved lead (61). However, the hosts weren’t going to accept defeat. And, when David Hicks’ long diagonal ball released Prosper Keto along the left-flank, there was only going to be one outcome… a dangerous cross into the Dartford box, which Brandon Adams reached first to level the score (71). From that point on, the hosts dominated a lot of the play, as they searched to make their additional man count. Ady Pennock responded by swapping Samir Carruthers with Tyler Christian-Law in the 73rd minute, before George Whitefield came on for the injured Samuel Okoye shortly afterwards. Despite their late dominance, the hosts couldn’t test Jacob Marsden seriously enough, as the Dartford defence dug in to secure the point. In fact, the visitors could have stolen all three points late on when Denzelle Olopade saw his strike well saved by Laurie Shala (82), before Tyler Christian-Law’s effort from a tight angle was also saved by the Scholars’ goalkeeper (89). Despite the draw being a good result on the road, overall this was another frustrating night for Ady Pennock and his team. This was made more so by the performance of referee, Mr F. Roque, who handed out yellow cards to Dartford players as he pleased… Aside from Duane Ofori-Acheampong’s red, the official booked Sam Okoye, Josh Hill, Callum Jones, and George Whitefield. The last three of which were extremely harsh indeed.
Ady Pennock summed it up after the match "A point on the road against an in-form team told only half the story of a game Dartford dominated but saw a host of decisions go against them. A disallowed goal for an adjudged foul and a red card that left the team playing with 10 men for almost 45 minutes, took the shine off a performance that should have seen all three points taken. But after the players were clapped off the pitch by supporters for a determined second half, Ady paid them a special mention. He said: “The supporters got behind the team as they came off, it wasn’t just one or two, it was nearly all of them clapping. They could see we had been the better side and that the players had put in a really good shift, so I wanted to say thank-you. It was really pleasing to see and meant a lot to us. I had a lot of positive comments as we came off and I think ultimately, everyone is equally as frustrated as we are. We should have been a few up at half-time but they just wouldn’t go in. Then we had a goal disallowed for a foul that I’ve now seen back and I can’t see what it was given for. There was also a handball that wasn’t given."
POTTERS BAR TOWN: Laurie Shala, Isaac Currie, Prosper Keto, Joe Re, Ricky Hayles, Ronnie Henry (c), Harry Brant, Nana Kyei, Brandon Adams, Steve Cawley, David Hicks.
SUBSTITUTES: Chaynie Burgin, Ben Ward-Cochrane, Jamie Dicks, Ola Williams, Ryan Hervel.
DARTFORD: Jacob Marsden, Sam Odaudu, Luther Williams, Josh Hill (c), Michael Olarewaju, Samuel Okoye, Denzelle Olopade, Jeremiah Pinder, Samir Carruthers, Callum Jones, Duane Ofori-Acheampong.
SUBSTITUTES: George Whitefield, Olly Box, Tyler Christian-Law, Eddie Dsane, Josh Atkinson.
Referee: F. Roque
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