Dartford 3
(Chin 31′, Alexander 40′, Diarra 44′)
United 0
United tasted defeat in Kent on Saturday, as Dartford ran out clear winners at Princes Park.
All the damage was done in the first half, as goals from Richard Chin, George Alexander and Moussa Diarra secured a confident victory for the home side.
Manager Gary Johnson made two changes to the starting line-up that defeated Yeovil last time out, with Ross Marshall and Asa Hall replacing Shaun Donnellan and Ryan Hanson.
Both sides enjoyed temporary spells of dominance during the first half-hour.
The Darts were first to test the water with a couple of aerial threats, before The Gulls went close themselves in the 20th minute.
Callum Dolan, fresh from his Man of the Match performance last weekend, looked to carry on where he left off by driving into the penalty area, and although Dartford goalkeeper Ryan Sandford’s parry was enough to keep out the Fleetwood loanee’s firm strike, it needed the intervention of a retreating defender to prevent Brad Ash poking home the rebound from close range.
The resultant corner was no less threatening, with Dolan’s near-post delivery seeing Hall’s glancing header hacked away to relative safety, before the same player rifled a shot back towards goal – this time it took a point-blank defensive block to keep the ball out of the back of the net.
Having wrestled the initiative away from the hosts, Torquay looked set to capitalise again moments later.
A ball over the top from Hall was timed to perfection to meet with the run of Theo Williams in behind the defence, yet although Williams’ chip took the stranded ‘keeper out of the game, it was just a little too high, with the ball ending up on the top of the net.
On 31 minutes, Johnson’s men were made to pay for those misses.
With Luke Coulson and Sam Odaudu doubling up to provide a threat down the left flank, the ball was eventually worked across the face of the 18-yard box, with Chin twisting from his right to his left, before planting his shot high into the far corner of the net.
Reeling from the setback, one-nil quickly became two.
This time the move stemmed from the opposite flank, and after Alexander was afforded too much space inside the penalty to turn and shoot, his low drive across goal found its destination in the bottom corner, to double his side’s advantage.
Worse was to follow.
After winning a free kick just inside the Torquay half, Coulson’s deep delivery was met with a precise volley by Diarra, who was allowed too much space and time to send his effort into the net to make it three.
United desperately needed to score next to have some hope, and in injury time they created a golden opportunity to give them a foothold in the match.
A crossfield ball allowed the onrushing Dillon De Silva to venture into the Dartford box, and although his low ball to the back stick was clawed away from Ash, the ball landed kindly into the path of Williams by the fifteen yards from goal, however, the Fleetwood striker could only watch in dismay as his shot ballooned over the crossbar, to leave the three-goal deficit intact at the change of ends.
The introduction of Jack Stobbs and Lewis Collins at the interval looked to provide United with the impetus to put their opponents on the back-foot, but in truth it was Alan Dowson’s side who looked more likely to alter the scoreboard during a frustrating second half.
With The Gulls with little option but to commit to attack, Dartford exploited the opportunity by twice sending Alexander through to face Rhys Lovett in one-v-one situations, although Lovett did just about enough to save his side further punishment.
At the other end, Johnson’s men did their best to fashion a few half-chances, although they never threatened to play with the same authority displayed in their past two outings.
Brett McGavin sent one 20-yarder high over the bar, before Ash forced a decent save from Sandford on the counter, before United’s last opportunity of partial redemption fell to Dolan on 74 minutes, as he sent a low curler narrowly wide following determined play from Ash down the left.
The final whistle, when it came, was merely the formality of confirming three points for the home side, with The Gulls forced to lick their wounds before taking on Eastbourne on Tuesday.
DARTFORD: 22. Ryan Sandford, 2. Jordan Wynter, 3. Sam Odaudu (6. Baris Altintop, 85′), 5. Tyrell Miller-Rodney, 7. Luke Coulson (c), 12. Maxwell Statham, 18. George Alexander, 20. Joash Nembhard, 23. Harvey Bradbury (8. Luke Allen, 88′), 27. Richard Chin (17. Brandon Barzey, 80′), 28. Moussa Diarra.
SUBS NOT USED: 9. Alex Wall, 16. Archie Woods.
Yellow Cards: Miller-Rodney 24′, Nembhard 27′, Bradbury 33′, Alexander 64′
UNITED: 22. Rhys Lovett, 2. Dylan Crowe (10. Lewis Collins, HT), 6. Ross Marshall, 8. Asa Hall (c), 11. Brad Ash, 14. Brett McGavin, 17. Dillon De Silva (27. Jack Stobbs, HT), 19. Theo Williams (30. Ethon Archer, 74′) 20. Callum Dolan, 21. Dean Moxey, 23. Ollie Tomlinson.
SUBS NOT USED: 1. Mark Halstead, 26. Archie Harris.
Yellow Cards: Crowe 42′, Tomlinson 67′