It was a happy return to the Maurice Rebak Stadium on Tuesday night as we secured a 3-1 win over Bowers & Pitsea thanks to goals from Ryan Lowe, Ogo Obi and debutant Tyrece Briscoe. After taking the lead in the 4th minute, the Blues were pegged back in the first half and the visitors got a deserved equaliser. In the second half, our substitutes helped to change the game, as Andronicos Georgiou put the ball on a plate for Ogo Obi to give us the lead and then debutant Tyrece Briscoe netted a third at the back post late in the day. Saturday sees us on the road again to 11th placed Dartford, in what will be Ahmet Rifat's 100th game in charge of the Blues.
Our Opponents
Dartford were relegated from National League South last year to return to the Isthmian Premier League for the first time since 2009/10 when they won the league as champions. In the last 15 years, the Darts have spent time in both the National League South and National League. In 2012/13, Dartford finished 8th in the National League in a season that saw them do the double over Luton Town. In 2014/15, while our neighbours Barnet were crowned champions of the National League, the Darts were relegated back to the National League South. Since then, Dartford have been a permanent fixture at Step 2, albeit coming very close to a return to the National League, facing playoff heartbreak on a couple of occasions.
So far this season, Dartford have 13 points from nine games (W4 D1 L4) which puts them in 11th place of 22 in the Isthmian Premier League; three places but only one point below the Blues, who have also played nine games. Dartford started the season very strongly with four wins from their opening five games, including a particularly good 3-1 win over last season's second placed side Chatham Town back on August Bank Holiday. This result was the Darts' last league win, seeing three defeats and a draw since then.
Did you know? Princes Park, the club’s home ground, incorporates a range of environmental features, such as rainwater harvesting, effective insulation and solar panels. It uses efficient underfloor heating and low energy lighting. The bold design also includes a green roof and stands are partially buried into the ground to preserve the landscape. This helped the club to win a national climat change award back in 2019.
Head to Head
Our last match against Dartford, (as far we can tell!) came way back in 2007-08 in the Isthmian North Division, as we lost 1-0 on the final game of the season where Dartford were promoted back to the Isthmian Premier League. Included in the side that day were goalkeeper coach Gavin King between the sticks, Marc Weatherstone in defence and Dean Williams in attack.
Last Time Out
On Saturday, the Darts hosted another North London side in the form of Hendon, with the game ending in a goalless stalemate despite the Darts being down to ten men for most of the second half. For the Blues, we secured a 3-1 home win against Bowers & Pitsea to follow up our away win at Dover.
Players To Watch
The Darts' top scorer so far this season with five goals in all competitions is striker Eddie Dsane who joined Dartford from Kingstonian in the summer after netting 20 goals in a relegated Ks side last season.
Last week, Dartford moved to sign centre back Mike Olarewaju, who Blues fans may remember from his eventful spell in 2022/23. Since then, he has played at National League South level with the likes of Dover and Eastbourne Borough.
For the Blues, we welcomed Tyrece Briscoe to the club last week and he made his debut from the bench on Tuesday night, displaying electric pace and good awareness to make sure he was in the right place to finish for our third goal of the night. Meanwhile up front Ogo Obi's goal on Tuesday moved him into double figures for the season in all competitions already and he is proving to be a key part of Ahmet Rifat's side this season.
Photos courtesy of Martin Addison.
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