Dartford hope to rekindle their early season form when they travel to Brentwood Town on Tuesday night.
The Darts fell to a third defeat in four in all competitions on the weekend and slipped to fourth in the table. Ben Greenhalgh’s team will travel to Essex aiming to complete a double over their opponents and collect maximum points.
Brentwood Town have renewed belief and will be hoping to climb out of the bottom four. Last time out, the Blues came close to causing a F.A Cup upset and reaching the first round for the first time in 56 years. Brett Munyard has reshaped the squad and improved results since taking over last month.
Darts Leafe With Nothing
On Saturday, Toby Aromolaran was too hot to handle for the Darts when they took on newly promoted AFC Whyteleafe. The striker, who had bagged a hat-trick in the previous game, added another two to his tally and condemned Dartford to defeat at Flamingo Park.
Defender, Emmanuel Oke returned to the backline with Sam Odaudu not involved. In midfield Scott Wagstaff and Brandon Davey were selected ahead of Jordan Higgs and Jez Pinder. After just four minutes, Dartford were forced to make an early change with Adrian Gyamera pulling up injured.
Aromolaran pounced at the far post to put AFC Whyteleafe ahead in the first half. The Darts were unable to find a breakthrough until just past the hour mark when Greenhalgh scored his sixth of the season. Parity lasted just four minutes with Aromolaran scoring the winner from the penalty spot. New dual registration signing, Matty MacArthur was introduced as a substitute for his first appearance since rejoining Dartford. The midfielder previously made two appearances on loan back in January 2024 scoring one goal.
Dartford Hold Out
The Darts won the reverse fixture against Brentwood Town earlier this season at Princes Park. The hosts were fast out of the blocks in both halves, but made it count in the first. Greenhalgh’s corner was met by the head of Dan Smith after just three minutes. Brentwood Town controlled possession for the majority of the game, but Dartford limited their opportunities. Although, Joe Tennent was called into action with a goal line clearance just before half time.
Highlights courtesy of Dartford FC TV
Samir Strikes
The corresponding fixture last season finished 1-1 in Essex. At the time, Dartford were looking for some form after a slow start in Adrian Pennock’s second full campaign in charge. Brentwood Town fresh from their league title, maintained momentum and led the Isthmian Premier. Samir Carruthers put the Darts in front with a free-kick, but Charlee Hughes equalised for the Blues to share the spoils.
Highlights courtesy of BrentwoodTownTV
Brentwood Suffer the Blues
A poor start to this season has seen changes at Brentwood Town. Former manager, Keith Rowland departed on 16 September after a loss at Stanway Rovers left the Essex club bottom of the table. The Blues early season form was surprising considering the momentum they had built over the previous two campaigns. Brentwood Town followed up their Isthmian North title with a playoff final appearance in the Isthmian Premier. The successful Rowland era had its disadvantages though. Over the summer key players like Daniel Ogunleye, Alejandro Machado and Kymani Thomas were signed by clubs in the National South.
Munyard Magic
Rowland’s rebuild didn’t go to plan, so in came Brett Munyard who led Aveley to a runners up spot last term, where they lost to Brentwood Town in the playoff semi final. The timing of the change caused some controversy as the two teams faced each other two days later in the F.A Cup, although Munyard didn’t take charge of that particular game.
The Blues have picked up six points from nine since the managerial appointment, both victories against newly promoted sides Maldon and Tiptree and AFC Whyteleafe. Their last league fixture ended in defeat at Chatham Town. Under Munyard, the Blues have progressed in the F.A Trophy beating Hashtag United on penalties and caused a F.A Cup upset with a 3-1 victory against Dagenham and Redbridge.
Two Nil Up and Out the Cup
Saturday was a step too far in the F.A Cup despite taking a two goal lead at National League side Eastleigh. Brentwood Town raced into an early lead through Bradley Sach and a Nick Townsend own goal. The Spitfires roared back with three unanswered goals from Nelson Khumbeni, Josh Lundstram and Aaron Blair.
Following the Leader
Form has improved under the new boss helped by an overhaul of players. Munyard went back to his former club to sign Aveley’s top scorer from last season, Ollie Peters. Following the striker from Parkside to the Brentwood Centre Arena, George Saunders, Jayden Robinson and Ryan Henshaw all made the same switch. Suleyman Zuhdu is also at Brentwood Town after working with Munyard before at previous clubs, Afie Cerulli has arrived from Billericay Town and Charlie Edwards has returned to the Blues from St Albans City.
Manager’s View
Ben Greenhalgh was disappointed with the amount of chances his side missed in the defat at AFC Whyteleafe, he told Dartford FC TV: “I don’t want to be too critical about not scoring the goals. We should have scored a lot of goals today (Saturday). I don’t think we showed quite enough quality or desire to put the ball in the back of the net, but we had numerous amounts of chances”.
The player manager felt the Darts lost the game due to two mistakes, one being game management after equalising. Rather than being “more compact”, Dartford were caught out on a counter attack, he commented: “We want to be positive, we want to be dominant. I believe we probably were dominant. However, you can’t go and concede a goal in the manner that we did”.
Greenhalgh is expecting a close game in midweek, he said: “Brentwood will be a bit of a different test, it will probably be pretty 50/50. They’re a team with extreme firepower. They’ve brought in a lot of players and they have a huge squad at the moment. They’ll obviously be a tough test for us”.
Interview courtesy of Dartford FC TV
Team News
Sam Odaudu has a groin issue which Greenhalgh is hoping will be okay before Tuesday night. Adrian Gyamera pulled up with a potential hamstring injury on the weekend. Joe Tennent was involved in the warm up after a lengthy injury and Ben Swift is recovering as well.
Current League Form
| DARTFORD (WWWLWL) | Brentwood Town (LLLWWL) | ||||
| AFC Whyteleafe | A | 1-2 | Chatham Town | A | 0-3 |
| Wingate & Finchley | H | 2-1 | AFC Whyteleafe | A | 2-1 |
| Ramsgate | H | 1-2 | Maldon & Tiptree | H | 5-1 |
| Whitehawk | H | 2-1 | Stanway Rovers | H | 2-3 |
| Enfield Town | A | 2-0 | Dulwich Hamlet | A | 1-2 |
| Carshalton Athletic | A | 3-0 | Carshalton Athletic | A | 0-2 |
Head to Head
Dartford wins: 5 / Brentwood Town wins: 2 / Draws: 3
Previous Meetings
Dartford 1 – 0 Brentwood Town (11/08/2026 – Isthmian Premier)
Dartford 3 – 2 Brentwood Town (31/01/2026– Isthmian Premier)
Brentwood Town 1 – 1 Dartford (11/10/2025– Isthmian Premier)
Brentwood Town 1 – 2 Dartford (25/11/2017 – F.A Trophy)
Dartford 0 – 1 Brentwood Town (29/03/2008 – Isthmian Division One North)
Brentwood Town 2 – 2 Dartford (05/02/2008 – Isthmian Division One North)
Statistics
- The Darts last won an away league game at Brentwood Town in 1968 and have drawn in their last two league visits (L1, D2)
- Dartford’s last five games in all competitions have ended 2-1 (W2, L3) equalling the previous record for consecutive 2-1 scorelines set in September 1965 (W1, L4)
- George Whitefield could make his 100th start for the Darts if selected (99 start, 12 sub, 111 total, 14 goals)
- Dartford are on 99 Isthmian Premier League wins in 180 matches (55% win ratio) – D38 L43.
On This Day
Bobby Tayler and Dennis Pacey scored against rivals Maidstone United to send Dartford into the F.A Cup first round on this day in 1962. A 2-1 victory knocked out the Stones, but the Darts fell at the next hurdle against Yeovil Town.
Three years later Dartford did go a step further in the F.A Cup. On this day they beat Tonbridge 6-2 in a fourth qualifying round replay. The Darts went on to beat Barnet before losing 1-0 at Port Vale.
In 2018, Greenhalgh was part of the Dartford team that beat Dulwich Hamlet 2-1 thanks to goals from Jamie Philpot and Charlie Sheringham.
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