Dartford continue their playoff push with a trip to Wingate and Finchley this weekend.
The Darts travel to North London knowing victory will keep them in touch of a top five spot. Adrian Pennock’s side will arrive at Summers Lane unbeaten in their last three and off the back of two 1-0 wins in a row.
Wingate and Finchley hope to pull away from the bottom four and move closer to safety. The Blues have a four point cushion, but have lost their last two home fixtures. Ahmet Rifat’s team also have a League Cup semi-final to look forward to on Tuesday night.
Darts Hit Singles
Dartford picked up seven points in the three Kent derby games leading up to this weekend. A goal in each game was enough to go unbeaten, even if that run took two late strikes. At Princes Park, Joe Tennent scored six minutes from time to rescue a draw against Cray Wanderers. Away at Welling United, loanee Rohan Vaughan netted his first for the club deep into stoppage time to earn the Darts a win.
The triumph at Park View Road meant Pennock named an unchanged side for the visit of in-form Ramsgate. Denzelle Olopade was the match winner, the midfielder scored from close range in the twentieth minute. The Rams were later reduced to ten men taking the tally of red cards in the two meetings this season to four.
Interview courtesy of Dartford FC TV
Playoff Picture
Dartford remain three points shy of the playoffs as they try to chase down Billericay Town and Chatham Town. The Blues and the Chats have a superior goal difference, so it is unlikely Dartford will move above the dotted line this weekend. However, the Darts still need to be aware of those behind them. Only two points further back are Cray Wanderers and Burgess Hill Town.
The Darts only have two more fixtures against those in the current top half. After this weekend’s game and the rearranged fixture at Cheshunt on Tuesday night, Pennock’s side go to league leaders Folkestone Invicta for a third away day in a row. So this next week will be an opportunity to improve results on the road and build on the away win at Welling United.
The Blues Give Darts the Blues
Dartford fell to their first home league defeat of the season in the reverse fixture with Wingate and Finchley. It was the second year in a row in which the Blues came to Princes Park and won.
Wingate and Finchley came from behind with an injury time winner. The deadlock was broken when Jacob Bland tapped home his first goal for the Darts. The midfielder anticipated Eddie Dsane’s scuffed shot to put the Darts ahead. The visitors levelled when Loic Hernandez slotted the ball through Jonny Henly’s legs. Four minutes into added on time Romeo Akinola’s curling shot completed the turnaround.
Darts Hold Out
Dartford battled through adversity the last time they visited Summers Lane in January 2025. The Darts started quickly with an early goal via George Whitefield’s header. Sam Okoye won a penalty ten minutes before the break, which Samir Carruthers rolled in. On the stroke of half time Camilo Restrepo halved the deficit. The afternoon was cut short for the injured Whitefield and Carruthers. Then with half an hour to go Okoye was sent off for a second yellow card. However, Dartford showed their resolve to hold on.
Wingate Target Safety and Cup
It seemed a while ago now that Wingate and Finchley had turned around a slow start. After waiting until their seventh game for a win, the Blues went unbeaten for nine. Since then they have won two of their last seventeen league games. Fortunately the teams they beat were fellow relegation battlers Canvey Island and Potters Bar Town. Those ‘six pointers’ came only last month.
However, they are not out of the woods just yet after a pair of 2-1 home defeats to Burgess Hill Town on the weekend, then against Brentwood Town on Tuesday night. Featuring in the side was on loan Dartford defender Ben Frempah, who has made 11 appearances for the Darts.
Rifat’s team will want to extend their stay in the Isthmian Premier to a sixteenth year. After Saturday’s match they have a great chance to pull away from the relegation zone as they face Cray Valley Paper Mills, Carshalton Athletic and then Welling United, the three sides occupying eighteenth to twentieth in the table.
The Blues also have the opportunity to reach the League Cup final where Ramsgate await. Wingate and Finchley take on Isthmian North side Redbridge on Tuesday night.
Assistant Manager’s View
Although Tuesday night’s win over Ramsgate wasn’t the most entertaining, Roland Edge was delighted with his side getting maximum points, he told Dartford FC TV: “I think it was a fantastic victory, really hard fought, very similar to the weekend. Was it the prettiest game in the world? Not really, but I think as a team we did what we had to do to get the victory”.
With the Rams in close proximity to the Darts in the league, Edge expressed how vital the win was, he added: “Ramsgate are a very good side… I think their team has got bigger, stronger, better and its got belief. We knew when they came here the importance of the game, so that makes our victory even better”. The assistant manager was also happy how his players ‘stuck to their task’ when Ramsgate were reduced to ten men and felt “it was only fair that we saw the game out”.
Edge’s experiences of facing Saturday’s opponents Wingate and Finchley has never been easy and he doesn’t expect that to change this weekend, he commented: “It’s never an easy place to go in all the time I’ve been in this league, which is about 33 years. Wherever Wingate are in the league it’s still a really, really tough place to go”, he continued: “Their manager gets them fired up, they’ll be fighting for survival. We know what we’re going to get from Wingate and we’ve just got to carry on the mentality that we showed in the last few games”.
Interview courtesy of Dartford FC TV
Team News
George Whitefield returned to the squad in midweek. Jacob Bland (broken nose) has been unavailable since defeat at Potters Bar Town and Samir Carruthers is out for the rest of the season with a knee injury.
Current League Form
| Dartford (LWLDWW) | Wingate & Finchley (LWLWLL) | ||||
| Ramsgate | H | 1-0 | Burgess Hill Town | H | 1-2 |
| Welling United | A | 1-0 | Brentwood Town | H | 1-2 |
| Cray Wanderers | H | 1-1 | Canvey Island | H | 2-0 |
| Potters Bar Town | A | 0-1 | Burgess Hill Town | A | 2-3 |
| Brentwood Town | H | 3-2 | Potters Bar Town | H | 2-1 |
| Burgess Hill Town | A | 1-2 | Cheshunt | H | 2-3 |
Head to Head
Dartford wins: 4 / Wingate and Finchley wins: 4 / Draws: 2
Previous Meetings
Dartford 1 – 2 Wingate and Finchley (08/11/2025 – Isthmian Premier)
Wingate and Finchley 1 – 2 Dartford (18/01/2025 – Isthmian Premier)
Dartford 2 – 3 Wingate and Finchley (19/10/2024 – Isthmian Premier)
Dartford 1 – 0 Wingate and Finchley (26/04/2008 – Isthmian Division One North)
Wingate and Finchley 0 – 2 Dartford (03/11/2007 – Isthmian Division One North)
Wingate and Finchley 3 – 2 Dartford (18/03/2006 – Southern League Div 1 East)
Statistics
- Dartford have won the last two away trips to Wingate and Finchley
- The Darts have never failed to score against the Blues (18 goals in ten games)
- On Tuesday night the Darts kept their first back to back clean sheets since March last year, when the Darts went three games without conceding.
- Dartford are also on a streak of consecutive 1-0 wins in the league, the first time since April 2018 when Dartford recorded three in a row in the National South
On This Day
Dartford moved one step closer to the Southern League Cup final on this day in 1989. A 3-0 win at Watling Street against Atherstone United gave the Darts a commanding first leg lead. Under Peter Taylor, Dartford won the second leg 3-1, then went on to beat Burton Albion in the final.
Liam Nash and Darren McQueen helped Dartford to their only win in their last eight on this day, a 2-1 away victory over St Albans City in the National South. In those eight outings the Darts have drawn five, most recently 1-1 versus Hungerford Town three years ago.
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