Dartford suffered their first Ryman League Premier Division defeat of the season with a 1-0 home reverse to AFC Hornchurch at Princes Park on Saturday.

The only goal of the game came two minutes before half-time when Billy Coyne picked the ball up on the right and his cross flew straight into the net.

The closest the home side came to making the breakthrough in the first 45 minutes was when Hornchurch defender Elliot Styles almost put through his own net, while trying to stop Jay May getting in, but the ball flew just over.

Hornchurch were unable to create any other chances, but it was not until manager Darts Tony Burman shuffled things around in the second half that the home side looked like breaking through.

James White and Rob Haworth were brought on, with the latter joining Lee Burns in attack as the Darts tried to snatch a point.

But by this stage the visitors were defending in numbers and held on to take three points back to Essex.

The only bright spot for Darts was that second place Hastings also lost meaning they stay eight points clear at the top of the table.