Dartford and Gillingham compete at Princes Park Picture: Barry Goodwin

by Andrew Gidley

Paul Sawyer declared himself satisfied despite Dartford’s 2-1 home defeat by Gillingham at Princes Park on Tuesday night.

Assistant Darts managers Sawyer and Steve Mosley were in charge of the Blue Square Bet South new-boys in the absence of boss Tony Burman, who is back from holiday in time for Friday night’s third warm-up game, against league opposition when Southend United are the visitors (7.45pm).

Darts, who used 21 players on the night, were behind early on when Danny Spiller fired home after goalkeeper Andrew Young saved his first effort. They trailed 2-0 when Chris Palmer blasted home a spectacular second nine minutes after the break.

New boy Tom Bonner pulled one back two minutes from time, deflecting in Ryan Hayes’ free-kick, but the game ended on a sour note when Gills assistant manager Ian Hendon was ordered from the dug-out by referee Steve Bennett after blasting the ball at Hayes.

Hendon had been incensed by Hayes’ earlier challenge on Gills youngster Jack Payne, but Gills boss Andy Hessenthaler confirmed that his new number two had apologised for his actions after the game.

Sawyer said: "We have got a lot of pre-season games, and the beauty of having Princes Park is that a lot of pro teams like to come here, which is good for the revenue, but it’s also good for our fitness levels."

"Games like this give us a chance of pitching ourselves against higher teams and means that by the time the new season starts, we hopefully can be up and running and get off to a good start.

Defender Ashley Probets, who was at Chatham last season, had a 45-minute run out at left-back and Sawyer confirmed Darts had been following the former Arsenal youngster’s progress.