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Sport

Dartford boss Tony Burman happy with a 1-1 draw in terrible weather conditions at Eastbourne Borough

By: Steve Tervet

Published: 00:00, 21 February 2016

Tony Burman was left baffled by Tom Bradbrook's dismissal on Saturday.

Bradbrook was shown a straight red card after challenging Eastbourne's Kiran Khinda-John for what looked like a 50-50 ball at Priory Lane.

There were 16 minutes left at that stage and Dartford, who had just scored to make it 1-1, found themselves on the back foot with 10 men.

Dartford manager Tony Burman Picture: Andy Payton

Burman said: "It’s one of them where two players have gone for the ball. I can’t see anything in it. Whether his arms were high and he’s caught him in the face, I don’t know.

"The fella’s gone down. The players are saying the referee wasn’t going to do anything and then, all of a sudden, he’s sent him off.

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"Sometimes it’ll go for you and sometimes it goes against you. I don’t think there was any malice in it, nothing happened, it’s just two guys challenging for the ball.

"Nowadays you’re not allowed to touch anybody or have your arms past your waist."

Burman declared himself happy with the draw, which kept Dartford within a point of the play-off places in National League South - even if they were leapfrogged by Margate on Saturday.

It wasn't the best game but there were mitigating circumstances to say the least. A strong wind blew straight down the pitch from first whistle to last and made life almost impossible for the players at times.

Burman said: "You had to be here to witness the conditions. They were awful.

"It was tough so I’m happy with a point.

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"Playing against the wind, you just have to kick the ball as long as you can and try to get it behind people because it’s not going to go out (for a goal kick).

"I thought we did ever so well against the conditions and I was pleased with the performance in the first half.

"We felt that if we were to get some shots on target and some crosses in (with the wind behind us), we would cause the same problems as Eastbourne had tried to cause us.

"I thought we played all right in the second half, it didn’t quite come off for us but I’ve got no complaints, I’m more than happy with what we’ve got here.

"Eastbourne had a great result on Tuesday night (winning 2-1 at Whitehawk) and they had a draw last Saturday so they were on form.

"I’m pleased to come away with something rather than nothing in the conditions."

The highlight of a forgettable game was Andy Pugh's equaliser for Dartford. He showed great close control in the penalty area before driving the ball into the top corner, giving Eastbourne keeper Lewis Carey no chance.

Burman said: "That’s the difference with someone like Pughy. At the moment he’s in a great vein of form and he’s put one in the top corner.

"We had to change it on Saturday, I had to play him behind Tom Bradbrook but it’s called quality, I suppose and Pughy’s definitely got that."

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