Dartford 1 Gateshead 1 match report
Published: 21:30, 31 March 2015
Dartford were held to a draw by Gateshead on Tuesday night.
Jordan Chiedozie opened his Darts account with an excellent solo goal but that was cancelled out by Tom Allan as it finished all-square at a sparcely-populated Princes Park.
Tony Burman made four changes to the Dartford side which started against Altrincham three days earlier. Lee Noble was suspended and Nathan Green missed out because of injury, while Andy Pugh and Danny Harris were dropped to the bench.
In came Nathan Collier at centre-half - allowing Elliot Bradbrook to start in central midfield - as well as wingers Ryan Hayes and Luke Daley and striker Harry Crawford, who partnered on-loan Cambridge United forward Chiedozie.
And it was Chiedozie who opened the scoring in fine style on nine minutes. Gateshead lost the ball near halfway and Chiedozie ran at James Curtis before cutting inside and curling an excellent shot beyond the reach of Joel Dixon.
But the lead was short-lived. Goalkeeper Deren Ibrahim got down well to claw a Matty Pattison free-kick round the base of the post but from the corner which followed, Allan looped a precise header over Ibrahim and into the far corner.
Ibrahim saved from Valentin Gjokaj after the Heed had appealed unsuccessfully for a penalty, then Jamie Richards shot wastefully wide for the Darts following good work by Chiedozie.
The visitors came within inches of retaking the lead before half-time. Alex Rodman's free-kick from 30 yards left Ibrahim standing but to Dartford's relief, it crashed against the crossbar.
It took until the hour mark for either side to register an effort of note after the restart. Rob Ramshaw cut in from the left but his low shot was straight at Ibrahim.
Pattison thought he'd given Gateshead the lead with 15 minutes left but he dragged his left-footed strike from the edge of the box just wide.
Moments later, Burman sent on Pugh and Harris for Hayes and Daley, meaning the Darts finished the match with four forwards on the pitch.
Bradbrook tried his luck with a shot which reared up just in front of Dixon and that was the signal for Dartford to have a real go in the last few minutes.
A swirling cross from Pugh dropped into the net but the goal was ruled out for a foul on Dixon. Chiedozie and Peter Sweeney then combined to set up a shooting chance for Pugh, whose effort across goal was blocked by a Gateshead foot.
Dartford: Ibrahim, Driver, McAuley, Collier, Richards, Hayes (Pugh 76mins), Sweeney, E Bradbrook, Daley (Harris 76mins), Crawford, Chiedozie. Subs not used: Kessell, Adams, Vint.
Gateshead: Dixon, Curtis, Shaw, Finnigan (Campbell 46mins), Ramshaw, Baxter, Rankine (Sainte-Luce 66mins), Rodman (Orrell 76mins), Pattison, Gjokaj, Allan. Subs not used: Wilson, Morse.
Attendance: 602.
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Steve Tervet