Dartford left it too late to stage a dramatic comeback as they suffered a 2-1 defeat at Alrincham in Vanarama Conference on Saturday afternoon.

The Darts were made to pay for not capitalising on a promising start against their fellow part-time opponents and were once again stung by the pain of conceding close to the half-time interval.

The opening goal came just four minutes before the break when keeper Jason Brown could only parry a low cross into the path of striker David Reeves who made no mistake.

Despite a half-time pep-talk from boss Tony Burman, the lead was 2-0 just two minutes after the restart as a cut-back from Ryan Crowther was not cut out by the Darts defence and Reeves was able to convert his second.

The visitors did improve in the final 20 minutes and nine minutes from time a deep cross from substitute Ryan Hayes was headed back across goal by Harry Crawford where Elliot Bradbrook was on hand to bundle home.

However despite applying late pressure, the hosts held on to claim their second win of the season and leapfrog Dartford, who are fifth-bottom.

Darts return to Prince’s Park to host ambitious Eastleigh on Tuesday night.