Greenwich Borough 1 Dartford 2 match report
Published: 21:30, 08 March 2016
Dartford edged into the Kent Senior Cup final with a narrow win over their Princes Park tenants Greenwich Borough on Tuesday night.
Goals from Ronnie Vint and George Sykes settled the tie but there was little to choose between the Darts, sixth in National League South, and a Borough side sitting top of the Southern Counties East League.
In the final Dartford will play the winners of the other semi-final between Ebbsfleet and Charlton at Stonebridge Road next Tuesday.
Greenwich included ex-Dartford duo Peter Sweeney and Mohamed Eisa in their line-up, which also featured experienced goalkeeper Craig Holloway, defender Gary Borrowdale and midfielder Scott Kinch.
Tony Burman named a strong side full of senior players. He left Andy Pugh, Ryan Hayes and Danny Harris on the bench, bringing in Lee Noble, Kaka Dembele, Barry Cogan and Jack Simmons.
The other absentee from Saturday's 2-1 defeat at Weston-super-Mare was centre-half Callum McNaughton, who's been ruled out for six weeks with a metatarsal injury. Tom Wynter dropped back to partner Ronnie Vint.
Dartford were straight on the attack, Sykes setting up Elliot Bradbrook for a shot which flew over from 20 yards.
But Greenwich should have taken a seventh-minute lead when Sweeney curled a right-wing corner to the far post. Danny Young got up well but the skipper failed to direct his header on target, the ball dropping wide.
Borough passed the ball better than Dartford for much of the first half. Tom Youngs made ground and got himself into the box on the right-hand side, with only a good saving tackle from Wynter carrying his shot over the crossbar.
Greenwich were then awarded a free-kick, 25 yards out in a central position, which Sweeney curled over the wall and just wide with Deren Ibrahim rooted to the spot.
The Darts were ponderous in their play and struggled to keep the ball, leaving Burman cursing in the away technical area.
It was therefore against the run of play that Dartford took the lead after half-an-hour.
They were gifted a free-kick when Kinch floored Sykes off the ball and Cogan's floated delivery reached Vint, whose volley flashed across Holloway for his first senior goal as a Dartford player.
The goal lifted the nominal visitors for a while and Dembele's whipped cross from the right caused uncertainty in the Greenwich defence before being touched behind for a corner.
Borough should have gone into the break on level terms, though. They spread play from left to right but Eisa dragged his shot wide of the far post with only Ibrahim to beat.
There were chances at both ends in the opening moments of the second half. Sweeney skewed a shot off target with the outside of his boot before Bradbrook headed a left-wing free-kick well wide for Dartford.
Play became scrappy for a while, with neither side able to get their foot on the ball, until Cogan ballooned Sykes' short pass high over the bar from a good position.
Burman's mood didn't improve in the closing stages, with Greenwich quicker to most of the loose balls in midfield. Cisco Mbela had a clear sight of goal for the men in red and it required a good block by Vint to deny him an equaliser.
But for all of Greenwich's possession, they lacked penetration and Dartford made it 2-0 on 88 minutes when Hayes crossed from the right and Sykes climbed well to direct a header beyond Holloway.
Borough substitute Michael Power pulled a goal back as the game entered stoppage-time, punishing some poor defending by stabbing the ball under Ibrahim from close-range.
That set up a dramatic last few minutes but Dartford held on.
Greenwich: Holloway, Paul, Borrowdale, Sweeney, Kinch, Young, Jalloh (Mbela 63mins), Britnell, Eisa (Dolby 63mins), Wade, Youngs (Power 84mins). Subs not used: Johnson, Clark.
Dartford: Ibrahim, Gardiner, Onyemah (Harris 46mins), Vint, Wynter, Noble (Hayes 52mins), Dembele, E Bradbrook, Sykes, Cogan (Pugh 71mins), Simmons. Subs not used: Francis, Golding.
Attendance: 327.
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Steve Tervet