Dartford boss Tony Burman on his side's 3-2 National League South win over Welling
Published: 07:43, 27 December 2017
Dartford boss Tony Burman thought his team were good value for their Boxing Day win at Welling.
The National League South leaders let slip a two-goal lead at Park View Road and needed a wonderful Alfie Pavey goal in stoppage time to take maximum points.
“I think we deserved to win the game,” said Burman. “When we went 2-0 up we had a couple of other opportunities to increase the lead.
“We were dead and buried when it went 2-2. We gave away two silly fouls and they’ve scored from a free-kick and a penalty. Defensively I thought we were reasonable but something like that changes things.”
Dartford started well with Andy Pugh scoring twice against his former club – the first goals he has scored at Park View Road since leaving Welling for Cambridge United in January 2012.
But Welling made Darts skipper Elliot Bradbrook pay for two fouls late on, scoring from the subsequent free-kick and then penalty.
“It was a good start for us,” added Burman. “We decided to go 4-4-2, we’ve been playing a bit different recently.
“I’m pleased for Pughy, he has had a few injury problems but he’s come in and the longer he can play, the sharper he’ll get.
“It turned out that we’d given it away (at 2-2). Elliot has given away two silly fouls. We expect better from him. It’s difficult to criticise because of how much he does elsewhere but having said that we’ve pulled it out of the bag.”
Bradbrook was up against brother Tom, a half-time substitute for Welling in the second half. When asked if that had an impact, Burman replied: “I expect they had a chat over Christmas dinner and it went a big wrong (for us).
“In the heat of the moment players do something, try to win balls that maybe they shouldn’t do. You get pros in the Premier League who do it.
“Whether it’s fatigue, which it could be at the Christmas period, it’s happened - a free-kick that’s gone in the top corner and a penalty.”
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Matthew Panting