Dartford suffered a third straight defeat in National League South after late drama at Princes Park on Saturday.

Worthing scored in the fifth minute of stoppage time through Joel Colbran to take all three points.

Dartford made five changes following the defeat at Taunton. Keeper Dan Wilks and forward Davide Rodari were injured while Jordan Wynter, Keiran Murtagh and Sam Odaudu were all named on the bench.

Within five minutes, Connor Essam headed wide from a Luke Coulson centre when Pierre Fonkeu appeared better placed but it was a sign of things to come as Darts went ahead on nine minutes.

Whether it was the extra physical presence of Alex Wall distracting minds or not, Samir Carruthers’ corner was met by Essam, whose downward header squirmed inside the near post.

Dartford were flowing forward and Luke Allen’s low right-foot drive was beaten away by keeper Harrison Male.

Worthing then started to get a foothold in the game and dominated possession and territory up to half-time. While they had plenty of the ball, they never really got behind the Darts with much alarm.

That was in part due to two excellent blocks in quick succession by Carruthers and captain Tom Bonner while Essam redeemed himself after a poor header out with a solid challenge inside the area.

Wall won the ball back for Darts near halfway 10 minutes the break and on-loan Sutton midfielder Adam Lovatt struck a 25-yard right-foot shot inches wide of the upright.

On the stroke of half-time, Fonkeu was perhaps harshly booked for a foul on keeper Male, who came out to clear as Carruthers played a ball over the top. Presumably unaware of Male’s presence, Fonkeu collided with him but a yellow card seemed harsh from a referee who had been lenient in a first half that proved physical at times.

Coulson failed to take advantage of a three-on-two break for the Darts early in the second half and the punishment was quick from Worthing as striker Callum Kealy turned and fired inside the near post six minutes into the second half to level the scores.

Wall had put himself about in the first half, and not really getting his fair share of decisions from the officials. He was booked early in the second half after Sammie McLeod went down, the referee consulting his assistant before reaching for the yellow card.

It was enough for Darts boss Alan Dowson to immediately replace him with Sam Odaudu before he got what seemed an inevitable second caution.

That meant Kristian Campbell switched from left-back to right wing and it nearly paid off midway through the half. Campbell took a 20-yard free-kick that he won himself, the ball coming back off the crossbar with Male beaten.

Darts replaced Lovatt and Coulson for the final 20 minutes while the officials seemed to lose their way, much to the anger of the home fans with decisions going against Dartford.

Their mood was not improved deep into stoppage time when a corner was never cleared by the home side, and Joel Colbran’s brilliant chip on the turn found the far corner of the net.

Dartford: Young, Campbell, Carruthers, Essam, Bonner, Coulson (Roberts 68mins), Allen, Wall (Odaudu 56mins), Statham, Lovatt (Murtagh 68mins), Fonkeu. Subs not used: Wynter, Wray.

Worthing: Male, Colbran, Tutt, Barker (Adam 72mins), Racine, Bowry, Wills, Pearce, Kealy, Myles-Meekums, McLeod (Honore 83mins). Subs not used: Rye, Beresford, Jammeh.

Referee: Aaron Farmer.

Attendance: 967.