Dartford boss Tony Burman felt his side would have beaten Forest Green Rovers in Skrill Premier if they'd scored the first goal
Published: 09:25, 13 April 2014
Dartford manager Tony Burman was left to rue missed opportunities after his side's 1-0 defeat to Forest Green on Saturday.
Danny Harris spurned a great chance in the first half, shooting straight at Sam Russell when he found himself one-on-one with the Rovers keeper.
And the same player came within inches of giving the Darts a precious lead late in the second period. Harris latched onto Nathan Collier's flick-on and turned the ball beyond Russell, but Eddie Oshodi got back to make a fantastic goal-line clearance.
Forest Green substitute Danny Wright struck at the other end moments later.
Burman said: "We needed to take the lead. If we took the lead, there would have been a bit more adrenaline in the players. A lot of them were dead on their feet, which we expected to happen. We needed that goal, we needed that lift.
"Just before they scored, we had one cleared off the line. Danny’s gone through on-on-one with the keeper and he’s knocked it past him but they’ve managed to get back and clear it off the line. Then they’ve gone straight up and scored a goal.
"I feel sure that if the one had gone in near the end, before they scored, that would have been the lift we needed. It wasn’t to be but I’ve got no complaints with their effort."
Dartford beat Grimsby 1-0 on Thursday night and that game had clearly taken its toll as the men in white shirts looked spent in the second half on Saturday.
Burman said: "We knew that might happen. They hit the wall around the 60 or 70-minute mark. I knew that if it was still 0-0, we needed to get that lift, a little bit of a buzz.
"We had a spell in the first half where we were on top and we missed a chance. It was only one-on-one and it’s a chance. It needed that lift but unfortunately we were unable to get it."
Dartford travel to Braintree Town on Good Friday.
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Steve Tervet