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Dartford manager Alan Dowson couldn’t hide his disappointment over their goalless draw with Oxford City on Saturday.
The two National League South play-off contenders cancelled each other out in a match devoid of few clear-cut chances when neither goalkeeper had a save to make.
“It was the worst game of football I’ve ever seen in my life,” stated Dowson.
“It was second against third but it wasn’t a great advert for (the league).
“We kept giving the ball away all the time. I played some players there as I wanted them to pass the ball and they didn’t. We didn’t look a threat.
“On Tuesday night (against Slough) I was pleased with how we played, we went on the front foot, we created chances but today there was no quality about it at all.
“I looked at Luke Coulson who put an unbelievable ball in, my centre-halves and full-back went up there but someone (needed) to attack that.
“It was a bad day at the office but we’ve got a point against one of the better sides in the league. I was massively disappointed with how we played, it was probably one of the worst games you’ll see down here for a long time.”
Even though Oxford arrived at Princes Park on the back of an impressive run of just one defeat in their last 17 league games, Dowson still felt his team should have done better.
He added: “It doesn’t matter who you are playing, if you get in areas then you’ve got create. The amount of times we’ve passed it to them.
“Our centre-midfield player has kicked it off the pitch without any pressure on him two or three times. How can that happen? You want a bit of quality from somewhere.
“How can you be a semi-professional footballer and kick the ball off the pitch three times? I just don’t get it.
“We’ve had a bad day but a while ago we might have got beat, but we’re five unbeaten now and we’ve kept a clean sheet which is good. I didn’t think we were the better side or anything like that, there were very few chances and we didn’t create anything.”
Without the suspended Samir Carruthers, Dartford lacked that extra bit of quality on the ball.
Dowson also felt his team lacked vocally all over the pitch and it’s an area he is keen to address.
“We’re trying to sign one or two players and the biggest player we’ve got to sign is a talker,” said the Darts boss.
“Bonner leads by example but he’s not a massive talker and we don’t talk around the pitch. If I can wheel and deal I need to try and get a talker in the team and that’s the biggest let-down we’ve got.
“I’m disappointed with the game and how we played. I thought we were lively in training but, except from Luke Coulson on a couple of corners, we never had any quality out there.
“That’s where you do miss Samir, when it’s a tight game like that and the free-kick on the edge of the 18-yard-box where Samir has got that quality about him. We just never had that around the pitch.”
The result means leaders Ebbsfleet need just eight more wins in their last 12 games to secure the title, although if teams below them continue to slip up then they could be crowned champions earlier than that.
Dartford’s focus is on the play-offs, and finishing as high as possible to get home advantage.
“We’re in a very good place,” said Dowson. “I know we’re not going to win it now but it’s an unbelievable season if we can finish in the top three and that’s what we’ve got to aim for.”
