Home   Dartford   News   Article

Dartford 1 Welling United 1

Ryan Hayes
Ryan Hayes

An audacious free-kick from Ryan Hayes preserved Dartford's unbeaten run in Blue Square Bet South on Tuesday night.

Hayes rescued a point for the Darts against rivals Welling by deceiving rookie keeper Tom Lovelock from 35 yards.

Left on the bench for the seventh successive league game, Hayes came on as 73rd minute substitute for Danny Harris and 10 minutes later he was the toast of Princes Park.

Welling had looked on course for a second successive 1-0 away win. Fresh from victory at Hampton on Saturday, the Wings survived the early stages and then took the lead in the 66th minute when Jack Parkinson headed in Jamie Day's corner.

Dartford had the best of the opening 20 minutes and chould have gone ahead when Lovelock missed Tom Bonner's header but it was cleared off the line.

At the other end, Andy Pugh was denied by Billy Burgess' block but Darts missed another golden opportunity when Jon Main somehow failed to connect at the far post with a free header.

Dartford's Paul Goodacre was cautioned for a crunching challenge on Parkinson just before half-time and Day curled the resulting free-kick inches over.

Welling improved after the break, they moved the ball better and started to force Dartford back. Liam Bellamy headed wide and Day's deflected pass fell to Pugh, but he was brilliantly denied by home keeper Deren Ibrahim.

However, Ibrahim could do nothing to prevent Parkinson heading Welling in front midway through the second half.

Once level through Hayes' free-kick, both teams had chances to win the points.

Welling were fortunate not to have Lee Clarke sent-off for a two-footed challenge but Maidstone referee Paul Harris somehow only showed a yellow card.

Elliot Bradbrook hooked over from close range for the Darts before Pugh's near-post header was cleared off the line at the other end by Lee Noble in stoppage time.

Close This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies.Learn More