FA Cup 3rd rnd v London Bees, Sunday 14th December k-off 1pm

[DA Mikey]

2-3 aet

[DA Mikey]

Really well done to the ladies for coming so close to a 3rd round victory though, fantastic!

[Grassbank]

Back from an extended afternoon at PP where Dartford sadly departed the FA Cup.

That one teams plays one level higher than the other in the league structure was not evident from the football on display. Normally, you would expect the underdog to revert to badgering the referee and to the 'dark arts'. That was not the case today. It was clear that the London Bees were intent on leaving with a ticket for the draw on Monday, no matter what it took to achieve that aim.

I am sure that much will be reported about certain events at the match. I propose to focus mostly on the tremendous performance put up by the Dartford Women's team this afternoon. However, I will state that I consider that the best referees are those that you do not notice during a match. The ref today was very prominent.

Dartford got off to a dreadful start. Penalised for a foul in the first ten seconds with the resulting long free kick causing confusion in the defence that led to an easy goal for our opponents. Matters worsened when our opponents were awarded a very soft penalty that our keeper was not able to keep out. The penalty was awarded during a spell when Dartford had begun to establish themselves and was consequently a big blow.

The next major incident was obscured by the very vociferous away bench. The ref appeared to award, surprisingly, a throw to the Bees. We could not see or hear what occured next, but it resulted in a red card for the Bees right winger and a yellow for a Dartford player. The half-time score was harsh on Dartford but they came out with a fresh intent after the interval.

Dartford controlled the early stages of the second half and began to create good goal scoring chances. The first goal was no surprise and the second became inevitable. Dartford were now on top of the match and you sensed that they could go on and win against their higher league opponents. The game then changed again with the awarding of a red card, by dint of a second yellow, to a Dartford striker. The decision looked very harsh from where I sat and the first yellow had been questionable.

Extra time beckoned. The Bees began to control the game as our team tired. Our team had a major flu outbreak last weekend and were not able to field a team for a league cup match. They had not played a competitive match since the previous round of the FA Cup. The Bees were awarded a corner from a deflected shot. This led to another deflected shot that was creeping under the bar until the Dartford keeper made a great save, tipping the ball over for another corner. The delivery of the resultant corner evaded the defence and was run in to the Dartford net. Heads could have dropped, legs could have given up - but they did not.

Dartford gave it everything in the second period of extra time. They were knocking on the door, forcing corners and stretching the defence. The best chance came when a great shot cannoned off the bar and the keeper was able to save the follow-up header. The Bees responded by stricking the ppost themselves and Dartford won a corner for the final play of the match. Although the Dartford keeper got her head to the ball, it drifted agonisingly wide of the post and the FA Cup dream was over for this season.

The Dartford Women's team should be tremendously proud of their FA Cup run this season. Thery have played with a smile and they have played football the right way. They should hold their heads high. They have been an absolute credit to our club.

I hope that they have the opportunity of revenge against the London Bees in two league fixtures next season. Dartford Women's team deserves to be playing at that higher level and I hope to witness their run to winning the league title over the remainder of this season.

Thank you ladies. You gave our club a lift.

[Ring of fire]

Brilliant account of this season's final FA Cup game, Grassbanks. Proud to have been part of this twice record - breaking crowd, their exuberance and such good humoured encouragements, along with boosting much needed club resources in prize money and facilities.
On to 2026! Greetings...

[Ajaxman DFC]

Unfortunately the referee was the star of the show for all the wrong reasons. Two bad decisions cost us the game. The foul on Amina Hanif was a stonewall penalty. Moments later an identical foul on Amina was given but it was outside the box. You couldn't make it up.
Also a second yellow card awarded to Milo just because she questioned a decision by the referee, in a civilised manner, was diabolical. At most an experienced referee would just have reminded her she's already on a booking and told her to keep quite. If the referee thought she was evening things up she must have been on another planet. Campbell was quite rightly sent off for violent conduct, after becoming involved by steaming into a melee she was initially not involved in and nowhere near.
From then on up until the point before Milo's dismissal you could see the uneasiness creeping into the opposition's game. Not only did Darts draw level they were in the ascendancy, with the crowd behind them, and looking the likely winners in normal time. Infact the girls were very unlucky not to pull a goal back before half-time. Gabby Howell's pile driver from distance saw an outstanding save from the keeper, who just got her finger tips to an excellent strike preventing the shot from dipping under under the bar.
Bees winning goal in extra time was well taken by ex-Dart Brionne Fowle. Converting corners and crosses into goals is her speciality. Brie is a class act who scored some great goals for us last season, including match winners against the likes of Saltdean and Dorking.
It was a great performance from our ladies who were unlucky not to progress to the 4th round. Their determination and mental toughness to get back into the game, following an unfortunate start, was magnificent.

[Dart of Herts]

Doesn’t show our red card but theirs looked totally undeserved

[media] [/media]