The Darts enter at the first round stage for the first time in eight years and are 13 times winners of the competition. Erith Town went out at this stage last season and are a division below in the Isthmian Division One South East.

Drawn Again

Just under a year ago the two sides drew each other in the Isthmian League Cup. The third round tie was the first meeting between the two sides and Adrian Pennock’s side came out on top. Samir Carruthers scored the only goal of the game with a free-kick on his 50th start for the club. That victory came after a seven match winless streak, the Darts went on an incredible 21 game unbeaten run in the league. Dartford will be hoping history repeats itself to spark this season into life after winning just one of their opening eight fixtures in the Isthmian Premier.

Another Stalemate, Another Red

Joe Tennent made his debut on the weekend in the 1-1 draw at Aveley. The central defender replaced Ben Frempah at the back. Pennock also selected Ikechi Eze in the starting eleven with Samir Carruthers dropping to the bench.

The selection of Eze turned out to be significant for the wrong reasons as he became the fifth Dartford player to get sent off this season. Fortunately, the dismissal wasn’t a disadvantage for the Darts as Aveley were reduced to ten men as well. That means Pennock’s side have yet to finish a league game on the road with eleven players on the pitch this season. Dartford have made a habit of starting slowly and falling behind, but for just the second time in 12 matches the Darts took the lead on Saturday. Callum Jones scored his first of the campaign finally opening his account for 2024/2025 on his ninth appearance. However, Dartford were unable to hold on to all three points when Aveley’s Jayden Gipson equalised four minutes from time. The Darts have now drawn three league games in a row.

Dockers Winless at Home

Erith Town are looking for a first victory at Bayliss Avenue this term having drawn two from four on their own patch in the league. In cup competitions they have been forced into two replays after having home advantage and were knocked out in the F.A Trophy. The Dockers picked up a creditable draw on Saturday when they drew 0-0 against unbeaten Faversham Town. Last Tuesday they claimed their first league win of the campaign breezing past Sheppey United 4-1 on the road.

Cup Form

Erith Town have already played six cup games this season. They needed a second attempt to get past Sporting Bengal United and Southall in the early qualifying rounds of the F.A Cup. The Dockers were held to a goalless draw before beating Sporting Bengal United 4-2 in the replay. In the next round they drew 1-1, then hit another four past Southall. The run came to an end in the first qualifying round, going out to Farnham Town. A week later, the Dockers started in the F.A Trophy and a penalty shoot-out defeat versus Deal Town ended any chances of a run. Erith Town have drawn out Deal Town again in the Isthmian League Cup.

Manager’s View

Pennock agreed with the red card decision on Saturday and has already spoken to Eze about the incident as the Darts could have had a man advantage. The Dartford boss spoke to www.kentonline.co.uk after the match and said: “The referee was going to do his job anyway and we would have played against 10 men for a lot of the game because that was a horrendous tackle on Eddie (Dsane)”. It may have felt like Dartford dropped points conceding late in the game, but Pennock was not too disheartened, he commented: “Overall, I’m just pleased with the performance. It’s a very hard place to come but I thought the performance was excellent”, he added: “We had to adjust and so did they when it went to 10 men but I’m just a little bit disappointed because we should have won the game”.

Team News

Sam Okoye has now served his suspension for the red card received against Ramsgate. Despite extra recovery time Sam Odaudu, Michael Olarewaju, Dan Smith were all out injured on the weekend. Pre-season injuries to Sammie McLeod and Dean Nayler means the pair have yet to feature this season. Ikechi Eze will start his suspension against Cheshunt on Saturday.

Current Form

Dartford (WDDLDD)			Erith Town (LLDDWD)
Aveley	A	1-1	Faversham Town	H	0-0
Canvey Island	H	2-2	Sheppey United	A	4-1
Bracknell Town (FAC)	H	0-2	Merstham	H	2-2
Bracknell Town (FAC)	A	2-2	Deal Town (FAT)	H	1-1*
Ramsgate	A	4-4	Farnham Town (FAC)	H	0-3
Carshalton Athletic	H	4-1	VCD Athletic	A	1-2

(FAC – F.A Cup / FAT – F.A Trophy / * – lost 3-4 on penalties)

Head to Head

Dartford wins: 1 / Erith Town wins: 0 / Draws: 0

Previous Meeting

Dartford 1 – 0 Erith Twon (29/10/2024 – Isthmian League Cup)

Statistics

• • In all competitions Dartford have lost just one in six games. However, they have also one victory in that time.

• • Dartford have lost two of their last three Kent Senior Cup ties on the road. The Darts drew the other, but progressed on penalties

• • The Darts last went out at the first round stage in 2017 when they were beaten by Cray Wanderers

On This Day

Paul Rooney scored the only goal of the game as the Darts won their Kent derby against Tonbridge Angels in 2023. In another Kent derby 15 years earlier, Dartford defeated rivals Maidstone United in the Isthmian Premier League. Steve Butterworth and Rob Howarth both scored in a 2-1 win.