Seagulls Suffer First Defeat of the Season to Dartford
The game finished 1-2 to the visitors, handing Weston their first defeat of the season.
Both sides seemed to struggle with the wet and windy weather, with neither team being able to assert any dominance.
However, in the 23rd minute Weston had a golden opportunity to take the lead. Eliot Richards rose above everyone else to flick a header goal-wards, but the crossbar denied him his first competitive goal for the club. Dayle Grubb and Tom Meechan also had chances but Dartford’s goal-keeper made good saves.
The teams went into half time with the score at 0-0, however Weston arguably had the best of the opportunities.
The match opened up in the second half and Dartford made the most of it, with Luke Wandio cutting in off the left wing to fire the ball into the top right corner and give the away side the lead after 52 minutes.
Weston kept fighting though and Jake Mawford nearly responded immediately, he let a pass run through his legs to split the opposition’s entire defence apart and ran through on goal, but his shot just clipped the crossbar and Dartford eventually cleared the ball.
The equaliser finally came from a Shawn McCoulsky penalty that was stroked into the bottom right corner in the 78th minute. The penalty was given after Darren Mullings was barged over in the penalty spot when a cross came in.
The away side managed to nick a winner in the 84th minute with the goal coming from Ryan Hayes tapping in a square ball.
The final score for the match was 1-2 to Dartford. The Seagulls’ next match is away to Margate on Saturday 27th of August.
Attendance: 410
MOTM: Dayle Grubb
Weston XI: Purnell, Simpson (Barnes 85), Pope, Fortune (C), Williams, Kington, Mullings, Grubb, Mawford, Richards (McClennan 62), Meechan (McCoulsky 62)
Weston 1-2 Dartford F.C
Match report written by Liam Byrne.