SDFL division three

Dittisham United 1

Dartmouth AFC seconds 7

It was local derby day at Shinners Meadow and in the bright Sep­tember sunshine, it was the visitors who shone in a comfortable performance to move to fourth in the table.

In front of a large number of travelling supporters, Dartmouth did, however, have to come from behind to win as they conceded a goal in the fourth minute following Dit­tisham’s opening at­tack.

A loose pass was pounced upon by Colin Rowden, who picked out Josh Bruckner to fire past Carl Hoare in the Darts goal.

The early setback didn’t cause the Darts too much worry and they continued to play some attractive football in search of a quick response.

The equaliser arrived in the 11th minute when some neat play on the edge of the Ditts’ box resulted in Joe Kirby, who was outstanding all afternoon against his former club, finding the lethal Nick Rushe inside the box and the striker drilled his shot into the far corner.

Four minutes later Dartmouth took the lead with a wonderfully worked team goal which started with right-back Carl Wood­gate on the edge of his own box.

His ball inside to Scott McRoy allowed the skipper to exchange passes with Robbie Chalk before sliding the ball through to Rushe, who rifled a right-footed bullet of a shot high into the top corner of the net.

In the 24th minute Rushe helped himself to a first half hat-trick when he received a pass following good work down the left flank from Rhys Mor­rallee, before rounding the on-rushing ‘keeper and slotting home from a tight angle.

Five minutes before half-time and the game was effectively over when the mighty Darts made it 4-1 with another smart move.

This time Dan Drury picked up possession and played a sublime 40-yard pass over the defence for Chalk to latch on to.

The diminutive winger was one on one with the Plums ‘keeper but instead of shooting, he unselfishly rolled the ball square to team mate Will Kenny, who tapped into the open net.

Before the interval, the hosts had an opportunity to reduce the deficit when they were awarded a penalty, but Hoare read Jake Bla­mey’s spot kick su­perbly and saved well down low to his left.

The second half was 10 minutes old when Dartmouth extended their lead, this time from a free-kick some 25 yards from goal.

Up stepped the reliable Kev Causley to bend his shot up and over the wall for his second goal in as many games from a dead ball situation.

The introduction of Rich Yeo, James Lee and Teddy Armitage caused more problems for the now tiring home team, with Lee and Armitage going extremely close to getting on the scoresheet following some mesmirising runs inside the penalty box.

However, it was the red-hot Rushe who scored the last two goals in the game, taking his tally for the afternoon to an impressive five, with strikes in the 70th and 81st minutes.

The first was a thumping rebound shot after a goalmouth scramble and the second was a real poacher’s finish following some excellent wing play again from Chalk down the right side, leaving Rushe with a simple tap-in from two yards out.

Dartmouth AFC man of the match was Nick Rushe.

It’s another away trip for the Darts this Sat­urday when they travel to third-placed Stav­erton AFC, who have won their opening two league games of the season.