After showing great promise in the first half of the game, the ten men of Dartford were condemned to their fifth consecutive defeat against Maidstone.
The Darts started the game with great intensity, as Luke Coulson slipped Brandon Barzey in behind the amber defence. Alas, Harry Kyprianou arrived on the scene, and conjured up a great last-ditch tackle to concede the first corner of game.
Barzey certainly ran the first half with a host of meaningful attacking contributions. He drove well down the right and clipped a good ball into the box that was, ultimately, too high for Jordan Greenidge, who headed over.
Maidstone were not passengers in the half, however. Jephte Tanga took on Tommy Block before sliding the ball in behind for Jacob Berkeley-Agyepong, who was forced to the byline and found the side netting before colliding with the boards. Unfortunately, this brought much harm to the forward, and forced George Elokobi into making an early change, being the introduction of Matt Bentley.
Bentley was involved shortly after his entry. Matt Rush took a long ball well under his spell before releasing it to the substitute, but his shot was collected calmly by Billy Terrell.
Some more positive play for the Darts was on show, as Taylor Maloney sprayed it wide for Barzey to take on Kyprianou. The winger swung a ball into the box, but Greenidge was beaten to the header by his brother, Reiss. Barzey was the centre of attention once again, as he danced past Tanga and Kyprianou, and delivered another tantalizing ball into the box, but it was just too far ahead of anyone to latch onto and tap home.
There was another great chance for the Darts, as Coulson freed Funmaya Shomotun down the left-hand side. He crossed the ball into Greenidge at the near post, but Covolan got down brilliantly and produced a wonder save. Maloney found himself unable to make anything of the rebound.
Barzey had a promising chance to put the Darts ahead once again, as he waltzed past Kyprianou and Tanga, just flashing his left footed shot wide of the post.
Against the run of play, Maidstone found the opener right before half-time. Liam Sole picked the ball up in the box after Bivesh Gurung’s delivery was initially blocked and drifted inside past multiple Dartford defenders, before ruthlessly slamming the ball into the roof of the net on his left foot. The Darts headed into the break 1-0 down.
Despite a mostly positive first half, things certainly got worse for the Darts in the second half. Muhammadu Faal was sent running by Sam Corne after Ronny Nelson failed to intercept the pass, and Terrell, who came out of the box to close the striker down, was sent off after taking the striker out. Faal was provided a similar chance not too long after, as he rounded academy goalkeeper Tom Wray, but offside was called.
The amber onslaught continued, as Rush was played into the box by Bentley, but Clifford recovered well to tackle the forward and concede a corner. Corne’s subsequent delivery found the boot of Bentley, but the ball curled up and onto the roof of the net.
Faal was a consistent target for balls over the top of the Dartford defence. Corne hooked a great ball into his path once again, but Wray was out swiftly enough to head the ball away from danger.
In the last ten minutes of the game, the Stones consolidated their lead. Faal was subject to a ball punched into him by Paul Appiah, but the forward touched it on well for the oncoming Rush. The latter twisted and turned inside the box before digging a ball towards the back post for Tanga, who volleyed home past Wray.
The referee’s whistle in the 94th minute signalled Maidstone moving into the National League South Playoffs. Dartford, on the other hand, moved deeper into the relegation zone, and sit two points away from safety.
Dartford: Terrell, Block (Statham 75mins), Nelson, Rooney, Clifford, Wynter, Maloney, Shomotun (Wray 56mins), Coulson, Barzey (Wall 77mins), Greenidge
Subs not used: Box, Allen
Yellow: Maloney, Barzey
Red: Terrell
Maidstone: Covolan, Greenidge, Berkeley-Agyepong (Bentley 11mins), Corne, Faal, Kyprianou, Appiah, Sole, Tanga, Gurung, Rush
Subs not used: Ezennolim, Court, Earle, Smith
Attendance: 1,657
Referee: Adrian George
Assistants: Murray Grant & Benjamin McDonald