Dartford manager Alan Dowson reflects on 1-0 National League South win over Tonbridge Angels to end run of four straight defeats

Dartford manager Alan Dowson admitted it was all about the result after his team beat Tonbridge on Saturday.

The Darts ended a run of four straight defeats with a narrow 1-0 win in National League South, although the margin of victory would have been greater had they converted some excellent opportunities in front of goal.

“We needed it,” said Dowson. “We worked very hard. We needed three points to lift the gloom from what’s on the club.

“I thought first half we played some good stuff. We had a couple of half-chances and in the second half we had chances to score. We’re not flying, we know that.

“I put an extra man in midfield for the last five minutes but we needed a win and however we got it, it didn’t matter. We’ll improve as time goes on but it was all about three points.

“I thought the crowd were excellent and I really appreciated it. There’s a lot of pressure around the place and on me, I suppose, so I needed to get a result and (move) up the table.

“It’s alright me saying we’ll do that. We started the game well, we were sloppy at times but it was a good three points.”

Dartford’s start to the season reflects the first campaign under Dowson in many ways.

They’ve been slow to get going and were knocked out of the FA Cup at the first hurdle. Now the Dartford boss hopes they can go on an impressive run in the league again, just like they did last term.

“We’ve had a disappointing start to the season,” admitted Dowson. “We changed the formation to 4-4-2 and we started the game well.

“It’s a big win. We did the same last year, we lost in the FA Cup and went on a 10-game run so we’re hoping to do the same this year.

“We want the players to work hard for the club, getting knocked out of the FA Cup was a big thing for a lot