Dartford player-boss Ben Greenhalgh says it is hard to take Kent Senior Cup as seriously as he wants to as manager Ady Pennock prepares to make Princes Park comeback with Ramsgate for first-round game

Dartford player-manager Ben Greenhalgh concedes it’s difficult to take the Kent Senior Cup as seriously as he would like to.

The Darts will welcome ex-boss Ady Pennock back to Princes Park as Isthmian Premier rivals Ramsgate take on Greenhalgh’s charges in a first-round match.

Greenhalgh has fond memories of the Kent Senior Cup. He helped former club Margate win the competition in 2023 and made his senior bow for Welling United in a 6-1 final win against Whitstable as a 16-year-old.

But Dartford, already without skipper Ben Swift and vice-captain Joe Tennent, saw another defender, Emmanuel Oke, come off alongside attacker Tyler Ibe in Saturday’s 4-2 home FA Cup second qualifying round triumph against Hayes & Yeading.

Dartford, arguably, have bigger fish to fry these days. This weekend’s FA Trophy third qualifying round tie at Leiston is followed by a league home fixture against Whitehawk on Tuesday.

On the contest against the Rams, playmaker Greenhalgh said: “It could have come at a good time for us.

“Two weeks ago (when the game was originally due to be played but was rescheduled so the Darts could play their FA Cup replay against Westfield), that would have been a good time. The reality is we’re now really thin on numbers.

“I said at the start of the season I wanted to win the Kent Cup but it comes to a part of the season where you need to prioritise things. We’ve got the FA Trophy this weekend, then the league on Tuesday and then we’re back playing in the FA Cup next weekend.

“There’s just too many matches at this stage to prioritise the Kent Cup. We’ve got to manage players. We need to work out what players will be missing.

“We will probably be a half-first team and half-academy, which will be good for the academy