Dartford striker Charlie Sheringham on scoring from the bench after being dropped by manager Alan Dowson

Charlie Sheringham admitted he had a point to prove after being axed by Dartford boss Alan Dowson.

The 34-year-old striker made one and scored one in the final half-hour to seal a 2-1 home win over Hampton in National League South on Saturday.

Sheringham was certainly a man on a mission, having been left out of the starting line-up following the FA Cup loss to Beckenham seven days earlier.

He scored in that game but questions were asked about Sheringham’s defensive role in that game, with the first goal coming after he was uncharacteristically caught out in his own penalty area.

“Obviously, I wasn’t too happy about not starting,” said Sheringham. “I thought I played quite well last week even though we lost.

“I was a bit gutted not to start and all you can do when you come on is to make an impact and I felt I did that by scoring and getting an assist.

“It did give me extra fire in the belly, maybe it’s good management from Dowse, he’ll probably say that. I definitely had a bee in my bonnet as such.

“I love scoring goals, I don’t think there’s a better feeling. I love scoring goals and I love scoring goals at Dartford, it’s a nice feeling.”

Sheringham is in his fourth spell with the Darts. It’s not quite unfinished business but he’s back at Princes Park after a successful year with Chelmsford.

His previous spell ended when the 2020/21 season was curtailed early, Sheringham having returned from a loan spell at Chelmsford.

“It wasn’t really a big decision,” said Sheringham. “Whenever I am asked to come here, I usually do. I’ve only turned down Dartford once before and that was to go higher, so I like coming back here.

“It was a funny stop-start season (in his last spell). I was in and out of the team, went out on loan and