Dartford completed their first double of the season when defeating Burnham in a nine-goal thriller at Stonebridge Road on Saturday.

The first 20-odd minutes gave no insight into what was to come, but the Darts should have taken the lead on 27 minutes when Lee Guiver was brought down in the penalty area by Ian Jimmy. But Adam Morrish's penalty hit the inside of the post.

However, Burnham's reprieve lasted only five minutes when, following a superb right-wing run and cross by Steve Marriner, Chris Arnold hammered the ball into the top corner of the net.

That was the only score of the first half, but what a transformation there was after the interval.

After 53 minutes, Morrish's curling cross deflected off Andrew Dugdale and into his own net to put the Darts two-up, but within two minutes Burnham had pulled a goal back when Kieran Brophy's shot was fumbled by Tony Kessell and Micky Durkin latched onto the loose ball to tap into the empty net.

Dartford then regained the lead on the hour-mark when Morrish's flick on found Guiver, who cleverly shot into the far corner.

But once again, Burnham hit back, and just 45 seconds later, Tom Nutter scored.

The game was the thrill-a-minute stuff the fans love, and Dartford went 4-2 up with 15 minutes to play, when Dugdale was red-carded after handling Guiver's shot on the line. Lee Jones took over the spot-kick duties but his shot was was parried by Smalley only for Jones to net the rebound.

Five minutes from time, Arnold netted his second when he calmly slotted in Morrish's through ball.

But, just like twice earlier in the game, Burnham replied within seconds when Jon Norris tapped home, and when the same player headed past Kesssell in the final minute, the Darts had to survive a few tense minutes of stoppage time.

This Saturday, Dartford travel to Stamford.

December 11, 2001 17:43