Fly-half David Byng scored all of Dartfordians' points Saturdasy's 17-all draw with Old Dunstionians a Bourne Road, Bexley.

In a see-saw game, which saw saw both teams fritter away good leads, in the end an over-reliance on his boot probably cost the Darts victory when they chose three times to kick for goal rather than run in close-range penalties.

Two early penalties from the visitors were followed by a gift of a try after three Darts' missed tackles, but Byng hit back with three well-kicked penalty successes from all over the park.

Despite superior scrummaging, some fine line-out work by Simon Laws and Peter Evans, and some incisive runs from young left-wing Matt Hellyer, Darts stuttered when they came to the last quarter of the field.

The second half saw Byng fend off the tackles of three defenders to score a a great try in the corner, before a towering drop goal from 40 metres gave the Darts a 17-11 lead.

But Dunstonians came back late in the game to level with two more penalties.

Then, with the final kick of the game, Byng missed a penalty which could have won the game.

This Sunday at 2pm, Darts entertain Gravesend in the Second Round of the Shepherd Neame Cup at Bourne Road, with the under-13s and 14s of both clubs providing the curtain raiser at noon.

December 11, 2001 18:05