Dartford 2 Sutton United 2 match report
16:45, 15 August 2015
Tom Bradbrook scored twice as Dartford drew 2-2 with Sutton in a Princes Park classic on Saturday.
Bradbrook's 14th-minute header was cancelled out by Micky Spillane late in the first half before Bradbrook restored Dartford's lead in the most bizarre fashion.
Sutton keeper Ross Worner's clearance hit the striker in the face and bounced back into the empty net - but the impact forced Bradbrook to stagger off with blood dripping from his face.
It looked as though his odd goal would be the winner until Jamie Collins nodded Sutton level five minutes from time to ensure this thrilling Vanarama National League South clash ended all square.
Dartford were unchanged from their midweek win over Eastbourne, which meant Bradbrook - who scored the only goal that night - again partnered Andy Pugh in attack.
For the visitors, who won impressively at Havant & Waterlooville on Tuesday, Collins and Stuart Fleetwood came in for Simon Downer and Craig McAllister.
Sutton made a bright start and when Dan Wishart got beyond Darts right-back Ronnie Vint, goalkeeper Deren Ibrahim had to tip his dangerous cross over the bar for a corner.
But it was the Darts who broke the deadlock on 14 minutes. Ryan Hayes whipped in a free-kick from the right and Bradbrook rose unchallenged to power a header into the net from just a few yards out.
Bradbrook then saved his team at the other end, clearing Shaun Cooper's shot off the line.
Balls into the box were giving Dartford problems and Spillane saw a header deflect narrowly wide of Ibrahim's left-hand post.
Bradbrook and Fleetwood were both booked for their involvement in a big bust-up on the halfway line as Sutton prepared to take a goal kick.
Dartford could easily have doubled the lead from their next attack. Jack Simmons crossed from the left and Hayes and Lee Noble both had goalbounds shots blocked as Sutton threw bodies in front of the ball.
Ibrahim turned a Southam free-kick over the bar at the other end but he was beaten 10 minutes before half-time.
Dartford's defence did well to block two shots but the third, a powerful effort from Spillane, flashed through a crowded six-yard box and beyond Ibrahim on its way into the far corner.
The goalscorer was lucky to stay on the pitch, however, when he kicked Noble off the ball right in front of referee Daniel Leach and his assistant. How Spillane escaped even a caution, only the two men in black will know.
A brotherly link-up almost got the Darts back in front before the interval. Tom Bradbrook played a neat pass into Elliot Bradbrook's feet and his rasping drive flew just over the bar.
The action was unrelenting right through to the interval, Craig Dundas shooting wide for the visitors and Andy Pugh forcing a low save from Worner after doing well to bring down a floated Hayes cross.
Play at the start of the second half didn't quite have the same intensity, with Cooper sweeping a free-kick wide for Sutton before Elliot Bradbrook's sweetly-struck effort from long range was blocked.
The game then burst back into life with a series of chances at both ends.
Tom Gardiner headed a Hayes free-kick squarely against the far post and Noble went close with the follow-up effort before Tom Bradbrook had two efforts cleared off the line in as many minutes.
At the other end, Southam won a corner when his 20-yard strike deflected just wide.
Then came Bradbrook's feaky second goal, the striker rewarded for chasing down Worner when the ball slammed off his face and rebound back past the keeper into the net.
Bradbrook's team-mates slid alongside him to celebrate but the striker didn't move for several minutes until medics helped him to his feet. George Sykes came on for Bradbrook, who left the field to a terrific ovation.
When play restarted it was even more frantic. Gardiner turned a Hayes free-kick back across goal and a deflection carried Pugh's point-blank effort over the bar.
Ibrahim saved well from Southam before Sykes rolled a tame effort straight at Worner after Simmons had done well to get in behind the Sutton defence.
But with five minutes left, Collins rose well to direct a right-wing cross inside the far post, leaving some Darts players on their knees.
There was still time for a winner, though, and Dartford came so close to grabbing one.
Sykes shot wide, Pugh headed inches wide from a Simmons cross and was then denied by an outstanding Worner save in the fifth minute of stoppage-time.
Dartford: Ibrahim, Vint, Gardiner, McNaughton, Onyemah, Hayes, Noble, E Bradbrook, Simmons, T Bradbrook (Sykes 71mins), Pugh. Subs not used: Cogan, Dembele, Adams, Hamilton.
Sutton: Worner, Spence (Hippolyte-Patrick 81mins), Wishart, Beckwith, Cooper, Collins, Spillane, Southam, Dundas (Bolarinwa 66mins), Fitchett (Stearn 58mins), Fleetwood. Subs not used: Anderson, Shaw.
Attendance: 910.