Manager Alan Dowson is thrilled with Dartford’s winning league run - but knows the only way to keep fans coming back is to keep winning matches.

Samir Carruthers’ first-half goal direct from a corner and substitute Pierre Fonkeu’s strike earned the Darts a 2-0 success over Tonbridge on Saturday in National League South and it means they are now on their longest winning streak in four-and-a-half-years.

Dartford had made an indifferent start to their league campaign after Dowson’s summer appointment, with the club also being dumped out the FA Cup by lower-league Beckenham. A crowd of 1,278 were at Princes Park for their Kent derby win.

Dowson said: “I can accept it [criticism] early on in the season.

“We got beaten by Beckenham in the FA Cup, it’s not a very good result, and we had a good season here the year before. So I do know I’ve got a bit to do to prove myself and my worth to the club, and prove the players I’ve signed are the right sorts of players.

“Six out of six is fantastic but we have got a lot of work to do. I’m still looking at players, I’m still trying to look at improving the squad, but yeah, it’s been a good turnaround.

• Report: Dartford 2-0 Tonbridge

• Manager Jay Saunders reacts to Tonbridge's derby defeat at Dartford

“It’s nice to see crowds coming back in - there were more than 1,200 today. The only remedy is to keep winning football matches.”

Dowson feels the side’s work-rate has greatly improved in recent games.

He reflected: “We are doing well and we are working hard - that’s the main thing. The rest takes care of itself.

“We have got some talented players but I just thought at the start of the season we lacked a lot of work-rate and a lot of desire. I feel as though, in the last couple of weeks, we have got that now.

“We are scoring goals again and keeping clean sheets again so, yeah, I’ve got to be pleased.”

It was top scorer Carruthers’ sixth goal of the season, having joined the club permanently in the summer after a loan spell last term, while well-travelled former Cameroon under-23 international frontman Fonkeu is now on five for the campaign.

Dowson said: “Samir did well and he has done well this season, to be honest.

“He came back for pre-season fitter than he was last year and you can play him in the hole, you can play him in midfield and you can play him out wide. He just gets on with it to be honest.

“He loves to win football matches, he loves to train, he loves to be involved in everything we do, so fair play to him.

“Pierre has come on as a substitute and he’s probably disappointed being a substitute. He came on and did well again.

“The work-rate was miles better against a good side who have a good manager [Tonbridge boss Jay Saunders].

“They kept on coming at us all the time. I just thought that, when we got the first goal, I was confident about winning the game.”

Overall, eight yellow cards were brandished by referee Ross Martin who awarded the Angels a second-half penalty, which Joe Turner sent over the bar.

But Darts’ boss agreed with counter-part Saunders it wasn't a dirty match, saying: “I didn’t think it was that dirty as a game, to be honest.

“I thought the referee made some decisions… These days, you do anything and you get in the book, don’t you? There were some proper tackles going on out there but, in the end, there were eight yellow cards altogether and you are thinking ‘Where did we get the yellow cards from?’ So I was a bit disappointed with that.

“But we had a little bit of quality at both ends. We could have had a couple more, to be honest, I didn’t think we got troubled that much at our end, except for the mistake we made for the penalty.

“I have seen Joe score those penalties and I’m not happy he missed it of course, but I’m happy we kept a clean sheet. That’s massive for us at the moment.”

Defender Kristian Campbell and winger Luke Coulson both missed the game against Tonbridge through injury, although Dowson hopes they will be involved on Tuesday night when the Darts host Tooting & Mitcham in the London Senior Cup.