Jay Saunders felt Dartford’s controversial equaliser in a 1-1 draw at Princes Park wouldn’t have been awarded had Maidstone been at home.

Saunders had no complaints at Saturday’s result but there was frustration after Elliot Bradbrook’s late strike was allowed to stand despite an offside flag against Danny Harris, who was blocking goalkeeper Lee Worgan’s view of the shot.

Referee Ian Cooper, with Darts fans and players appealing, went over for a discussion with his linesman and the goal stood.

Stones boss Saunders said: “I’ve got a feeling if that was at our ground I don’t think he would have given it.

“Being that it was right in front of all their supporters, all the players round him, I think he’s crumbled a little bit but that happens, doesn’t it?

“Dartford deserved something out of the game. It’s just unfortunate because if that doesn’t go in you get three points but that’s the way it goes.”

Saunders and Worgan went in to see Cooper after the game, with the keeper adamant Harris was interfering with play when Bradbrook went for goal.

The Stones manager added: “He’s quite passionate in there, Lee, about that. He was annoyed. The ref said he dived and Lee said ‘I didn’t dive, I just went down to one knee because I couldn’t see.’

“The ref’s half-said ‘OK, I might have got it wrong.’ That’s why I think if you’ve got a doubt, you’ve got to go with your linesman.

“If your linesman’s flag goes up that quickly then, for me, you’ve got to go with him and not just have a guess.

“The minute he went to discuss it I thought he was always going to overturn it.”

United, looking for a seventh straight win in National League South, led through Alex Flisher’s header early in the second half.

But Tony Burman’s Darts deserved their equaliser and looked the more likely winners in the last 10 minutes.

Saunders, whose side dropped a place to fourth, said: “We’ve not been at our best since Concord. The last few games we’ve been off it a little bit.

“We know there’s room for improvement and the boys have got to be better. I just thought it was a typical derby and they probably adapted to it better than we did.

“We didn’t deserve three points today, there’s no doubt about that. I’m not going to stand here and say we did. I said that to Tony at the end.

“We just couldn’t quite stamp our authority on the game and you’ve got to give credit to Dartford for that because they worked very hard to close us down, didn’t let us settle and any time we did get it about and tried to play out, it was hard because they got really tight to us.”