It was Dartford's time wasting and dirty tricks that were key to them winning the game. They were time wasting from about the 20th minute, and cos the ref did absolutely naff all about it we couldn't get any sort of rhythm going. Several times we shouted at the ref to look at how much outside the line the corners were being taken from and he did nothing. Anyone else notice that whenever a free kick was given, for them or us, one of their players would pick te ball up and walk off with it, or kick it away somewhere. And to top it all, when their 9 couldn't stroll off any slower when being subbed, the ref gave him a pat on the back!! We weren't at our best today but the ref did us no favours.
-- Edited by ben281032 on Sunday 13th of May 2012 07:20:43 PM
I'm not sure what happened in the 2nd half , still proud for the whole season
What was with all the Darts security , first aid , stewards allowing that nut case to throw abuse and be agressive when he broke in the Welling end whilst they chomped on food and looked on whilst waiting for the sweeney to turn up?
What were they being paid to do today? (apart from eat food)
-- Edited by Esjay on Sunday 13th of May 2012 08:40:58 PM
Not impressed at all with stewarding / general management. Being forced to walk right around the ground rather than down a short provided path was not a good start.
Match should really have been played on a neutral ground where one set of supporters are not treated as second class citizens!
As for the ref...just how much time wasting did he allow?
As for the performance, a 10 minute period before half time was the key phase. Scoring then may well have meant victory. Sadly even if the 2nd half was still going on don't think we would have been creative and direct enough to score.
Wellington - what is wrong with a Play-off final for two equal teams and supporters (organised and paid for by the league) where the home team administration muffed up the sale of tickets, gave three quarters of the stadium to their own fans, segregated Welling into a flee pit, allocating us about 50 seats with a complete disregard for our elder supporters and allowing the warming up of the home players to take pot shots at a goal where the away fans were standing which injured one of our elder supporters?
It was also very good of the Dartford stewards to allow me in the Welling end given I bought my ticket from Princes Park, their high security snip off of the corner of ticket was very neat, which took me hours to perfect, meaning one poor fake Dartford fan couldn't pretend to celebrate in the jubilation of their season - which they didn't witness.
I think the whole things was managed excellently.
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Bringing the spirit of Ransom to our play-off efforts!
To be honest this all sounds like sour grapes. They were better than us today - we were asleep at the start and after that they defended brilliantly.
We'd have defended like hell and timewasted like they did if we were 1-0 up so you can't blame them. I thought the ref had a decent game today, maybe could've booked one or two more of theirs for timewasting but would it have made a difference? Today looked like one of those matches where we could've played all day and not scored.
It's been a brilliant season though and I hope (as unlikely as it is) that we can keep all of this squad for next season as I think if we do that we'll win the league. Every player's played a huge part at some point or another and deserves another crack at promotion. Think it would be helpful if within the next week the club puts something on the website about who's been offered new terms.
Finally, a big thanks to Jamie, Barry and Frosty (and the rest of the management team) for this season. It's been the best we've had in recent times by far and they've worked miracles
The better team won toay, we had momentum in the first half but gave away the ball too often,hoofed it at times in hope and some of our players had better days. Dont know how many will be there next season but its been a great ride thoughout
Yes Dartford had a better allocation, the only real complaint I had would ahve been about the no of seats for the elderly and the muppet from their U18 team who seemed to think it great to wind up the fans when parading their trophy. He needs to be taken aside and had a serious word with.
Good luck to Dartford, I hope the season goes well for them
Couldn't agree more, we just ran out of steam today and lacked attacking options. We have had a great season and i hope the team/management stays together.
If so then a striker and creative midfielder to replace the boss who i think is retiring are top priority!
"and the muppet from their U18 team who seemed to think it great to wind up the fans when parading their trophy. He needs to be taken aside and had a serious word with."
he was just being a kid really , I probably would have done the same at his age .. I don't think there was any real malice in it (Still weird decision to get them to parade in front of the away support though)
Much to my chagrin , I seriously doubt Darts will struggle next season. .. All I care about it is next season for us now... an away trip to Bath to look forward to , toffs but a great curry house down there not far from Twerton Park
Moo, ive been looking for the word for how we were treated from start to finish when the finalists were known. Youve just hit the nail on the head. Contempt.
Proud that our club and also fans have shown class through all this. Agree Dartford deserved the win, good goal and a bit more grown up than us on the big day.
Clearly an accident waitiong to happen yesterday with about 20% more fans than it could hold rammed in the Welling end and the stewards had to let loads stand in the concourse behind the terracing.
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Alexander O'Neal 1987 "I'm fed up cos all you wanna do is criticize "
Certainly not sour grapes, I have no problem with the best team winning on the day, and them being a better team over the course of a season. I saw the Darts away a few time this year and every oposing team told me in the club bar that Dartford were the best team to come to their ground (better than Welling and Woking). I am also proud of what we have achieved.
However, I personally feel the league has let us down. The home advantage is for the team that finishes highest to play on their home turf, not to make it a home game for their fans, laud their U18's around, not let us in their bar for a drink, not give us seats, etc.
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Bringing the spirit of Ransom to our play-off efforts!
I agree not sour grapes but 2 completely different issues albeit that they arise from the same event.
On the day Dartford were the better team and deservedly gained promotion to the Premier Division.
The way supporters were treated on the day was in my view unacceptable and it will be interesting to see how the ground is segregated in terms of facilities, seats etc next season.
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YOUTH are the future
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"The worst thing you can do is make a committment and not meet it and I understand that." Barrie Hobbins 14 August 2010
I agree not sour grapes but 2 completely different issues albeit that they arise from the same event.
On the day Dartford were the better team and deservedly gained promotion to the Premier Division.
The way supporters were treated on the day was in my view unacceptable and it will be interesting to see how the ground is segregated in terms of facilities, seats etc next season.
Agreed.
And the fact that the sprinkler 'accidentally' soaked several Welling fans behind the goal was another illustration of their contempt for Welling fans.
The segregation did not work properly. They crammed 1040 Welling supporters in an area big enough for 750 and allowed the remaining 3048 spectators in an area that would hold 3,350. There was plenty of room down the side, especially in the corner nearest our end and I had expected us to be allocated some room there.
As for it being a home game for Dartford, I like the idea of the highest placed club having an advantage and, had we finished runners up, I would have expected Welling to use the home changing room, home dug-outs, best areas of the ground for our supporters etc. and if we had a signature tune, I would have expected the players to have come out to it.
Agree that Dartford were the better team on the day, but the league need to look at how this was managed. They couldn't even get the sroreboard working and the parading of the U18's...well one of them would have been given a good pasting by less decent fans. The announcer could have done with a character transplant too!
As for the referee these finals should have had a top referee able to handle the event rather than hope it will pass without major incident despite inconsistent decision-making.
At least it was a nice sunny day for the walk in the road!
Agree that Dartford were the better team on the day, but the league need to look at how this was managed. They couldn't even get the sroreboard working and the parading of the U18's...well one of them would have been given a good pasting by less decent fans. The announcer could have done with a character transplant too!
As for the referee these finals should have had a top referee able to handle the event rather than hope it will pass without major incident despite inconsistent decision-making.
At least it was a nice sunny day for the walk in the road!
I don't know why you did a circuit of the ground. I didn't.
Their youth team parading a trophy didn't bother me and I thought the referee was better than most we have had this season. He did ok at Salisbury away too.
Segregation was probably a wise precaution although putting 25% of the crowd in 20% of the stadium was not!!
Obviously Mark you managed to dodge the daft stewards who told the Welling fans to fly off down the main road rather than walk the path down the side of the ground!
The referee was a fair non-league referee but there were plenty of better ones available on the day.
As for segregation it is sadly creeping into non-league football. A plus side of not getting promoted will be slightly less hassle at PVR next season.
It did seem bizare about making people walk around the ground. I saw a group being sent on the long walk, went up with my ticket clearly with the cut off corner and was allowed through.
It was a bit squashed but otherwise I can't say I had a problem, stewards were fine and polite and directed us straight from the road to the away end. Dartford do need to look at seat allocations - wonder what they did for Port Vale - of course not every club is lucky to have a ground as well appointed as PVR with 2 fabulous stands.......
It was a bit squashed but otherwise I can't say I had a problem, stewards were fine and polite and directed us straight from the road to the away end. Dartford do need to look at seat allocations - wonder what they did for Port Vale - of course not every club is lucky to have a ground as well appointed as PVR with 2 fabulous stands.......
I will have to take a closer look next time I am there. I have only spotted one!!
It was a bit squashed but otherwise I can't say I had a problem, stewards were fine and polite and directed us straight from the road to the away end. Dartford do need to look at seat allocations - wonder what they did for Port Vale - of course not every club is lucky to have a ground as well appointed as PVR with 2 fabulous stands.......
I will have to take a closer look next time I am there. I have only spotted one!!
Must agree Chelwing rather nice stand by the shop and bar and a crappy one by the cricket pitch.
