TALKING POINTS

Dom Roman

@DomRoman

Dom discusses the NLS game

BACK ON THE ROAD

The Gulls head back out on the road this weekend to face 11th placed Dartford FC and our old foe Alan Dowson. No bones about it, the next run of five league games does look favourable, with the opposition all below us in the table. The aim should therefore be 15 points, before a tough pre-Xmas fixture at Chelmsford, who have been inconsistent (who hasn’t!), but impressed at Plainmoor earlier in the season. We’ve been nervy in away games since the Dover opener, maybe the pitches don’t meet our own standards, but we’ve struggled to hold footholds in games and make our professional quality count. Good teams who are gunning for promotion go to somewhere like Dartford and dig out 3 points, let’s hope after the Yeovil win, that momentum carries us to another victory.

THE LINE-UP

Mark Halstead must be close to returning in goal. No disrespect to Rhys Lovett, but I’d rather have our number 1 between the sticks, even if he was decidedly nervy against Weston Super and Hampton. Otherwise there is a case for keeping the same line-up, because the team gathered some fluency and balance last Saturday. Ethon Archer and Lewis Collins are pressing for recalls, whilst I’m not sure why Jack Stobbs missed the Yeovil game, if he’s fit then Gary Johnson has a decision to make after Dillon De Silva’s goal-scoring return. Dylan Crowe will be hoping his display at left back will allow him to stay there, though new man Archie Harris has not come to United to warm the bench. With players form showing hints of improvement all-round and Callum Dolan showing all the signs of becoming a fans favourite, there are selection dilemmas for the manager, and that’s something he’ll be pleased about.

MOXEY AT CENTRE BACK

The combination of Ollie Tomlinson and Dean Moxey looked steady on Saturday, and it’s one (fitness permitting), I’d like us to stick to. Ross Marshall has been given every chance to prove himself again this season, and whilst he’s done well in certain games, there’s been far too many mistakes and too many errors of judgement. Deano does not have the aerial presence of Marshall, but he has miles more intelligence and can still read the game better than most. Cutting out the Centre Back problems is a must if we are to put a run together and with Ollie Tomlinson growing in stature by the week, this partnership can give us a solid base to build on. And if this means using Crowe or Harris at left back then so be it

THE OPPOSITION

Dartford’s squad in their last game included the likes of Diarra, Rooney and Sheringham…and they still lost to the mighty Braintree! Alan Dowson’s Darts started the season as many people’s tips as dark horses, but so far they’ve struggled to live up to it. Veteran defender and ex-Gull Paul Rooney (2006 loan spell from Millwall) was sent off on Tuesday night, so he’ll miss this one, whilst Luke Coulson is earmarked as their key man by our Opposition Q&A writer. Coulson is a winger who spent a few years at Bromley, before joining Dartford in the summer of 2022. Upfront Alex Wall is an experienced target man with Luton, Bristol Rovers and Bromley on his cv (amongst others), whilst Charlie Sheringham is also at the veteran stage of his career after spells around various non-league teams. They’ve also just loaned in striker George Alexander from Bromley until the end of the season. We all remember the aggressive and physical tactics Dowson used with success at Woking, so we’ll need to be wary of the game dissipating into a disjointed and scrappy 90 minutes that helps the home team. Dowson would love to get one over Gary Johnson this Saturday I’m sure, so we’ll need to be up to the arm wrestle.