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Aldershot Town 3 Dartford 0

James Rogers. Picture: Andy Payton
James Rogers. Picture: Andy Payton

Dartford suffered their first defeat of the season on Tuesday night when Aldershot put three goals past them at the EBB Stadium.

The visitors went behind to a Brett Williams header and Manny Oyeleke made it 2-0 before substitute Aaron Wickham struck late on to punish slack Dartford defending.

Darts boss Tony Burman was forced to make one change from the side which started Saturday's 1-0 win over Alfreton at Princes Park. Matt Fry, who limped out of that game with a hamstring injury, was replaced at left-back by James Rogers.

Oyeleke took the place of Adam Mekki in Aldershot's only change from their 1-1 draw at Grimsby on the opening day.

Rogers, a midfielder by trade, looked out of his depth at times in the opening 45 minutes. Aldershot raided down the right wing several times, with Craig Stanley crossing for Matt Paterson, who headed wide.

Mark Molesley then cut in from the byline, again down the Shots right, and dragged an effort wide of the near post.

At the other end, Lee Noble almost fluked an opening goal for Dartford when his swirling cross deceived goalkeeper Glen Morris and hit the bar.

But the home side kept pressing and they took the lead on 18 minutes. Molesley, a real thorn in the Darts' side, delivered a precise cross which Williams headed beyond the reach of Alan Julian and into the far corner.

It could have been 2-0 before half-time. Oyeleke burst through midfield and shot wide before Molesley went even closer, again penetrating down the Shots right and shaving the outside of the far post with a low effort.

However, the Darts did start to grow into the game and Max Cornhill had a shot deflected behind to give the travelling fans heart. After the restart, Lee Burns latched onto a Ryan Hayes back-heel but Cornhill failed to connect properly with his cross.

It was Aldershot who grabbed the second goal, though. With exactly an hour played, Dartford failed to clear their lines following a free-kick and Oyeleke's shot from the edge of the box took a deflection to wrong-foot Julian on its way into the net.

The game rather petered out after that. Dartford were unable to build any sustained pressure, with Burns volleying their only effort of note well wide.

Aldershot added further gloss to the scoreline three minutes from time. Wickham had been on the pitch less than a minute when he swept home a left-wing cross from fellow substitute Jordan Roberts.

Dartford make the long trip to newly-promoted FC Halifax Town on Saturday.

Aldershot: Morris, Oastler (Douglas 89mins), Stanley, Goodman, Webster, Rowlands (Wickham 85mins), B Williams, Paterson (Roberts 75mins), Oyeleke, Barker, Molesley. Subs not used: Brown, L Williams.

Dartford: Julian; Burns, Clark, Mitchel-King, Rogers; Hayes (Collier 79mins), Cornhill, Bradbrook, Noble (Harris 64mins); Prior (Woodyard 79mins), Birchall. Subs not used: Porter, Wellham.

Attendance: 2,138.

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