MATCH PREVIEW | DARTFORD V OXFORD CITY

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MATCH PREVIEW | DARTFORD V OXFORD CITY

Nicole Hayes • February 24, 2023

After a blip on Tuesday night, Oxford City will be looking to get back to winning ways in Vanarama National League South with a win over Dartford.

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Although Oxford City’s winning streak has come to an end, after drawing 1-1 to Taunton Town, they remain unbeaten in 2023.

Previous 3-0 wins over Worthing and Welling United, have seen The Hoops rise to 4th in the league. They now face a tough challenge against Dartford at the weekend who sit in second position in the league.

This will be a difficult challenge for The Hoops, and as the end of the season is fast approaching, neither side can afford to drop vital points with a by through to the semi-finals waiting for the teams that finish in 2nd or 3rd place.

LAST TIME OUT:

The last face-off between Dartford and Oxford City was back in November 2022 and it went down to the wire after Canice Carroll’s late equaliser helped salvage a point for The Hoops.

Tom Bonner opened the scoring in the 25th minute with an in-swinging header, scoring his first goal of the season.

It came down to a Josh Ashby free-kick, on the edge of the box, with minutes to go to get an equaliser.

The midfielder's perfect cross met the head of Canice Carroll, who managed to find the back of the net to secure the draw for City in the last minute.

FORM:

DARTFORD

Form: L D W D W

Despite their lofty position, Dartford’s form has been very inconsistent over the past few weeks, picking up a possible 7 points out of 15.

However, the Darts most recently beat Slough Town 1-0, on Tuesday night, with Kieran Murtagh scoring the only goal in the match in the 4th minute. They are currently 2nd in the VNLS table, 6 points ahead Havant and Waterlooville. However, the Hawks have two games in hand over Dartford.

Although they are 2nd in the table, they are still 9 points behind league leaders, Ebbsfleet United but Dowson's side still harbour ambitions of catching their Kent rivals.

OXFORD CITY

Form: W W W W D

Oxford City are still unbeaten in 2022, winning six and drawing three. Their five wins in a row came to an end this week, when the Hoops travelled to Somerset to face Taunton Town, finishing in a 1-1 draw.

However, they are still one of the best performing sides in the VNLS and they currently sit 4th in the table, joint on points with Havant and Waterlooville, who have three games in hand over Oxford City.

The Hoops have won four out of their last five games and they are looking ahead to continue their 2023 unbeaten run, against Dartford at the weekend. However, City haven't won at Princes Park so far, so tests like Saturday don't get tougher than this!

ONE TO WATCH: Isaac Ogundere

Isaac Ogundere is one of Dartford’s new signings. An exciting young talent, Ogundere has recently signed on loan from Sky Bet League Two side AFC Wimbledon this week. He is a versatile right-back who can also play in the heart of the defence as well. Isaac was part of the successful FA Youth Cup run with AFC Wimbledon cup run and he'll be one to look out for on Saturday.