Dartford 1
St Albans City 1
The opening stages were dominated by Dartford and Alan Dowson's side created a flurry of opportunities in the opening quarter of an hour.
After three minutes Charlton Athletic loanee Richard Chin slid Max Statham in behind ,after St Albans failed to sufficiently clear a Sam Odaudu long throw, but Dylan Berry got down well to beat away the defender's effort.
Shortly after this it was Chin's turn to force Berry into a save. Harvey Bradbury hooked the ball over the top for Chin and the 20 year old volleyed straight at Berry.
The Norwich City loanee would be unable to keep the Darts at bay for long and with 13 minutes on the clock the hosts broke the deadlock. Following a sliding challenge from Statham the ball ricocheted over the top of the Saints backline releasing Bradbury in behind, and the Dorchester loanee lobbed the ball over Berry and into the back of the net for his sixth goal in ten appearances for Dartford.
The home side kept up the pressure and just before the half hour mark went close to doubling their lead. A Luke Coulson corner was punched clear by Berry as far as Jordan Wynter who lashed the ball back towards goal forcing St Albans' Northern Irish shot stopper into a smart save.
If anyone was going to score before the break it looked more likely to be Dartford. However with five minutes left of the opening period St Albans snatched an equaliser with what proved to be their only shot on target of the whole game. A low corner from Chay Cooper was delivered into a dangerous area and Luton Town loanee Aidan Francis-Clarke was on hand to tap home from six yards out. This was the teenager's first goal in St Albans colours since making the move from Kenilworth Road.
The second half was much quieter than the first at Princes Park. Dartford went close to retaking the lead with Bradbury and Statham both having headers come back off the woodwork, however they were both adjudged to have been offside anyway. As a result after 90 minutes the score line remained 1-1 and the game headed to extra time.
Six minutes after the restart Berry had to make a big save to keep the visitors level, as a lovely threaded pass from Samir Carruthers released Coulson in behind who saw his attempt blocked by Berry.
The Saints then quickly broke up the other end with a deep Glenn McConnell cross being fired into the side netting by Zane Banton.
The second half of extra time was also quiet with a few weak headers from Dartford the best that either side could muster in the Kent sunshine, and consequently the game headed to penalties.
Dartford were hoping to avoid of a repeat of the 2019/20 playoff final and their 2021/22 playoff eliminator that had both ended in shootout heartbreak against Weymouth and Chippenham Town respectively. However the Darts went on to suffer more spot kick heartbreak.
The shootout got off to the worst possible start for the home side as following a Shaun Jeffers conversion for the visitors substitute Samir Carruthers saw his tame penalty kept out by Berry.
This was followed by a faultless shootout in which Coulson, Charlie Sheringham and Keiran Murtagh converted for the Darts whilst McConnell, Banton and Cooper were all on target for the Saints.
This meant that 22 year old striker Joe Neal had the chance to book St Albans' place in the playoff final. Dartford goalkeeper Ben Dudzinski got a strong hand to Neal's penalty but he couldn't keep it out and as a result David Noble's side triumphed 5-3 in the shootout.
A win for City means they'll travel to Oxford City for the final next Sunday where they'll have the chance to win promotion to the Vanarama National League; and face off with the likes of Oldham Athletic, Southend United and Rochdale next term.
Defeat for Dartford means it'll be a ninth consecutive campaign at step two level for the Darts next term. Defeat also brings to an end Dartford's four game unbeaten run against St Albans.
ATT: 3,234
Dartford: Dudzinski, Wynter, Chin (Fonkeu 31'), Essam, Bonner, Coulson, Allen (Murtagh 91'), Statham, Smith (Carruthers 77'), Bradbury (Sheringham 91'), Odaudu
Goals: Bradbury 13'
St Albans: Berry, Stanley (McConnell 91'), Francis-Clarke, Adebiyi (Clark 46'), Blackman, Jeffers, Banton, Weiss (Neal 90+1'), Mukena, Smith (Dawson 106'), Cooper
Goals: Francis-Clarke 41'
Penalties
Dartford
Carruthers: Missed
Coulson: Scored
Sheringham: Scored
Murtagh: Scored
St Albans
Jeffers: Scored
McConnell: Scored
Banton: Scored
Cooper: Scored
Neal: Scored
By Nathan Williams
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