City 4, Dartford 1

ALAN Shearer will make the FA Cup third-round draw at The Deep aquarium in Hull tonight.

The England legend knew a thing or two about the art of goal-scoring and forging a successful strike partnership.

Well, City fans will be glued to their television sets for this evening's draw having witnessed a new combination come to the fore.

Billy Clarke and Jon Stead were both on the scoresheet again yesterday as Phil Parkinson's men marched into round three with consummate ease.

For Shearer and Chris Sutton, or more pertinently James Hanson and Nahki Wells, read Clarke and Stead.

Wells has long gone, of course, and his old partner-in-crime Hanson cannot currently get into Parkinson's team.

The form of Clarke and Stead, and the way they so compliment each other, has dictated that they must start.

It remains to be seen whether Stead will extend his stay beyond the end of his current loan spell, which expires on January 3.

But he is clearly loving life at Valley Parade – it is now four goals in his last six games – and his burgeoning relationship with Clarke is thriving.

Stead created the space to set up Clarke for a tenth-minute opener and the Huddersfield striker then side-footed home a second shortly after the half-hour mark.

In truth, 2-0 at half-time flattered Dartford.

The Bantams were superior in every department and the only disappointment for Parkinson was that the lead was not greater.

Still, the pace, width and urgency with which his men attacked the Conference outfit was pleasing all the same.

Outstanding second-half strikes from impressive widemen Filipe Morais and Mark Yeates underlined the gulf in class between the sides.

The goals, coming within the space of a minute, meant all four of City's front four players had notched.

So there was to be no giant-killing act at City's expense.

The romance of the world's oldest knockout cup competition was limited to a good old-fashioned boisterous away following of 471 fans from Kent.

That and a second-half consolation goal for Lee Noble.

The fact that Parkinson admitted he would love to face Manchester United at home in the next round said everything about the FA Cup.

What other knockout competition in the world can engender such passion and fervour?

Nobody could accuse Parkinson of not doing his homework on the opposition as he had been to watch Dartford twice since the second-round draw was made.

Some managers might have sent a scout to see the Kent outfit play, or asked for a DVD of their recent games.

Not Parkinson.

Not when there was so much at stake for City yesterday; a coveted third-round place and potential money-spinning tie against a Premier League giant.

He drove down to deepest, darkest Kent to watch Tony Burman's team against Chester and then away at Eastleigh last week.

The Darts lost both games but Parkinson was taking no risks.

The Bantams boss thus picked his strongest available side, recalling the fit-again Morais on the right wing and giving Ben Williams a run-out in between the posts with Jordan Pickford ineligible.

Morais came in for Andy Halliday, who had been suffering from a migraine earlier in the week, but those were the only two changes to the side which thumped Leyton Orient the week previously.

Dartford are struggling in the Conference but they have some notable names in their ranks.

In their starting line-up was Peter Sweeney, who played for Millwall in the 2004 FA Cup final against Manchester United, ex-Blackburn goalkeeper Jason Brown and Mat Mitchell-King, formerly of Crewe and AFC Wimbledon.

And the FA Cup being the FA Cup, there were some great stories in the non-League side's ranks.

Brothers Elliot and Tom Bradbrook both juggle high-powered jobs in the City with turning out for the part-timers.

Ryan Hayes works nights at a London meat market and Max Cornhill is a fashion designer.

Dartford actually had the game's first chance, when Danny Harris fired just wide from inside the 18-yard box.

From there City took control, often stretching their visitors to breaking point down the right flank, where Stephen Darby and Morais linked up to excellent effect.

It was a similar story on the left wing as James Meredith supported Yeates at every given opportunity.

The opening blow was struck as early as the tenth minute, when Stead neatly created the space to cross low from the left flank.

The ball found its way to Clarke, who eventually fired the ball home from close range after some desperate Dartford defending threatened to keep him at bay.

Eight minutes later, Morais crossed dangerously from the right but Clarke could only volley over the crossbar when well placed.

Billy Knott, who enjoyed a fine game in the middle of the park, then combined with Clarke to set up Stead, whose close-range effort was blocked.

The Bantams continued to probe but, if anything, were too intricate at times as they sought to increase their lead.

Darby hit a fierce piledriver from distance which narrowly missed the target, before City did grab their second goal in the 31st minute.

This time Yeates did well to cross low from the left inside the penalty area and Stead's predatory instincts saw him stretch out a leg to bury the ball.

Two-nil and effectively game over.

Dartford afforded City acres of space to play at times and the Bantams continued to create chances after the interval.

Sure enough, goal number three arrived in the 58th minute when Morais hit a blistering right-foot drive, which appeared to take a slight deflection into the top corner from 25 yards.

With City fans still celebrating, Parkinson's men advanced forward again straight from the restart and Yeates showed delightful skill to cut in from the left and curl a fine right-foot shot into the far corner.

Dartford replied when Noble cleverly back-heeled in Rory McAuley's cross in the 64th minute.

Soon after, Noble hit a fierce shot from distance which Williams turned away. A second goal for Dartford at that point might have made things interesting.

Probably not, though, as City booked their place in tonight's draw with plenty to spare.

City v Dartford picture gallery