Ryman Premier Division
Daggers 6(3) Hendon 0(0)
A sparse crowd could not have been prepared for the feast of goals that were about to be foisted on them. The vociferous half-way line posse deserted their post for a finer climate on the other side of the ground. There was a quiet start from my fellow supporters but by the end of the game we were in fine voice.
Now to the match, it wasn't long before we managed to penetrate the Hendon defence but with the first goal there was just a hint of luck. A fine high ball from Jeff Woolsey that went all the way down the right touchline right up to the by-line where Paul Cobb collected and crossed it. There was some amount of indecision going on in the six yard box and when the ball finally broke it fell to Gary Howard who finished competently from eight yards out.
Although we had some good moments in the next half an hour it was Hendon who were more imaginative with the play. Keeping the ball low and switching from wing to wing but they were never able to create anything that caused the home team problems.
The second goal was a bit fortuitous and came from a mix up in the midfield area. the ball broke to an off-side Cobb who played to the whistle that never came. He then laid the ball into the path of Paul Terry who raced towards goal and neatly chipped the keeper. 2-0 to Dagenham & Redbridge and a chance to settle down.
The third came just before half time and involved Gary Howard who managed, luckily, to push the ball out to Jason Broom on the left. I say luckily because it was a poorly weighted pass and the Hendon defender thought that he could intercept it but mis-timed timed his tackle, this left Jason all the time he needed to cross the ball where Paul Terry was at hand to poke in from 6 yards. 3-0 just before the break.
The fourth goal was a bit of class and again showed some good team work. Paul Cobb managed to get hold of the ball with his back to goal and hold it up in his own inimitable way. His pass was perfectly weighted to Paul Terry who then pulled it nicely inside into the path of the advancing Jeff Woolsey who calmly place the ball into the back of the net. 4-0 with 52 minutes gone.
It was time for Paul Cobb to get on the score sheet and I guess it had to be the hard working Paul Terry that was to create the chance. He intercepted a clearance from the Hendon defence and the ran toward the by-line midway between the left touchline and the penalty area. Paul Cobb waited patiently and unmarked on the right and the cross was inch perfect. Cobb made no mistake to make the score 5-0.
Paul must have been watching the clever move involving a free kick with Gravesend and Northfleet last week. Paul executed perfectly what said team didn't quite pull off. Paul Terry had turned three defenders inside out but had his ankle clipped as he tore toward the penalty area. Paul Cobb stepped up to take the kick and as the combined attack and midfield of Dagenham congregated on the opposite edge of the area Paul shot at goal at the near post. The keeper had to reposition himself but was unable to make up the ground and ended up pushing the ball into the back of the net.
The final score was 6-0, I suppose we all would have liked to see Paul Cobb score that elusive hat-trick but as a consolation it does look like he is going to finish up as our top goal scorer and probably the Internet Man Of The Season as well. I bet he is really excited about that!
One more home game this season. Then we can prepare for that serious assault on the Championship for next year.
Gothard, Cole, Pratt, Howard1(Mas), Woolsey1, Matthews(Culverhouse), Broom, Cobb2, Shipp(Neufville), Terry2, Blackford
Ryman Premier Division
Daggers 0 Gravesend 0
A scoreline that doesn't quite show how good the match was. The home side attacked this game like players that were out to prove something! It was like watching the first game of the season with everything to play for. Strange considering it was at the back end of the season with nothing to play for. Perhaps there was something sinister going on, we will never know!
Back to the game, the Daggers did look very impressive for the first ten minutes with some brilliant approach work and good off the ball football. Ther players were covering each other and overlapping as if they had been playing as a team all season. Oh, I forgot, they have. Paul Terry should have put Dagenham ahead in the opening 19 minutes, on not one but two occasions. Paul Cobb also had a chance in these early stages.
The match did settle down, not into a slow laborious way you would have expected but both teams were alert and playing with equal anticipation. They were looking around with great awareness andthis was produce very entertaining football.
By the half hour point its was Gravesend's time to dominate and they did take full control. The Daggers players hadn't manage to penetrate deep enough and now their early flurry was taking it's toll. The visitors could have scored on two occasions, the first was cleared by more luck than judement and Paul Gothard did well with his feet to save the second.
The ball hardly left the Daggers half for the rest of the period and every loose ball was being collected by the Gravesend midfield who then just pushed it back into the danger area. But they weren't able to cause any major problems. This was mainly due to Jason Broom's one man crusade as he worked tirelessly to cover every inch of the pitch.
The best chance for Gravesend came from a brilliant set move from a free kick. Let me see if I can describe it. The ball was 25 yards out and in line with the right edge of the penalty area. The rest of the team stood on the opposite corner of the penalty area waiting for a deep cross. Of course they were being marked man for man and Paul Gothard was also at the far post of his goal waiting to rise above and collect that inevitable deep cross. The player who was to take the kick had a different idea and chipped the ball in towards the goal at the near post. It went over by about 18 inches but if it had dipped a little sooner it could have been very embarrasing moment because I calculate that Gothard was a good 5 yards away.
The Daggers came out stronger in the second half and and although they didn't have all the play, any visiting scout would be able to report back to his manager that there were players in the home side to be concerned about. Especially if they were having to play Dagenham in the near future.
Paul Cobb did have a very good opportunity to take the lead as he recieved a perfect ball from Paul Terry. He ran towards the keeper who came out and blocked the shot.
The best half-chance was to come and it did on 67 minutes. There had been a lot of activity in the last third of the pitch as Dagenham mounted another attack. The ball broke to David Pratt 20 yards out and he was quick to see the keeper of his line and he chipped the ball only to be beaten by the upper surface of the bar.
I enjoyed the evening even though it did get a bit cold during the game and it was fascinating to see how many shots Paul Terry was going to have. Then working out the ratio between the ones that were on target and the ones that were not!
Gothard, Cole, Pratt, Woolsey, Janney(Game), Matthews, Broom, Cobb, Shipp, Terry, Blackford.
Ryman Premier Division
Daggers 1(1) Bishop's Stortford 1(1)
It turned it to be quite a large crowd considering the situation the home team are in, ie just looking to finish as high as possible in the league. Of course Bishops Stortford had a bit more at stake as they are languishing at the foot of the division with just a glimmer of hope that they can pull off another miracle.
In the early stages it was Stortford that looked a bit more composed and I wasn't able to comprehend why they are in the position they are.
We should have been two ahead within the first twenty-five minutes. First of all, after some good passing in midfield, the ball was moved into the penalty area and should have been cleared by Stortford but Cobb wasn't alert enough to take advantage. Just a couple of minutes later it was Paul Cobb who provided a perfect cross for Tim Cole to run onto and head firmly toward goal. Gavin King was equal to it as he star jumped and pushed the ball out for another corner.
Then came the break out of defence from Stortford, the ball went to the left side of the field where their player rode two tackles from Broom and Cobb. It was then release to another player and into the Daggers half, he looked up and then switched the play to the right with a superb pass that split our remaining defence. It was in the path of an advancing Danny Benstock who struck it perfectly first time, it hit the back of the far corner of the net. I have to admit it has my vote for 'opposition goal of the season'. Which is another new feature that will probably die a death before it starts!?
A few minutes later we were back on level terms with Danny Shipp chipping Gavin King with a deft touch from twelve yards. I feel that if Gavin had stayed on his line it would have been a better proposition as he did have enough defenders back to cover. But that was his only mistake of the match. This must have boosted Danny's confidence as only minutes later he attempted a overhead scissor-kick from about fifteen yards out that not even an optimistic Dennis Law would have tried! Mind you it had my vote for another new feature 'shots at goal that only silly people would attempt'.
At the start of the second half came some more innovative football, a perfect cross from David Pratt onto Paul Cobb's head. Yes, I know both of these are rare but the header was also on target and was only beaten by the crossbar.
It was Cobb again who was involved and produced a fine shot from eight yards out and once againg that 'pain in the ass' of a keeper stood up well and then got down quickly to deny Paul. By this time Gavin had already won my vote for 'opposition goalkeeper of the match' and with fifteen minutes to go I was nearly on the pitch with said award in my hand as once again he thwarted Cobb.
King did make one further small mistake when he wasn't able to hold a shot from Danny Shipp. The ball then trickled towards the inside of the post but was cleared off the line.
It wasn't all Dagenham in the second half but Gavin was certainly busier than our Paul Gothard. Stortford had chances and that has got to be good for them and they also played with a lot of spirit. I don't know how they have been playing all season but there are worse teams in this league and it will be a shame to see them go down.
Gothard, Cole, Pratt, Game, Janney(Terry), Woosey, Broom, Cobb, Shipp1, Matthews, Blackford
Ryman Premier Division
Daggers 0(0) Sutton United 0(0)
Coming into this game and off the back of two good wins we all knew how important it was going to be. Not only for the Daggers but also for Sutton have also had an impressive period. Before the game Sutton were sitting on top of the Ryman Premier Division albeit on goal difference and we were third and eight points behind. The truth is that not only did we need to win this game and hope that the other teams faltered but we can't afford to lose any further points.
The team also had to think about the impressive record of not conceding a league goal in the last 11 matches and maybe this was in the forefront of their minds. Sutton must have looked at our recent record and had decided before the match that a draw would do. I say this because everything the teams did looked very tentative, neither of them wanted to push forward in numbers.
In fact in the early stages it seemed to be about possession and it was Sutton who had slightly more of it. But unless used in a constructive way possession will only stop the opposition from scoring. Sutton were just happy to keep the ball in the middle of the field and not open up the game by advancing in numbers.
Sutton did start to take control and move forward around the thirty minute mark and it was from this that the Daggers first real attack occurred. After some good passing across the midfield Danny Shipp was released on the left, his shot was fine but Sutton's keeper got down well and pushed the ball out, it was just a shame that we had no-one to follow up. In time added on for the first half Sutton could have taken the lead, I'm not sure how as my pocket-memo went a bit strange at that point and I can't decipher it.
The second half was to bring much of the same. There were chances for both teams but they were few and far between. Mark Janney came close as he attacked the penalty area from the right. His final shot was low and hard but went wide. Mind you this may have been due to him being off balance as he had been pulled back as he entered the penalty area.
Gothard did pull off a superb one handed save as the match entered its dying moments. A Sutton corner was flicked on from the near post and Paul moved impressively across his goal to push the ball away to safety.
The general concensus before the game, from what normally are very pessimistic supporters, was that we may have a chance of pulling off the miracle that was winning the League. The team has, up until this game, looked very confident over the last few weeks. They looked different today, as if they didn't believe they could do it, as if the clean sheet thing was more important. Sutton didn't help as they played the type of football that I don't like to see. And that isn't me being negative towards them because of some deep seated hate but because they came into the match knowing what they needed to do and that is all they did. We just didn't know how to combat it.
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