Ryman Premier Division
Daggers 1(0) Aylesbury United 0(0)
We arrived at the ground with renewed confidence but knowing that we had to win to have any chance of winning the Ryman Premier League. Yes, I know that seems like a wild suggestion especially as five weeks ago I intimated and stated that our season had finished. The championship is still very unlikely but with a few results going our way and with us continuing to play well and win you never know. Lest us not forget that the game we all love is football and anything can, and sometimes does, happen.
Aylesbury, having lost their manager recently and being toppled from the top place that they have quite rightly made there own for the vast majority of the season, came to the Victoria Road ground and, together with Dagenham & Redbridge, produced a great non-league spectacle. The game had everything you would want. Goal-mouth scrambles, good creative play from midfield, bad play in midfield. Both defences looked good and managed to hold their shape well but the strikers still managed to penetrate through to the keepers who made conventional and not so conventional saves.
The game moved from end to end with the reliabilty of a pendulum from a grandfather clock. Chances came and went, Paul Cobb at one stage given a chance to seize upon an Aylesbury defensive error, when the defender put the ball past a perfectly positioned keeper he watched helplessly as the ball bounce feebly off of the base of the post. The ball appeared to be in no-mans land for an awful long while and I was surprised that Paul Cobb didn't pounce on to it quicker. Sadly the ball was cleared.
Similarly, when the Daggers were pushing forward, in numbers, early on in the second half they left the rear guard wide open and when the Aylesbury left sided player was given a 20 yard cushion and then bore down on goal the score should have been one-nil to the visitors but then we had Calvin Haywood in goal and he would use any method he could to continue the teams impressive run of clean sheets.
This is not like one of my normal reports because I would have found it impossible just to pick out half a dozen events throughout the game. Let me say, though, that I really did enjoy the whole match and when Paul Cobb found himself five yards out and only surrounded by 3 defenders he must have thought that his chance had finally come. Well it had, and when I looked around at the supporters that were around me and all I can say is that there was a lot of smiles on faces and they were just mirroring my own deep feelings.
Mind you we still had 12 minutes to go but we sang louder and louder and tried in every way we could to encourage the team that had made us so happy. I think they must have heard us and kept fighting until that final whistle.
I need to make a couple of points; I know there is a lot of talk about Gary Hill coming to the club but I doubt if that is going to happen while St. Albans continue their run in the FA Trophy. I don't know John Bennett as such but he has achieved something in the last few weeks that Ted had lost towards the end of his reign. I am not just talking about the results but tactually too. The ball is being played along the ground more and they seem to be keeping their shape in all areas of the field. John is trying new ideas but in a subtle way. He is playing players with more skill and the whole teams is benefiting from it. Should we give him a chance?
And, sorry to go on, but something has got to be said in defence of the Aylesbury drummers. Most people were moaning about it and I have to agree that we could have had a little respite from it but it created a great atmosphere and probably did more to encourage the home supporters to raise their voices than anything else. I hope they continue, but with a couple of suggestions, perhaps stop for a few minutes during each half and turn it down just a little bit. (Blimey, I sound like me dad!)
Once again, I apologise for the strangeness of this report.
Haywood, Cole, Pratt, Game, Janney, Matthews, Broom, Cobb1, Shipp(Barry), Terry(Bird), Blackford.
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Ryman Premier Division
Daggers 1(1) Harrow Borough 0(0)
After a couple of days of beautiful weather we ventured down to Victoria Road for an evening match that proved to be very entertaining. Both teams working hard and providing us, bearing in mind the positions of each club, with a decent game.
The action started very early but it was Harrow that had the more tentative start, their defence was in disarray and seemed unable to clear the ball. If the Daggers attack had been a little more alert they would have been able to capitalise on a terrible clearance from the keeper who sliced the ball into what could have been Paul Cobb's path.
We didn't have to wait long as a good move from the right, which saw Janney releasing Paul Cobb who in turn produced a perfect cross to the far post which is a position that Danny Shipp has made his own this season but tonight it wasn't to be. Danny missed the ball and it came out to an advancing David Pratt who was able to shoot from about seven yards. As David was about to do so you could sense in the crowd that, not even with his current form, could he miss. I was always confident but I felt that he made it a bit tight as the ball took a deflection and hit the underside of the bar before hitting the back of the net!
The Daggers were ahead after just six minutes but it was to be Harrow that produced the most attacking football. They won a corner which was crossed and headed very firmly but a great star jump and one handed save from Paul Gothard kept us in the game and this was to be the direction that the game would take.
We did have a couple more chances but they were on the break and, for the most part, that is where they came from.
In the second half the visitors continued to push for the equaliser but, thankfully it wasn't to appear. They needed a goal to increase their confidence and I feel that if they had scored it may have been a different story altogether. Our defence looked better and Gothard, who seems to be getting better every game, was exceptionally good.
Twenty minutes into the half and we had our period of dominance and it was enough to quell Harrow's continued enthusiasm that hadn't until that point shown any sign of fading. This period lasted about ten minutes when the team were able to attack freely and win a couple of corners but were unable to capialise.
With fifteen minutes to go Harrow came back and again attacked well and again it was Gothard who saved the day. They should have equalised in the dying stages but somehow the Daggers held on.
This report is not suppose to be negative. I try to be as objective as I can without being biased towards Dagenham. This sometimes can make it look as though I favour the opposition. The fact of the matter is that the Daggers played well. They got into many strong positions and looked good when attacking and defending. I'm not sure if I'm reading to much into it but over the last two games that I have seen the ball seems to be being pushed around well and along the ground and this coupled with the fact that the game is being switched from side to side could make the rest of the season quite interesting. Who knows John Bennett may be elevated to manager at the end of the season.
Gothard, Cole, Pratt, Woolsey, Janney (Oakley 48), Matthews, Broom, Cobb, Shipp, Terry (Mas 86), Blackford.
Ryman Premier Division
Daggers 2(0) Basingstoke Town 0(0)
Summer is here, our season may be all but finished but the Summer has arrived. Almost shirt sleeve weather! Not a great performance from the boys but they once again did enough against a team that are obviously happy to hover around the mid-table area.
We had a couple of early chances the best falling to Paul Terry who, if he had managed to travel just another six inches for a diving header, could have directed it home with ease. The best opportunaty of the half came on twenty five minutes, after some short passes in midfield Paul Cobb, playing deep, produced an extraordinary pass that split the Basingstoke defence and gave Matty Bird about five yards of space. As he was about to control the ball, he fell over. A great comment from the crowd followed. "Oi Ref, book the invisible man"
The game wasn't dire as such but did need to be livened up. On forty minutes there was some good understanding between Janney and Shipp which resulted in Shipp becoming provider and whipping in a good cross that Janney was first to miss and Cobb wasn't able to direct towards goal.
Early in the second half Basingstoke gave away a corner unnecessarily and Cobb, whose corner taking is impeccable, was able to provide Gary Blackford with a chance to score from close range at the far post. 1-0 to the Daggers and a chance to settle down. We could be confident as it didn't look as if Basingstoke were really very interested.
In fact the second half didn't produce much more in terms of action but we did see the candidate for goal of the season. The ball came over the top of the defence from the right of midfield and into the path of Danny Shipp just outside the left hand corner of the penalty area. I felt that he should have volleyed it as he had enough time to set it up. The fact is that Danny is a footballer and I am only a spectator and now I know why. He controlled the ball and positioned it onto his right foot, he then looked up and curled the ball around the keeper and just inside the upright and crossbar. Oh, I did get excited!
Janney was involved with two more incidents of note, the first was when he took the ball to the byeline and produced a cross but Cobb was at full stretch with his diving header and was only able to hit the foot of the post. The second was when he recieved a cross field pass from a very industrious Jason Broom and although Mark was able to get into a good position he wasn't able to finish.
A reasonable performance and I think that John Bennett can feel happy in the way the team is working together well. Let's hope it continues.
Gothard, Cole, Pratt, Woolsey, Blackford1, Bird(Mas), Broom, Cobb, Shipp1(Barry), Terry, Janney.
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Ryman Premier Division
Daggers 4 Hampton 0
It was a very wet and windy night but I felt that the turn out for Ted Hardy's last game was poor. I'm not sure how big the crowd was but I would be surprised if it was much over 350. It was nice to see big-hugs between Tim Cole and Paul Gothard after Saturdays contretemps.
We, the supporters, were subdued and still disappointed in the knowledge that our season has came to an end and it is only the beginning of March.
Once again we made an early breakthrough and once again I missed it. Mark Janney put us ahead within a minute of the start. There I was having a chat with someone about the direction of the website and how it is going to look in the future.You know the sort of thing, how good 'in conversation' is and how or indeed if it can be improved. Obviously it wasn't long before we realised that the feature was something that can never be changed as it attracted so much interest. Anyway Simon and I started to talk about how we could have a page for the reserves put on the website and we both decided that it was a great idea. He did suggest that it might be more interesting than the aforementioned feature but I wasn't convinced. As we began to argue Tim Cole headed a cross straight at the keeper who was unable to hold onto it and Tim finished it off from close range.
The team were stable and just did enough during the game to hold off a team that had no real heart. For a side that is second from bottom they showed no commitment at all and I predict that they will go down. They played as if it was a pre-season friendly and if I had travelled half way around the M25 to witness their lack of....everything, I would not have been happy.
The Daggers continued through the first half just doing enough to control the game. Kirk Game working hard as was Mark Janney, chances were created but not converted.
I doubt whether Ted said much to the team during his half time talk as the second half started as the first half had finished. and I can guess that the Hampton manager didn't say much either. The game just carried on the way that it had been going. The Daggers were still creating chances with Danny Shipp having a couple of shots that lacked the direction and power that he would have hoped for.
We stood in the stand, cold and damp, it was over an hour between the second and third goal. Mark Janney was the supplier, it was always going to come but it was a long wait. Mark was now on for a hatrick and his game did step up a gear. The fourth involved Danny Shipp, who collected on the left and just outside the penalty area. This is a position that he loves to be in and would normally have a shot but not today. He pushed the ball square and into the path of an advancing Darren Barry whose first shot left a lot to be desired and was initially saved by the keeper but who was unable to hold onto it. Darren made no mistake when offered a second chance.
The score was to remain 4-0 until the end. As I have previously said this was probably perfect performance considering the line up and the mood after Saturday's exit from The FA Trophy. Ted would have been pleased with his team on his last outing as manager. I would like to have seen him have a stroll around the terraces and have a chat with a few of us but in 'Ted Hardy' style he just disappered down the tunnel after that final whistle.
I would personally like to wish him all the luck in the world and an enjoyable retirement. He will always be welcome to stand alongside me opposite the dug-out from where he has spent many years watching The Daggers.
Thanks Ted.
Gothard, Cole1(Tucker), Pratt, Janney2, Woolsey, Matthews, Broom, Barry1, Shipp(Stevens), Game, Blackford(Schnieder)
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