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Ryman League Premier Division
Daggers 2(0) St. Albans City 2(2)
Well it started to rain mid morning and although it wasn't that heavy I kept my eye on ceefax just in case.
There were a couple of chances in the opening minutes but they all fell to the visitors. Paul Cobb was involved shortly after when he was put through the centre by a beautifully chipped ball that just cleared the heads of the defenders. This was watched and intercepted by the quick thinking Paul Newell in the St. Albans goal who had accelerated from his goal area to clear.
St Albans were made to look a class above us by the lack of any shape in our defence or midfield. Just having Lee Mathews there, who was having to play alongside a David Culverhouse who has had better games, really didn't help. It appeared we may have been giving the visitors a little too much respect because when they had won a free kick from 40 yards out, all eleven of the Daggers were employed to mark the six men that they had pushed up. It seemed as though there had been a lack of pre match instruction!
The Saints were continually pushing forward and won two consecutive corners. It was from the second that a free scoring Steve Clark managed to rise above, errr...no-one...to head home. That made it one-nil and although it was quite early in the game it was a fair indication of the direction of the play. It wasn't long after this that from an almost identical position came Mark Keen's header that Gothard managed to push onto the bar.
When we did manage to get forward there was a distinct lack of imagination. It was the left flank that we tried to infiltrate but it just wasn't working. So of course we motioned towards the right wing!...No we didn't! It was becoming increasingly frustrating from where I was standing but this was alleviated by a some good movement involving Bird, Cobb and Pratt in one of our few right side offensives.
St Albans continued to push forward and more corners were conceded to them. From one of these a ball was floated into the penalty area and for no reason whatsoever David Culverhouse raised his arm to the ball and conceded a penalty. Steve Clark converted for his and St. Albans' second of the match.
From the thirty minute period the Dagger's game showed a marked improvement. Danny Shipp taking the game into his hands, he took on the defence and had a fine shot saved. The keeper couldn't hold onto it and it fell into a dangerous area but Cobb wasn't able to take advantage. Just a few moments later Kirk Game collected a ball in the area and it looked as if he should have taken a shot immediately but he chose to control and take the ball around Paul Newell. He did this successfully but his shot from five yards was well over the bar.
The first half was to finish with the Daggers on top but in reality we could have been three or four down. Over the last few games we have all come to realise that the overweight woman doesn't start to warble until it's over and we were not going to be let down today.
The second half started livelier for the home side but the visitors still had good formation along with their control. This was all to change with Matty Bird's goal. He started the move from the half way line and with some outstanding support from the midfield he was able to collect and deftly chip the keeper with the outside of his boot. With just under thirty minutes to go this set the game up for some serious heart stopping moments.
St. Albans' game started to deteriorate, their football looked like ours had during the first half. They were playing long balls with panic and, whereas they had been playing out of defence, now it was kick and hope. Our defence was looking more secure and stable. I think this is due to our commitment to going forward as this meant that we didn't have too many players dropping deep to cover areas where they needn't be. (Oh, I know what I mean!!!)
The best created move of the game came from Jason Broom winning two tackles in defence and releasing the ball perfectly over the visitors defence. They were too often trying to play the off-side trap and this time it caught them out. If after the next six or so excellent passes we had scored it would have been candidate for goal of the season. Unfortunately it fizzled out into nothing at all.
It wasn't all one way traffic and St Albans could have made it more difficult for us. From the right Gentle charged towards goal after being released with a delightful pass but his shot was saved by Gothard's legs.
But as I always say the best was to come....In the ninety third minute Jason Broom collected the ball from forty yards out and decided that it was his turn to have a run at goal. He went past first one and then two defenders, then came the shot from twenty five yards. From where I was watching Paul Newell had full vision at all times, I don't know what happened but boy was I, along with a few others, glad to see the ball hit the back of the net.
Maybe clubs that come to play us should have a look at our statistics. You see we tend to score in the time that the referee adds on. Now...what he does is add time on for time wasting, you see, every time the St Albans goalkeeper wasted time taking a goal or free kick, or their players did the same with the throw ins the referee stopped his watch. This added around five minutes to the match. Now let's see if other teams who play here can work it out!!
A game of two halves and another fair result.
Gothard, Culverhouse, Pratt, Howard(Springett), Game, Matthews, Broom1, Cobb, Shipp, Seymour, Bird1(Janney)
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Ryman League Premier Division
Daggers 3(1) Barton 2(1)
The game started in bright but cold conditions.
The first five or ten minutes produced a chance for each side and was even with regard to play. Gary Blackford received a header from Kirk Game and produced a fine shot on target from 25 yards but the keeper watched it all the way and held on to it. Just a short while after this there were an impressive combination of passes in the Barton penalty area but the defence played out of the situation calmly and coolly.
Around the ten minute period, this is a guess as I couldn't see the clock due to the strong sun, we started to take control of the game. The passing between players was accurate and effective but they didn't get close enough to cause the visitors any problems. Gary Blackford, who had a good opening period, had another long range effort saved by a lively looking Brad Gillham.
Dagenham started to play the high ball down the middle and it really didn't have any effect. This may be due to our lack of height in the forward area or it could be that those tactics are rubbish, who knows? When the ball was brought back down to earth there was a good one-two between Lee Matthews and David Pratt. This released Lee to make a run towards the goal, he must have thought that there were strange goings on as the defence opened up for him and therefore was able to take a shot at the far post. This was successful as it just crept in and made the score 1-0.
This inevitably woke up Barton who came back into the match. A couple of fine runs down the centre of the field and then Tony McNally creating a great chance with a cross from the right that only need a touch to bring the scores level. Good distribution from Brad Gillham created Barton's best chance up to that point. He threw the ball as far as the half way line and it was collected and chipped over our flat footed defence. It was just too long but did force another clearance from Gothard.
The match was improving in terms of interest and from a Gary Howard far post cross Kirk Game headed but was cleared off the line. Back down the other end Carl Drew twisted and turned our suspect defence and made himself some space but Gothard closed down and saved well at shoulder height pushing the ball out for a corner. Back up the other end we won a corner and Gary Blackford collected it at the far post. Well I reckon I could have gone to the toilet, washed my hands, came back to the half way line, stopped off for a chat and a had cup of tea in the time that he appeared to have. In fact I wished I had because the final shot was dreadful.
Back down the other end Barton were playing some nice football. Another one-two and they were past our first line of defence then came the pass towards Carl Drew who missed the ball. David Culverhouse was caught off balance and the ball bobbled past him. Unfortunately Drew had recovered enough to latch onto it he cut inside and headed towards goal The shot was accurate and beat Gothard who had tried to close him down but to no avail. The score now being one all, I felt this was probably a fair reflection of an entertaining first half.
The second half started with a stoppage in the opening seconds for an injury to Gary Blackford. This was to set the scene for the rest of the game. Not only Gary who was seen to on three occasions but the whole half was punctuated with breaks for various bits and pieces. It was due to this that neither team were able to create the flowing football that we had seen in the first half.
The sun had also decided that it had had enough as it set over the Barking College sponsored end. We could all see now without squinting our eyes but it did make it very cold.
In one of the action moments Barton, out of nowhere managed a shot from around the penalty spot that caught everyone unaware and hit the post. I don't think that Gothard had it covered. Culverhouse was then outpaced over a ten yard sprint and the resulting shot was parried over the bar. Blackford found Mark Janney on the left with the pass of the match, this could be a new feature for the website! Mark ran to the by-line around 6 yards from the post but his cross was a little strange. He fired it back out to the far edge of the area where Gary Howard collected, the shot was a little high!!!
Our second goal came from good play that started with Blackford collecting the ball in the centre circle, he looked up and distributed to Jason Broom who found Danny Shipp with a delightful pass. Danny's shot was deflected by Dave Cook to put us back in the lead.
Frustration started to take its toll and there were a couple of bad tackles that resulted in minor flare ups. Barton should have got back into game as they somehow managed to be cleared of the line from two yards out.
As the game moved into time added on Barton were still pushing forward. The ball broke out and Cobb collected on the half way line. Intelligently he held the ball up well and this gave our midfield a chance to reform. Our resulting attack was thwarted by the defence but the loose ball was intercepted by Lee Matthews. He immediately released Paul Cobb who ran past the advancing Brad Gillham to fire home from half a yard. At 3-1 and in the 94th minute you would think that Kenneth Wolstenholme would be announcing that is all over. But no, in the 96th minute Barton attacked again and gave Paul Gothard a chance to pull off the save of the game, a one handed mid air parry. It was just a shame that the defence didn't clear quickly enough and let Barton back into the match.
We managed to hold on though and the final score was 3-2 which seemed fair to me.
Gothard, Culverhouse, Pratt, Howard, Game, Matthews1, Broom, Cobb1, Shipp1, Janney, Blackford
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FA Cup 4th Qualifying Round
Daggers 0(0) Stevenage Borough 3(1)
We arrived early in anticipation of a great evenings entertainment. Perhaps the previous two postponements had taken there toll because great didn't come.
As early as the third minute came the home sides first attack. Mark Janney whipped the ball in from the right and across the goal area but Howard wasn't able to connect. This was to set the scene for the rest of the evening. Lee Goodwin, who was playing left of defence, failed to clear what looked like an innocuous high ball. The eventual cross came in and again wasn't cleared so Dean Samuels decided to pounce and put the ball away from close range. 1-0 to Stevenage after 6 minutes. The Daggers responded with a high ball from Lee Matthews into the Stevenage area. It fell over Paul Cobb's shoulder, this is normally a situation that Cobby would relish, not today as his shot bobbled wide of the goal.
Although Dagenham were closing the visitors down they weren't doing it quick enough. This coupled with the fact that the one touch football being played by Stevenage made it look like their may be a cricket score ahead. The Daggers kept up their work rate and were making some constructive moves forward. The ball was inevitably going to break for Stevenage and when it did it created a two on three situation. After a fine run from Robbie Reinfelt who beat two defenders it was Gothard who saved the day, albeit with his legs.
Stevenage then took charge of the game but the home side got back into it when there was a glorious exchange of passes around the right edge of the penalty area. This involved three or four players and culminated in a neat flick that unluckily landed in no-mans land. There were times when Dagenham threatened and I felt that Chris Taylor in the oppositions goal looked very suspect with high crosses but we weren't able to capitalise. Stevenage played the better football in the first half and did hit the post but we were able to hold on which did give us a chance!
Both teams started the second half as they had finished the first with Stevenage being in control. The Stevenage No.11 Dean Samuel's confidence was increasing by the minute. His pace and dribbling ability was starting to cause us problems as he took the ball down the left of the field. David Pratt joined our attack but wasn't committed enough to have any real effect. He did want to get involved but only sporadically.
Our best chance from nowhere came from a deep off-side decision in our favour. The free kick was taken and floated toward Paul Cobb, he flicked it on and Danny Shipp from nowhere collected with his back to goal turned and shot in one movement. Chris Taylor was beaten but the post wasn't. The follow up was to produce nothing. Around 66 minutes Dagenham suddenly realised that Stevenage hadn't scored for an hour and a spring could be seen to arrive in their step. Gary Blackford tried to lob the keeper with a header but Chris Taylor managed to get a hand to it and push the ball away, again our follow up wasn't good enough. This little period of activity also brought the visitors alive and bad distribution from Gothard let Carl Alford in for a well taken goal. 2-0.
Their best goal was to come. Great build up and interchange of passes on the right of the pitch caught the Daggers flat footed. The penultimate ball was pulled back to Steve Berry (don't quote me on this as the information comes from my often wrong Son!) who had plenty of time to look up and choose his place. On this occasion he chose to curl it low into the far corner around Paul Gothard. And it seemed as though it was a good choice!
Jason Broom came on as substitute and it did inject some life back into a team that were now just playing for pride. Both teams had a couple of chances toward the end and it would have been nice to see Cobby score in the 11 consecutive match. But it was not to be.
Overall it was Stevenage Boro' who gave Dagenham & Redbridge a lesson in football. They are riding high in the Football Conference and if we are to go back to the 'top flight' I think we may have to have a rethink.
Good support from the Stevenage fans on a night where neither team really looked up for the match.
Gothard, Culverhouse, Pratt(Barry), Howard(Broom), Goodwin, Matthews, Janney, Cobb, Shipp, Mas(Terry), Blackford.