FA Cup 4th Qualifying Round
Daggers 0(0) Hampton 0(0)
Saturday 3rd October 1998
FA Cup 2nd Qualifying Round
Daggers 4(1) Eastbourne Town 0(0)
A cold day, the rain did hold off although the pitch seemed a little slippery, especially early in the game.
A tentative start from Eastbourne Town who looked in awe of the whole situation. Sitting close to the bottom of the Unijet Sussex County League Division One at the present time, they played that way too. Well, they did until around the 12th minute when they collectively realised that maybe they could get something from the game. It could be seen that their confidence was increasing by the minute, as their passing and tackling became more accurate. This coincided with the Daggers game falling apart. Chris Penfold, in the visitors goal, wasn't seriously troubled and seemed always to be in the right position to collect or parry anything that was aimed at him. The away side looked good on the break and did manage to get into the last third of the pitch but because of the fine use of the 8 man defence they never had enough players up front to take advantage of the good build up work that had proceeded. Eastbourne had a good half hour and at one stage it looked as if they had 15 men on the field , they showed excellent commitment and it was obvious that it was they who wanted something from the game. Just before half time Paul Cobb latched onto a loose ball on the edge of the penalty area and shot low and hard into the far corner of the net to put the home side one-nil up. A minute later, from an almost identical position Cobb, once again shot hard but the goalkeeper pushed the ball onto the bar. This last flurry of activity was against the run of play and if the Daggers had been two-nil up at half time, the Eastbourne side would have felt a tad fed up. It wasn't to be though but it did set the 2nd half up to go either way.
Ted Hardy, our almost septuagenarian manager, didn't looked very happy in the first half and neither did stand in captain Gary Blackford who must had been feeling uncomfortable wearing the armband as he removed it and threw it toward the dug-out! When the team started the second half you could sense that the game's tempo had been increased. I guess in the hope of wearing down the opposition but it wasn't until a good ten minutes after the restart when Dagenham took the game to Eastbourne and showed that they were a class above them. The second goal came from moving the ball around, Culverhouse, from within his own half picked it up on the right and ran squarely cross field passing the ball accurately to Jason Broom. Jason, running down the left wing passed the ball to Gary Blackford, who then released Cobb. Jason had made a forward run to collect the pass, on the byline he picked out Danny Shipp with a far post cross and the ball was slotted in to make it 2-0. This gave us the cushion we required and a chance to play more free flowing football, it could have been 3 a little later as a ferocious David Pratt cross was headed against the post by a defender, in reality it could have gone anywhere. The Daggers 3rd was an own goal, a glancing header from a corner that any striker would have been proud of! Inevitably Eastbourne's lack of fitness was always going to play a part in our victory, and a minute or so after conceding the third, Danny Shipp scored with a dipping shot, he had collected the ball at the edge of the box and finished well.
Various substitutions were made by both sides in the last 15 minutes but other than that there wasn't much more to report. The match was played with the right attitude, spirit and the refereeing was excellent. Only 4 more wins in this competition and we may be entertaining Manchester Utd.
Gothard, Culverhouse, Pratt(Janney), Howard, Seymour(Mas), Game(?), Broom, Cobb1, Shipp2, Spingett, Blackford.
Ryman Premier League
Daggers 3(0) Walton & Hersham 1 (0)
An important match (they all are!), as a good result tonight will help us climb further up the table.
A good start, and having Steve Conner back in the centre of the defence alongside Tim Cole did make it look confident and secure. Of course it did help that they had Gary Blackford and David Culverhouse working alongside them. The home side tried to make an impression as soon as they could but Paul Cobb looked anxious in the early stages and was trying too hard to get that record breaking goal. With his first chance he pulled the shot over the bar when he could have done better. This did wake up Walton who took the game to the Daggers with Curtis Johnson running at the defence and taking a weak shot. The home side weathered this short typhoon and then played some delightful football. The awareness of each others positions and commitment to each other was stunning. Gary Blackford worked particualary hard, he picked the ball up in his own half and ran with it for 30 to 40 yards, he was able to lay it perfectly to Mitchell Springett who in turn pushed the ball into the path of an an advancing Pratt, but he could only hit the side netting. This was how Gary was playing in the first half and he did look a class above everyone.
Both teams were playing with very confident flat back fours, it was going to take something special to penetrate them. The game was held up for about four minutes midway through the half and the home side found it hard to get back into the game. Walton sensing this, started to push up once again and forced a corner. From this they were able to get a free header at the near post from 2 yards, but without enough power or direction to convert as Gothard saved comfortably. Towards the end of the half, Conner, who had moved upfield (jealous of Blackford I guess) for a free kick, had a couple of great touches as he dribbled around the penalty area. The ball finally broke into the path of Cobb, whose shot was hard and low but not good enough to beat a very agile Delroy Preddie in the visitors goal. Finally in a half that I thought was well played by both teams, the Daggers squandered another chance as David Pratt on the left of the 6 yard box was unable to cross to any one of 3 players that were ready and waiting for it.
As you can tell my personal thoughts on the first half were quite complimentary, but the best was to come. Very early in the second half, Mitchell Sprigett forced the keeper to push the ball over the bar from a really good dipping shot. Preddie again showed his agility as from the resulting corner he saved well from someone! Soon it was time for Walton to break, and they did. A fast ball into the area toward Andy Sayer and Cole brought him down. Sayer's pace was always going to be a problem as he had shown in the first half. Fortunately, the resulting penalty from Ross Pickett was crashed against the underside of the bar as Gothard for once had gone the wrong way! A couple of minutes later in this end to end epic Delroy Preddie pushed down on Springett, from the penalty, Cobb made no mistake (we didn't think he would!) and placed the ball to the left and out of the reach of the 'keeper. Just before the hour, it was Danny Shipps turn, in the area he took a shot that rebounded out, Danny, 12 yards out, now had his back to goal in line with the left goal post, he collected the ball, turned 180 degrees and in one movement curled the ball inside the opposite post. Delightful. 2-0 up, but with Steve Conner going off at half time the defence didn't look as good. Andy Sayer pulled one back with a good hard drive, and this set an already superb game up for a great finish. In this twisting turning match, Walton came back to life and were starting to surge forward again, this, as always can leave holes in the defence and although we had chances especially from Terry it wasn't until the 86th minute that Cobb collected a ball, he run at the depleted back 4 and then selflessly passed to Shipp who hammered home from close range.
Many bookings in this match that didn't indicate the way the game was played. Yes, it was hard with a few elbows here and there. Walton will have to be careful though, they haven't a bad team, they played well above their league position but if the bookings carry on they will be playing with reserves in December!
Gothard, Culverhouse, Blackford, Howard, Conner(Janney), Cole, Pratt, Cobb1, Shipp2, Springett, Terry
FA Cup 3rd Qualifying Round
Daggers 2(0) Chipstead 0(0)
A bright and windy day but there wasn't a feast of football that we had hoped for.
The first real chance of the game fell to a lively looking Ben Garner in the Chipstead midfield, he started the move with neat flick off his heal and collected the ball himself from a rebound. He took on and beat the defence but his final shot went five or six yards wide. Shortly after, they played the ball around the left of the field and managed to put in a good cross but Tim Cole cleared with ease. The Daggers looked in control of the game albeit nervously and needed a goal to settle them down. Chipstead held good 4-4-2 formation, unlike our last opponents, Eastbourne two weeks ago, and because of this and their determination they were able to pick up almost all of the loose balls. When a Dagenham move broke down around the visitors penalty area they calmly played their way out of defence instead of the normal kick and hope. I feel there are clubs many divisions above this level that should try this approach! Mind you, it did break down further up field but all credit to them.
The first effort from the home team was from Danny Shipp, he turned well on the edge of the area but wasn't able to finish. Chipstead had the best chance of the half on 28 minutes, again the build up was bright and effective, the ball fell to an unmarked player on the edge of the area who had all the time in the world (he wouldn't want to see a replay!) he didn't look up and just shot with misguided instinct. The ball just went wide. The Daggers suddenly realised that maybe the game was moving away from them and mounted a couple of serious attacks. The first corner didn't emerge until well past 30 minutes, Paul Cobb, who has now has be elected to take them, put in a good length cross and Tim Cole headed goal bound. Mitchell Springett, who maybe was born in Chipstead glanced the shot away for a goal kick! Admittedly he tried to redeem himself shortly after with a cracking 40 yard pass that split the defence, the ball went to Mark Janney on the right of the box but his pass into the area was behind the two advancing forwards, Cobb did manage to collect the loose ball and have a shot but it was not decisive enough. Even though in the last 10 minutes of the first half Dagenham had a few chances, Chipstead still looked a little dangerous on the break. Mitchell Springett helping their ultimate cause by missing what looked like an open goal. This from a yard out. He arrived at incredible pace after the ball had been bobbing around the six yard box without being cleared.
The first half finished with Chipstead having a couple of more breaks, the strong wind assisted them and thankfully they did not take full advantage of it.
We were all looking forward to the second half and that wind, but the home side still didn't use it to the best advantage. They pushed up, and in all honesty should have scored in the opening five minutes. I felt I was watching a modern day version of 'Comedy of errors', miss-kicks, players getting in each others way, and weak shots. The crowd began to get behind the team but I felt there was a hint of sarcasm in the chanting. The first goal was a touch lucky. We won a free kick on the left outside the box, the ball was touched to Gary Blackford who took a fine shot, Matt Martin saved well and pushed it to his left away from danger, his defender tried to clear but the ball was sliced into the path of Paul Cobb 3 yards out and he made no mistake. In the 63rd minute came the welcome substitution as Springett went off for Tolo Mas, about 63 minutes too late in my humble opinion! This was the real turning point, we now had someone in midfield who wanted and was able to win the ball and then distribute it with some accuracy. A short while later Tolo won a ball in defence and released Janney who ran down the centre of the field, Blackford gave him an obvious option but he chose not to use it and instead wasted another chance of relieving the pressure. David Pratt was also eager to get involved and collected from Gothard on the edge of his own penalty area, he then ran to the edge of Chipstead's area and cut inside the defender, his curling shot went a yard over the bar. At this stage of the game there was sufficient end to end football to make it interesting but not enough to make it exciting. Chipstead didn't give up, but their heads were seen to drop after Dagenham's second, when with 5 minutes to go Tim Cole was able to score from close range after receiving what looked like a pretty innocuous cross, it really should have been cleared.
This was an average performance from the Daggers. This does not detract from the visitors dedicated and gutsy performance. I do hope the Chipstead players and officials have enjoyed the day as much as possible.
Gothard, Culverhouse, Pratt, Howard, Blackford, Cole1, Terry, Cobb1, Shipp, Springett(Mas), Janney
Ryman Premier League
Daggers 3(0) Bromley 0(3)
Our 3rd home match in 7 days, played in good conditions, cold but not windy or raining.
A rousing opening couple of minutes produced some great interchange of passes from the Daggers and from a resulting corner came a header from Danny Shipp that was cleared off the line. After this initial action the game settled down to some mediocre football that had no real direction. It livened up with a ball to Paul Cobb from Danny Shipp, who was returning the earlier favour, that was low and hard but Paul didn't appear to connect well. From where I was standing the ball looked as if it was at his feet. This couldn't have been the case though as he made no effort to get to it. I must pop down to 'specsavers'!! Now the home side were looking more comfortable and it was back to playing with confidence and style. Around the 20 minutes the game was delayed as Tim Cole had to be stretchered off, we subsequently found out this was due to damaged ankle ligaments. I am not sure what actually happened as I was at the tea bar buying myself a cup of that gorgeous 40p tea. After this it took a short while for the teams to get back into the game. An industrious Tolo Mas threaded the ball to Mark Janney who ran onto and then whipped it back to Tolo who had covered a lot ground to collect. He then tried to flick the ball past the 'keeper but it went just wide. The first real chance fell to Danny Shipp who collected a pass from Cobb, took on a couple of players in the penalty area but was saved by the Dave Wietchas legs. Shipp and Cobb, both whom are good players in there own particular way, don't appear to have an understanding or mutual respect for each others game. I have noticed this since Danny arrived back at the club last December but on paper it would appear as if it was the ultimate partnership. It seems to have taken a while but they are now working better together, and if this affinity for each other continues then they will be a force to be reckoned with. Both teams upped the pace around the half a hour point with the Daggers defenders getting involved in forward movements too. Several accurate passes involving Cobb, Mas, Janney culminated in Paul Terry turning and volleying the ball only to be beaten by the face of the bar. Danny Shipp was getting into some good positions but the more time he had the more time he seems to want, on a least a couple of occasions he was too slow around the edge of the area. In the last 10 minutes of 'real' time Dagenham should have been at least two goals to the good, but poor finishing put paid to that and of course the inevitable was going to happen. In the 6th minute of 'time added on' Danny Carroll for Bromley received a ball from midfield, he held it and waited for Gothard to commit himself, then calmly place the ball in the back of the net.
Within 35 seconds of the second half starting, Bromley moved in for the kill as their attack swooped down on the home defence who were caught dozing. Jamie Kyte made no mistake from the rebound and put the visitors into a comfortable position. Just a few minutes after this we began to settle down again, Howard winning the ball in midfield was able to release Cobb who in turn pushed the ball out to Janney who took on and went passed his defender. Then he ran into the area, just as he was taking a shot he was pulled down and it looked as if we could claw our way back into the game with a penalty. Cobb calmly and deliberately placed the ball on the spot, no one would bet against him scoring this. A well taken shot, low and hard to the right of Wietcha who was equal to it. Janney again in the thick of the action collected another ball from Cobb from just outside the penalty area, the Bromley 'keeper, whose confidence was now above the high clouds, read it perfectly and came out to deny Janney having a shot. Bromley's 3rd was a cracking goal with good build up and finish from Ian Rawlings. At this stage I could see that the Daggers heads were dropping and Bromley were taking us apart, not even the most optimistic person in the ground could have predicted what was going to happen in ten minutes time. Pratt, wanting to get involved, was chasing everything down the left wing and this along with Tolo's never say die attitude, helped us win a corner. Cobb quickly took it and Lee Goodwin arrived from the defence to pull one back from close range. In all honesty, Bromley were asleep and probably felt that the three goal cushion was sufficient, how wrong could they be. Gary Blackford, was a joy to watch, every cross was accurate and never wasted, one of these picked out Cobb who volleyed from 10 yards to hit the back of the net. Cobb then became provider with a deft touch out to Janney who, from the edge of the box brought the score back to 3-3. Daggers were back in control and if it wasn't for another lengthy stoppage to attend to Gary Howard's leg we would have continued with the impetus we had shown and won the game. For the last ten minutes and moving into time added on Bromley started to look dangerous again and in fact could have stolen it, but Gothard stood up well to a last ditch attack.
Another great evenings entertainment. I don't believe that the health of the supporters is being considered so may I suggest that the club doesn't do this again!
FA Trophy 1st Round
Daggers 1(0) Wealdstone 1(0)
The game started in fine rain. The pitch looked a bit better than Saturday although there were areas of surface water.
Dagenham got involved very early in the game with Cobb controlling with his toe but Noel Imber, the Wealdstone custodian came out quickly and covered well.
Wealdstone looked lively for the following 8 or 9 minutes and in that period the Daggers didn't get further than 10 yards into their half. When they did they played some nice 'one touch' football with Mark Janney, Paul Terry and Danny Shipp combining well. Paul Cobb and David Pratt needed to get more involved in the game as they seemed a little out of it on the left of the field. Mark Janney from the right of midfield chipped a ball to Shipp who having his back to goal managed to head the ball sideways into the path of Mitchell Springett. He in turn was brought to the ground but Pratt picked up the loose ball, he shot well but it went just wide.
The goalkeepers from both teams played exceptionally well. Gothard came out to Wealdstone's No 10 (possibly Paul McKay) and closed down his shot, the ball bounced dangerously into no mans land right in front of goal but Gothard had got up quickly and managed to put the striker off enough for him to put the shot out for a goal kick. This was followed by Noel Imber working well in his goal as the Daggers had a dominant 2 or 3 minutes. The ball was cleared of the line or saved at least 3 times as the the home side pushed for an advantage.
The referees decision's were bizarre at times (they were to get worse later in the game). A pass to Shipp on the right of the penalty area was partially stopped by a handball. Shipp played on and shot across the goal, the ball hit the outside of the post and went off...Goal kick, don't be silly, he gave a corner! At the other end Gothard didn't want to be out done by Imber's great play. Wealdstone on one of their many breaks should have taken the lead. The No. 9 ran into the penalty area and took on the Daggers defence running squarely past two of them. He released the ball into the path of Paul Lamb (?) who struck it hard but Gothard stood up and pushed it onto the post.
An even first half with both teams having an even amount of play, shots and saves.
Howard, who I must say didn't play that well, layed a perfect ball out to Janney on the right. He looked up and whipped the ball in across the front of the goal for Paul Terry to miss from 3 yard when it looked easier to score. There was a lethargic period from Dagenham early in the second half when Wealdstone could have taken advantage but they clawed there way back. I can only compliment both 'keepers at this stage. They both played in different but effective ways. Gothard with his dominance and ability to get up quickly and Imber with his agility and speed of recovery. (nuff said)
Gary Blackford who is normally so reliable, hade some nightmare moments tonight. I had looked down at the floor and when I looked up Gary was walking around in circles with the ball at his feet. I genuinely thought that the whistle must have gone, this was in the centre of the pitch about ten yards out from our area. He lost the ball and it put us under a lot of needless pressure. Thankfully Weadstone didn't take advantage.
Dagenham are capable of playing football along the ground so when the wind is strong this is obviously the thing to do. Apparently not, we played too many high balls down the centre of the pitch and of course they were always too long as the wind did its deed.
Wealdstone, played intelligently against the wind and had more of the game for long periods of time. There was another strange refereeing decision to come. Wealdstone broke away after a another Daggers attack collapsed and had a player advantage as they bore down on Gothard who had come ten yards out of his area. Gothard flagrantly handled the ball but neither of the officials spotted it and the referee insisted to everyone that it had hit his chest. Wrong again!
There was then a bad two footed tackle on Mitchell Springett, there was ensuing chaos and retaliation. The referee stopped the game to book a player from each team. He then proceeded to have a drop ball on the halfway line, the linesman who must have seen the incident then called the referee over to explain what had happened, but he didn't do anything about it. Wrong again!
There was yet another break from the visitors No 9 and again there was no home defence. Gothard came ten yards out of his area but commited himself too early which enabled the striker to push the ball wide of him. The No. 9 (please send me an email if you know his name) then looked as if he had taken it far too wide. The 'keeper managed to get back quickly but the striker cut inside and curled the ball inside the far post. That made it 1-0 to Wealdstone. Just a couple of minutes later Gary Blackford handled in the area to give the vistors a chance to increase their lead. With this a lot of supporters started to leave. Gothard dived the right way and saved.
With 94 minutes gone, Cobb scored the equaliser! That's10 consecutive games!
A good game, Dagenham & Redbridge were a bit lucky to come out with a draw. Again the Wealdstone support was great and we look forward to seeing you at the replay. It was just a shame that some had to become abusive to the staff on their way out.