House of Flying Daggers

[CFuller]

Great effort against Chelsea in the cup, and looking good in the league too - just need to stay away from those pesky play-offs! This continues to be a great and easy read, very much enjoying the Daggers' progress.

I never really gave us a chance against Chelsea, so to take the lead against them was a nice surprise, even if it didn't last. Now to push on further towards promotion...

Its been great mate, good result against Chelsea.

The play off heart ache has added to the stories in my opinion, I found myself urging you to succeed because of it .

The left back thing was funny and maybe because I read it on one sitting ( to an extent haha) I noticed it moreso than you normally would. I will take a read of the Prequel too, I did piece bits together through this story ( and yearly review of them).

I had a random urge to get back into FM after many years off ( you can probably tell by my profile creation and posts with that) and I really enjoy writing. This story has inspired me to give something similar a crack . Now it is just the daunting task of relearning how it all works ( FM that is) with the million additions since about 5-10 years ago when I last played!

(sorry for long post!)

No need to apologise for the long post - I'm always interested to hear your thoughts about my story.

If you feel inspired to write an FM story, by all means go for it. If you really enjoy writing it, the quality will shine through and your readers will enjoy following it. Also, don't be afraid to try again if your first story doesn't work out as you'd like it to - I spent years writing a number of stories that didn't see the light of day before I started "Welcome to Romford" in 2013. I also write several real-life months ahead of publication, and - as of today - I am still playing the save and still writing, so there's much, much more to come.

[CFuller]

SEPTEMBER 2026 (continued)

Our first league game after that narrow cup defeat to Chelsea was at Whaddon Road against Cheltenham Town. The Robins were back in the Football League after a decade-long exile, but they'd won just two games thus far.

 

26 September 2026: Cheltenham Town vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Daggers youngster Dean Martin was raring to go straight away, as he had a shot parried away by Cheltenham keeper Willie Forsyth in the very first minute. Martin then forced Forsyth into another save two minutes later. We were lucky not to concede after seven minutes, when Daniel Perrin's cross was headed wide from point-blank range by Geoff Wadham. When Martin connected with Tim Beech's delivery into Cheltenham's six-yard box three minutes later, he did not show the same profligacy.

 

We had a 1-0 lead, and that would soon be increased to 2-0. On 12 minutes, Mark West rounded off a clever team move with a stunning finish for just his third goal of the campaign.

 

Mark was soon sniffing for another strike, but a poor miss in the 14th minute meant he would have to wait. That goal didn't come in the 24th minute, either, as Forsyth pulled off a spectacular reflex save to push West's header behind. Cheltenham's goalkeeping captain would soon be beaten for a third time, however. After 26 minutes, Martin thrashed the ball so viciously into the net that Forsyth had no time to react! Dean was at the double…

 

...and by the 31st minute, so was Mark! Martin assisted for West's well-struck second goal of the afternoon, as we went 4-0 up with barely a third of the game played! The Robins really were in a flap now!

 

Mind you, Cheltenham's winger Perrin was causing our defence problems with his crosses. Dundonian forward William Booth should've scored from one of them on 34 minutes, but the ever-reliable Wayne Coton blocked his shot on the line to keep us ahead... for the time being.

 

Four minutes later, Booth found Perrin in a ridiculous amount of space down the right flank. The former AFC Bournemouth man then entered the area and returned the favour to Booth, who volleyed in Cheltenham's first goal. If we didn't keep a closer eye on Perrin in the second half, there would surely be more to come.

 

We did pay much greater attention to Cheltenham's attacking players after the break. Guy Lennon almost got away in the 55th minute, but Robbie Ryder's excellent goalkeeping denied the Irish substitute a goal. Moments later, a stunning long ball from Matthew Fraser sent Martin one-on-one with Forsyth. Dean looked like slotting the ball home for his hat-trick… but he was just a matter of inches wide.

 

West was also unable to seal the match ball in the 67th minute, when he couldn't meet Fraser's corner with a sweet-enough connection. A minute after that, Booth's header at the other end cleared the bar, leaving us to breathe a sigh of relief.

 

A second Cheltenham goal would have made the closing stages very anxious, but this was to be a comfortable victory. A couple of late Forsyth saves from Daggers substitutes Troy Hands and Joel Honeyball only limited the damage for the Robins, who looked off-colour.

 

Cheltenham Town - 1 (Booth 38)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 4 (Martin 10,26, West 12,31)

League Two, Attendance 2,824 - POSITIONS: Cheltenham 22nd, Dag & Red 2nd

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryder, Beech, Dalton, Coton, Warren, Fraser (Clark), Harding (Hands), Roche (Honeyball), Martin, Abbey, West.

 

After three successive away games, we began a run of four home matches on the trot against last season's Play-Off Final losers. Leyton Orient were struggling to repeat last season's form under new manager Mark Ellis, who had taken the reins following Dean Wilkins' retirement. The O's were fifth-from-bottom, and they'd just become the first team to lose a Football League match against Ebbsfleet United.

 

29 September 2026: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Leyton Orient

Leyton Orient survived a couple of early Dagenham corners, and then set out to surprise those at Victoria Road who were expecting a comfortable home win. After less than ten minutes, Daggers midfielder Geraint Harding was cautioned for upending Orient counterpart Matthew Wickham. Jay Moore drifted the free-kick into our penalty area, where Kyle O'Leary got his head to the ball. Robbie Ryder failed to secure the ball cleanly, and he was punished when O'Leary volleyed in the rebound. Orient led 1-0, and this clearly wouldn't be a walk in the park!

 

Christian Abbey went close to equalising for us in the 12th minute, and he set up a magnificent chance for Mark West three minutes later. Alas, Mark's slide to Christian's cross could only knock the ball against the bar. We gave the visitors another scare on 18 minutes, as Mitchell Clark headed over from a Jonathan Roche corner.

 

That was to be our last decent opportunity until the 41st minute. Christian tried to take on the Orient defence almost single-handedly, only to mess up his shot as soon as he entered the area. O's winger Moore came off with broken ribs just before half-time, but if we didn't up our game after the interval, our five-match unbeaten league run would also be broken.

 

Barely a minute into the second half, Ryder held onto a low strike from Ola Osafo-Badu that could've left us 2-0 down. The match would turn on its head within moments. Mitchell's free-kick into the Orient area found Josh Charles, who smashed in his maiden goal for the Daggers!

 

Josh was having another excellent day in our backline, but after 55 minutes, his equaliser was nearly cancelled out by some below-par defending. Osafo-Badu threaded the ball past our centre-backs to find Wickham, whose strike skimmed past the post.

 

On 60 minutes, Leyton Orient's right-back Leon Francis had a moment he would rather forget. The Trinidad & Tobago international easily lost the ball to Troy Hands, who then cut inside and fired us into the lead!

 

When O'Leary was booked shortly after the restart for a push on Roche, we seemed to have all the momentum. West looked to confirm our superiority in the 66th minute with a close-range header from Clark's byline cross. Unfortunately, O's goalie Alan Tobin was well placed to tip the header over his bar. Another promising Daggers attack broke down when Hands missed the target from outside the penalty box in the 75th minute.

 

After 76 minutes, Orient substitute Mohammed Agbonifo knocked the ball forward to Wickham. The former Southampton midfielder took his time and then stroked the ball into Ryder's far corner, reducing our lead to rubble. Our American defender Thomas Tierney's decision to move up and press Agbonifo had left Wickham with far too much space.

 

Tierney made another error in the 89th minute, when his reckless tackle on Wickham earned him a yellow card. The resulting free-kick eventually led to another Leyton Orient chance. A missed interception from Charles saw Osafo-Badu's cross into the six-yard box find O'Leary, who was tackled off the ball by Tim Beech. Tim's tackle inadvertently presented Wickham with a great opening for Orient, but Ryder pulled off a vital stop to save us a point!

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Charles 47, Hands 60)

Leyton Orient - 2 (O'Leary 11, Wickham 76)

League Two, Attendance 4,378 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 2nd, Leyton Orient 20th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryder, Beech, Charles, Dalton (Tierney), Warren, Roche, Clark, Harding (Martin), Abbey (Ibrahim), West, Hands. BOOKED: Harding, Tierney.

 

Truth be told, I was disappointed that we didn't pick up all three points from that game. Still, I can't really grumble too much. We're averaging just over two points every game, we're four points clear of 4th place, and we look like serious promotion contenders. That could all change in a matter of weeks, but right now, I'm feeling optimistic.

[CFuller]

League Two Table (End of September 2026)

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.          Chester                13    9     4     0     29    10    +19   31
2.          Dag & Red              13    8     3     2     20    11    +9    27
3.          Chesterfield           13    8     2     3     24    16    +8    26
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.          Bristol City           13    6     5     2     20    12    +8    23
5.          Kidderminster          13    6     5     2     13    9     +4    23
6.          Luton                  13    7     1     5     25    14    +11   22
7.          Brentford              13    6     2     5     12    17    -5    20
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8.          Cambridge              13    6     1     6     24    26    -2    19
9.          Yeovil                 13    5     4     4     15    17    -2    19
10.         Dartford               13    6     0     7     22    20    +2    18
11.         Wycombe                13    4     5     4     13    11    +2    17
12.         Port Vale              13    4     5     4     16    15    +1    17
13.         Bristol Rovers         13    4     5     4     10    10    0     17
14.         Swindon                13    4     4     5     12    10    +2    16
15.         Morecambe              13    4     4     5     13    16    -3    16
16.         Exeter                 13    4     4     5     17    24    -7    16
17.         Tranmere               13    4     3     6     12    14    -2    15
18.         AFC Wimbledon          13    4     2     7     9     13    -4    14
19.         Hereford               13    3     4     6     9     13    -4    13
20.         Leyton Orient          13    3     4     6     15    24    -9    13
21.         Mansfield              13    3     3     7     24    26    -2    12
22.         Cheltenham             13    2     6     5     13    17    -4    12
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
23.         Ebbsfleet              13    2     4     7     10    16    -6    10
24.         Aldershot              13    2     4     7     15    31    -16   10

[CFuller]

OCTOBER 2026

After going through the whole of September unbeaten in the league, we hoped to start October with another good result at home to Swindon Town. The Robins' start to their campaign could best be termed as ‘up-and-down'.

 

3 October 2026: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Swindon Town

Two of our midfielders struggled very early on. Dean Martin was unable to get a shot on target after dribbling towards Swindon's area in the second minute. Three minutes later, Matthew Fraser twisted his ankle in a tackle from Robins midfielder Mike Donovan. Matt couldn't really carry on, so Geraint Harding quickly came off the bench to take his place.

 

In the 11th minute, Geraint created a chance for Mark West, who curled it well off target. West would get a better chance to score two minutes later, when Yasser Ibrahim was scythed down in the Swindon area by away right-back Stefan Powell. Mark took the penalty, which he placed firmly into the bottom corner to draw first blood!

 

Swindon first threatened to strike back on 24 minutes. Mitchell Clark's slide tackle on Robins winger Kieran Williams knocked the ball on to striker Stuart Maguire, who then sprinted past Wayne Coton. The Australian went for glory… and his strike thumped the post! Maguire had another chance in the 26th minute, but his header bounced safely into Daryl Ryan's hands. He would soon be regretting those misses.

 

Clark fired a free-kick over the Swindon bar on 27 minutes, but whe would make no mistake from his next set-piece three minutes later. After Geraint was brought down by Robins midfielder Mike Donovan, Mitchell stepped forward to send a sweet strike into goalkeeper Dominic Obodo's top-left corner.

 

At 2-0 up, we appeared to be in total control. Indeed, when West sent Ibrahim through on goal in injury time, that scoreline looked like changing to 3-0. Sadly, Yasser's shot bounced off the bar, and so our job wasn't quite finished.

 

In the 48th minute, West ran onto a long ball from Jonathan Roche, leaving him with an opportunity to follow up his penalty with a goal from open play. That wasn't to be, as Mark couldn't strike the finish cleanly enough to keep it on target.

 

Two minutes later, Ibrahim nodded an Odain Simmonds cross on to Martin, whose half-volley was spilled by Obodo. Yasser just had to volley in the follow-up… but he sent it across goal, and we were still only a couple of goals up.

 

When Clark came off with a knock a few minutes after that, our slender lead looked a bit more vulnerable. It was even more fragile when, in the 56th minute, Swindon substitute Richie Hunter slid the ball off Josh Charles' feet deep in Dagenham territory. Hunter floated in a cross just before the ball could cross the byline, and his fellow sub Jason Darby outjumped Coton to head home for the Robins! Our lead had been cut down to 2-1.

 

We tried to pull clear of Swindon again, but our shooting was deserting us. Ibrahim wasted another opportunity after 58 minutes, and substitute Matt Warren's free-kick six minutes later didn't give Obodo any problems. West attempted to beat Obodo from 20 yards in the 72nd minute, but Mark's powerful strike drifted past the post.

 

At the other end, the Robins' attempts to level were reduced to a couple of edge-of-the-area efforts from Johnson Bassey. The Nigerian midfielder missed the target each time, in the 75th and 81st minutes, and we held on for three more points.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (West pen13, Clark 30)

Swindon Town - 1 (Darby 56)

League Two, Attendance 4,248 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 2nd, Swindon 16th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Beech, Charles, Coton, Simmonds, Clark (Warren), Fraser (Harding), Roche, Martin, Ibrahim (Abbey), West. BOOKED: Simmonds.

 

Mitchell Clark avoided serious injury in that win, but Matthew Fraser didn't get let off so lightly. He would be facing a month-long spell on the sidelines with a twisted ankle.

 

The third of our midfield trio that started against Swindon Town - Dean Martin - would soon receive some very good news. After an encouraging start to the season, the teenager was rewarded with a new contract that would extend his stay with us until 2029.

 

The next match in our run of home games was in the Football League Trophy. We'd been given a bye straight to Round 2, where we would start off against Gillingham. The Gills were 3rd in League One, having recovered quickly from losing last season's Play-Off Final in extra-time to Cardiff City.

 

6 October 2026: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Gillingham

Our free-kick specialist Mitchell Clark was unable to find the target with his first set-piece after six minutes. Two minutes later, Gillingham's first serious attack led to the opening goal. Gills winger Simon Spelman outmuscled Daggers left-back Daniel O'Reilly to reach a weighted pass from Stuart Johnson, and his cross was slid home by Ugonna Thompson.

 

It was 1-0 to Gillingham, but the visitors' slender lead would come under scrutiny in the 16th minute. Wayne Parmenter played an excellent ball ahead of Yasser Ibrahim, who pulled his shot against the far post. Ibrahim would suffer more bad luck in front of goal after 18 minutes. After seeing his free-kick come back off the Gillingham wall, Clark moved the ball left to Yasser, whose angled shot was pushed away by goalkeeper Callum Johnson.

 

Four minutes later, the Gills had us under their spell again. Josh Charles could only head Spelman's cross to left-winger Darrin Norris, and the Manchester City loanee's delivery was tucked away by Gills stalwart Tommy Gillespie.

 

Gillespie should've increased Gillingham's lead to 3-0 very soon afterwards, but he somehow missed the target from a great position. When Troy Hands hammered in a sensational 25-yard volley for the Daggers just a few minutes later, in the 26th minute, the tide seemed to have turned in our direction.

 

Over the next five minutes, though, Josh Charles and Bill Mooney each picked up needless bookings, and the momentum shifted back to the League One side. Gillespie found the net again for them in the 32nd minute, with a sublime header from Ellis Chant's cross, but he was flagged offside. When Gillespie next hit the target seven minutes later, the flag stayed down, and we were facing a 3-1 deficit.

 

Gillingham's systematic dismantling of our defence continued after 52 minutes. Thompson rounded off a counter-attack with a devastating ball for Murray Burgess, who surged past O'Reilly and slipped the ball beyond the onrushing Ryan.

 

It was surely too much for us to recover from 4-1 down… but barely a minute later, we were back to within two goals of our opponents. Paul Hart marked his return from injury with a fine assist for substitute Mark West, who gave fresh hope to the home fans at Victoria Road.

 

However, Mark's next strike in the 57th minute did not get close to halving our arrears. I then made a bold change of tactic, switching to 3-5-2 in order to make life as uncomfortable as possible for Thompson and Gillespie. We also made things more difficult for the Gills' defensive players after 62 minutes. Another incisive pass from Paul to Mark was slotted home by the big Yorkshireman, and we'd pegged our opponents back to 4-3!

 

By the 69th minute, we were looking good to score again. Callum Johnson had to make a stunning save from Hart to prevent him from completing the three-goal comeback! The Gills' teenage goalkeeper - on loan from Manchester United - then tipped behind a low bullet from West in the 73rd minute.

 

Mark wouldn't finish on a hat-trick, but three minutes later, a third player joined him and Gillespie on two goals apiece. Alas, it was not Hands - it was Thompson. Gills defender Oliver Lathrope beat Ryan with a fierce strike, but Nigeria international Thompson just about got the final touch to claim his brace.

 

The game's eighth goal was the one that finally broke us. Although Ryan denied Thompson his hat-trick in the 85th minute, it had been a trying night for the Irishman and his defenders. Those five goals that they'd conceded had brought our latest Football League Trophy bid to an early end.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 3 (Hands 26, West 53,62)

Gillingham - 5 (Thompson 8,76, Gillespie 22,39, Burgess 52)

Football League Trophy South Round 2, Attendance 1,257

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Charles, Tierney, Dalton, O'Reilly, Clark, Hands, Parmenter (Warren), Hart, Ibrahim (Martin), Mooney (West). BOOKED: Charles, Mooney.

 

That was our first major defensive disaster of the season. I really didn't want to see another over the next fortnight, as our next two league matches were against the bottom two.

[CFuller]

OCTOBER 2026 (continued)

In the last of four consecutive games at Victoria Road, we played host to 23rd-placed Aldershot Town. The Shots had made a terrible start to the campaign, winning just three of their first 14 games, in which they conceded 33 goals. They'd also changed manager, with Jamal Fyfield taking over from the sacked Nathan Doyle.

 

10 October 2026: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Aldershot Town

After just four minutes, Dagenham captain Mark West headed Jonathan Roche's cross narrowly over the bar. Four minutes later, a rare mistake from Wayne Coton almost gifted Aldershot the lead. Dean Martin had just knocked the ball away from Shots winger Jerry Funnell when a slip from Wayne diverted it to visiting striker Will Pitt. The on-loan Crewe Alexandra teenager couldn't take full advantage, as he struck a terrible shot.

 

Just moments after that, Coton went from nearly conceding a goal to almost scoring one! His header from Roche's corner struck the bar, and West was just unable to tuck in the rebound before Pitt cleared.

 

Then, 14 minutes into his return from a broken leg, Theo Wharton made a major impact for the Daggers. Theo found Christian Abbey in bags of space, and the loanee winger took on his long pass before hammering it past Aldershot goalie Daniel Lincoln!

 

The Shots launched a couple of attacks shortly after going behind, but Adam Campbell and Pitt both missed the target from distance. Abbey almost beat Lincoln for a second time in the 26th minute, but the ex-Brentford keeper met Christian's latest effort with a fine save. Lincoln later kept out a couple of attempts from West and Josh Charles on 37 minutes. Mark really should have scored in the 44th minute, when he somehow struck the bar after diving onto an excellent Roche cross. Would he rue not putting us two goals in front?

 

West's big miss still seemed to be on his mind in the second half. His desperation to score became apparent when he struck a couple of woeful efforts from outside the area in the 52nd and 57th minutes. In between those misses came a worrying leg injury for Roche, who was hurt in a tackle from Aldershot defender Ollie Smith. Jonny was substituted, and Mark would also be taken off midway through the second half.

 

Shortly after Bill Mooney replaced our misfiring skipper, the Shots started to find their range. Daggers keeper Robbie Ryder had his first major scare when he parried Brian Lawford's low cross after 69 minutes. A minute later, a wayward pass from Martin led to Aldershot's next opportunity, which Funnell dragged wide.

 

Dean would soon bounce back from his almost-costly error. On 82 minutes, the young midfielder drilled the ball across Aldershot's goalmouth to find Hands, whose knock-on was finished by Mooney for 2-0!

 

Three minutes later, a weighted pass from Martin was headed home at the far post by his fellow Daggers youth product Joel Honeyball. Joel had already been flagged offside, so the goal didn't count, but it was clear that we had comfortably won this battle between second-from-top and second-from-bottom. This win also moved us to within a point of league leaders Chester, who'd lost their unbeaten record at Cambridge United.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Abbey 14, Mooney 82)

Aldershot Town - 0

League Two, Attendance 4,657 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 2nd, Aldershot 23rd

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryder, Beech, Charles, Coton, Warren, Roche (Harding), Wharton, Martin, Abbey, West (Mooney), Hands (Honeyball).

 

This was a red-letter day for two of our midfield players. Dean Martin picked up the third man of the match award of what was fast becoming his breakthrough season, and Theo Wharton completed an incredible 124 passes on his comeback. But while Theo was no longer on the sidelines, Jonathan Roche was added to the injured list, with a gashed leg putting the winger out for the next fortnight.

 

We'd now gone eight matches without losing in League Two. Even more encouragingly, we'd kept a clean sheet for the first time since that run began with a 1-0 win at Yeovil Town early last month.

 

You might have expected us to be very sure of ourselves, then, when we paid Ebbsfleet United a visit the following weekend. Ebbsfleet were bottom of the table, but they had just started to find their feet in the Football League, and there was always a chance that they could spring up a surprise.

 

17 October 2026: Ebbsfleet United vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Not surprisingly, Ebbsfleet's Jake Martin was the busier of the two goalkeepers during the first period. Martin's first major contribution came when he caught Mark West's header from an Odain Simmonds cross in the 11th minute. Another Simmonds delivery after 25 minutes led to a chance for Joel Honeyball, but former Everton trainee Martin was also equal to that.

 

In the 29th minute, Martin out his third header of the opening half-hour. This time, it was Mark who was denied again by the goalkeeper's fingertips. Joseph Maloney had come close to firing Ebbsfleet ahead two minutes before then with a blistering strike that narrowly cleared the bar.

 

The Fleet didn't register another shot before half-time, but Maloney did make a potentially crucial impact in the 40th minute. That impact was on Mitchell Clark's ankle, and our holding midfielder was too badly hurt to return for the second half.

 

Our defence didn't look quite so robust sans Clark, and the Fleet set out to blow us away after the break. Maloney went close from another long-distance screamer in the 51st minute, while the next three minutes saw Steven Urmston and Sean Lowe also threaten our target. Ebbsfleet had their best chance to date when defender Marc May's header touched the bar after 55 minutes.

 

That startled us into life, and a minute later, substitute Dean Martin saw his shot pushed away by his namesake in the Fleet goal. Jake Martin's next save was from yet another West header in the 57th minute.

 

On 60 minutes, Ebbsfleet left-back Bill Swift swung in a deep cross ahead of Lowe, who nodded a sitter over the bar. I thought that might've been the game-defining moment… but I was wrong. After 63 minutes, Swift passed the ball short to John O'Brien, and the Irish left-winger thumped in a shot that finally got Ebbsfleet off the mark.

 

I was very annoyed that we'd conceded the opener, and United's second goal about six minutes later left me feeling more flustered. Fleet defender Stefan Tomasevic flicked an Urmston corner towards May, whose header was tipped away by Ryder. The ball fell towards Simmonds at the right-hand post, but Tomasevic slid the ball over the line before Odain could clear it! We were trailing 2-0 to the league newcomers!

 

I now needed our big players to step up to the mark. On 71 minutes, Paul Hart stepped up to take a free-kick in a dangerous position just outside Ebbsfleet's area. He thundered it against the wall… and then volleyed the rebound over the bar. Dean also failed to find the target in the 82nd minute, while Mark's desperate hit-and-hoper two minutes from time was met by a simple catch from Jake Martin. When the final whistle blew, I didn't know what was worse - that we'd lost to Ebbsfleet blooming United, or that we'd failed to score against them.

 

Ebbsfleet United - 2 (O'Brien 63, Tomasevic 69)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

League Two, Attendance 4,098 - POSITIONS: Ebbsfleet 23rd, Dag & Red 2nd

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryder, Beech, Dalton, Coton, Simmonds, Clark (Harding), Hands (Martin), Honeyball (Ibrahim), Hart, Abbey, West. BOOKED: Hands.

 

Our eight-match unbeaten league run was over, Chester had pulled clear at the top again, and Mitchell Clark would miss the next four to five weeks with a twisted knee. In other words, it wasn't a great Saturday afternoon.

 

We had a couple of days to mull over the Ebbsfleet loss, and then we were off to Lancashire to face Morecambe. The Shrimps had been very disappointing since dropping out of League One last season.

 

20 October 2026: Morecambe vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Morecambe won a corner after four minutes, but Dagenham defender Josh Charles easily headed it away. When Shrimps full-back Joe Edwards nodded Christian Abbey's cross behind four minutes later to gift us a corner, we took full advantage. Geraint Harding's delivery was flicked home by captain Mark West, and we were 1-0 up!

 

Our lead soon came under threat, as Charles hurt himself while clearing the ball in the 9th minute. While Josh was receiving treatment on the sidelines, Morecambe launched their first major attack after 11 minutes. Midfielder Bob Gray exchanged passes with winger Kris O'Nien, and then took a powerful shot that Daggers keeper Daryl Ryan did well to push away. Keeping goal for the Shrimps was 35-year-old Declan Rudd, who in the 19th minute got his fingertips to a long-range strike from Harding.

 

Morecambe later had an injury problem of their own, as Gray picked up a knock after being slide-tackled by Troy Hands on 23 minutes. It was Troy who started the counter-attack that led to our second goal three minutes later. After winning the ball off O'Nein in our penalty area, Hands sent the ball forward to Harding, who flicked it on to West. Paul Hart then took the ball from our half to the edge of Morecambe's area, where he returned it to Mark and provided him with the simplest of finishes!

 

West could've sealed his hat-trick in the 37th minute, but his shot flew past the target. A minute later, Shrimps midfielder Kiril Genchev spotted O'Nien in plenty of space in our box. O'Nien connected with the Bulgarian's pass… and half-volleyed it against the wrong side of the post! Joe Goss also wasted a chance for Morecambe in the 41st minute as we went into the break leading 2-0.

 

Morecambe made the brighter start to the second half, with captain Goss heading Genchev's corner over the bar in the 51st minute. The Shrimps also won a number of corners, but our defence - in particular Charles - held firm. You could not say that about Morecambe's backline.

 

In the 69th minute, Hart lost the ball to Ryan Starbuck near the Morecambe 'D'. Starbuck tried to pass the ball back to Rudd… but he completely underhit it, leaving West with a golden opportunity to seal his hat-trick! Mark did not mess it up, smashing the ball past Rudd to make it a treble!

 

That third goal eradicated any nerves we may have had, and victory was never in doubt from then on. Yasser Ibrahim looked to pile on the misery for those home fans at the Globe Arena in the 73rd minute, but his piledriver sailed wide. Daryl then secured his clean sheet five minutes from time, saving an angled shot from Goss after the Morecambe skipper made a late dash towards goal. All in all, this could not have gone much better for us.

 

Morecambe - 0

Dagenham & Redbridge - 3 (West 8,26,69)

League Two, Attendance 3,101 - POSITIONS: Morecambe 17th, Dag & Red 2nd

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Charles, Tierney, Coton, Warren, Harding, Hands (Wharton), Parmenter, Hart (Honeyball), Abbey (Ibrahim), West.

 

After our visit to Morecambe, we had another run of successive home games - two in the league, followed by one in the FA Cup. A trio of victories would confirm us as a major force to be reckoned with.

[CFuller]

OCTOBER 2026 (continued)

Our last two defeats had come against sides from Kent. I hoped that mini-curse wouldn't strike again when Dartford left the 'garden of England' to pay Victoria Road a visit. The Darts were in 7th place following a run of five league matches without losing.

 

24 October 2026: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Dartford

Dartford's first attack in the first minute broke down when Corey Archibald's path was blocked by Matt Warren. Troy Hands retrieved the ball for Dagenham and passed it to Yasser Ibrahim. What followed was a moment of pure individual genius from the Egyptian, who jinked his way into the Darts' penalty area and finished with aplomb! After exactly 30 seconds, it was already 1-0 to Dagenham & Redbridge!

 

We'd just seen Yasser at his very best… but we saw a less positive side of his game after he was booked for upending Miles Wardell in the fifth minute. Hands later attempted a couple of shots from distance. His first strike in the 9th minute was caught by Darts goalkeeper Calhan Peters, but his next effort five minutes later was well off target.

 

Troy struck from the edge of the 'D' in the 21st minute, only for Peters to keep his shot out. A goalmouth scramble followed before Dartford captain Conor McDonald cleared the ball away.

 

Over the next six minutes, the visitors had right-winger Archibald and striker Kieran McCall booked for their respective fouls on Warren and Hands. Archibald brought down Matt again in the 29th minute - in the penalty box. The Scot avoided a second yellow card, but he couldn't do anything to prevent Mark West from scoring our second goal from 12 yards.

 

We nearly got a third goal when Joel Honeyball's 33rd-minute cross towards West clipped the Dartford crossbar. Less than a minute later, Peters had to stop a close-range effort from Hands. We were threatening to run riot, so the half-time interval gave the visitors some much-needed respite.

 

Dartford didn't have a single shot at goal in the first half. Less than two minute into the second period, they finally gave Daryl Ryan something meaningful to do, with substitute Andrew Flynn's strike flying safely into our goalie's hands. Daryl's much busier counterpart Peters tipped wide a shot from Geraint Harding five minutes later.

 

On 55 minutes, Flynn wasted another rare opportunity for the Darts, whose second-half fightback was struggling to get off the ground. Just before the hour mark, their hopes of salvaging anything suffered a fatal blow. Warren had run Archibald ragged all game, and when Matt drew the latter into tripping him up, it was inevitable that the referee would summon Archibald again. The second yellow card came out, followed by the red, and Dartford were down to 10 men!

 

The contest was effectively over, but we spent the final half-hour trying to make the winning margin more emphatic. To be fair, Peters could not be faulted for his team's defensive misgivings, as he showed with another superb save from Harding in the 66th minute. Five minutes later, though, he needed the crossbar to help him out after Hart fired a promising free-kick at goal. Peters then produced one last save from Theo Wharton after 79 minutes to ensure that the final score remained a respectable 2-0 - not that I was particularly disappointed, mind.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Ibrahim 1, West pen30)

Dartford - 0

League Two, Attendance 4,524 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 2nd, Dartford 8th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Beech, Charles, Coton, Warren, Harding, Hands (Wharton), Honeyball, Hart (Martin), Ibrahim (Abbey), West. BOOKED: Ibrahim, Hands.

 

Next up was a visit from Bristol Rovers, who hadn't won any of their last ten games. Pirates manager Seamus Conneely desperately needed to turn things around against his former club, otherwise his job was on the line.

 

28 October 2026: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Bristol Rovers

Christian Abbey ballooned our first of the game over the bar after four minutes. A minute later, there was an incident that suggested all was not well defensively. After clearing a long ball from Bristol Rovers full-back Ed Creer, Daggers centre-back Josh Charles ran out of position like a madman to try and retrieve it! When Josh tripped up on a wet surface, Jamie Coyne took the ball for the Pirates and laid it right to frontman Paul McInnes. With Charles still trying to make his way back, our remaining defenders had to crowd around McInnes and force him into firing a shot wide.

 

Bristol Rovers' next attempt on goal was blazed over by Joshua Murphy in the 28th minute. In the build-up to that attack, Daggers playmaker Paul Hart had collided with Rovers midfielder Patrick Naylor, hurting his ribs. Paul bravely played on for the rest of the half - indeed, he left Naylor requiring injury treatment after the pair's next clash in the 34th minute.

 

Dagenham goalkeeper Daryl Ryan had kept out a low strike from McInnes in the 31st minute, but his sheet would not remain clean for much longer. On 41 minutes, McInnes fooled our defence with a clever short pass to Carl Mimms, who slipped in a shot that gave Bristol Rovers a single-goal lead at half-time.

 

Dean Martin replaced the hurt Hart in midfield during the break, but early in the second half, it became clear that our defence needed major repairs. In the 58th minute, Mimms picked out Steve Taylor with a lovely pass, and the winger struck a shot that Daryl could only help into the net. 2-0 to the Pirates, and our game was now falling to pieces at both ends.

 

Mark West had missed a couple of chances late in the first half, and another wide shot in the 64th minute confirmed that this was one of the captain's off-days. A small glimmer of hope emerged when Martin's 67th-minute tackle on Craig Shearer left the Rovers midfielder with a damaged kneecap. The Pirates looked seriously vulnerable for the first time, and after 73 minutes, Geraint Harding went for goal from 30 yards out. The strike didn't remotely trouble Rovers goalkeeper Daniel Bentley.

 

When Dean snatched at another opportunity in the 77st minute, our best spell of the game came to an end. Bristol Rovers attacked again two minutes later through McInnes, who notched up his second assist when Murphy fired past a hapless Ryan.

 

At 3-0 up, the Pirates had finished their scoring, but our agony was not over. Substitute Bill Mooney twice went close to scoring a consolation in the latter stages, with his injury-time free-kick hitting the bar. Bill's chances bookended a great solo effort in the 87th minute from fellow sub Jonathan Roche, who dribbled skilfully into the area and then completely scuffed his shot. In the end, our tally of one shot on target from nine attempts told you exactly why we deserved nothing from this game.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

Bristol Rovers - 3 (Mimms 41, Taylor 58, Murphy 80)

League Two, Attendance 3,648 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 2nd, Bristol Rovers 13th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Beech, Charles, Coton, O'Reilly, Wharton, Harding, Honeyball (Roche), Hart (Martin), Abbey, West (Mooney).

 

'Dreadful' did not describe that performance adequately. It was by far our worst of the season so far, and I really lost my temper in the dressing room afterwards.

 

Of the 11 players who started against Bristol Rovers, only Josh Charles and Theo Wharton kept their places when we hosted Kidderminster Harriers in Round 1 of the FA Cup three days later. Would there be another gruesome display at Victoria Road on Halloween?

 

31 October 2026: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Kidderminster Harriers

In the first half, the only people having any nightmares were those of a Kidderminster persuasion. It started brightly enough for the Harriers, as Steve Millar tested Dagenham keeper Robbie Ryder with a free-kick in the 11th minute.

 

Four minutes later, Daggers forward Yasser Ibrahim cut into the Kiddy area and fired a shot that was blocked by defender Conor Townsend. Yasser couldn't get a follow-up shot in, as Aaron Cunningham appeared to be holding onto the Egyptian's shirt. An eagle-eyed linesman spotted that, prompting the referee to award us a penalty! With Paul Hart out due to a rib injury, Bill Mooney took on spot-kick responsibilities - and he fired that particular one emphatically past Darren Conneely.

 

We were 1-0 up, but the Harriers looked to strike back after 18 minutes. Kenya midfielder Simon Lenighan's shot was parried by Robbie Ryder, and giant striker Rory Smith rushed forward to bury the follow-up… or so I thought. An incredible miss from Smith let us off the hook!

 

Two minutes later, Kidderminster fans were starting to wonder if their team was cursed! Mooney went down under an apparent trip from Gambia defender Isak Ssewankambo in Kiddy's six-yard box, and that led the ref to point to the spot again! The second spot-kick had exactly the same outcome as the first, and after 21 minutes, we were leading by two Mooney penalties to nil!

 

Bill was now eyeing up a hat-trick of goals, but his strike in the 23rd minute lacked accuracy. He did get closer on 30 minutes via a free-kick that bent just wide. A minute later, Smith scooped over a half-volley after being brilliantly set up by Aaron Buckley. That was Kidderminster's last chance to get a goal before the interval.

 

Buckley seemed to be Kiddy's best player in the first half, so the away fans were understandably concerned when the ex-Liverpool winger was hurt just six minutes into the second period. Fortunately for them, Buckley didn't take long to recover from a firm tackle by Charles. In the 56th minute, he played a superb crossfield pass to Smith, who wasted yet another shot.

 

Every one of Smith's three misses became more important as time went on and we edged closer to moving three goals up. Dean Martin was twice denied in the 64th and 66th minutes by Conneely, who then tipped over another Mooney free-kick in the 72nd. Six minutes later, it was Buckley's turn to snatch at an opening for Kidderminster.

 

We could almost smell Round 2… but with only two minutes left to play, Ssewankambo put the cat amongst the pigeons. The Swedish-born centre-back's bullet header from an excellent Buckley corner flew past the despairing Ryder, cutting our lead in half!

 

The tension rose over the final few minutes, and I could not relax until Gavin Dalton intercepted Kiddy winger Mitchell Warden's cross with just seconds remaining. Gavin hoofed the ball upfield, and then the referee blew his whistle to send us into the next round of the FA Cup.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Mooney pen15,pen21)

Kidderminster Harriers - 1 (Ssewankambo 88)

FA Cup Round 1, Attendance 3,397

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryder, Charles, Tierney, Dalton, Warren, Wharton (McLean), Hands, Roche (Parmenter), Martin (Honeyball), Ibrahim, Mooney. BOOKED: Hands.

 

We were through, but with more than our fair share of luck. When I told the players at full-time that I felt they'd got away with another sub-par performance, some looked properly annoyed. I didn't mind, to be honest.

 

We may still be in 2nd place, and in the next round of the FA Cup, but there have been signs in recent weeks that we may be getting too cocky. That's the last thing I want before what will be our biggest match so far this season.

[CFuller]

NOVEMBER 2026

The FA Cup Round 2 draw took place on the afternoon after our victory over Kidderminster Harriers. We were given a favourable draw away to Conference South side Bath City, and a great chance to reach Round 3 for the first time since 2019/2020.

 

Before we could head off to Bath on the last weekend of November, we had four league matches scheduled. The first of them was the small matter of a contest between 1st and 2nd - Chester vs Dagenham & Redbridge.

 

Marcus Bignot's Chester had made a blistering start to the campaign, avoiding defeat in their first 14 league games. Since then, they'd won two and lost two of their next five, but they remained unbeaten at the Deva Stadium. If we could end that particular record, we would jump above the Blues and lead League Two for the first time this season. A defeat, however, would leave us five points adrift of the early pacesetters.

 

There was some good news before our visit to Chester, as Marcelo Andrade was back from a broken toe and able to make the bench. Sadly, Robbie Ryder couldn't join us on the long journey north-west due to a bruised head.

 

7 November 2026: Chester vs Dagenham & Redbridge

As clichéd as it sounded, the first goal was always going to be important in this game. We dealt the first blow after eight minutes, with 'The Beast' Mark West heading home from an outstanding corner delivery by Matthew Fraser!

 

Four minutes later, goalkeeper Daryl Ryan kept us in front by punching away a Josh Falkingham free-kick before Chester striker Ashley Hargreaves could connect with it. Another minute passed, and then Jonathan Roche came within inches of boosting our advantage to 2-0.

 

The fast-paced start to this match continued with Daryl parrying Hargreaves' effort in the 15th minute. There then followed a trio of saves from Chester's goalkeeping captain Alan Page, who kept out attempts from Theo Wharton, Gavin Dalton, and West. Ryan produced his next save for the Daggers after exactly 26 minutes, pushing away another Hargreaves shot.

 

Both teams were giving their all, but it was the Blues who had the stronger end to the first half. On 33 minutes, winger Bickram Cook's cross struck his team-mate Deale Flynn, who took control of the ball and pulled it wide. Ryan was given a sterner test in the 37th minute by Bob Lamb's free-kick, which the Irish goalie safely caught. In the 43rd minute, Cook blasted wide what would be Chester's last chance before half-time.

 

Chester's usually sharp attack looked blunt, and their defence also seemed to be underperforming. Just seconds after play restarted, West took the ball off Blues centre-back Rob Kay, starting off a move that ended with him flicking Josh Charles' cross over a despairing Page! 2-0 to the Daggers, and top spot was ours for the taking!

 

Chester wouldn't concede 1st place without a fight, mind. They demonstrated their own aerial prowess after 50 minutes, when Flynn outjumped Wayne Coton to head in Lamb's delivery and pull a goal back.

 

Both sides were now feeling a sense of nervousness. The spectators at the Deva Stadium held their collective breaths in the 61st minute, when Roche dribbled skilfully into the Chester area. Instead of going for goal himself, Jonny played the ball back to Geraint Harding, whose strike was met by an acrobatic save from Page!

 

Things got a bit scrapper after that, with Chester duo Aryn Williams and Andrew Flood each picking up yellow cards. Fraser also got booked for a trip on Hargreaves in the 69th minute. An excellent game from the Scot's perspective was turning sour, and it was ended after 83 minutes by a mistimed tackle on Richard Henbest. Matthew wasn't sent off, but he was forced off with a knock.

 

Four minutes later, and with just three to go, West blazed over a shot that could have effectively won us the game. Flood and Lamb then wasted equalising chances for the Blues before the game entered three minutes of added-on time.

 

Midway through the last extra minute, Daggers winger Christian Abbey rushed in with a careless trip on Williams. Christian received a yellow card, and Chester now had a free-kick dangerously near our penalty area. Lamb delicately chipped the set-piece towards the six-yard box, where Matthias Fanimo went for a half-volley. He scuffed it hopelessly, but Kay almost scrambled the ball home before Paul Hart knocked it behind for a corner.

 

As injury time entered a fourth minute, Coton intercepted a poor corner from Cook. Sadly, Wayne's headed clearance fell to Flood, who passed to Hargreaves in the penalty area! As a number of Daggers players screamed offside, Hargreaves buried the ball into the net… and the linesman did nothing.

 

Chester fans celebrated a 2-2 draw like it was a victory, while we were left crestfallen. We were just seconds away from going top of League Two, but now we'd dropped to 3rd, with Luton Town edging in front of us on goal difference!

 

Chester - 2 (Flynn 51, Hargreaves 90)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (West 8,46)

League Two, Attendance 5,743 - POSITIONS: Chester 1st, Dag & Red 3rd

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Charles, Dalton, Coton, Warren, Wharton (Harding), Fraser (Simmonds), Roche, Martin (Hart), Abbey, West. BOOKED: Fraser, Abbey.

 

That was obviously a gutting result… but I did see some positives. This was confirmation that, if we put our mind to it, we could beat - or, in this case, get very close to beating - any team in League Two. We were not scared of anyone anymore!

 

Odain Simmonds' substitute appearance in the dying moments of that game was his last for Dagenham. After playing ten games for us in a three-month loan spell, the left-back returned to Crystal Palace.

 

The following weekend saw us play Brentford at home. This was Brentford's first season in the Football League's basement since 2008/2009, and they were hopeful of making a swift return to League One. The Bees weren't faring too badly, as they were in 7th place prior to kick-off.

 

14 November 2026: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Brentford

Jonathan Roche caused Brentford some early problems, winning a couple of corners inside the first 20 minutes. However, it was the Bees who had the first real scoring opportunity in a cagey opening half. On 26 minutes, Zach Clough jumped above a crowd of Dagenham players to head Mel Willis' cross towards goal. Thankfully, his header was only heading straight for goalkeeper Daryl Ryan.

 

In the 28th minute, Brentford winger Lee Jones dribbled into our penalty area and looked odds-on to give his team the lead. That was until Matthew Fraser came in with an attempted sliding tackle that disrupted Jones' rhythm and forced him to scuff his shot directly towards Ryan.

 

A Daggers counter-attack in the 35th minute almost put us in front, but Troy Hands was unable to hit the target after receiving a great pass from Mark West. Seven minutes later, Matt Warren won us a free-kick in a dangerous position after being impeded by Bees midfielder Laurence Scopes, who was booked. Marcelo Andrade took the free-kick on his comeback from injury, and he floated in a delightful delivery that Wayne Coton headed in off the bar!

 

Wayne's goal sent us into the break with a 1-0 lead, but fellow defender Josh Charles would not be returning for the second half. Right-back Josh had twisted his ankle in a tackle from Jones shortly after play had resumed.

 

Despite losing Charles, we kept up the attacking momentum in the second half. Paul Hart had a shot blocked in the 47th minute, and Andrade missed from the rebound. West was also unable to score from a promising position in the 52nd minute. When a challenge from Willis left Roche with a twisted ankle of his own four minutes later, the pendulum started to shift towards Brentford.

 

Fortunately, the Bees were lacking a sting whenever they went on the attack. A poorly-struck effort from Willis passed the post on 66 minutes, while 19-year-old substitute Calum Black - who had forced Ryan into a save earlier in the half - fired high and wide after 75.

 

West then had a couple of shots in the 76th and 77th minutes, only to be denied by Brentford keeper Gary Ewart on each occasion. Mark wouldn't get his name on the scoresheet, and with Troy pulling a dismal effort off target in the 81st minute, it looked like Wayne's goal would be the only one. Then, right at the end of injury time, a beaten Brentford team gave us a second goal out of nowhere.

 

Hart's through-ball to Hands was intercepted by Lewis Turner, but the Bees defender's first touch was utterly dismal! To make matters worse, Ewart had charged out of his area to try and collect the ball himself! That communication breakdown was great news for Hands, who slotted the ball into an empty net and sealed a 2-0 win for the Daggers!

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Coton 42, Hands 90)

Brentford - 0

League Two, Attendance 4,509 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 2nd, Brentford 10th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Charles (Tierney), Dalton, Coton, Warren, Roche (Parmenter), Fraser (Harding), Hart, Andrade, West, Hands. BOOKED: Roche.

 

After a couple of miserable weeks, we were feeling positive again. We were back in 2nd place, and there was now an eight-point gap between us and Chesterfield in 4th. With just over half of the season to go, we were looking good for automatic promotion to League One.

 

However, a couple of injuries soon threatened to derail us. Josh Charles and Jonathan Roche would both miss the next four weeks after twisting their ankles. Could we continue to push towards promotion without them?

[CFuller]

NOVEMBER 2026 (continued)

On the eve of our away game against Mansfield Town, Dagenham & Redbridge chairman Antonello Scolaro called me into his office to deliver some big news. Apparently, our excellent first half to the season had caught the eye of Championship table-proppers Rochdale, who wanted me to be their new manager.

 

Naturally, I was very flattered by Rochdale's offer. I made my mind up pretty quickly, though. I told Mr Scolaro that there was no way I was going to leave the Daggers in the lurch - certainly not at a time when things were going so well on the pitch.

 

I'd quickly forgotten about the approach from Rochdale when we travelled to Field Mill to play Mansfield. The departure of long-serving manager Paul Cox in the summer had further unsettled a Stags team already coming to terms with relegation from League One after just a single season. Their new era under John-Joe O'Toole had started terribly, and the Irishman was already under pressure.

 

17 November 2026: Mansfield Town vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Both teams had injury concerns in the first half. Our big worry was about winger Christian Abbey, who appeared to hurt his ankle in a tackle from Mansfield right-back Dave Croft after eight minutes. Four minutes later, Stags striker Joshua Turner was knocked over by Daggers defender Thomas Tierney. Play continued, and Turner was still writhing on the ground in agony when his team-mate Sol Mackey blazed a shot over our crossbar.

 

It turned out that Turner was not terribly hurt, and he was involved in another collision in the 23rd minute - with Dagenham left-back Matt Warren. Matt was left badly bruised, but that didn't stop him from playing on. Another wounded warrior in our ranks was Abbey, who appeared to aggravate his ankle injury in the 31st minute. Christian was immediately replaced by Yasser Ibrahim, so that we could assess his injury fully.

 

Yasser hadn't even been on the pitch for two minutes when he got himself a yellow card for a trip on Mansfield midfielder Jamie White. The Egyptian's next major contribution to this game was much more positive. After 35 minutes, Ibrahim outjumped Croft to connect with Paul Hart's cross and head it into the net!

 

We were 1-0 up, and Robbie Ryder kept it that way with an easy save from Mackey shortly after the restart. We almost added another goal in the 40th minute, when Tierney's header from Hart's corner was tipped over by goalkeeper Remi Matthews. Paul took the second corner from the opposite end of the pitch, and this time, his delivery to the far post was nodded home by Gavin Dalton! With the score now 2-0 to us, Mansfield's misery looked set to continue.

 

We threatened to strike again in the first minute of the second half, as Dean Martin's pass sent Troy Hands through. Croft had to make a vital tackle before Troy could enter the penalty box, but things wouldn't get any better for Mansfield. Another tackle on Hands, from substitute George Jolly in the 59th minute, knocked the ball to Ibrahim on the left flank. Yasser easily sprinted past Croft and then bent in a cross that Paul met with a lethal half-volley!

 

Only when they went 3-0 down did the Stags begin to put up a fight. Their captain Deniz Bakiroglu headed Jay Bishop's corner towards goal in the 63rd minute, but Ryder made a straightforward catch. Robbie's next save, from Jeremy Barnes in the 68th minute, was a bit more difficult but just as successful. He also caught a threatening free-kick from the otherwise terrible Turner after 80 minutes.

 

Four minutes later, our substitute winger Wayne Parmenter bent a low cross into Mansfield's six-yard box, where Hart - now playing up front - tapped in his second and our fourth goal! That put the seal on a virtuoso display from the teenage magician, who'd played a key role in all of our goals!

 

Robbie didn't have too bad a game at the other end, either. A couple of late saves, including a spectacular one to deny Jolly in injury time, preserved Ryder's clean sheet and sent us home delighted. What's more, Chester were finally beaten at home (3-0 by Dartford), so we replaced them at the top of League Two!

 

Mansfield Town - 0

Dagenham & Redbridge - 4 (Ibrahim 35, Dalton 41, Hart 59,84)

League Two, Attendance 2,670 - POSITIONS: Mansfield 21st, Dag & Red 1st

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryder, Beech, Tierney, Dalton, Warren, Hart, Wharton, Martin, Abbey (Ibrahim), West (Mooney), Hands (Parmenter). BOOKED: Ibrahim.

 

A heavy defeat at home made Mansfield lose patience with John-Joe O'Toole. The successor to a man who'd spent 15 years in charge at Field Mill had lasted just six months.

 

It was also the end of the road as far as Christian Abbey's career at Dagenham & Redbridge was concerned. After becoming the third Dagger to twist his ankle in the space of four days, Christian's loan spell was cut short and he was sent back to Plymouth Argyle. I contemplated bringing in another winger before the loan deadline passed, but I eventually decided to stick with what I already had.

 

Next up for us was a home meeting with Chesterfield, who were still in 4th place. If we could beat Johnnie Jackson's Spireites, we would be 11 points clear of them at the halfway stage of the season.

 

21 November 2026: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Chesterfield

Yasser Ibrahim and Mark West failed to impress with their first shots inside the opening six minutes. Indeed, the game as a whole was pretty uninspiring until around the 25-minute mark. At that point, Nathan Ricketts-Hopkinson had a half-chance for Chesterfield that was blocked by Wayne Coton.

 

In the 32nd minute, we gave the Spireites a thorough examination for the first time. Shortly after Yasser's attempted pass across the goalmouth to Hart was cut out by Blair Davidson, Tim Beech crossed the ball back into Chesterfield's area. The vice-captain's delivery found skipper West, whose header gave us the opening goal!

 

The away team attacked almost straight from the kick-off through Ricketts-Hopkinson, who hit a shot that Daryl Ryan brilliantly turned against his post. Left-back Matt Warren dithered over whether to collect the rebound, and his hesitancy allowed Pelly Ruddock to supply a cross that was finished by Spireites captain Steven Bowden! Barely a minute after going behind, Chesterfield were back level!

 

By the 42nd minute, though, our lead had been restored. An incisive pass from Ibrahim to Troy Hands provided the quick Lancastrian with a simple goal that handed us a 2-1 half-time advantage!

 

The second half of our 'Roses' partnership almost joined Troy on the scoresheet after 50 minutes. Paul Hart found West near the penalty shot, but the big Yorkshireman struck the post. On-loan Middlesbrough centre-back Dale Pounder then made a much-needed clearance for our visitors.

 

As time went by, it seemed that both of our strikers had lost focus. On 67 minutes, Hart swung in an excellent cross to Hands that looked promising... until Troy struck the ball with an awful connection that saw it drift wide! We did win a corner out of that attack, as Davidson cleared the ball behind the byline, though Matthew Fraser's set-piece was a very disappointing one.

 

Less than a minute later, Ryan had to stop Malcolm Belford from drawing Chesterfield level with a difficult save at his near post. That was the first of three saves in as many minutes from Daryl, who also kept out shots from Ricketts-Hopkinson and then Belford again. Substitute Arron Baird also had a go for the Spireites, although his 80th-minute header didn't make Ryan break too much sweat.

 

The visitors' final chance to take a point home came in injury time. Man of the match Bowden tried to curl the ball home from 30 yards… but he narrowly cleared the bar and we held on for a 2-1 win.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (West 32, Hands 42)

Chesterfield - 1 (Bowden 33)

League Two, Attendance 4,371 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 1st, Chesterfield 4th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Beech, Dalton, Coton, Warren (O'Reilly), Hart, Fraser, Harding, Ibrahim (Andrade), West (Mooney), Hands. BOOKED: O'Reilly.

 

When I checked the division's other results later that afternoon, I was left absolutely delighted! Chester had lost again - this time, 1-0 at Morecambe - and we were now four points clear at the League Two summit!

 

The following week saw us turn our attention to the FA Cup - and a Round 2 clash at Bath City, who were 7th in the Conference South. I felt confident enough that we could progress to Round 3 without having to use our very best players, so I fielded a number of second-string players at Twerton Park. Young left-back Daniel O'Reilly would have featured but for a knee ligament injury that would rule him out until the New Year.

 

28 November 2026: Bath City vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Wayne Bridge and his Bath team took just three minutes to make my gamble look foolish. Captain Seamus Burns fed a high ball forward from City's penalty area to Jim Carberry, who approached our box and then played in his strike partner. When Leigh Brookbanks slipped the ball past Daryl Ryan, we found ourselves trailing 1-0!

 

Bath's bright start was tempered by a 12th-minute injury to winger Stephen Groves, and we would soon put our hosts under pressure. Thomas Tierney headed wide in the 16th minute, but Theo Wharton did draw goalkeeper Wayne Fry into a save a minute-and-a-half later. This would be a frustrating first half all-round for us, as our attacks failed to breach a Bath defence that was particularly strong aerially.

 

Bill Mooney's lack of accuracy up front was another key factor. He struck the upright after 30 minutes, and then missed the target with his next two efforts. It also didn't help that we had three players booked for overzealous tackling before half-time. The last of those yellow cards went to Matt Warren in the 43rd minute for a dreadful challenge on Groves' replacement Nathan John, who was so badly hurt that he had to be substituted himself.

 

I tried to revitalise our attack during the interval by replacing another booked player - Wayne Parmenter - with playmaker Paul Hart. Paul's second-half introduction did little to get us going. Indeed, Ryan had to make a couple of early saves to prevent either Rob Banfield or Jamal Hammond from giving Bath a 2-0 lead.

 

Mooney missed yet another chance for us in the 58th minute, and I eventually lost patience with him. The young man who took Bill's place - Sotiris Giangoudakis - headed wide his first chance from a Marcelo Andrade cross in the 76th minute. Six minutes earlier, another Andrade cross had been nodded over from close range by Hart.

 

As it turned out, Marcelo would be the key to us getting back in contention. After 79 minutes, while dribbling up the left flank, the Portuguese winger spotted Fry off his goal line. Marcelo decided that it was as good a time as any to have a punt… and his long curler flew over Fry before landing in the net! Andrade couldn't have picked a much better time to score his first competitive goal for the Daggers!

 

That put us level, and with four minutes to go, we had a great chance to sink Bath's hopes. Dan Plummer crossed for Giangoudakis… and the Cypriot flicked his header inches past the post. If we were to get into Round 3 of the FA Cup, we would have to play City again at Victoria Road.

 

Bath City - 1 (Brookbanks 3)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Andrade 79)

FA Cup Round 2, Attendance 863

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Plummer, Tierney, Dalton (Coton), Warren, Wharton, Honeyball, Parmenter (Hart), Martin, Andrade, Mooney (Giangoudakis). BOOKED: Parmenter, Dalton, Warren.

 

The following day, we watched a Round 3 draw that we could consider ourselves fortunate to be a part of. Our excitement grew when the draw was made, and we were given a possible away tie against Premier League side Aston Villa.

 

To earn a trip to Villa Park, we would need to beat Bath at home on 8 December - in a match that the BBC would be broadcasting live. No pressure, then…

[CFuller]

League Two Table (End of November 2026)

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.          Dag & Red              23    15    4     4     39    20    +19   49
2.          Chester                23    13    6     4     47    24    +23   45
3.          Luton                  23    14    2     7     41    21    +20   44
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.          Chesterfield           23    10    8     5     39    29    +10   38
5.          Bristol City           23    9     9     5     31    22    +9    36
6.          Wycombe                23    10    6     7     29    24    +5    36
7.          Kidderminster          23    10    6     7     24    25    -1    36
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8.          Dartford               23    11    2     10    38    30    +8    35
9.          Exeter                 23    10    5     8     35    37    -2    35
10.         Brentford              23    9     7     7     22    27    -5    34
11.         Port Vale              23    7     8     8     29    34    -5    29
12.         Cambridge              23    9     2     12    36    42    -6    29
13.         Bristol Rovers         23    7     7     9     24    25    -1    28
14.         Swindon                23    7     7     9     22    25    -3    28
15.         Morecambe              23    8     4     11    28    32    -4    28
16.         Hereford               23    7     6     10    21    25    -4    27
17.         AFC Wimbledon          23    8     3     12    20    25    -5    27
18.         Leyton Orient          23    6     9     8     24    33    -9    27
19.         Mansfield              23    6     8     9     38    39    -1    26
20.         Tranmere               23    6     8     9     20    23    -3    26
21.         Yeovil                 23    5     9     9     18    26    -8    24
22.         Aldershot              23    6     5     12    28    45    -17   23
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
23.         Cheltenham             23    4     10    9     27    36    -9    22
24.         Ebbsfleet              23    5     7     11    23    34    -11   22

[CFuller]

DECEMBER 2026

The second half of our League Two season began with a personal accolade for me. Having come close to being named League Two's Manager of the Month in both September and October, I finally won that award for the very first time in November. We'd won three of our four league games in that month, with only Chester's injury-time equaliser denying us a perfect record.

 

I don't believe in any 'Manager of the Month curse', so I was confident that we could keep our good form going at home to fellow promotion-chasers Luton Town. The Hatters were in fine fettle themselves, having won 37 points from 16 league matches since the start of September.

 

Among our starters were Yasser Ibrahim and Thomas Tierney, who'd each signed new contracts to stay with us for at least another season. Yasser was happy to take a 25% pay cut from £2,000 per week to £1,500, while Tommy also agreed to reduced terms.

 

5 December 2026: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Luton Town

Dean Martin's first shot for us sailed wide of the mark in the sixth minute. The teenage midfielder decided to have another go four minutes later. After receiving a pass from Matthew Fraser, Dean took the ball forward, passed Luton defender Joel Ruby, and drove in a shot that keeper Darran Drury could only help into the net! Martin had given us the lead with a superb goal!

 

In the 15th minute, though, Luton striker Bobby Brown said, "Two can play that game." The on-loan Burnley man shrugged off Wayne Coton to fire Ikechukwu Babayaro's weighted pass home, and the Hatters were level.

 

Our first couple of attempts to retake the initiative were not particularly inspiring. Mitchell Clark's 17th-minute free-kick flew straight into Drury's grasp, and Thomas Tierney headed over the bar a minute later. A couple of poor corners, and a difficult Drury save from Ibrahim's header in the 27th minute, followed. However, the score remained 1-1… until Fraser fouled Calvin Knott in the Dagenham area after 30 minutes. Babayaro thundered in the resulting Luton penalty to put the visitors in front for the first time.

 

In the 33rd minute, Drury made a comfortable catch from Martin's header as we tried to restore parity swiftly. A minute later, with the Hatters looking in control, their American left-winger Guillermo Preciado took leave of his senses. Preciado hacked down Fraser with both feet in full view of the referee, who quickly brought out the red card!

 

Luton were a man down, but we couldn't draw level before half-time - certainly not on the goal front. When Wayne clattered into Brown two minutes from time, he was lucky not to follow Preciado down the tunnel. Coton got away with a yellow card, and he was relieved to see Babayaro pull the ball wide just moments later.

 

Gavin Dalton took Coton's place for the second half, which our more attacking players started in a positive manner. Fraser's corner in the 48th minute made Drury sweat, and the Australian punched it away before it could fall to Martin. Three minutes later, Drury was beaten by a stunning half-volley from Paul Hart after Yasser had knocked the ball across his goalmouth.

 

It was now 2-2, but our positivity took a hit when Dean was forced off injured after 53 minutes. A couple of Luton players also picked up injuries before the hour mark. Knott, whose missed interception opened the door for Hart to equalise, hurt himself whilst trying to tackle Daggers sub Joel Honeyball. He was able to continue following some treatment, but midfielder Steven McGann wasn't so lucky after suffering concussion in a clash with Clark. The Hatters had used all three of their substitutes, so they would have to play the final half-hour with only nine men.

 

Luton's disadvantage seem to affect them too much, as they won a free-kick in a promising position after 64 minutes. James Wallace swung the ball into our area, but Ryan seemed to have it covered. Incredibly, though, the ball slipped through Daryl's fingers, and Curtis Hulse bundled the ball home! Town appeared to have moved 3-2 up… but it wasn't quite that clear-cut. Referee Alan Ellams had spotted that Hulme had fouled and hampered our goalkeeper, so he disallowed the goal! That was a huge let-off!

 

For the final 20 minutes, we decided to make our numerical advantage count and take the game by the scruff of the neck. On 72 minutes, Warren crossed deep to Honeyball, who took the ball past Knott and tucked in the finish! Victoria Road was roaring as we moved into a 3-2 lead that we were determined not to fritter away.

 

Captain Mark West looked to seal the win with a goal of his own, but he nodded Tim Beech's cross wide in the 79th minute. Mark also got his head to a Fraser corner in the 82nd minute, only to flick it straight at Drury. It was third time lucky for West after 86 minutes, as he finally beat Drury with a clinical header from another brilliant cross by star performer Warren! That put the finishing touches on a dream second half - and a 4-2 victory.

 

The Hatters' nightmare wasn't quite over yet, as a game-ending injury to Babayaro in the 88th minute meant they finished with just EIGHT men! By the final whistle, I was actually feeling rather bad for Luton manager Neville Powell. If he hadn't had so much dreadful luck with injury, this might've been an even more thrilling and dramatic encounter.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 4 (Martin 10, Hart 51, Honeyball 72, West 86)

Luton Town - 2 (Brown 15, Babayaro pen30)

League Two, Attendance 4,684 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 1st, Luton 3rd

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Beech, Tierney, Coton (Dalton), Warren, Fraser, Clark (Harding), Hart, Martin (Honeyball), Ibrahim, West. BOOKED: Coton, Dalton.

 

A couple of days later, we welcomed back Mick Kinsella from a three-month loan spell at Dulwich Hamlet. Mick kept clean sheets in each of his first five matches for the Isthmian Premier club, and his spell at Champion Hill was a very productive one. I look forward to seeing him develop further back in the youth team.

 

After further tightening our grip on an automatic promotion place, we looked to finally beat Bath City in our FA Cup Round 2 Replay. Whoever won at Victoria Road would pick up close to £30,000 in prize money - and a Round 3 tie at Aston Villa in the New Year.

 

8 December 2026: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Bath City

Some of our players showed early nerves in front of the BBC cameras. Bill Mooney hammered wide a shot from distance in the very first minute, while Paul Hart clipped the crossbar in the 9th. After 11 minutes, Gavin Dalton hacked down Bath striker Leigh Brookbanks just outside our penalty area. Jesse Starkey floated in the City free-kick from the right, and captain Seamus Burns finished at the back post! Just like in the original tie, we were on the back foot early on!

 

Our situation didn't look like improving when Hart missed the target from the edge of Bath's area after 18 minutes. Three minutes later, we were relieved to see Jim Carberry clear the bar with a shot that could've made a 'giant-killing' more likely.

 

With Mooney misfiring as badly as he was at Twerton Park, we Goliaths weren't really giving the Davids of the piece any reason to be frightened. Bill's 24th-minute header went straight into the hands of goalkeeper Colin Slack, and his next two shots were… well, just slack. We needed someone else to be our main goal-getter - and that man was Hart. In the 36th minute, Paul took the ball from just inside City's half to their 'D', where he struck a clinical shot that Slack couldn't keep out!

 

Two minutes after Hart's equaliser, Mooney almost put us in front, but Slack made a fine save. The half ended with Joel Honeyball striking the crossbar from distance in the 43rd minute, and by the interval, we were really looking like the stronger team.

 

Another narrow miss from Honeyball in the 49th minute didn't quite set the tone for a second half that I hoped we would dominate. Although Slack caught Marcelo Andrade's header in the 51st minute, Dagenham goalkeeper Robbie Ryder would see more action than him before the hour mark was passed.

 

Moments after Slack's save, Bath counter-attacked through Rupert Hollier - a former Sheffield Wednesday striker and England youth international whose career had been ravaged by injuries. Hollier ran onto a through-ball and struck a shot that was superbly punched away by Ryder. Robbie made a less convincing save in the 57th minute, though his spillage from Nathan John's strike went unpunished.

 

Ten minutes later, with our attack going through a rough patch, I made a big call by replacing Honeyball with 16-year-old senior debutant Paul Parkinson. Three minutes later, the youth winger crossed to Andrade, whose volley into the Bath box found half-time substitute Mark West. Our captain jumped clear of City defender Spencer Lloyd to reach the ball… and his effort struck the bar before falling into Slack's hands.

 

West had another chance when Hart set him up on 74 minutes, but some brilliant acrobatics from Slack kept Mark quiet. Indeed, our attackers would stay quiet for virtually the rest of the second half.

 

In the penultimate minute of normal time, Hart was floored by a firm but fair tackle from Bath's left-back Abu Barnsby. Paul hurt his thigh and couldn't continue, with Dean Martin replacing him as our final substitute. West then headed a Parkinson cross wide in injury time before it was confirmed that another half-hour would be required.

 

The first half of extra-time was predictably cagey. The first real chance didn't come until 16-year-old Bath sub Stephen Rideout bent a shot wide in the 99th minute. Further misses at either end from West and Carberry followed before a short break in proceedings.

 

Things did not get much more exciting in the second period. Carberry missed the target again for City in the 108th minute, while Geraint Harding might as well have not bothered with a hapless shot for Dagenham four minutes later.

 

We would have to wait until the 118th minute for the first - and only - shot on target in extra-time. From the right flank, West threaded the ball through to Parkinson, and Paul then provided Marcelo with a delicate centre. Andrade went for the kill… but Slack made a critical save for Bath!

 

And so, after 35 shots at goal across 210 minutes of football, we still hadn't beaten our opponents from the Conference South. To avoid a major upset, and book our place in Round 3 of the FA Cup, we would need to win a penalty shoot-out. After losing two shoot-outs last season, could we banish our penalty demons?

[tenthreeleader]

Nerves. Nerves?

Naah. Or at least we hope not!

[CFuller]

I think now's a good time to tell you that, after this season has concluded, 'House of Flying Daggers' will be taking a sabbatical until July. I've got about a fortnight's worth of material left to publish, so my last post - for this season - is likely to be on the weekend of 4-5 June.

I had been planning this for some time, as I'll be going on holiday in the middle of next month, but a recent family illness has reaffirmed my decision to take a break - at least from this story.

I may or may not publish a new FM16 story next month while 'HoFD' is on hiatus, but that largely depends on the prognosis for the family member in question. I will probably make another statement in a couple of weeks' time, when the situation becomes clearer.

Right... I've left you on tenterhooks for long enough. Let's find out how that penalty shoot-out went, shall we?

[CFuller]

DECEMBER 2026 (continued)

Bath won the coin toss, so it was they who went first in the penalty shoot-out. Former Port Vale midfielder Jesse Starkey took their first penalty, firing it beyond Robbie Ryder's reach. Captain Mark West was first up for Dagenham, and he too found the net in emphatic fashion.

 

The next two penalties followed a similar pattern, with Abu Barnsby and Marcelo Andrade scoring for their respective sides. Third up for Bath was their skipper - Seamus Burns. The Northern Irish defender stepped up confidently and fired to Ryder's right… but Robbie went the same way, and with a save from his right hand, he gave us the whip hand!

 

Dean Martin put us even further in control with a penalty as cool as any 18-year-old has taken. With the score 3-2 to us, ex-England Under-19s striker Rupert Hollier was under pressure to score for Bath. The nerves completely consumed Hollier, whose penalty down the middle provided Ryder with a catch that was so laughably easy. We were now on the verge of reaching the next round.

 

Some eyebrows were raised when Thomas Tierney approached the area to take our fourth - and potentially decisive - penalty. I held my breath as the American defender readied himself for the biggest moment of his young career. Tommy took a deep breath, and then aimed for the left of Colin Slack. Bath's goalkeeper guessed correctly… but his reactions were not quite quick enough. As soon as Tierney's shot found the net, we ran towards our penalty hero to start the celebrations! We were going to Villa Park!

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Hart 36)

Bath City - 1 (Burns 12)

[Dagenham & Redbridge win 4-2 on penalties]

FA Cup Round 2 Replay, Attendance 3,373

PENALTY SHOOT-OUT: Starkey 0-1, West 1-1, Barnsby 1-2, Andrade 2-2, Burns saved, Martin 3-2, Hollier saved, Tierney 4-2.

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryder, Plummer, Tierney, Dalton, Warren, Wharton, Harding, Honeyball (Parkinson), Hart (Martin), Andrade, Mooney (West). BOOKED: Warren, Wharton.

 

It can't have been more than a couple of minutes after Tommy's winning penalty sent us into ecstasy that I was summoned for an interview with a BBC reporter. The interview went well at first… and then the reporter asked whether we could cause a major shock against Aston Villa in the next round. I laughed it off, saying, "We're just going to enjoy the experience at Villa Park, much like we did at Chelsea in the League Cup."

 

The interviewer said, "Oh come on, Chris! It's the FA Cup, for goodness sake! Surely you can cause an upset, can't you?" Shaking my head, I reasserted, "Look, it'll be a tough ask against Villa, and I've said that we're just going to enjoy it. Can we move on to the next question, please?"

 

That next question, it turned out, was a third variation of what I'd already been asked twice before. The wannabe Jeremy Paxman asked, "Just a yes or no - can you beat Aston Villa?" In a moment of frustration, I sighed and said, "You've had your chance, and you've blown it. This interview's over." I then walked off as the BBC quickly cut back to a gobsmacked presenter and two equally stunned pundits.

 

Needless to say, my on-air walk-off attracted as much attention from the press as the actual result. The fact that our goalscorer Paul Hart had suffered a thigh strain and would be touch-and-go for the Villa game on 2 January hardly got a mention.

 

Hart would definitely miss our next league game at AFC Wimbledon, and three days' rest was not enough for some other players who'd worked particularly hard against Bath. Captain Mark West was among those who missed the trip to Kingsmeadow, where we hoped to extend our unbeaten run in all competitions to nine matches.

 

12 December 2026: AFC Wimbledon vs Dagenham & Redbridge

With just 20 seconds played, Tim Beech - who was wearing the captain's armband in Mark West's absence - supplied a cross to Bill Mooney in the Wimbledon area. The away fans got very excited… but Bill's header struck the crossbar and bounced back into play. Yasser Ibrahim then bent wide a shot in the third minute before picking up a knock that he was able to run off.

 

Our first shot on target was Dean Martin's vicious 14th-minute strike, which was frantically pushed away by Dons goalkeeper Damian McHale. Martin troubled McHale again three minutes later, with the Southampton loanee having to parry that shot as well. Dean finally got past the keeper in the 21st minute, burying a short Ibrahim pass to open the scoring!

 

The Dons clearly had to stop Martin in his tracks, but when defender Christopher Bowden tackled him after 28 minutes, he only ended up hurting his own leg. Three minutes later, Mooney volleyed in another excellent delivery from Ibrahim, only for the offside flag to deny him his first league goal in two months.

 

Bill had another chance when Dean played him clean through in the 33rd minute, but on that occasion, McHale stopped him with a difficult save. McHale also secured a strike from Troy Hands on 42 minutes as the half ended with us still only one goal ahead.

 

Although Martin snatched at a chance to make it 2-0 in the 48th minute, our grip on the game remained a very firm one. Wimbledon's defensive struggles got worse when left-back Gavin Dixon was floored by Mooney after 58 minutes. The struggling Irishman came off soon after that, and by the 64th minute, his team were trailing by two goals. Dean made a mockery of the Dons' offside trap when he collected Matthew Fraser's pass and fired it beyond McHale from 25 yards out!

 

With Martin's brace, we were firmly on course for three more points. A third goal could've followed in the 78th minute, when Wimbledon right-back Joseph Ike's dreadful clearance was intercepted by Mitchell Clark. Mitchell slotted the ball to Joel Honeyball, who pulled it just past the far post. Honeyball missed another opportunity four minutes from time, but this was still a comfortable win against an out-of-form side.

 

AFC Wimbledon - 0

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Martin 21,64)

League Two, Attendance 5,788 - POSITIONS: AFC Wimbledon 19th, Dag & Red 1st

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Beech, Dalton, Coton, Warren, Fraser, Hands (Clark), Honeyball, Martin, Ibrahim (Andrade), Mooney (Giangoudakis). BOOKED: Warren.

 

Our fifth league victory in a row was followed a week later by a home game with Exeter City, who'd won eight of their last nine in the division. Jonathan Roche returned to our starting line-up after injury, while Josh Charles was on the bench.

 

19 December 2026: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Exeter City

Exeter's resurgence under new manager Joe Wright looked like continuing in the second minute, when captain Hasney Little had a pop from just outside our area. However, he couldn't quite get his shot on target.

 

In the fourth minute, Daggers midfielder Matthew Fraser clashed heads with Grecians counterpart Alex Fahey. Matthew came off worse, but he wouldn't let a minor head wound ruin his game. In the 14th minute, Marcelo Andrade dribbled into Exeter's area and fed the ball to the Scot, whose strike was turned behind by goalkeeper David Croft.

 

Exeter then had three shots off target between the 16th and 30th minutes, with Scott Towers, Fahey and Little all missing. Although the visitors had a higher quantity of shots, ours were of slightly better quality. During a hectic final minute of first-half normal time, captain Mark West got to Marcelo Andrade's cross and headed it into Croft's hands.

 

West had two more headers at goal in the first three minutes of the second half. The first also led to a comfortable catch from Croft, but the second was much poorer, floating over the bar. Some at Victoria Road were now starting to wonder if this would finish goalless, like the sides' previous meeting at St James Park in August. After 52 minutes, those thoughts were ended.

 

Daggers substitute Geraint Harding was guilty of a terrible mistake when he hacked down Exeter winger Neal Bartlett in our area. Towers took the penalty, and he silenced the home fans with a clinical finish past Daryl Ryan.

 

As we adopted an attacking strategy to try and restore parity quickly, Exeter only increased the pressure even more. Gavin Borg snatched at a chance to complete a Grecians breakaway with a second goal in the 54th minute, but it wasn't long before City did go 2-0 up. Just after the 55-minute mark, Towers bent his shot around Wayne Coton and beat Daryl for a second time.

 

Little laid on the assist for that second goal, and he now wanted his name on the scoresheet. He would get his wish after 66 minutes. When Towers intercepted a Coton clearance and passed first-time to Little, the Exeter skipper raced through and slotted his team into a 3-0 lead away from home!

 

I shouted expletives at my underperforming players on the touchline, and that seemed to fire us up. Moments after the restart, Andrade dribbled at the Exeter defence and capped off an excellent one-man attack by firing the ball in off Croft's shin. One goal down, just two more to level.

 

Joel Honeyball also tried his luck in the 69th minute, only to bend his shot against the upright. On 75 minutes, a rare sloppy pass from the Grecians' Grenada international midfielder Ben Stanislaus started off a Daggers counter-attack. West laid the ball forward to Andrade, who shot past left-back Rich Ingram and now just had to defeat Croft again. The goalie parried Marcelo's first attempt, but the second was fired home by our Portuguese starlet, and we were now only 3-2 down!

 

In the 78th minute, Honeyball had his mind set on being the man that pulled us level. In the end, his shot was all too easily dealt with by Croft. We'd lost our attacking momentum, and with that, we lost the game. Indeed, Daryl had to catch a couple of headers from Des Evans and Towers either side of the 90-minute mark to keep the losing margin down to a solitary goal.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Andrade 67,75)

Exeter City - 3 (Towers pen52,56, Little 66)

League Two, Attendance 4,305 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 1st, Exeter 4th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Beech, Dalton, Coton, Warren (Bartley), Clark, Fraser (Harding), Roche (Honeyball), Martin, Andrade, West.

 

Although we were still top of League Two at Christmas, 2nd-placed Chester had cut our lead to a single point following a 1-0 win over Brentford. If this blip turned into anything more serious, they would be primed to pounce.

 

There was some interesting news regarding our big FA Cup Round 3 tie just before Christmas. The FA had moved our game with Aston Villa back from 2 January to 13 January - because of international call-ups. A couple of Villa's bit-part Central American players had been called up for friendlies, and it seemed that the FA believed their absence would hamper the Villans too greatly.

 

(Rolls eyes) Okay, then…

[Greyfriars Bobby]

I think now's a good time to tell you that, after this season has concluded, 'House of Flying Daggers' will be taking a sabbatical until July. I've got about a fortnight's worth of material left to publish, so my last post - for this season - is likely to be on the weekend of 4-5 June.

I had been planning this for some time, as I'll be going on holiday in the middle of next month, but a recent family illness has reaffirmed my decision to take a break - at least from this story.

I may or may not publish a new FM16 story next month while 'HoFD' is on hiatus, but that largely depends on the prognosis for the family member in question. I will probably make another statement in a couple of weeks' time, when the situation becomes clearer.

Right... I've left you on tenterhooks for long enough. Let's find out how that penalty shoot-out went, shall we?

I hope your family member's prognosis is positive, and not simply because I enjoy reading your excellent stories. You and your family will be in my thoughts and prayers.

[CFuller]

I hope your family member's prognosis is positive, and not simply because I enjoy reading your excellent stories. You and your family will be in my thoughts and prayers.

Thank you. Like I said, when the situation is clearer, I'll let you know.

[CFuller]

DECEMBER 2026 (continued)

After the Christmas break, we - like most teams in League Two - had two matches in the space of 48 hours. The first of those was a Boxing Day trip to Tranmere Rovers, who'd lost just one of their first six games under new boss AJ Leitch-Smith. My last meeting with Leitch-Smith was back in September, when we beat Yeovil Town 1-0 in what would be his last home game at Huish Park.

 

26 December 2026: Tranmere Rovers vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Matthew Fraser's free-kick in the third minute didn't get particularly close to giving us the lead, as he flighted it too close to Tranmere goalkeeper Calvin Hare. Theo Wharton - Fraser's partner in the centre of our midfield - then fizzed a shot wide from long range after 12 minutes.

 

Five minutes later, a Tranmere counter-attack ended with Jon Howard finding striker James Galloway near our six-yard box. Galloway readied himself, and then pulled his shot beyond the far post.

 

The shooting didn't get much better, as Wharton blazed wide two more audacious long-distance shots before the half-hour. Theo couldn't carry on hitting and hoping, and in the 38th minute, a stroke of luck gave him a better chance from closer out. Rovers captain Lenny Coleman's clearance deflected off his fellow centre-back Herbert Honeyball and fell to Wharton, whose effort was pushed away by Hare.

 

With the deadlock still intact at half-time, I took off the underperforming Bill Mooney and sent on Mark West to partner Troy Hands up front. Troy had our first shot of the second half after 57 minutes, but much to my dismay, it was a hopeless attempt from 25 yards.

 

Tranmere boss AJ Leitch-Smith - a former striker himself - was also appalled by his team's profligacy. Derek Fish looked like a fish out of water when he pulled the ball off target in the 59th minute. In the 72nd, Fish nodded the ball on to Galloway, who cleared the bar with a shot that had too much power. The same was true of West's one and only attempt, set up by Hands a minute later. Thanks to some excellent defending from Honeyball and Coleman, Mark would receive very little in the way of aerial service.

 

Meanwhile, Dagenham goalie Daryl Ryan was finally roused into making a save from Fish's strike in the 81st minute. Four minutes later, Troy knocked a lovely pass ahead of Yasser Ibrahim in the Tranmere area. Yasser was ready to pounce… but Hare parried his shot and kept the final score at 0-0.

 

Tranmere Rovers - 0

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

League Two, Attendance 3,523 - POSITIONS: Tranmere 15th, Dag & Red 1st

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Charles, Tierney, Dalton, Warren, Roche (Parmenter), Fraser (Clark), Wharton, Ibrahim, Mooney (West), Hands. BOOKED: Parmenter.

 

That had not been a great game by any means. Chester were also involved in a miserable goalless affair at Mansfield Town, so we clung onto top spot.

 

Two days later, we hosted a Hereford United side who were just about in the top half.

 

28 December 2026: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Hereford United

Dean Martin came back into the side after sitting out the Tranmere Rovers game. Martin put Hereford under pressure after 12 minutes, when he struck a fierce shot that Bulls goalkeeper John Harkins could only parry to Mark West. Mark cut the ball back to Dean, who scuffed a half-volley attempt but still came within inches of scoring.

 

Harkins made another save on 16 minutes to thwart Marcelo Andrade, who had skifully cut inside from the left. Three minutes afterwards, Martin tried a sensational 30-yard banana shot fi. It almost paid off big-time, striking the bar before bouncing into a grateful Harkins' hands.

 

While Dean was thriving, Mitchell Clark was struggling, and a strong challenge from Hereford left-back Hugh Cargill ended his game after just 23 minutes. Hereford created their first real opportunity six minutes after that. Skipper Steven Hewitt found Kyle de Silva in space, and the 33-year-old drilled in a shock opener for the Bulls!

 

That was just a minor setback, though, as Andrade repaired the damage within a couple of minutes. The Portuguese winger slid to reach Tim Beech's cross into the six-yard box, and although Harkins blocked Marcelo's first connection, he couldn't keep out the follow-up.

 

On 41 minutes, Bulls defender Conor Shaughnessy - whose missed interception allowed Beech's delivery to find Andrade - was booked for impeding West. Matthew Fraser played the free-kick short to Geraint Harding, and the Welshman laid the ball to Marcelo, who provided another tidy finish to turn the game around!

 

We now led 2-1… but a topsy-turvy first half wasn't quite over. After 40 minutes, Rob Dunkley hoisted a Hereford free-kick into our box, and John Powell struck the post! The Bulls were cursing their luck, and at half-time, it looked like we'd record yet another comeback win over them!

 

A Dagenham counter-attack in the 49th minute left more ruin in Hereford's wake! Andrade was involved again in our third goal, playing the ball in front of West, who slotted home his first of the afternoon.

 

Harkins soon found himself facing a barrage of home attacks. Between the 52nd and 56th minutes, the Scottish keeper had to keep out further attempts from Martin, Beech and West.

 

We launched our next attack after 61 minutes. Dean's byline cross was headed away by his namesake Lewis Martin, but his clearance only went as far as Geraint, who nodded it back into the area. Mark then outjumped both Cargill and Harkins to flick in another goal!

 

At 4-1, it surely couldn't get much worse for the Bulls. It DID get worse after 66 minutes, when right-back Cyrus Christie strained his groin while trying to tackle a treble-chasing West. Hereford's only hope now was to try and pull a goal back quickly.

 

In the 71st minute, striker Keith Khan went for a first-time strike that Daryl Ryan could only parry. Daryl was under fire again in the 79th minute, when a Cargill cross found Dunkley on the edge of our six-yard box. Dunkley struck the ball on the volley… and Ryan blocked it off the goal line with his left leg!

 

The Bulls were well and truly finished off two minutes later by a clever corner routine at the other end. Andrade's near-post delivery was headed on by Wayne Coton to West, who tucked it into the corner! With that hat-trick clincher, Mark had scored his 16th league goal of the season, beating last term's tally of 15! It also completed a 5-1 victory - our biggest of the campaign! For the closing stages of a contest that had long been over, I gave Paul Parkinson a league debut and Paul Hart his first run-out since recovering from a thigh strain.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 5 (Andrade 35,38, West 49,61,81)

Hereford United - 1 (de Silva 30)

League Two, Attendance 3,445 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 1st, Hereford 13th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Beech, Tierney, Coton, Warren, Clark (Fraser), Harding, Roche (Parkinson), Martin (Hart), Andrade, West.

 

We could well have finished the year with a three-point lead over Chester. However, they scored an 88th-minute winner against Chesterfield to stay within touching distance.

 

I wasn't too fussed. More important for me was that the gap between us and the team in 4th place - Exeter City - was now a whopping 15 points.

 

Is it still too early to get excited?

[CFuller]

League Two Table (End of December 2026)

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.          Dag & Red              28    18    5     5     52    26    +26   59
2.          Chester                28    17    7     4     54    25    +29   58
3.          Luton                  28    17    2     9     55    31    +24   53
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.          Exeter                 28    13    5     10    44    45    -1    44
5.          Brentford              28    12    8     8     28    30    -2    44
6.          Bristol City           27    11    10    6     37    26    +11   43
7.          Chesterfield           28    11    10    7     43    34    +9    43
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8.          Dartford               28    13    3     12    46    39    +7    42
9.          Kidderminster          28    11    8     9     29    32    -3    41
10.         Morecambe              28    12    4     12    39    38    +1    40
11.         Wycombe                28    10    9     9     33    32    +1    39
12.         Swindon                28    10    7     11    28    29    -1    37
13.         Hereford               28    10    6     12    31    34    -3    36
14.         Port Vale              27    9     8     10    35    40    -5    35
15.         Tranmere               28    8     10    10    24    25    -1    34
16.         Leyton Orient          28    8     10    10    33    41    -8    34
17.         Cambridge              27    9     6     12    40    46    -6    33
18.         Bristol Rovers         28    8     8     12    27    30    -3    32
19.         Yeovil                 27    7     10    10    21    27    -6    31
20.         Ebbsfleet              28    7     9     12    30    41    -11   30
21.         Mansfield              28    6     10    12    42    48    -6    28
22.         AFC Wimbledon          28    8     3     17    24    38    -14   27
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
23.         Cheltenham             28    5     11    12    33    47    -14   26
24.         Aldershot              28    6     7     15    30    54    -24   25

 

[CFuller]

JANUARY 2027

We didn't have any games in the first week of the New Year, but there was no lack of activity at Dagenham & Redbridge.

 

Firstly, left-back Matt Warren removed any lingering doubts about his long-term future by signing a new contract with the Daggers. He will now be with us until the end of next season at least.

 

Also getting a new deal was reserve midfielder Lumumba McLean, who signed professional forms for the first time. I immediately made the 19-year-old available for loan, and he attracted offers from a couple of Conference Premier clubs. Lumumba eventually decided that he would spend the rest of the season at Eastleigh.

 

Dan Plummer was another up-and-coming Dagger whose short-term future lay in Hampshire. The former Southampton right-back was loaned out to Farnborough until the end of the campaign.

 

Our reign at the top of League Two ended just two days into the New Year. Chester wrestled top spot from our grasp after recording a narrow 1-0 win over AFC Wimbledon.

 

The FA Cup Round 4 draw also took place. If we could cause a mighty upset at Aston Villa later in the month, our reward would be a home game against Peterborough United. You may remember that our last cup meeting with Peterborough went quite well…

 

Before we could set our sights on Villa Park, we travelled to Adams Park on 9 January for our first match of the year. Wycombe Wanderers were now in 10th place, having beaten Ebbsfleet United three days earlier.

 

9 January 2027: Wycombe Wanderers vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Jordan Gray gave us a very early scare, firing the ball inches wide of our goal after just 18 seconds. Fortunately, we wouldn't have to worry about the Aussie midfielder for long. Gray hurt his groin in an ugly tackle on Matthew Fraser after four minutes, bringing his game to an early end.

 

About two minutes later, Dagenham captain Mark West had a close-range shot blocked by Wycombe goalkeeper Tyrone O'Dea. Mark was determined to be more clinical with his next attempt. In the 16th minute, West got his head to a Fraser cross into the Chairboys area. O'Dea couldn't keep Mark's effort out, and we were ahead!

 

Wycombe went for a more attacking strategy later in the half, but their shooting lacked accuracy. Rick Draper drove the ball miles over in the 22nd minute. In the 30th, Welsh left-winger Jake Charles crossed to Irish right-winger Aaron Griffin, who got his header all wrong. Draper did get close to the target from a free-kick after 35 minutes, but we remained narrowly in front at the interval.

 

I took off Josh Charles at the break after he picked up a yellow card in the first half, but his namesake Jake was still keen to make his mark. In the 47th minute, Wycombe's Charles showed some fancy footwork before dragging the ball off target.

 

Three minutes later, a great ball from Jonathan Roche effectively sent Paul Hart through on goal for the Daggers. Paul tried to beat O'Dea from just inside the area, but the goalkeeper brilliantly tipped over his powerful strike. That would prove to be a vital save.

 

After 64 minutes, Draper floated in a byline cross to Charles, who equalised with a point-blank header that would've made his grandfather John proud. Daryl Ryan wasn't particularly proud of his positioning, and the Dagenham keeper knew he could've been better-placed to keep out the header.

 

On 73 minutes, a Tim Beech cross deflected off Chairboys captain Stephen Kingsley and caused havoc in the Wycombe box. The ball squirmed underneath O'Dea and almost fell to West, but Wycombe centre-back Mike Foster made a clearance that deflected off Mark and went over for a corner! Nothing came out of that, though we did have an opening in the 79th minute. Matt Warren cunningly threw the ball to a narrowly-onside West, whose angled shot was turned away by O'Dea. That would be our last opportunity to take home all three points.

 

Wycombe Wanderers - 1 (Charles 64)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (West 16)

League Two, Attendance 4,884 - POSITIONS: Wycombe 9th, Dag & Red 2nd

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Charles (Beech), Dalton, Coton, Warren, Fraser, Hands (Harding), Roche, Hart (Martin), Ibrahim, West. BOOKED: Charles, Dalton.

 

Chester carried on their good run of form with a 3-1 victory at 3rd-placed Luton Town. We were now four points behind the Blues, albeit with a game in hand.

 

Although I didn't intend to sign too many players in this transfer window, I did bring in a very promising 20-year-old centre-back. Alex Busetto is a brave Italian youngster who was released by Manchester City last summer, and he'll give us yet more depth at the back. My scouts reckon that Alex could be a Premier League regular in the future, but only time will tell.

 

Four days after the Wycombe draw came our much-anticipated FA Cup Round 3 game at Aston Villa. The Villans were 14th in the Premier League, and manager Keith Hill picked arguably his strongest possible line-up. Just like at Chelsea in the League Cup, I lined my team up in a 3-5-2 formation to stop us from being destroyed in midfield.

 

This wasn't the first time Dagenham had played Villa in the FA Cup. The Daggers had hosted the Villans at this same stage 11 seasons ago, and suffered a 3-0 defeat. A closer scoreline this time round would make me very proud.

 

13 January 2027: Aston Villa vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Aston Villa's first shot was a weak one from Joop Burleson in the fourth minute, and Robbie Ryder didn't have to do much to stop it. Three minutes later, we launched a counter-attack that fizzled out when Paul Hart blasted a banana shot wide from long range. A more promising breakaway came in the 10th minute, when Mitchell Clark drove the ball ahead of Troy Hands. Unfortunately, Mitchell struck his pass a little too hard, and Villa keeper Vítor Araújo reached the ball just before Troy.

 

French midfielder Gilles Le Brun then had a number of opportunities to put the Villans ahead. The first two were woeful, but his third effort on 17 minutes was parried by Ryder. A minute later, Venezuelan winger Edwin García drove the ball wide after Mark West had headed away his corner.

 

Then, in the 31st minute, Hands was at the heart of another bright counter-attack from the Daggers. Moments after intercepting Villa striker Hélder Martins' pass back to midfielder Douglas Festa, Troy forced Araújo into a difficult save. Five minutes after that, Hands spotted a gap in the Villa backline and passed through it to find Hart. Paul just had to slip his shot past Araújo, but the Portuguese shotstopper made himself big and parried his effort.

 

On 41 minutes, Villa's England defender Shane Hussey went painfully close to heading García's corner into our net. By half-time, though, the game was still goalless, and we were looking every inch as capable as our Premier League hosts.

 

In the 49th minute, Le Brun curled in a corner for Aston Villa. Gavin Dalton made an excellent interception, but García got to his headed clearance and had a crack at goal. It took a magnificent save from Robbie to keep out his blistering effort. Unfortunately for Ryder, Martins pounced on the rebound and finally opened the scoring for Villa.

 

The fear now was that Villa would really assert their authority. García showed some real class when he made an excellent solo run in the 57th minute, but he followed that up with a shot that flew over the bar. Hands then pulled wide our first real opportunity to draw level on 64 minutes. That should've been punished by Le Brun two minutes later, but the ex-Arsenal star headed Martins' cross straight into Ryder's hands.

 

Play pretty much went back and forth for the final 20 minutes, with Villa threatening to go 2-0 up, and then us having an opportunity to make it 1-1. One of the latter chances came when Mitchell fired a free-kick narrowly over in the 77th minute. After 84 minutes, Ryder got his fingertips to a hammer from Croatian left-back Vili Komorski.

 

A rare lapse from Hussey in injury time gifted West our final chance to force a replay… and he put it into the stands. Nevertheless, we had produced another courageous display against a big-name top-flight side. Our three-man defence of Dalton, Wayne Coton and Thomas Tierney was simply magnificent - and Gavin ended up with the man of the match award.

 

Aston Villa - 1 (Martins 49)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

FA Cup Round 3, Attendance 30,311

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryder, Tierney, Dalton, Coton, Beech, Warren (Andrade), Fraser (Harding), Clark, Hart, West, Hands (Martin).

 

Although our FA Cup run was over, the effects were going to be felt for a while. The gate receipts we got just from playing Villa totalled around £450,000, which was staggering for a club of our size. Our debt had now been cut to a more manageable £250,000, and we could now put aside any fears of a financial catastrophe.

 

My big concern now was whether we could hold our nerve and further consolidate our place in the automatic promotion spots. Our next league game was at Ashton Gate against a Bristol City who'd spent most of the season in the top seven. The Robins were also on a run of just one loss in nine matches across all competitions.

 

16 January 2027: Bristol City vs Dagenham & Redbridge

I expected a battle… but not in the way that this turned out to be. There was plenty of rough tackling from both ends, with our players looking particularly fired up. Yasser Ibrahim and Matt Warren both got carried away, picking up a yellow card apiece during the first seven minutes. In the eighth minute, Bristol City striker Dean Horne was sent crashing down by a strong tackle from Wayne Coton. Horne tore his groin muscle, ending his game very early.

 

The main target of City's tacking was our Irish winger Jonathan Roche, who was upended by Eddie Williams in the 19th minute. That earned Williams the game's third yellow card. The fourth went to Daggers defender Gavin Dalton after he slid in on Horne's replacement Graham Fitzpatrick on the half-hour.

 

Two minutes after that, the Robins finally decided to play some football. Debutant winger Fausto Casiraghi showed promise when he ran at our defence, but he threw that away with a hopeless 25-yarder. By half-time, the poor old referee couldn't wait to blow his whistle.

 

Yet another booking was handed out in the 57th minute. That was when Daggers right-back Josh Charles tripped Gerard Kelly, who had come on as a half-time substitute for the substitute Fitzpatrick.

 

Another of Bristol City's half-time subs was their leading scorer Ryan Wilks. After 60 minutes, Wilks finally gave Daryl Ryan a test in the form of a header that the Dagenham goalkeeper comfortably held. Wilks had another effort saved by Ryan in the 66th minute, shortly after his captain Lawrie Anderson had been cautioned for a careless foul on Yasser. Thankfully, for the ref's sake, he wouldn't have to take out another card in this match.

 

Bristol City had a couple of late chances through Wilks and Christian Embry, who both pulled shots wide after 78 and 84 minutes. Incredibly, our first shot of a scrappy encounter didn't come until injury time! Josh sent a deep cross into the Robins' box, and Yasser met it with a diving header that bounced straight into goalkeeper Simon Moore's grasp. Ibrahim's dismal attempt brought a fitting end to a goalless draw that had been about as thrilling as a walk to your local supermarket.

 

Bristol City - 0

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

League Two, Attendance 7,397 - POSITIONS: Bristol City 7th, Dag & Red 2nd

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Charles, Dalton (Busetto), Coton, Warren, Harding, Fraser, Roche (Hart), Martin, Ibrahim, Mooney (West). BOOKED: Ibrahim, Warren, Dalton, Charles.

 

A couple of days after that game, I received an interesting call from the general manager of New England Revolution. The Major League Soccer club were interested in signing our American defender Thomas Tierney - and they were willing to offer £250,000.

 

Thomas had only signed a new contract with us a few weeks earlier, but I could hardly say no to a quarter of a million quid. It would match the highest fee we'd ever received for a player, and it would wipe out most of our outstanding debt. I accepted the offer, and so Tierney was off to Massachusetts to discuss personal terms. After three-and-a-half years at Victoria Road, he seemed to be on his way out.

[CFuller]

JANUARY 2027 (continued)

I would like to say that Gareth Flood returned from his six-month loan at Chelmsford City in better shape than ever. Unfortunately, he was only able to make six appearances for the Conference Premier club, having suffered a broken foot early in his stay.

 

Worse still, Gareth came back to Dagenham with an altogether more serious injury - knee tendonitis. The Irish winger's season was already over, and it would be at least another six months before he could even kick a ball again. At 20 years of age, Flood still had plenty of time to bounce back and reach his potential, but this was undoubtedly a major setback for him.

 

Kidderminster Harriers were the visitors for our first home match in 2027. The midweek encounter at Victoria Road was our game in hand on Chester, who had extended their lead at the top to six points.

 

20 January 2027: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Kidderminster Harriers

Kidderminster were steadily dropping down the table, so the last thing that the out-of-form visitors needed was to concede a very early goal. That was precisely what happened after 26 seconds, when Mark West slotted in Tim Beech's cross for his 20th goal of the season!

 

We were already off the mark, and the Harriers' first attempts to level were far from convincing. Daryl Ryan easily caught a second-minute corner from Mitchell Warden, and a minute later, he watched Kiddy captain Jon Newell thrash the ball wide.

 

Harriers goalkeeper Darren Conneely also made a comfortable save after eight minutes, catching West's header from inside the 'D'. On 14 minutes, Troy Hands looked set to score our second goal after receiving a fine cross from Marcelo Andrade. Bryn Morris made a strong tackle to deny Troy his moment… but Paul Hart drilled in the knock-on, and it was 2-0 to the Daggers!

 

We remained almost totally in control for some time after that. We constantly pressurised Kidderminster by winning a number of corners, and one of those ultimately led to a golden opportunity in the 24th minute. Josh Charles nodded Hart's delivery on to Andrade, who crossed to Gavin Dalton at the far post. Gavin struck a stunning volley that looked goal-bound… until Conneely pulled off a breathtaking save!

 

The game could easily have turned at that moment. The Harriers launched their best attack so far in the 33rd minute, when Morris' half-volley from a Callum Harriott centre was pushed away by Ryan. Daryl then caught a header from Kiddy defender Marvin Andrews a minute later. The away team's failure to hit back was punished after 44 minutes, when we floored them with a third goal. Troy converted the rebound after Conneely had saved his initial attempt from Tim's cross, and we led comfortably at the break.

 

The second half began much like the first, with us on the offensive. Sadly, West couldn't direct Andrade's early corner towards the target. Ex-Portsmouth winger Harriott tried to a goal back for Kidderminster after 50 minutes, only to be stopped by a low fingertip save from Ryan.

 

On 60 minutes, Hart came off with a knock following a rough foul from Newell. Surprisingly, Paul's exit didn't seem to have an adverse effect on our attacking prospects at first. Five minutes later, left-back Daniel O'Reilly bent in a fantastic cross to West, who was only denied his second goal by the post.

 

Newell and Rory Smith picked up bookings over the next few minutes as Kidderminster's hopes all but fizzled out. Giant striker Smith did try to restore some pride for the Harriers with a long-range free-kick in the 78th minute, but it would've taken something much more special to beat Ryan. One last Daryl save in the 88th minute, to thwart Simon Lenighan, preserved his clean sheet and secured a 3-0 win for the Daggers.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 3 (West 1, Hart 14, Hands 44)

Kidderminster Harriers - 0

League Two, Attendance 3,627 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 2nd, Kidderminster 13th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Beech, Charles (Busetto), Dalton, O'Reilly, Hart (Roche), Clark, Martin (Wharton), Andrade, West, Hands.

 

After our first win of the New Year, we were back to within three points of league leaders Chester. Meanwhile, Kidderminster reacted to their fourth league defeat in six games by sacking manager Patrick Kohlmann.

 

Central defender Thomas Tierney was back in training with us the following morning. Thomas had been discussing a potential move back to his native United States with New England Revolution, but the transfer broke down after he failed to agree personal terms.

 

I was in two minds about the collapse of that transfer. While it would've been nice to have received a sizeable sum for Tierney's services, I was delighted that we still had the in-form centre-back on board.

 

We remained at Victoria Road for the visit of Yeovil Town, who were in 16th position. The Somerset side seemed to be freefalling towards the relegation places a month ago, but a run of six games without defeat had pulled them away from danger.

 

23 January 2027: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Yeovil Town

The confidence we took from our win over Kidderminster Harriers went straight over into this game. After just three minutes, Marcelo Andrade made a mazy run inside from the left flank and powered in our first goal.

 

Marcelo's lightning-quick start continued in the sixth minute. A first-time through-ball from the Portuguese winger was slotted home by a certain former Yeovil striker by the name of Troy Hands! At 2-0 up, we already looked unstoppable.

 

Three minutes later, Yeovil goalkeeper Jak Alnwick had to push away a Hands shot that might've put us 3-0 ahead. The ball deflected towards Andrade, but Glovers midfielder Cyril Kamin came in with a tackle that knocked it behind… and sent Marcelo crashing down. Our Iberian magician gashed his leg, and his game was already over.

 

We continued to press forward for another goal in the 17th minute, when Mark West fired over the bar and Troy had a shot blocked by Yeovil right-back Oliver Allpress. The visitors launched their first attack a minute later, when Tommy Thompson played the ball ahead of ex-Daggers star Ahletdin Israilov. The Kyrgyzstani veteran slotted the ball home at Daryl Ryan's near post, and our former hero had halved the deficit.

 

By the 21st minute, Israilov had made himself even less popular with the Victoria Road faithful. Ahletdin's header from another Thompson cross looped beyond Daryl's reach, and the game was level at 2-2.

 

After that surprising slump, we resumed normal service in the 25th minute. Tim Beech delivered a center to Yasser Ibrahim, whose first volley was blocked by Allpress. Yasser's next attempt moments later flew past the far post.

 

Beech was also involved in another Daggers offensive after 34 minutes. Shortly after receiving Matthew Fraser's pass into the Yeovil area, our vice-captain was floored by a careless tackle from Glovers left-back Gareth Powell. Captain West stepped up to take the penalty… and a ruthless finish ensured that we would be leading at the break after all!

 

In the 51st minute, Israilov attempted to restore parity again with an audacious 30-yarder. Thankfully, Ryan made a solid catch to keep him waiting for his hat-trick. Things then got rather scrappy for a while. Two minutes later, Daggers playmaker Paul Hart was hurt in a foul from Tareiq Holmes-Dennis, who'd replaced the useless Powell at half-time. Our defenders also got stuck in, with Gavin Dalton and Matt Warren both getting booked.

 

By the 62nd minute, our attack was ready to bear its teeth again. Mark centred the ball to Troy, whose header rattled the crossbar. The deflection fell to West, and the skipper's angled volley restored our two-goal cushion at 4-2!

 

The shoulders of Yeovil's players seemed to drop with that goal. Israilov certainly didn't have as much confidence as he did before the break, with poor strikes in the 66th and 84th minute bearing that out.

 

When Yeovil substitute Marc Allison suffered a game-ending hamstring injury with four minutes left to play, the Glovers were forced to finish a man light. That effectively ended their hopes, and Israilov's Jekyll-and-Hyde game finished with an injury-time yellow card for tripping Warren. The final whistle confirmed back-to-back home victories for the Daggers!

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 4 (Andrade 3, Hands 6, West pen35,63)

Yeovil Town - 2 (Israilov 18,21)

League Two, Attendance 4,252 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 2nd, Yeovil 16th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Beech, Dalton (Tierney), Coton, Warren, Hart (Roche), Clark, Fraser, Andrade (Ibrahim), West, Hands. BOOKED: Dalton, Warren.

 

Marcelo Andrade's gashed leg was not that serious, but it would keep him out for the next two to three weeks.

 

Youngsters Harry Gorman and Gianluca Cecere returned from their respective loan periods at Milton Keynes Dons and Kingstonian respectively during the week. Harry struggled to find consistency in Milton Keynes, while Gianluca scored just twice in 13 games for the K's. Needless to say, they were still a long way from first-team consideration.

 

We ended the month by travelling to the Abbey Stadium for a clash with Cambridge United. Cambridge were not in bad form at all, and they were starting to look like dark horses in the play-off race.

 

30 January 2027: Cambridge United vs Dagenham & Redbridge

In the 8th minute, Dagenham captain Mark West had a header saved by Cambridge goalkeeper Chris Simpson. Our keeper Daryl Ryan was also given an early examination when he saved Rossi Millard's low piledriver on 11 minutes.

 

Five minutes later, U's midfielder Max Ashraf clattered into Daggers counterpart Matthew Fraser mid-air. Matthew went down in a heap, and it quickly became apparent that something was very wrong. The young Scotsman appeared to have broken his arm in the collision, so he was replaced with Geraint Harding. That one incident, which incredibly did not lead to any punishment for Ashraf, turned the game firmly in Cambridge's favour.

 

In the 19th minute, Ashraf played the ball long to Ashley Furniss, who then found Lloyd Howard criminally unmarked. The Mancunian winger slipped his shot past Ryan, and the hosts had the opening goal. Four minutes later, West bent a 25-yard shot towards goal for the Daggers. Simpson tipped it against his post, but the rebound fell delightfully for Troy Hands. Troy went for the kill… and he skewed his half-volley horribly wide!

 

We should've been level, but by the 31st minute, we were trailing by two goals! Daryl's block from a Millard shot only gave him temporary respite, as Howard raced past our sluggish left-back Daniel O'Reilly to convert the follow-up.

 

Howard was now controlling this game according to his whim. On 38 minutes, he floated a corner to the far post, and Cambridge hardman Ashraf leapt above Wayne Coton to head in his team's third goal!

 

I was already feeling exasperated enough, so I was even more incensed in the 44th minute, when Troy wasted another chance. Millard then hammered home another United goal in injury time to make it 4-0, leaving me feeling like a volcano that was about to explode.

 

I don't need to give you a full transcript of my half-time team-talk, but it was not a calm one by any means. During the interval, I subbed my substitute Harding and the floundering O'Reilly, with Wayne Parmenter and Matt Warren taking their respective places.

 

Early in the second half, one team really looked fired up - Cambridge United. Millard's 50th-minute through-ball to Brad Lindley should've resulted in their fifth goal, but the former Nottingham Forest striker fired straight at Ryan. Daryl had another easy save to make from Millard in the 55th minute.

 

Our aggressive, high-tempo game was playing into Cambridge's hands, and if we kept giving them too much space, the deficit would surely increase further. Once we adopted a more patient counter-attacking game, we started to play more like the usual Dagenham & Redbridge.

 

In the 62nd minute, Troy sent a promising cross to Paul Hart, whose header was saved by Simpson. Three minutes later, Parmenter knocked the ball off U's left-back Dwight Campbell's feet in the Cambridge area. West was first to the loose ball, and he hammered in the first of four goals we needed to complete an incredible fightback.

 

By the 69th minute, we were halfway towards our target. Hands' conversion from Yasser Ibrahim's assist reduced our arrears to 4-2 and made the final 20 minutes much more interesting.

 

When United lost substitute striker Joseph Sodiq to cracked ribs in the 72nd minute, our hopes were raised further. We couldn't keep up the momentum, though, and Cambridge attacked again after 75 minutes. Space opened up for Furniss after he received a great pass from Paco, but his finish was a horrible one.

 

In the 83rd minute, Furniss raced clear of Warren to receive a long ball from Howard. This time, it was the post that stopped Furniss from applying the final, fatal blow. We were unable to launch any more attacks in the closing stages, and so we slumped to a horrible 4-2 defeat. If there was one positive to take away from Cambridge, we did at least win the second half.

 

Cambridge United - 4 (Howard 19,31, Ashraf 38, Millard 45)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (West 65, Hands 70)

League Two, Attendance 4,526 - POSITIONS: Cambridge 10th, Dag & Red 2nd

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Beech, Tierney, Coton, O'Reilly (Warren), Hart, Clark, Fraser (Harding (Parmenter)), Ibrahim, West, Hands. BOOKED: Coton.

 

Matthew Fraser underwent a scan on his arm the following afternoon, and it emerged that he had indeed sustained a fracture. As a result, Matthew won't be able to play any part for us next month.

 

We go into February feeling a sense of nervousness. Chester have opened up a six-point lead at the top again, and Cambridge have shown that a savvy attack can rip apart our usually tight defence. Make no mistake, we are still some way off making promotion to League One a certainty.

[CFuller]

League Two Table (End of January 2027)

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.          Chester                33    22    7     4     65    29    +36   73
2.          Dag & Red              33    20    7     6     62    33    +29   67
3.          Luton                  33    19    2     12    62    38    +24   59
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.          Exeter                 33    17    5     11    52    49    +3    56
5.          Chesterfield           32    14    10    8     50    37    +13   52
6.          Brentford              33    14    9     10    34    37    -3    51
7.          Dartford               33    15    5     13    56    45    +11   50
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8.          Bristol City           33    12    13    8     40    33    +7    49
9.          Swindon                33    13    8     12    37    36    +1    47
10.         Cambridge              33    13    7     13    54    54    0     46
11.         Kidderminster          33    12    10    11    31    37    -6    46
12.         Wycombe                33    11    12    10    38    38    0     45
13.         Morecambe              33    13    6     14    41    42    -1    45
14.         Yeovil                 33    10    12    11    33    37    -4    42
15.         Tranmere               33    10    11    12    30    31    -1    41
16.         Hereford               33    11    8     14    40    44    -4    41
17.         Port Vale              32    11    8     13    41    47    -6    41
18.         Bristol Rovers         33    10    9     14    34    36    -2    39
19.         Leyton Orient          33    9     11    13    40    49    -9    38
20.         Ebbsfleet              33    7     12    14    36    50    -14   33
21.         AFC Wimbledon          32    9     4     19    29    43    -14   31
22.         Aldershot              33    8     7     18    33    61    -28   31
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
23.         Mansfield              33    6     10    17    44    59    -15   28
24.         Cheltenham             32    5     13    14    34    51    -17   28

[CFuller]

FEBRUARY 2027

There was one final addition to the Dagenham & Redbridge squad before the transfer window slammed shut. Daniel O'Reilly's shocking display against Cambridge United suggested that the 18-year-old left-back wasn't ready to challenge for a regular starting place. Someone else would have to provide competition for Matt Warren on the left side of our defence.

 

That 'someone else' was Milos Mijatovic - a 28-year-old former Montenegro international. Milos joined us on a three-month loan from Brighton & Hove Albion.

 

One defender who was leaving Victoria Road on loan (again) was Harry Gorman. The young centre-back's latest temporary move is to Conference Premier strugglers Kettering Town, where he'll spend the rest of the season.

 

We also said farewell to Bill Mooney after Manchester United refused to extend his six-month stay with us. Mooney scored nine goals in 21 games for the Daggers, although only two of those goals were in the league.

 

Finally, another striker - Mark West - celebrated winning the League Two Player of the Month award for January. Captain Mark had started the New Year with five goals in as many matches.

 

Our new boy Mijatovic went straight into the side that hosted mid-table Port Vale. Of the back five that shipped four goals at Cambridge, only Thomas Tierney retained his place in the starting line-up.

 

6 February 2027: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Port Vale

The match started promisingly for us, with Paul Hart having a shot at goal after just four minutes. Unfortunately, Paul couldn't quite keep it on target. That move aside, our passing in the first half was quite poor, and we couldn't keep possession for prolonged periods.

 

When Mitchell Clark failed to control a backwards pass from Mark West in the 22nd minute, Port Vale went on the counter. Left-winger Tim MacDonald ran through a gap in our defence, and Robbie Ryder had to make a vital fingertip save.

 

We were on the offensive again by the 30th minute, when Vale goalkeeper Roscoe Fryatt was called upon to push away West's close-range header from a Jonathan Roche cross. Mark's next attempt shortly afterwards was rather less threatening. Neither side frightened the other again in a first half that quickly petered out.

 

The second half began with some aggressive play from Port Vale. Daggers midfielder Mitchell Clark required some treatment in the 48th minute after being hurt in a collision with Valiants striker Ross Stone. Two minutes later, Vale sub Grant Harrison was booked for a trip on our left-back Matt Warren, who'd replaced a nervous Milos Mijatovic at half-time.

 

We then settled down and played some attractive possession football. On 55 minutes, Yasser Ibrahim played a one-two with Hart before pulling his shot into the side netting. Three minutes after that, Ryder caught Harrison's free-kick, which would be Port Vale's second and final chance to score in this match.

 

Our dominance of the final half-hour began with Mark heading Paul's cross narrowly over in the 61st minute. On 74 minutes, Clark tested Fryatt with a free-kick after Vale's Declan Ferran had been booked for fouling Hart. Another close-range header from West went begging after 77 minutes.

 

Mark was gifted a final opportunity when Valiants defender Ally Miller made a weak interception from Hart's direct pass in the 81st minute. Our captain struck the ball with far too much power, firing it over the bar to consign us to a disappointing goalless draw at home.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

Port Vale - 0

League Two, Attendance 4,062 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 2nd, Port Vale 17th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryder, Charles, Dalton, Tierney, Mijatovic (Warren), Clark, Hands (Wharton), Roche (Parmenter), Hart, Ibrahim, West.

 

Worryingly, the gap between us and 4th place had been cut down to nine points. If we couldn't click back into gear quickly, our top-three position would be under serious threat.

 

We didn't have any more matches for the next two-and-a-half weeks, so we spent that time retuning our game ahead of a final push towards promotion.

 

The first of our final 12 matches was an east London derby at Leyton Orient. The O's were only ten points clear of the relegation spots, so a bad run at the end of the season could cost them dearly.

 

23 February 2027: Leyton Orient vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Troy Hands was a constant threat to Leyton Orient's defence early on. Just seconds after the kick-off, Hands had a header saved by Orient goalkeeper Abou Magaye. Two minutes later, Troy laid the ball off to Daggers captain Mark West, whose strike was tipped over by Magaye's fingertips.

 

Hands had another opportunity to open the scoring after seven minutes, when Paul Hart bent the ball towards him from the byline. He went for a powerful effort that came back off the bar, and O's captain Claudio McIntosh then knocked the rebound away from a lurking West.

 

Troy would finally get us off the mark after 15 minutes. West nodded a long Milos Mijatovic free-kick on to Hands, who made no mistake that time and powered in his 10th goal of the campaign!

 

Troy returned the favour four minutes later, drilling in a low cross that Mark converted at the far post. We now had a two-goal lead, and Leyton Orient's shooting was so wasteful that our position looked very comfortable.

 

There was a minor scare in the 29th minute, when Paul Hart picked up a knock in a tackle from McIntosh. Despite that, our goalkeeper Robbie Ryder had little to do in the first half. His only save was a simple catch from midfielder Max Weatherstone in injury time. Ex-Daggers striker Sean Short, who'd scored five goals in his first three games for Orient, wasn't allowed a single shot at goal, and he was subbed during the interval.

 

Our front two were not as potent in the second half as they were in the first. Troy was booked in the 53rd minute for upending Orient defender Craig Cramb in the hosts' penalty area. Two minutes later, Mark connected with Marcelo Andrade's cross into the six-yard box, but his header drew an easy save from Magaye. In the 66th minute, Andrade played a corner to the edge of that six-yard box. Mitchell Clark was the recipient, but he selfishly struck the side netting instead of passing to a better-placed team-mate.

 

For the next quarter-hour or so, it was a case of backs to the wall for us, as Leyton Orient started to really threaten us. Some excellent link-up play between substitute Jay Moore and Tom Brooks in the 78th minute ended with Moore striking the latter's cross into the net.

 

Having helped to halve our lead, Brooks looked to completely eradicate it five minutes later. Fortunately, the Welshman's crashing drive was well off target. After 87 minutes, West's long ball to Joel Honeyball gave our young substitute a chance to effectively seal the win for us. Joel raced through on goal… and fired the ball past the post.

 

That could've been a costly miss, but when another Orient sub - Matthew Wickham - tore his hamstring just before injury time, the O's were left a man light. The hosts couldn't recover, as West dealt them a fatal blow with his 25th goal of the season in added-on time. After having his initial header from Tim Beech's cross saved by Magaye, West stroked in the rebound to put the seal on a 3-1 away win for the Daggers!

 

Leyton Orient - 1 (Moore 78)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 3 (Hands 15, West 19,90)

League Two, Attendance 3,295 - POSITIONS: Leyton Orient 19th, Dag & Red 2nd

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryder, Beech, Coton, Busetto (Dalton), Mijatovic, Hart (Parmenter), Clark, Martin, Andrade, West, Hands (Honeyball). BOOKED: Hands.

 

Next up was what I hoped would be a straightforward home win against a Cheltenham Town side who were right in the thick of a battle against relegation. Unfortunately, we would have to go into this game without goalkeeper Robbie Ryder, who fractured his ribs in training and was now unlikely to play again this season.

 

27 February 2027: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Cheltenham Town

Cheltenham's goalkeeping captain Willie Forsyth made two saves in the opening seven minutes to keep out shots from our midfielders Theo Wharton and Mitchell Clark. Over the next four minutes, Forsyth caught further efforts from Jonathan Roche and Mark West. The referee was also quite busy early on, as he dished out yellow cards to Robins striker William Booth and Daggers winger Marcelo Andrade.

 

There was more frustration on the attacking front for us in the 21st minute, when Troy Hands hit a speculative 25-yarder that never threatened Forsyth. Three minutes later, Hands proved to be much more clinical from much closer to goal. Troy latched onto Marcelo's first-time through-ball and knocked it beyond the Robins' keeper for the opening goal!

 

That goal did nothing to settle the nerves Cheltenham's players were feeling… and surprisingly, the same could be said of our lot. The ref brought out his yellow card twice more before the half-hour mark, cautioning Robins midfielder Pat Francis and our left-back Matt Warren. West was also feeling some anxiety, snatching at shots in the 29th and 37th minutes that he may well have converted on another day.

 

At the other end, Guy Lennon missed the target with Cheltenham's first attempt - a free-kick in the 38th minute. Three minutes later, he received a pass from namesake Colin Lennon and drove in a shot that Daryl Ryan could only parry. The half ended with another Daggers booking for centre-back Gavin Dalton, but we were still leading narrowly at 1-0.

 

I considered taking Mark off at half-time before deciding to keep faith in him. A woeful volley from close range a minute into the second half, and another poor miss in the 54th minute, suggested that that was a bad call on my part. Two more Cheltenham players were booked either side of that latter miss from Mark, who had one last chance to redeem himself in the 67th minute.

 

After Ryan stuck his left leg out to block a strike from Cheltenham substitute Thomas Shannon, one of our subs - Milos Mijatovic - hacked the ball forward to the skipper. Mark then drove it forward to Troy, who went for goal for his own, only to be denied by Forsyth yet again.

 

I finally decided to sub West at that point, with Paul Hart coming on to partner Hands up front. Troy would get himself booked in the 76th minute for a careless tackle on Francis, who had narrowly cleared our bar with a piledriver six minutes earlier. As for Hart, his only shot of the game was parried by Forsyth after 87 minutes.

 

Defensively, we did a wonderful job of shutting out Cheltenham, and Dalton was almost flawless in the air as he frequently intercepted any crosses the Robins attempted. When he received a short pass from Ryan after two minutes of injury time had expired, Gavin only had to boot the ball up the pitch to bring about the final whistle. Instead, Dalton seemed to wait for the referee to blow, and dithered in possession for far too long. That hesitancy let in Booth, who tackled the ball from his feet and fired in a shock equaliser for Cheltenham! Two home points had gone down the drain!

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Hands 24)

Cheltenham Town - 1 (Booth 90)

League Two, Attendance 4,033 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 2nd, Cheltenham 21st

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Beech, Tierney, Dalton, Warren (Mijatovic), Roche, Clark, Wharton (Harding), Andrade, West (Hart), Hands. BOOKED: Andrade, Warren, Dalton, Hands.

 

I couldn't control my anger in the dressing room after the match. Gavin Dalton had been brilliant for 92 minutes, but a blatant lack of concentration in the final few seconds had cost us victory. Part of me feared that our failure to beat struggling Cheltenham Town might be a turning point in our season. I really, really hope it isn't.

[CFuller]

MARCH 2027

With Robbie Ryder on the sidelines, we only had one senior goalkeeper available for selection in the closing stages of the season. To provide Daryl Ryan with some competition, I drafted in 19-year-old Keith Sheppard on loan from Coventry City for two months. Keith had already played 12 times for Coventry in the Championship.

 

Our last result was a very disappointing one against 21st-placed Cheltenham Town. Directly below them in the standings were Aldershot Town, who welcomed us to the Recreational Ground for our next game. Another off-day against relegation candidates would not be tolerated.

 

6 March 2027: Aldershot Town vs Dagenham & Redbridge

The wing-backs in our 3-5-2 formation had mixed fortunes at the start of this match. Left-back Milos Mijatovic was booked after just 25 seconds for a barge on Aldershot midfielder Jack Blake. On the right, Tim Beech found himself through on goal in the 12th minute after receiving an incisive pass from Matthew Fraser. Shots goalkeeper Daniel Lincoln charged off his line to block Tim's strike, but the die had been cast.

 

Four minutes later, Milos managed to get a deep cross to Dagenham skipper Mark West in the Aldershot area. Mark rose above defender Cyril Wood to meet the ball with a header that bounced into the far end of the net!

 

Another goal came our way after 19 minutes, thanks to some shocking defending from the Shots. Wood and Lincoln both charged towards Fraser's forward header, leaving the goal wide open when Wood's attempt to nod the ball behind was intercepted by Troy Hands. Troy flicked it across the goal line from the tightest of angles, and we led 2-0!

 

Our position almost got better still in the 27th minute, when some skilful Daggers passing left Aldershot in disarray! Fraser was only denied our third goal by a superb block from Stewart Mahood.

 

The hosts launched their first meaningful attack two minutes later. Veteran Shots midfielder Chris Atkinson cut out Daryl Ryan's long kick and flicked it forward to Blake, who fired high and wide. Gerard Hibbert went much closer to reducing our lead in the 42nd minute, as he struck the post after cutting inside from the right. Hibbert then bruised his arm after colliding with Mijatovic in a bid to reach the loose ball.

 

Aldershot continued to frighten us in the second half of what had hitherto been a one-sided contest. On 51 minutes, a wounded Hibbert played in left-winger Darren Roache, whose powerful effort was saved by Ryan. Two minutes later, Roache launched a cross into our box. It struck his team-mate Jayden Griffiths, but it still bounced perfectly to Gregg Thomson. The substitute fired a half-volley past Ryan… and beyond the keeper's left-hand post!

 

After that close shave in a nervy start to the half, I replaced Mijatovic with Matt Warren. Fraser would also be subbed in the 68th minute, shortly after receiving a yellow card for a rash tackle on Thomson that could easily have led to a red. We then went back on the attack, although West and Hands were both wildly off target with efforts in the 73rd and 78th minute.

 

In the 80th minute, Aldershot protested for a penalty following a clash between Warren and Hibbert. Matt escaped punishment, and when we did seal victory with a third goal after 85 minutes, it came from a surprising source. Man of the match Josh Charles flicked in just his second Daggers goal from Paul Hart's corner, and we could return home with all three points safely locked down.

 

Aldershot Town - 0

Dagenham & Redbridge - 3 (West 16, Hands 19, Charles 85)

League Two, Attendance 2,759 - POSITIONS: Aldershot 23rd, Dag & Red 2nd

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Charles, Busetto, Coton, Beech, Mijatovic (Warren), Fraser (Martin), Clark, Hart, West, Hands (Honeyball). BOOKED: Mijatovic, Fraser.

 

That win was followed three days later by another away game, with Swindon Town the hosts on that occasion. Swindon were among a clutch of teams who still harboured realistic hopes of making the play-offs.

 

9 March 2027: Swindon Town vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Paul Hart nearly opened the scoring after seven minutes with a stunning free-kick that struck Swindon's crossbar. Marcelo Andrade also tried his luck from just outside the area in the 19th minute. Unlike Paul, though, Marcelo could not quite direct his shot towards the target.

 

Young Swindon winger Kieran Williams pulled wide his team's first meaningful effort in the 24th minute. Two minutes later, Williams was hurt in a firm tackle from our vice-captain Tim Beech. Williams was clearly in some pain, but play carried on, with Daryl Ryan having to save a great strike from Robins forward Stuart Maguire before Wayne Coton sportingly put the ball into touch.

 

It turned out that Williams hadn't been seriously injured, so Swindon could continue to build up their momentum. They couldn't score before the break, however, as midfielders Zander Harper and Mike Donovan missed from long range. At the other end, West headed over for Dagenham just prior to the half-time whistle.

 

When Wayne bumped into Maguire on the edge of our area after 52 minutes, Swindon captain Ross Gurney had a fantastic chance to give his team the lead. Gurney lofted his free-kick over our defensive wall… and safely into Ryan's hands. About ten minutes later, Donovan slid the ball off Coton's feet before hitting a poor shot.

 

A disappointing shot from our perspective came in the 69th minute, when Mitchell Clark unsuccessfully tried to curl a free-kick home from a difficult angle. Four minutes after that, Ryan produced a wonderful low save from Swindon's substitute winger Allen Webber.

 

One of our subs - Yasser Ibrahim - tried to find Jonathan Roche with a cross in the 79th minute. Tom Anderson headed it away for Swindon, but only as far as Beech, who struck the ball on the volley just before it could dip into the 'D'. Everyone at the County Ground held their breath as the ball flew towards goal… and just over.

 

Moments after nearly scoring a sensational goal, we nearly let in one from Swindon, but Harper was unlucky to clear the bar. A thrilling endgame carried on into the 84th minute, when Ryan blocked Rory Ferguson's shot shortly after Swindon goalie Dominic Obodo made a spectacular save from Hart.

 

A goalless draw looked likely… until the Robins made one last swoop as the game entered injury time. Gurney's cross into the Daggers box was blocked by Clark, but Webber smacked in the loose ball to send the home fans wild! Our supporters were left heartbroken as another point slipped away and we fell eight points behind table-toppers Chester.

 

Swindon Town - 1 (Webber 90)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

League Two, Attendance 3,721 - POSITIONS: Swindon 9th, Dag & Red 2nd

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Beech, Dalton, Coton, Warren, Wharton (Clark), Harding (Martin), Roche, Hart, Andrade (Ibrahim), West.

 

I wasn't too fussed about us losing away to Swindon, but our next match was much more important. Failure to win at home to Ebbsfleet United, who stunned us 2-0 at Stonebridge Road in October, would raise serious questions about whether we could clinch automatic promotion. If we did win, it would effectively confirm that we would finish in the play-off spots at worst.

 

13 March 2027: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Ebbsfleet United

Ebbsfleet striker Darren Knowles scuffed wide his team's first attempt on goal in the very first minute. After three minutes, Daggers midfielder Paul Hart hit a shot that was caught by Fleet goalkeeper Jake Martin. We launched a much more incisive attack shortly afterwards. Matthew Fraser volleyed a pass to Joel Honeyball, who took the ball forward and then laid it off to Mark West. Mark then played a deft side-footed pass to Paul, who glided past Martin for a simple tap-in!

 

When the Fleet goalkeeper spilled a shot from Marcelo Andrade in the 7th minute, it looked likely that our opening goal would soon be followed by a second. There would indeed be another goal… but for Ebbsfleet. On 15 minutes, their captain Sean Lowe drew Alex Busetto out of position and then darted past the Italian defender before striking a fierce equaliser.

 

As the relegation-threatened visitors settled down, we started to feel the pressure. West wasted a shot in the 19th minute, and Fraser got no closer to the target with a couple of long-range efforts soon afterwards. Mark would be booked for pushing Fleet midfielder Sam Gunn on 32 minutes, while Matthew fired another ambitious drive well wide on 41. At the break, I was wondering how we weren't in the lead.

 

Six minutes into the second half, Josh Charles found Honeyball in space in the Ebbsfleet area. Fleet left-back Bill Swift quickly pressed Joel, and that seemed to work as the teenager pulled his shot away from goal. On 56 minutes, it was our turn to breathe a sigh of relief, as Joseph Maloney curled a shot off target for the away side.

 

Fraser then attempted another long-distance shot in the 63rd minute. A promising low drive that was well caught by Martin suggested that Matthew had found his range. A wild 25-yard punt over the bar four minutes later suggested otherwise.

 

I was fed up with us just hitting and hoping, so I urged my team to just pump the ball into the box. After 77 minutes, Fraser had a chance to do just that via a corner. The Scotsman's hanging ball found West in the six-yard box, and the skipper flicked a header over Martin's head and into the net! Had we won the game?

 

Erm… no. Relief turned to more frustration in the 81st minute, when Lowe volleyed in Dean Harris' weighted lob to level the scores for a second time. There would be no white knight to save the Daggers on this occasion, as Martin caught an 86th-minute effort from Mitchell Clark to secure another priceless point for Ebbsfleet.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Hart 4, West 77)

Ebbsfleet United - 2 (Lowe 15,81)

League Two, Attendance 4,171 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 2nd, Ebbsfleet 21st

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Charles, Tierney, Busetto, Warren, Wharton (Clark), Fraser, Honeyball (Ibrahim), Hart (Martin), Andrade, West. BOOKED: West, Clark.

 

I was shaking my head furiously at the final whistle. We'd taken just one point in two matches against the Football League's newest members, and that was simply not good enough for a team hoping to win promotion.

 

Worse news was to come from elsewhere, as Chester beat Port Vale to move 10 points clear, and 4th-placed Exeter City thrashed Hereford United 4-0. The Grecians were now only seven points behind us with seven games to play.

[CFuller]

MARCH 2027 (continued)

After the draw against Ebbsfleet United, I took some time out from the stresses of managing our senior team to watch a youth trial match. After the game, four candidates were signed up to youth contracts with the Daggers - goalkeeper Engin Cetinkaya, right-winger Mitchell Paratusic, and midfielders Lloyd Bailey and Thomas Wannell.

 

Not for the first time, I was disappointed with a lack of genuinely promising youngsters on display. After the trial, I asked chairman Antonello Scolaro to increase the funding we gave to junior coaching. Mr Scolaro agreed, although he took some persuading.

 

We went into our next home game - against 15th-placed Morecambe - without two important players. Marcelo Andrade was on Portugal Under-21s duty, while Daryl Ryan received his first senior call-up for the Republic of Ireland, so loanee goalkeeper Keith Sheppard made his debut.

 

20 March 2027: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Morecambe

One more point would guarantee us a play-off place… but even that one point was put in jeopardy after just eight minutes! Gavin Dalton conceded a free-kick, for which he received a booking, and then failed to prevent Morecambe defender Christian Ellis from tapping Dominic Lampkin's delivery into the net.

 

Mark West could've restored parity shortly after the Shrimps went in front, but his header was easily saved by Declan Rudd. Another opportunity for our captain went begging when he cleared the crossbar after 22 minutes. A minute after that, Troy Hands failed to find the target from 20 yards out.

 

After Morecambe captain Joe Goss struck Keith Sheppard's left-hand post in the 29th minute, the action went fairly quiet until the 41st minute. Goss got his head to Ryan Starbuck's corner, only to see Keith make his first save in a Daggers jersey.

 

Sheppard's second save came two minutes later, as he spilled a long-ranger from Lampkin. Jon Tolley retrieved the loose ball for Morecambe and played it back to Haris Hodzic, who floated in a first-time cross from the left. The cross evaded Wayne Coton's jump and fell to Goss, who sidestepped past Keith and buried the Shrimps' second goal. We were falling apart.

 

"Have you lot forgotten how to play football?" I asked the players at half-time. "You've been in the top three for pretty much the whole season, but right now, you look like a team battling against RELEGATION! These fans have paid good money to watch the best Dagenham & Redbridge team of this generation. The very least you can do to repay them is to show some f***ing passion in the second half!"

 

Tim Beech did show some passion after the break, although perhaps a bit too much. He entered the referee's book after 49 minutes for barging Tolley in the back. Over the next two minutes, Sheppard caught a shot from Abdellatif El Guennouni and watched another from Goss fly high and wide. Morecambe continued to pressurise us in the 56th minute, when El Guennouni almost found Starbuck before Daggers left-back Milos Mijatovic cleared.

 

On 63 minutes, a wayward pass from Shrimps right-back Ashley Rhodes gifted us a corner out of nowhere. Fraser's corner was nodded over by Coton, but we did get a goal back less than a minute later. Jonathan Roche's square pass was slotted home by West, and we were back in the game. Mark's 26th league goal of the season was particularly significant for him, as he was now the outright leading scorer in League Two. It would've meant little to us if we didn't follow it up with another goal before full-time, though.

 

On 71 minutes, Fraser curled in a corner that almost found Dean Martin before being fisted away by Rudd. Morecambe's 36-year-old keeper denied Martin again after 80 minutes with an excellent diving save to keep out Dean's drive. There then followed three opportunities for West to save us a point with another goal. All three of his attempts went off target, and so a much-improved second-half performance from the Daggers was all for nothing.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (West 64)

Morecambe - 2 (Ellis 8, Goss 43)

League Two, Attendance 4,266 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 2nd, Morecambe 13th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Sheppard, Beech, Dalton (Charles), Coton, Mijatovic, Fraser, Hands, Roche (Honeyball), Hart (Martin), Ibrahim, West. BOOKED: Dalton, Beech, Fraser.

 

Although 4th-placed Exeter City lost against 8th-placed Kidderminster Harriers, Luton Town did close their gap on us by winning at Yeovil Town. The Hatters now sat only three points behind us in 3rd spot.

 

Still, at least Daryl Ryan had a day to remember. Daryl marked his first senior cap for the Republic of Ireland by keeping a clean sheet against Holland in his home city of Dublin. The Boys in Green won that friendly match 1-0, thanks to an early goal from Heart of Midlothian striker Barry Loughlan.

 

Ryan's second cap, which came six days later, was a less enjoyable experience. He conceded two goals late in the first half as Macedonia beat Ireland 2-0 in Podgorica. The Republic have now lost their first four qualifiers for UEFA Euro 2028, and it looks highly unlikely that they'll be going to next summer's finals in Belgium.

 

While Daryl was on his way back home, we travelled to Princes Park for a meeting with play-off contenders Dartford. We really needed to win in Kent to revitalise our charge towards automatic promotion.

 

27 March 2027: Dartford vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Paul Hart was guilty of a dreadful miss in the sixth minute, when he pulled the ball just wide from a fantastic position. Hart was also off target from a free-kick three minutes later. On 14 minutes, right-back Tim Beech - who had just been booked for a foul on Dartford striker Tom McInnes - lifted the ball forward to Mark West. The Daggers captain played the most delicate of headers to Troy Hands, who skipped beyond defender Donervon Daniels and slotted the ball past goalkeeper Calhan Peters!

 

Troy had drawn first blood, and he threatened to draw second blood as well in the 24th minute. Hands raced past Daniels once again to reach a through-ball from Theo Wharton, but on this occasion, he was denied by a fantastic Peters save.

 

Mark hoped to join his strike partner on the scoresheet after 30 minutes, but his 20-yard strike flew over the top. West had a pop from even further out in the 37th minute, prompting Peters to make a comfortable save. With our half-time lead still only 1-0, the game was nicely poised.

 

Dartford were poor in the first half, but they played slightly better after the interval. On 50 minutes, Andrew Flynn struck a fierce half-volley beyond the far post. Seven minutes later, Stuart Casey had a header saved by Dagenham goalie Keith Sheppard. The subsequent Daggers counter-attack fell apart when Troy hit a weak shot.

 

In the 62nd minute, Wharton almost found West with a stunning cross from deep. Dartford needed Peters to tip the ball over just before Mark could get his head to it. Peters made another save in the 66th minute, catching a long-range curler from Matthew Fraser after Theo had brilliantly intercepted Daniels' clearance.

 

Two minutes after that, Mark Gibson crossed to Casey in the Dagenham area. The striker teed himself up… and missed the goal. An anxious period for us became even more so during the final 15 minutes, when Mitchell Clark and Matt Warren both picked up needless bookings. Thomas Tierney had his name taken earlier in the half, so we now had four players on yellow cards.

 

In the 80th minute, shortly after Warren's booking, Hart was hurt in a tackle from Darts midfielder Cledan Price. Paul had been underperforming all game, so I took him off and gave Dean Martin a run-out for the closing stages. We closed the game out five minutes later, as a fierce strike from West wrapped up a crucial 2-0 away victory! The winning margin could've been more flattering had Peters not saved an injury-time effort from our free-scoring skipper.

 

Dartford - 0

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Hands 14, West 85)

League Two, Attendance 3,957 - POSITIONS: Dartford 9th, Dag & Red 2nd

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Sheppard, Tierney (Charles), Dalton, Coton, Beech, Warren, Wharton, Fraser (Clark), Hart (Martin), West, Hands. BOOKED: Beech, Tierney, Clark, Warren.

 

A top-seven finish was now guaranteed, and our hopes of cementing a top-three place received another boost with Exeter City failing to beat Wycombe Wanderers. There was now a nine-point gap between us and 4th.

 

We were on the road again 48 hours later, on Easter Monday. If we could defeat Bristol Rovers, who were now under the management of Nathan Doyle, we would be tantalisingly close to finishing the job.

 

29 March 2027: Bristol Rovers vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Our first attacks at the Bristol Rovers goal came in the seventh minute. Geraint Harding's shot was blocked by defender Oliver Kent, and Troy Hands fired the follow-up into goalkeeper Brian Kane's hands. Our newly-capped international keeper Daryl Ryan produced a stunning save in the 18th minute to keep out Craig Shearer's drive for Bristol Rovers. The Pirates tested Ryan again four minutes later, but Daryl was equal to Steve Taylor's effort.

 

Sadly, Ryan was not equal to a Rovers corner in the 28th minute. Jamie Coyne played an inswinger to Joshua Murphy at the near post, and Murphy just about squirmed the ball through a gap between Daryl and our left-back Milos Mijatovic.

 

The hosts would remain in front at the break, as Kane saved equalising attempts from Josh Charles in the 32nd minute and Dean Martin in the 36th. Were the Pirates about to do the double over us?

 

Mitchell Clark was determined not to let Bristol Rovers beat us again, but his 47th-minute free-kick flew just too high to draw us level. Seven minutes later, Mitchell had another free-kick opportunity - from inside the Rovers 'D'. Clark flighted his set-piece over the wall… but it came back off the bar before Andrew Parrish cleared it behind for the Pirates.

 

As time passed without us troubling the home team again, I threw Mark West on to see if he could get us going. I also handed a league debut to 17-year-old full-back Zac Johnson, as Tim Beech was clearly struggling.

 

Despite our best efforts, Bristol Rovers' defence remained resolute - and in the 86th minute, their attack found the net again. West's interception from Stephen Dalton's corner only went as far as Pete Howell, who flicked it back towards the six-yard box. Parrish then knocked the ball over the line… only to have his goal disallowed for a foul on Clark.

 

Our respite was only temporary. A great opportunity for West to equalise in the final minute of normal time was somehow kept out by a brave save from Kane, and that would be massively significant. Less than a minute later, a devastating Pirates breakaway ended with Paul McInnes thrashing in Ronnie Wyatt's cross to consign us to defeat.

 

Joel Honeyball did score a fortuitous consolation for Dagenham just before full-time, volleying in a Mijatovic cross that had rebounded off Rovers full-back Ed Creer. Alas, that was far too little, far too late.

 

Bristol Rovers - 2 (Murphy 28, McInnes 90)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Honeyball 90)

League Two, Attendance 3,572 - POSITIONS: Bristol Rovers 14th, Dag & Red 2nd

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Charles, Dalton, Busetto, Beech (Johnson), Mijatovic, Harding (Wharton), Clark, Martin, Hands (West), Honeyball. BOOKED: Clark.

 

The day could not have gone any worse for us. 3rd-placed Luton Town moved level on points with us after a 3-0 win at Cambridge United, while Exeter City came from behind to beat Bristol City 3-2.

 

With four games to play, we only have a six-point lead over Exeter in 4th, although we also have a vastly superior goal difference. We can't possibly do a Devon Loch, CAN WE?!

[CFuller]

League Two Table (End of March 2027)

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.    P     Chester                42    27    9     6     76    37    +39   90
2.    Pl    Dag & Red              42    23    10    9     75    42    +33   79
3.    Pl    Luton                  42    25    4     13    78    48    +30   79
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.    Pl    Exeter                 42    22    7     13    68    58    +10   73
5.          Chesterfield           42    19    12    11    68    50    +18   69
6.          Brentford              42    18    12    12    42    43    -1    66
7.          Kidderminster          42    16    13    13    45    47    -2    61
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8.          Swindon                42    17    9     16    46    46    0     60
9.          Dartford               42    17    7     18    63    56    +7    58
10.         Wycombe                41    15    13    13    50    47    +3    58
11.         Morecambe              42    16    8     18    50    53    -3    56
12.         Cambridge              42    16    8     18    67    71    -4    56
13.         Bristol City           42    13    16    13    48    45    +3    55
14.         Bristol Rovers         42    14    11    17    45    47    -2    53
15.         Yeovil                 42    13    14    15    44    48    -4    53
16.         Tranmere               41    13    13    15    43    44    -1    52
17.         Leyton Orient          41    13    13    15    52    58    -6    52
18.         Port Vale              42    14    10    18    49    56    -7    52
19.         Hereford               42    13    10    19    51    65    -14   49
20.         Cheltenham             42    10    16    16    51    64    -13   46
21.         Aldershot              42    11    10    21    45    75    -30   43
22.         Ebbsfleet              42    9     15    18    46    64    -18   42
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
23.         AFC Wimbledon          42    12    5     25    43    61    -18   41
24.         Mansfield              41    7     13    21    53    73    -20   34

[CFuller]

APRIL 2027

As the League Two promotion race approached the final straight, we knew that we needed six points to effectively book our place in League One for next season. But after an incredible slump that saw us win just three out of our last ten matches, we were no longer completely confident about our chances. Our run-in wasn't the easiest on paper, either:

3 April: vs Chester (H) - Chester were 1st, and were already guaranteed promotion to League One

10 April: vs Brentford (A) - Brentford were 6th, and were unbeaten in seven matches

17 April: vs Chesterfield (A) - Chesterfield were 5th, and had lost just twice in nine games

24 April: vs Mansfield Town (H) - Mansfield were 24th, and had won only once since mid-November

 

Just two or three months earlier, we seemed to be locked in a two-horse race with Chester for the title. At the back end of January, though, we started to splutter, while Chester accelerated faster than the Road Runner. An incredible record of 10 wins, 2 draws and 2 defeats in the first three months of 2027 had propelled Marcus Bignot's men to automatic promotion, and the title was now within their reach.

 

The champions-elect arrived at Victoria Road knowing that a draw would confirm their status as the best team in League Two this season. We'd not won at home in our previous four attempts, but if ever there was a time to make our long-suffering fans smile again, this was it.

 

3 April 2027: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Chester

The tension in this top-two battle rose up a notch after just two minutes. Bob Lamb's close-range free-kick for Chester struck the post, and Dagenham defender Gavin Dalton scuffed an attempt at a clearance. That knocked the ball on for Bickram Cook to bury in a simple opener for the Blues… or so he thought. Chester's celebrations were cut short, as the referee awarded us a free-kick - because amidst the mayhem, Deale Flynn had dived in an attempt to win a penalty! The away players furiously surrounded the officials, and Flynn was booked for his troubles.

 

That early attack set the tone for a first half that the soon-to-be-crowned champions would dominate. In the seventh minute, Cook attempted to curl a long-range shot over Daryl Ryan's head… and struck the crossbar! Flynn also gave us a real scare when his half-volley sailed inches wide on 15 minutes. Five minutes later, Robbie Shenton - a former Daggers loanee from our Conference Premier days - cleared the bar with a vicious strike.

 

We then had a period of good attacking play at the Chester end. Visiting goalkeeper Alan Page made great saves from Marcelo Andrade in the 22nd minute, and then from Mark West a minute later. West's next attempt at goal was much further off target, and before long, our purple patch was at an end. In the 28th minute, Flynn nodded Matthias Fanimo's cross on to Shenton, who volleyed in the deadlock-breaking goal against his former club.

 

Shenton could've broken more Dagenham hearts on 38 minutes with a bullet that almost grazed the top of the bar. Shortly after that, Lamb played in Cook, who was in loads of space on the edge of our area. The right-winger should've made it 2-0, but goodness knows how he didn't. Less than a minute later, Paul Hart grazed the bar with one of our better scoring chances in a very disappointing first half. Chester were playing like champs, whereas we looked like quivering wrecks.

 

"Guys, you need to relax," I told a nervous group of Dagenham & Redbridge players in the dressing room at half-time. "You're not playing with any fluidity right now. You seem too scared of making mistakes, and because of that, you are making mistakes. If any team should be under pressure right now, it's Chester. They're still looking to win the title. Let's make sure they keep on waiting for it, shall we?"

 

My calming words had an almost immediate impact. After Daryl caught a 49th-minute free-kick from Flynn, we steadily built up a counter-attacking move. The final pass of that move came from West, who picked out Hands and then watched Troy score his 14th goal of the campaign. His 15th came just a couple of minutes later.

 

Once again, Mark was the architect, with his incisive pass being thrashed in by a much more confident Hands! The second half was not even seven minutes old, and we'd turned a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead!

 

The roles had reversed, and we threatened to score again straight from the kick-off! Jonathan Roche sliced open a shellshocked Chester defence to find West, who couldn't quite keep his shot low enough to find the target.

 

After 58 minutes, a fantastic interception from Hart set in motion yet another Daggers breakaway. Paul's midfield colleague Matthew Fraser blasted the ball over the backline and found a treble-chasing Hands. Troy raced clear and only had to beat Page for his hat-trick… but his lethal touch deserted him and the ball scraped past the upright.

 

Lamb then bent wide Chester's first chance to draw level in the 61st minute before Page caught a wicked Fraser strike from distance. When Page tipped over a Gavin Dalton header in the 70th minute, some Daggers fans began to doubt if we could kill the Blues off.

 

Chester were by no means dead, as they proved when Flynn's 72nd-minute header forced Ryan into a save. Two minutes after that, Dagenham right-back Tim Beech was caught hesitating on the ball deep in our half. Chester's left-back Danny McCann slid the ball off him, and Fanimo crossed to Flynn, who evaded Wayne Coton to tuck in a tidy equalising finish. Flynn had scored his 28th league goal of the season to move ahead of West in the League Two Golden Boot race.

 

Mark retaliated three minutes later, with a strike that would have pulled himself back level with Flynn and move us back into the lead… if it had gone in. His hopeful effort bent wide, and our shoulders slumped again when Page kept out Hands' next attempt in the 84th minute.

 

The resulting corner from Fraser was headed away by Joseph Debayo, and Flynn took the ball forward for another Blues break. When Flynn was closed down by Hart about 30 yards from goal, he drew the ball back to Aryn Williams. The Australian right-back played a short cross to Cook, and he in turn provided a centre for Lamb. The midfielder passed Coton and then completed Chester's comeback with a clinical strike. I was left wondering, "Why on Earth does this keep on happening?"

 

I could hardly bear to look at the division's other full-time results once the dust had settled at Victoria Road. When I did look, the results brought mixed news. Luton had moved above us into 2nd spot after drawing 1-1 at Port Vale, but Exeter City's goalless draw at Yeovil Town meant they only clawed back one more point instead of three.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Hands 50,52)

Chester - 3 (Shenton 28, Flynn 74, Lamb 84)

League Two, Attendance 4,908 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 3rd, Chester 1st

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Beech (Charles), Dalton, Coton, Mijatovic, Hart, Fraser, Harding (Roche), Andrade (Ibrahim), West, Hands.

 

That second half summed up just how dramatically our fortunes had changed since we packed away the Christmas decorations. At the end of 2026, we had a 15-point lead over those teams outside the top three. Now, that advantage was down to only FIVE points.

 

To make matters even worse, goalkeeper Daryl Ryan's season was ended by a sprained ankle just before our next game - a potentially decisive one at Brentford.

 

If we won at Griffin Park, and Exeter City were unable to defeat Cambridge United, our promotion would finally be secured. However, if results didn't go our way, our advantage over the Grecians could yet be cut further to three or even two points.

 

10 April 2027: Brentford vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Brentford right-winger Garry Rice worried us a couple of times in the opening stages with his silky dribbling skills. Thankfully, the former Newcastle United trainee didn't have the finishing ability to match, as he missed the target twice during the first nine minutes. On the Bees's left was another ex-Magpie - Craig Mulligan. On 26 minutes, Mulligan went for goal, only to bend the ball well off course.

 

Brentford had dominated possession in the opening half-hour, so we really started to hassle them during the next 15 minutes. We also won a free-kick in a promising position after Bees defender Lewis Turner slid in on Troy Hands during the 35th minute. Mitchell Clark took the free-kick, which goalkeeper Gary Ewart met with a fine reflex save.

 

When another Daggers attack broke down five minutes later, Brentford hit us on the counter. Midfielder Greig Johnson played a fabulous long ball to Mulligan, who took it on and slotted a low and powerful shot past Keith Sheppard. Paul Hart tried to equalise just before half-time, but his effort flew over the bar and we remained 1-0 down.

 

I demanded much more passion during the interval, and my players responded in kind. After 55 minutes, Paul's attempted centre deflected off Turner and fell to Troy, who stole his fourth goal in as many games! Our self-belief grew, and now Brentford were feeling the heat.

 

Mulligan's finishing touch deserted him in the 64th minute, as he made a complete hash of a shot from the 'D'. On 72 minutes, Jamaican teenager Juan Pablo Byrne opened our defence with a weighted lob for another rising star in the Bees' ranks - Laurence Scopes. The substitute struck a right-footed volley… and struck the post!

 

That let-off became more significant with just nine minutes remaining. An outswinging Andrade corner found Gavin Dalton, who jumped clear of Bees skipper Pierce Mitchell to nod it forward to West. Mark provided the finish, and his 30th goal of a fantastic season made it 2-1 to Dagenham & Redbridge!

 

By the 84th minute, a victory was firmly in our hands - or, to be more precise, at the feet of Hands. Troy got round a trio of Brentford defenders and went for a powerful drive to make it 3-1. However, the shot sailed wide, and our fans couldn't relax just yet. They knew all about how fragile we'd been late in games since late-February.

 

There was a real sense of foreboding, and our worst fears would be realised in added-on time. During another Brentford counter-attack, Mulligan found the marauding left-back Lee Jones just outside our box. Jones collected Mulligan's pass and then calmly slipped the ball into the far end of Sheppard's net. We had blown it again.

 

Exeter City's 2-0 victory over Cambridge United moved them to within just THREE points of us, with two more matches remaining. If they scored four more points than us in the final fortnight, they would take away that automatic promotion spot we had been hanging onto for such a long time.

 

Brentford - 2 (Mulligan 40, Jones 90)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Hands 55, West 81)

League Two, Attendance 4,135 - POSITIONS: Brentford 6th, Dag & Red 3rd

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Sheppard, Charles, Dalton, Busetto (Tierney), Mijatovic, Hart, Clark (Wharton), Fraser (Roche), Andrade, West, Hands.

 

After weeks of watching us choke like snooker player Jimmy White with OCD, I couldn't take any more. "HAVE YOU LOT COMPLETELY LOST YOUR F***ING NERVE?" I bellowed at my players in the dressing room. "How many points have you p***ed away now? I can't f***ing keep count! You are throwing away an unbelievable opportunity, just because YOU CAN'T HOLD ONTO A F***ING LEAD!"

 

I then stormed out of the room, but not before asking my assistant Fabio Saraiva to follow me. As Fabio shut the door behind him, I snarled, "If those pr*cks screw this up and we have to go into the play-offs, I'm resigning on the spot. You can quote me on that."

[mark wilson27]

After weeks of watching us choke like snooker player Jimmy White with OCD, I couldn't take any more.

Had to laugh at the quote.....Lets hope your players up their game for the final few

[CFuller]

Had to laugh at the quote.....Lets hope your players up their game for the final few

Two more games to go. Can we hold on and win promotion, or will we do a Jimmy? You'll find out very shortly.

[CFuller]

APRIL 2027 (continued)

The day after our draw at Brentford was my 42nd birthday, but I didn't feel much like celebrating. That bottle of promotion champagne we had ordered many weeks before was still on ice, and there was still some doubt over whether we would ever get to pop it open.

 

This was how things stood before the final two matches of the season:

 

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
2.    Pl    Luton                  44    26    5     13    82    50    +32   83
3.    Pl    Dag & Red              44    23    11    10    79    47    +32   80
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.    Pl    Exeter                 44    23    8     13    70    58    +12   77

 

Our fate was in our hands… just about. Because of our goal difference, we effectively only needed to win one of our final matches against either Chesterfield or relegation-threatened Mansfield Town to secure promotion. If we slipped up twice more, however, and Exeter's good form continued, there was a very real chance that they would overtake us at the finish line.

 

Our first-match in a pivotal eight-day period was at Chesterfield. Like us, the Spireites had forgotten what it was like to win at home, as they'd gone four games without triumphing at the Proact Stadium. They were, though, on the brink of wrapping up a play-off place.

 

Robbie Ryder made a timely return from injury and went straight back in goal for this game. Matthew Fraser also travelled with the squad to Derbyshire, although he needed pain-killing injections after hurting his back in training.

 

17 April 2027: Chesterfield vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Tim Beech was another player who was restored to the Dagenham starting XI, having been dropped for the Brentford game following his error against Chester. I was rueing that decision after three minutes, he when made another costly mistake.

 

Under pressure from Blair Davidson, Beech scuffed his clearance straight to Eamon McGimpsey. The Northern Ireland midfielder then played a half-volley to Owen Hillier, who gave Chesterfield a very early lead. I was so furious with Tim that I immediately subbed him, with Josh Charles coming on in his place. That was the quickest unforced substitution I had ever made as a manager.

 

I considered making another rash change in the seventh minute, when Hillier pulled wide a shot that could've put the Spireites even further ahead. In the 12th, only a stunning reflex save by Robbie Ryder prevented Chesterfield captain Steven Bowden from scoring a long-ranger. Four minutes after that, Hillier crashed a long drive just off target.

 

Further misses from Bowden and McGimpsey followed before we had our first real chance in the 22nd minute. Geraint Harding lobbed the ball left to Yasser Ibrahim, whose low shot was blocked by Spireites goalkeeper Adrian O'Keefe. Mark West got to the deflection just before McGimpsey, but he couldn't apply the finish. Two minutes later, Ryder easily gathered a close-range header from Hillier.

 

The game's next pivotal moment came after 32 minutes, when Yasser was felled in the Chesterfield area by veteran defender Harry Maguire. West steadied himself for the penalty, and a powerful strike from the skipper drew us level… temporarily.

 

Chesterfield were back ahead within less than a minute. A superb pass into the penalty area from McGimpsey was slammed home by striker Nathan Ricketts-Hopkinson.

 

There could've been yet more pain for us in the 35th minute, when a punt from Hillier stretched Ryder into another save. The Spireites remained 2-1 ahead at the break - and to make matters worse, Exeter City were leading 1-0 against Leyton Orient. If things stayed that way, Exeter would be level on points with us going into the final round.

 

I vented my anger at the Dagenham players during the break, and my annoyance would only grow in the early stages of the second half. Ricketts-Hopkinson got his head to a first-time lob from Bowden in the 51st minute, and Ryder had to do well to catch it. Three minutes later, Ricketts-Hopkinson connected with another Bowden pass and finished from inside the six-yard box. However, the referee's assistant had spotted that he was well offside, and so our deficit remained at a single goal.

 

After 61 minutes, West looked to restore parity with an ambitious shot from 25 yards. Sadly, he couldn't strike the ball well enough. Around about that time, though, there was a fairly loud roar from some away fans, after news filtered through that Orient had levelled against Exeter. In fact, former Daggers star Sean Short had scored to do us a huge favour! Then, nine minutes later, it emerged that Exeter had retaken the lead. It looked like we had to save ourselves to avoid an anxious final day.

 

By the 77th minute, we were starting to show real urgency. We had won a couple of corners, although neither of them led to any scoring opportunities.

 

A glimmer of hope did emerge when Harding sliced the ball through to Ibrahim out wide. Yasser took the ball to the byline, where his cross to West was blocked by Maguire. The Spireites' other centre-back Dave McArdle stuck a leg out to try and hack the ball to safety. Our young winger Wayne Parmenter got to the ball and struck a shot that was parried by O'Keefe… but substitute Joel Honeyball volleyed in the rebound! We had equalised for a second time!

 

Our first leveller had been followed by a swift riposte from Chesterfield, and the hosts attacked straight from the restart again. Pelly Ruddock sent the ball over from the right towards Ricketts-Hopkinson, but his cross struck the post before Gavin Dalton frantically cleared it!

 

Honeyball then volleyed in a Parmenter delivery in the 82nd minute, only to be denied by the offside flag. We made one final surge towards goal in the third minute of injury time, by which point Exeter had gone further ahead against Orient. If we didn't score now, we would have plenty of work to do the following Saturday.

 

Ibrahim really set the ball rolling with an incisive ball to Honeyball. Joel bore down on goal, but with McArdle blocking his view of the target, he wisely decided not to shoot. Instead, he moved the ball wide to Milos Mijatovic on the left flank. The Montenegrin full-back floated in a cross for West, who was not receiving much attention from the Chesterfield defenders. Mark connected with Milos' delivery, and O'Keefe could only palm the big man's header into the net! We'd snatched a 3-2 win right at the death, and - more importantly - promotion was almost in the bag!

 

Chesterfield - 2 (Hillier 3, Ricketts-Hopkinson 34)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 3 (West pen33,90, Honeyball 77)

League Two, Attendance 8,068 - POSITIONS: Chesterfield 5th, Dag & Red 3rd

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryder, Beech (Charles), Dalton, Coton, Warren (Mijatovic), Parmenter, Wharton, Harding, Ibrahim, West, Hands (Honeyball). BOOKED: Harding.

 

Concerned frowns on the Dagenham players' faces were replaced by broad smiles when we returned to the dressing room. We were still three points up on Exeter, and our goal difference was 19 greater than the Grecians'. Job done?

 

Not quite. I couldn't completely rule out the possibility of Port Vale's entire squad dropping dead before Exeter's final-day visit to Vale Park, so I told my players to stay focused. They still needed to take one point against Mansfield Town, who were now resigned to playing in the Conference Premier next season, to make damn sure that we'd be in League One next term. There was also a chance of us finishing runners-up - but only if we won our final game and Luton Town suffered defeat at Cheltenham Town.

 

In my heart, though, I knew that we were very nearly there, so I rested several key players for that final home game with Mansfield. Our starting XI wasn't necessarily a 'weakened' one, as I still included the likes of Marcelo Andrade, Josh Charles and Mark West. On the bench were a number of youth and reserve players.

 

This match would've served as a Victoria Park farewell for Robbie Ryder, who would be leaving us in the summer after five seasons. Sadly, Robbie bruised his head in training and subsequently failed a late fitness test, so 17-year-old Mick Kinsella donned the gloves in his first competitive match for the Daggers.

 

24 April 2027: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Mansfield Town

Mark West's attempts to wrap up the League Two Golden Boot began in the second minute, when he headed wide from Matt Warren's cross. Five minutes later, midfielder Dean Martin was booked for a barge on George Jolly that didn't leave his Mansfield counterpart particularly jovial. Joel Honeyball then nodded the ball into Stags goalie Andy Coughlin's hands a minute after that.

 

On 20 minutes, Marcelo Andrade fed a cross to West, who also flicked that one off target. Marcelo finally broke the deadlock after 24 minutes, when he turned sharply past right-back Dave Croft and thumped an unstoppable shot beyond Coughlin.

 

Our lead was nearly short-lived, as just two minutes later, our debutant goalkeeper Mick Kinsella struggled to catch a deep cross from Mansfield winger Remel Lake. The ball bounced against the post, but Mick picked up the rebound just before Joshua Turner could strike for the Stags.

 

By the 29th minute, it was Mansfield's turn to live dangerously. Left-back Lee Sweet's interception from a Warren cross only found Honeyball, whose volley was superbly parried by Coughlin. Joel wouldn't be denied for long, as he slid Wayne Parmenter's right-wing delivery home in the 33rd minute to double our advantage.

 

A party atmosphere was building up at Victoria Road, and by the 50th minute, any fears that we'd chuck away promotion were cast aside. Thomas Tierney headed Honeyball's corner towards goal, but West claimed the final touch, and it was 3-0 to the Daggers. By now, the Stags looked as steady as Bambi on ice.

 

Although Mark failed to score from distance in the 55th minute, it looked increasingly likely that he would find the net again. That moment came after 69 minutes. Substitute Gianluca Cecere had a senior Daggers debut to remember as his lob was met by the deadliest of volleys from our marvellous captain. That was West's 32nd and final goal in League Two this season.

 

Five minutes later, Cecere's dream debut got better still. After Mansfield defender Deniz Bakiroglu knocked Wayne's low cross away from Mark, Luca popped up to score just his third ever senior goal! 5-0, and the party was now in full swing!

 

We were so comfortably in control of this match that we only allowed the visitors one solitary shot at goal - a desperate 75th-minute pop from Sol Mackey. With the match already won, I gave run-outs to youth-team stars Lloyd Bailey - a first-team debutant at just 16 - and Zac Johnson.

 

The closing stages were largely uneventful, but that didn't matter one jot. The referee's final whistle kicked off jubilant scenes at Victoria Road, as fans, players and coaching staff burst onto the pitch in fits of joy! WE HAD BEEN PROMOTED TO LEAGUE ONE!!!

 

There was another cause for celebration when news emerged from Whaddon Road that Cheltenham Town had won 1-0 against Luton Town. That meant we'd finished in 2nd place ahead of Luton on goal difference, and for the second year in a row, we were the top scorers in League Two!

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 5 (Andrade 24, Honeyball 33, West 50,69, Cecere 74)

Mansfield Town - 0

League Two, Attendance 4,671 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 2nd, Mansfield 24th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Kinsella, Charles (Johnson), Tierney, Busetto, Warren, Parmenter, Wharton (Bailey), Martin (Cecere), Andrade, West, Honeyball. BOOKED: Martin.

 

AT LAST!

 

After eight seasons away, Dagenham & Redbridge are coming back to League One!

[mark wilson27]

Congrats mate....and a brilliant way to end the season with a 5-0 crushing

[CFuller]

Congrats mate....and a brilliant way to end the season with a 5-0 crushing

I honestly thought we had blown it when we went 2-1 down to Chesterfield, but we showed real character to come back and make that Mansfield game a little bit easier. 5-0 was a great way to finish off, and the performances of some of our younger players give me hope that they can really kick on in League One next season.

Goodbye, League Two - hopefully we'll never meet again!

[CFuller]

MAY 2027

Right before the start of the current campaign, I said that it would be a case of "promotion or bust". If we didn't go up in our third season as a League Two club, it would be time for me to move on.

 

Well, as much as we tried to throw it away towards the end, we eventually clinched promotion to League One. It was therefore with great delight, and some relief, that I signed a new three-year contract to remain as manager of Dagenham & Redbridge. Who knows, by the time that new deal runs out, I might well have led the Daggers into the Championship!

 

Once the play-offs had been resolved, we headed off to the Football League's annual awards ceremony. I didn't get the League Two Manager of the Year accolade - that, predictably, went to Chester's all-conquering Marcus Bignot.

 

It was a different story as far as Mark West was concerned. Our 32-goal hero didn't just win League Two's Golden Boot - he was also named as the division's overall Player of the Year!

 

Mark was, of course, named in the League Two Team of the Year alongside Paul Hart. Paul wasn't quite as explosive as he was last season, but it was some achievement for him to be named in back-to-back Teams of the Year while still in his teens!

 

West's contract was due to expire in the summer, but I wasted little time in getting him signed up for next term. While I was at it, I also handed Hart a new three-year contract that put him on the same £2,000-per-week wages as our captain.

 

I then called 17-year-olds Sotiris Giangoudakis and Zac Johnson into my office, so that they could each receive their first professional contracts.

 

For those four players, a visit to my office delivered good news. For others, their next one-on-one meeting with me would end rather less happily. The latter applied to Robbie Ryder - one of the few survivors from the Daggers squad I inherited nearly five years ago.

 

It was with a heavy heart that I told Ryder he would not be getting a new contract. The goalkeeper was extremely upset afterwards and desperately begged to stay. Robbie's partner had recently given birth to their second daughter, and after five years at Victoria Road, he had no intention of moving his young family elsewhere.

 

I didn't really want Ryder to leave, but following our promotion, I felt that he wouldn't be up to the standard required in League One. Young Daryl Ryan was now firmly established as our first-choice goalkeeper, and at 29 years old, Robbie wasn't likely to improve in the future. As much as he hated it, it was time for him to go.

 

It was also time for Theo Wharton to exit stage left. The Welsh midfielder had been solid if unspectacular during his two-year stint with the Daggers, and he would be going up to League One next term, but not with us. Instead, I gave him permission to sign for AFC Telford United.

 

Gavin Dalton and Mitchell Clark each had contracts that were up for renewal. Gavin was demanding a significant pay rise, and Mitchell was loath to take a wage cut, so discussions with those two about extending their stays dragged on into June.

 

As for our two loanees, Milos Mijatovic returned to Brighton & Hove Albion and Keith Sheppard went home to Coventry City. Milos would've made a brilliant permanent signing, but the left-back is well out of our price range.

 

There would be plenty of movement staff-wise over the summer. Several of my backroom members signed new contracts, but two of our coaches moved on.

 

John Potter was not offered a new deal, while Mike Jones left of his own volition. When new Queens Park Rangers boss James McArthur made an approach for Mike's services, I told the Scouser that I wouldn't stand in the way of his ambitions. QPR would pay us £3,000 in compensation to sign Jones.

 

Following those departures, I hired Lewis Proudfoot as our new tactical coach. Proudfoot is a former Bolton Wanderers trainee who spent most of his semi-professional career playing in the north of England.

 

Our scouting team was greatly expanded with a couple of new additions. One of them was Dylan McGeouch - the 34-year-old former Celtic and St Mirren midfielder.

 

The other was a very familiar face to Dagenham & Redbridge fans. Chris Lewington played 446 league games in goal for the Daggers between 2010 and 2022, and after five years away, he returned to Victoria Road as a scout.

 

You must be thinking that I'm nuts to have FIVE scouts at a third-division club. I beg to differ. It is more important than ever that we identify exactly the right players that will help us continue to progress, so those extra scouts will be really useful.

 

I'm also hoping that we'll soon be able to scout parts of Europe. When we can afford to do so, that'll open up another avenue with regards to signing players. I'm thinking long-term, and I'm thinking big.

[CFuller]

League Two Table (End of 2026/2027)

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.    C     Chester                46    29    10    7     82    42    +40   97
2.    P     Dag & Red              46    25    11    10    87    49    +38   86
3.    P     Luton                  46    27    5     14    84    51    +33   86
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.          Exeter                 46    24    8     14    73    61    +12   80
5.    P     Brentford              46    20    13    13    48    48    0     73
6.          Kidderminster          46    19    14    13    53    48    +5    71
7.          Chesterfield           46    19    13    14    73    60    +13   70
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8.          Swindon                46    20    9     17    53    49    +4    69
9.          Wycombe                46    17    14    15    55    53    +2    65
10.         Morecambe              46    18    8     20    56    57    -1    62
11.         Bristol City           46    15    16    15    53    51    +2    61
12.         Dartford               46    17    9     20    64    60    +4    60
13.         Bristol Rovers         46    16    12    18    52    52    0     60
14.         Cambridge              46    17    9     20    73    76    -3    60
15.         Tranmere               46    15    14    17    49    53    -4    59
16.         Yeovil                 46    14    16    16    47    51    -4    58
17.         Port Vale              46    15    11    20    55    63    -8    56
18.         Leyton Orient          46    14    14    18    59    68    -9    56
19.         Cheltenham             46    12    18    16    57    67    -10   54
20.         Hereford               46    14    12    20    55    69    -14   54
21.         AFC Wimbledon          46    14    7     25    49    65    -16   49
22.         Aldershot              46    13    10    23    50    81    -31   49
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
23.   R     Ebbsfleet              46    9     15    22    47    73    -26   42
24.   R     Mansfield              46    8     14    24    57    84    -27   38

[CFuller]

Dagenham & Redbridge Player Statistics (2026/2027)

(Includes stats from all first-team matches & 1 Essex Senior Cup match)

 

GOALKEEPERS               APPS    CON  CLN  MOM  P%   TR   ST%  Y    R    AV RAT
Stephen Flood             1       2    0    0    59%  -    -    0    0    6.70
Mick Kinsella             1       0    1    0    96%  -    -    0    0    7.10
Daryl Ryan                36      45   11   0    76%  0.03 -    0    0    6.82
Robbie Ryder              14      14   4    0    75%  -    -    0    0    6.98
Keith Sheppard            3       4    1    0    80%  -    -    0    0    6.80
OUTFIELD PLAYERS          APPS    GLS  AST  MOM  P%   TR   ST%  Y    R    AV RAT
Christian Abbey           11 (3)  2    2    0    76%  3.87 44%  1    0    6.96
Marcelo Andrade           20 (4)  7    8    1    80%  3.17 58%  1    0    7.23
Lloyd Bailey              0 (1)   0    0    0    75%  0.00 -    0    0    7.00
Denis Bartley             0 (1)   0    0    0    82%  0.00 -    0    0    6.40
Tim Beech                 37 (3)  0    6    0    81%  4.90 50%  4    0    7.09
Alex Busetto              6 (2)   0    0    0    78%  2.58 -    0    0    7.06
Gianluca Cecere           0 (1)   1    1    0    82%  -    100% 0    0    8.10
Josh Charles              30 (5)  2    1    5    75%  3.08 55%  3    0    7.34
Mitchell Clark            25 (8)  2    1    0    84%  5.22 34%  4    0    7.05
Wayne Coton               37 (2)  2    0    4    77%  2.91 20%  2    0    7.55
Gavin Dalton              37 (3)  1    0    3    71%  3.38 64%  7    0    7.35
Michael Dunn              0 (1)   0    0    0    80%  -    50%  0    0    6.10
Matthew Fraser            27 (3)  1    6    0    85%  5.79 33%  3    0    7.27
Sotiris Giangoudakis      0 (2)   0    0    0    29%  -    0%   0    0    6.60
Troy Hands                33 (2)  16   7    1    79%  3.38 53%  6    0    7.26
Geraint Harding           21 (12) 0    5    0    80%  6.03 30%  2    0    6.95
Paul Hart                 34 (6)  9    9    3    83%  2.78 39%  1    0    7.18
Joel Honeyball            17 (13) 5    2    0    79%  2.31 41%  0    0    6.89
Yasser Ibrahim            19 (13) 3    10   0    79%  2.39 29%  4    0    6.91
Zac Johnson               0 (2)   0    0    0    76%  -    -    0    0    7.00
Dean Martin               21 (14) 6    6    4    84%  4.78 49%  2    0    7.18
Lumumba McLean            1 (1)   0    0    0    73%  2.65 -    0    0    6.70
Milos Mijatovic           7 (2)   0    3    1    75%  5.32 -    1    0    6.92
Bill Mooney               13 (8)  9    1    3    82%  1.75 45%  1    0    7.04
Richard O'Hara            0 (1)   0    0    0    74%  0.00 100% 0    0    6.70
Daniel O'Reilly           9 (3)   0    1    0    74%  4.64 75%  1    0    6.59
Paul Parkinson            0 (2)   0    0    0    86%  0.00 100% 0    0    6.90
Wayne Parmenter           6 (8)   0    4    0    82%  2.11 100% 2    0    6.95
Dan Plummer               3 (2)   0    0    0    77%  3.23 -    0    0    6.90
Jonathan Roche            22 (10) 2    2    0    82%  2.78 42%  2    0    6.91
Odain Simmonds            9 (1)   0    0    0    74%  3.93 -    2    0    6.90
Will Simpson              0 (1)   0    0    0    57%  -    -    0    0    6.10
Thomas Tierney            20 (5)  0    0    0    75%  3.16 44%  2    0    7.18
Matt Warren               32 (5)  0    5    1    81%  4.06 50%  7    0    7.05
Mark West                 39 (9)  34   7    10   78%  2.23 48%  2    0    7.56
Theo Wharton              14 (6)  0    1    0    88%  4.84 36%  1    0    6.97

APPS - Appearances (Substitute apps), GLS - Goals, AST - Assists,
CON - Goals conceded, CLN - Clean sheets, MOM - Man of the Match awards,
P% - Pass completion %, TR - Tackles per 90 mins, ST - Shots on target %,
Y - Yellow cards, R - Red cards, AV RAT - Average match rating

 

[CFuller]

JUNE 2027

Two more new recruits arrived in my backroom in June, with both focusing on developing our future stars.

 

For the first time, I appointed a full-time manager of our Under-18s squad. The man I picked for the job was James Stevens - a 34-year-old Essex native and former semi-professional striker. I remember him from way back in 2013, when he scored a hat-trick for Witham Town against Romford in my first season as Boro boss.

 

I also brought in a new Head of Youth Development, having gone without one for three years. 31-year-old former Southend United defender Curtis Langton was appointed to that role.

 

A much-improved backroom was one of the benefits we got from promotion to League One. Another was a new three-year kit sponsorship deal worth £100,000 per annum. By comparison, our previous deal only saw us rake in £60,000 per year.

 

With more money likely to come in, club chairman Antonello Scolaro set my player wage budget at £36,000 per week. We were below that limit by around £10,000, but with most of our players getting significant wage rises as a result of promotion, that wouldn't be the case for long.

 

Our bank balance was another concern, as we were edging closer to being £1million in debt. Some players would have to be sold to keep our heads above water. Thankfully, attracting decent offers was no longer a problem.

 

American defender Thomas Tierney was the first player to be sold for a fee. After four years with the Daggers, he signed with Scottish Premier League side Ross County for £250,000 - plus 20% of the profit from his next sale.

 

Tommy's sale equalled the club record for the highest fee we'd ever received for a player. A few days later, that record was completely and utterly smashed.

 

The deal that saw us bring Marcelo Andrade to Victoria Road last summer included a minimum fee release clause of £450,000. That clause would only be activated, though, if a higher-division stumped up the cash. So, when League One champions Sheffield United came in with a bid to buy Andrade for that exact amount, my hands were tied.

 

A little over a year after signing for Dagenham & Redbridge, Marcelo was already on his way to a new challenge at Bramall Lane. £450,000 wiped out a large chunk of our debt, but that was a frankly pitiful amount for a Portugal Under-21s international who seemed destined for Premier League stardom. This was not a very good piece of business from our perspective, and I was seething at myself for letting it happen.

 

Meanwhile, it was time to bid a sad farewell to two of our longest-serving players.

 

After five years and 144 league appearances, former captain Robbie Ryder finally conceded that his time with us had come to a head. The dependable goalkeeper will be staying in League Two, and Greater London for that matter, after agreeing terms with newly-promoted Kingstonian.

 

Mitchell Clark was an even more loyal servant, having been with us for seven seasons. He wouldn't reduce his wage demands, though, and I didn't think he was capable of stepping up to League One, so I allowed him to move elsewhere. Mitchell chose to sign for the Football League's other newcomers - Macclesfield Town.

 

Wayne Parmenter turned down a permanent move to Derry City so that he could continue to fight for a first-team place with us. For three other youngsters, though, their time at Dagenham was over. Denis Bartley, Gordon Boyd and Stephen Flood had not done enough to earn professional contracts and were released.

 

I'm pleased, not to mention incredibly relieved, to say that Gavin Dalton's name was not on the departures list. That's because the excellent centre-back eventually agreed to sign a new two-year contract.

 

Reserve players Lumumba McLean and Dan Plummer both returned from Hampshire after loan stints at Eastleigh and Farnborough respectively. Will one or even both of them be involved in the first-team regularly next term?

 

As far as incomings were concerned, three talented youngsters signed for the Daggers after being released by bigger clubs.

 

18-year-old defensive midfielder William Barnes, who played two Championship games for Southampton before being let go, is perhaps the more promising member of our new trio. Barnes already looks mature and talented enough to challenge for a first-team place.

 

We also signed 17-year-old former Wolverhampton Wanderers left-back Marc Hopkins. The Black Country boy still has some way to go before he's ready for regular senior football, although I'm still excited about him.

 

Finally, we welcomed Scottish midfielder Tommy Scott to the club just before his 17th birthday. The left-footer made 19 substitute appearances in the Scottish Premier League last season for Dunfermline Athletic, but surprisingly, he wasn't given a full-time deal at East End Park. The Pars' loss could well be our gain.

 

Pre-season training began nice and early on 21 June, as I wanted as much time as possible to prepare for the new season's challenges. At around the same time, the Dagenham & Redbridge supporters' club revealed their best XI for 2026/2027. Daryl Ryan, Josh Charles, Wayne Coton, Gavin Dalton, Matt Warren, Troy Hands, Paul Hart, Jonathan Roche, Dean Martin, Yasser Ibrahim and Mark West all made the grade - and they would all be staying put.

 

The Fans' Player of the Year was not a surprising choice at all. Captain Mark West's 32-goal haul in League Two had been instrumental in getting us promoted.

 

We were a few days into pre-season when the new League One fixture list was published. Our campaign would begin on 31 July at home to Fleetwood Town, who lost last season's Play-Off Final. Three days after that, we would be travelling to Rotherham United for our first away game.

 

Two fixtures that stood out were the Essex derbies against Colchester United - at the Weston Homes Community Stadium on 25 September, and at Victoria Road on 22 February. We also had a very tasty season-ender, with fallen giants Leeds United paying us a visit on 22 April.

 

These are exciting times for the Daggers. We will soon be rubbing shoulders with the likes of Charlton Athletic, Portsmouth, Sheffield Wednesday, and of course Leeds on a weekly basis. There are some big teams in League One, but we're not scared of them. If anything, they should be frightened of us!

[CFuller]

Romford watch: 2026/2027

Failure to qualify for the Conference South Play-Offs in 2025/2026 meant that Romford manager Tyrone Mears was under pressure to set things right this time round. Could the now fan-owned Boro finally win promotion?

 

Conference South: 5th (Won Play-Off Final, Promoted)

Romford's prospects were certainly looking good after their first six league games, in which they picked up 16 points to hit the summit. Their unbeaten start was ended by defeats to Weston-super-Mare and Dorchester Town, but they were soon back in form. The Boro's next defeat was in mid-November at St Albans City, and that was followed by a seven-game unbeaten run, which included four successive wins. By Christmas, Romford seemed to be locked in a title battle with Milton Keynes Dons.

 

Romford's form became slightly more erratic just before and after New Year's Day, although they restabilised themselves with a 4-0 revenge win against Weston. As MK Dons' challenge disintegrated, the Boro remained resolute... until they lost three successive games in March. That allowed Bath City to take the initiative in the race for that automatic promotion place. Romford did recover temporarily with back-to-back victories against MK Dons and Oxford City, the latter of which prompted the desperate Dons to sack manager Steve McNulty.

 

Sadly, the Boro's automatic promotion hopes completely fell apart when they picked up just two points from their first four matches in April. Going into the final round of matches, they weren't even assured of a play-off place, with Dorchester lurking two points behind them in 6th. Because of Romford's much greater goal difference, a draw at Havant & Waterlooville would've been enough to secure a top-five finish - and that was what they got, thanks to Junior Morias' late equaliser at Westleigh Park. As it turned out, the Boro would've qualified for the play-offs anyway, as Dorchester lost at Welling United.

 

Romford's Play-Off Semi Final against runners-up Basingstoke Town started well, as goals from Russell Brooks and Morias gave them a 2-0 win at Ship Lane. The return fixture at the Camrose was slightly nervier, with Basingstoke taking the lead after just 11 minutes. Romford held firm for the next 79, though, so they booked a trip to Milton Keynes for the Play-Off Final. After agonising defeats at that stage in 2023 and 2025, would it be third time lucky for the Boro boys?

 

The reinvigorated Dons looked the slightly better side in a tight game... until veteran defender Calum Butcher headed Romford into the lead after 44 minutes. MK Dons responded in the 58th minute with a Mick Ogden equaliser, but the Boro were determined not to mess up this opportunity. Within two minutes, on-loan Charlton Athletic midfielder Nick Honeyball had restored Romford's advantage by scoring after coming on as a sub.

 

The hosts continued to battle hard in the last half-hour, and the Boro's hopes were hampered by an injury to right-back Ben George. In the 85th minute, though, Morias fired home from a Honeyball cross to put the finishing touch on a 3-1 Boro win! After 11 years in the Conference South, Romford had finally made it to the Conference Premier!

 

FA Cup: Round 1

After starting with a comfortable 3-0 pasting of Farsley, Romford laboured through the next two qualifying rounds. They needed replays to see off Conference South rivals Hampton & Richmond Borough and Ashford Town (Middlesex) and get through to Round 1 yet again. However, Round 2 continued to elude the Boro, as two second-half goals from League Two side Aldershot Town ended their latest cup run.

 

FA Trophy: Round 1

Romford's recent disappointing record in the FA Trophy did not get much better. They started with a straightforward win at Isthmian Premier outfit Hitchin Town in Qualifying Round 3, but Southend United ended their run with a single-goal victory in the very next round.

 

Essex Senior Cup: Round 2

The Essex Senior Cup was no longer high on Romford's agenda after finally winning it in 2026. That said, it was still very disappointing for them to lose the very first game of their title defence at Grays Athletic.

 

Best Players

When you talk about Romford's best players, you have to mention strikers Morias and Conor Flitcroft, who found the net 17 and 16 times respectively. There were also plenty of assists to be had from left-winger Russell Brooks and midfielder Phil Blake.

 

George was a brilliant acquisition at right-back, as the 33-year-old Brummie proved effective at both ends of the pitch. Another excellent defensive signing was the 36-year-old centre-half Butcher. On the left side of that Boro defence was their consistent captain Ian Wigley, who was surprisingly loaned out to Wealdstone for three months.

 

The Future

Romford's first season in the Conference Premier will be exciting, but it may also be a difficult one on and off the pitch. The Boro have had to convert some Ship Lane terracing into seating to get the ground shipshape for the new campaign, and that has eaten into their finances. They will also be without skipper Wigley, who is leaving permanently in the summer, while Brooks and midfield hardman Wayne Bridges have been attracting interest from bigger clubs. Mears may have to keep hold of those two to avoid a swift return to the Conference South.

[CFuller]

2026/2027 season round-up: Part 1

Premier League

Eyebrows were raised when, following Gianluca Atzori's appointment as England manager, Atzori was succeeded at Manchester City by his much-maligned predecessor - Ciro Ferrara. City fans feared a repeat of their debacle in 2021/2022, but what they got was a first Premier League title in three years. Glauco Dotto was the PL's top scorer with 28 goals, Alexandre Ricardo regained the PFA Player of the Year award, and big-money signings Martin Klonz and Stuart Lindsay also impressed greatly for City. Tottenham Hotspur surprisingly finished runners-up under Mark Bowen, while Liverpool broke back into the top three.

 

Having narrowly avoided relegation last year, Newcastle United underwent a stunning transformation. The Magpies survived the loss of their 'messiah' Gary Rowett to Norwich City, and narrowly beat deposed champions Manchester United to 4th spot. It had been a tumultuous campaign for both the Red Devils and 6th-placed Arsenal, whose striker Clive Johnson won the FIFA Ballon d'Or award.

 

FA Cup victors Fulham finished 7th, staying above local rivals Chelsea by just a single goal! After failing to qualify for Europe, Chelsea dismissed their manager Aykut Kocaman. They subsequently hired Watford's League Cup winner Robbie Simpson, who will become the first Englishman to manage the Blues this century.

 

Huddersfield Town and Blackburn Rovers both went straight back to the Championship after a season up, with respective managers Bobby Mimms and Keith Curle losing their jobs as a consequence. The last relegation place was decided on the final day between Wigan Athletic, Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest. Wigan saved their skins with a 3-0 win at Fulham, so Villa's 2-0 loss against Arsenal sent them down instead. After three seasons in the Premier League, the Villans had lost their place among England's elite again.

 

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.    C/CL  Man City               38    23    10    5     81    36    +45   79
2.    CL    Tottenham              38    20    12    6     67    38    +29   72
3.    CL    Liverpool              38    20    9     9     60    48    +12   69
4.    CL    Newcastle              38    19    9     10    62    47    +15   66
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.    EL    Man Utd                38    18    11    9     71    43    +28   65
6.          Arsenal                38    17    10    11    65    57    +8    61
7.    EL    Fulham                 38    17    9     12    58    53    +5    60
8.          Chelsea                38    17    9     12    63    59    +4    60
9.          Wolves                 38    15    11    12    54    50    +4    56
10.   EL    Watford                38    14    10    14    54    60    -6    52
11.         West Ham               38    14    9     15    56    52    +4    51
12.         Norwich                38    13    10    15    63    63    0     49
13.         Reading                38    12    12    14    57    64    -7    48
14.         Burnley                38    10    13    15    36    48    -12   43
15.         West Brom              38    11    7     20    53    73    -20   40
16.         Wigan                  38    10    7     21    46    72    -26   37
17.         Nottm Forest           38    8     12    18    37    50    -13   36
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
18.   R     Aston Villa            38    10    6     22    44    61    -17   36
19.   R     Blackburn              38    7     12    19    40    62    -22   33
20.   R     Huddersfield           38    8     6     24    42    73    -31   30

 

Championship

90 goals, including 33 from Canadian international Ben Lewis, saw Sunderland blast their way back into the Premier League as champions of the Championship. Everton also secured an instant top-flight return, with manager Leighton Baines further cementing his status as a Goodison Park hero.

 

Extra-time victories saw Leicester City and Brighton & Hove Albion reach the Play-Off Final at the expense of Cardiff City and Southampton. The showdown at Wembley was also fairly close, with one goal deciding it. Lyle Donaldson's strike in the 38th minute guided Brighton back into the big time and left Leicester heartbroken.

 

Crewe Alexandra's play-off challenge may have faded towards the end of the season, but 9th place was still their best ever finish at this level. Swansea City are also on the up again, having scraped into the top half following last season's financial woes and battle against the drop.

 

Rochdale's return to the Championship was short-lived thanks to a leaky defence and a final goal difference of -50. It was also a bad season for West Yorkshire, with Bradford City and Leeds United both falling into League One. Leeds' descent was particularly painful after 17 consecutive seasons in the second tier.

 

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.    C     Sunderland             46    30    9     7     90    38    +52   99
2.    P     Everton                46    27    9     10    82    49    +33   90
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.          Southampton            46    26    10    10    76    43    +33   88
4.          Cardiff                46    24    12    10    71    42    +29   84
5.          Leicester              46    21    10    15    70    57    +13   73
6.    P     Brighton               46    20    13    13    62    52    +10   73
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7.          Stoke                  46    21    8     17    68    56    +12   71
8.          Hull                   46    18    12    16    62    62    0     66
9.          Crewe                  46    19    9     18    56    62    -6    66
10.         Crystal Palace         46    18    11    17    53    57    -4    65
11.         Peterborough           46    17    13    16    69    68    +1    64
12.         Swansea                46    16    15    15    70    63    +7    63
13.         QPR                    46    17    10    19    66    67    -1    61
14.         Doncaster              46    17    10    19    56    66    -10   61
15.         Plymouth               46    16    12    18    71    71    0     60
16.         Middlesbrough          46    16    10    20    57    60    -3    58
17.         Notts County           46    16    8     22    47    69    -22   56
18.         Barnsley               46    15    9     22    50    65    -15   54
19.         Millwall               46    11    17    18    45    55    -10   50
20.         Bolton                 46    13    11    22    47    66    -19   50
21.         Coventry               46    13    10    23    49    70    -21   49
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
22.   R     Leeds                  46    12    12    22    53    65    -12   48
23.   R     Bradford               46    14    5     27    48    65    -17   47
24.   R     Rochdale               46    9     7     30    33    83    -50   34

 

League One

Former England defender Micah Richards has restored the feelgood factor at Bramall Lane after leading Sheffield United to the League One title. They will be joined in the Championship by Ipswich Town, who held onto 2nd place despite a late challenge from Derby County.

 

Derby charged past Shrewsbury Town in the play-offs, while Fleetwood Town edged out Oxford United on penalties. Fleetwood then went 2-0 up within 20 minutes at Wembley, only for the resurgent Rams to equalise. The Final was settled in extra-time, when substitute Ayhan Turkoglu secured back-to-back promotions for County.

 

Forest Green Rovers found out to their cost that you can't score only 27 league goals all season and expect to stay up. They unsurprisingly finished rock-bottom of League One, with AFC Bournemouth, Blackpool and Birmingham City filling up the remaining relegation places.

 

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.    C     Sheff Utd              46    27    11    8     80    44    +36   92
2.    P     Ipswich                46    24    11    11    78    49    +29   83
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.    P     Derby                  46    22    13    11    66    52    +14   79
4.          Fleetwood              46    20    16    10    65    48    +17   76
5.          Oxford                 46    21    11    14    66    56    +10   74
6.          Shrewsbury             46    22    8     16    66    56    +10   74
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7.          Sheff Wed              46    20    13    13    63    49    +14   73
8.          Wrexham                46    19    13    14    58    53    +5    70
9.          AFC Telford            46    19    12    15    60    47    +13   69
10.         Portsmouth             46    18    13    15    55    46    +9    67
11.         Stockport              46    19    9     18    50    48    +2    66
12.         Rotherham              46    17    14    15    61    59    +2    65
13.         Walsall                46    17    14    15    59    62    -3    65
14.         Oldham                 46    17    12    17    55    57    -2    63
15.         Hartlepool             46    17    7     22    53    65    -12   58
16.         Gillingham             46    14    14    18    60    59    +1    56
17.         Colchester             46    13    16    17    52    64    -12   55
18.         Northampton            46    13    12    21    42    57    -15   51
19.         Charlton               46    11    16    19    53    63    -10   49
20.         Scunthorpe             46    12    13    21    43    54    -11   49
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
21.   R     Birmingham             46    13    10    23    50    64    -14   49
22.   R     Blackpool              46    11    14    21    42    60    -18   47
23.   R     Bournemouth            46    12    8     26    42    71    -29   44
24.   R     Forest Green           46    7     14    25    27    63    -36   35

 

League Two

Chester led League Two for much of the campaign and eventually romped home to the title. The other automatically promoted teams were Dagenham & Redbridge, who briefly topped the table, and Luton Town. Next season will be Luton's first in League One for exactly two decades.

 

Brentford were comfortable winners in their Play-Off Semi Final with Kidderminster Harriers, while Exeter City needed a shoot-out to see off Chesterfield. Exeter's expended energy would take its toll in the Final, as Lee Jones and Zach Clough each scored in the final six minutes to earn Brentford a 2-0 win.

 

For the third season in a row, a team exited the Football League following consecutive relegations. Suffering the double drop on this occasion were Mansfield Town. Ebbsfleet United also went down, having not done quite enough to earn a second season in League Two.

 

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.    C     Chester                46    29    10    7     82    42    +40   97
2.    P     Dag & Red              46    25    11    10    87    49    +38   86
3.    P     Luton                  46    27    5     14    84    51    +33   86
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.          Exeter                 46    24    8     14    73    61    +12   80
5.    P     Brentford              46    20    13    13    48    48    0     73
6.          Kidderminster          46    19    14    13    53    48    +5    71
7.          Chesterfield           46    19    13    14    73    60    +13   70
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8.          Swindon                46    20    9     17    53    49    +4    69
9.          Wycombe                46    17    14    15    55    53    +2    65
10.         Morecambe              46    18    8     20    56    57    -1    62
11.         Bristol City           46    15    16    15    53    51    +2    61
12.         Dartford               46    17    9     20    64    60    +4    60
13.         Bristol Rovers         46    16    12    18    52    52    0     60
14.         Cambridge              46    17    9     20    73    76    -3    60
15.         Tranmere               46    15    14    17    49    53    -4    59
16.         Yeovil                 46    14    16    16    47    51    -4    58
17.         Port Vale              46    15    11    20    55    63    -8    56
18.         Leyton Orient          46    14    14    18    59    68    -9    56
19.         Cheltenham             46    12    18    16    57    67    -10   54
20.         Hereford               46    14    12    20    55    69    -14   54
21.         AFC Wimbledon          46    14    7     25    49    65    -16   49
22.         Aldershot              46    13    10    23    50    81    -31   49
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
23.   R     Ebbsfleet              46    9     15    22    47    73    -26   42
24.   R     Mansfield              46    8     14    24    57    84    -27   38

 

Conference Premier

A remarkable title race in the Conference Premier ended with just four points separating the top seven! The eventual champions were Kingstonian, who will now enter the Football League for the first time.

 

Chelmsford City were also dreaming of League football after beating Burton Albion in the play-offs. Unfortunately, they ran into a Macclesfield Town team who'd just eased past Stevenage. Brazilian striker Fábio's 7th-minute goal at Wembley was enough to earn the Silkmen a second straight promotion.

 

Crawley Town's League One halcyon days are a distant memory after they were relegated to the Conference South. Woking, Salisbury City and Kettering Town also slipped out of the Conference Premier - all after a single season.

 

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.    C     Kingstonian            46    23    11    12    64    49    +15   80
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.          Burton                 46    23    10    13    63    47    +16   79
3.    P     Macclesfield           46    23    9     14    69    48    +21   78
4.          Stevenage              46    23    9     14    66    49    +17   78
5.          Chelmsford             46    22    11    13    55    45    +10   77
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6.          Bromley                46    22    10    14    73    55    +18   76
7.          Stalybridge            46    23    7     16    54    42    +12   76
8.          Grimsby                46    20    13    13    61    48    +13   73
9.          Darlington             46    19    12    15    66    52    +14   69
10.         Carlisle               46    19    10    17    50    48    +2    67
11.         Torquay                46    18    12    16    47    43    +4    66
12.         Barrow                 46    16    15    15    56    51    +5    63
13.         Southend               46    18    9     19    58    56    +2    63
14.         Lincoln                46    16    14    16    52    57    -5    62
15.         Boreham Wood           46    15    16    15    43    51    -8    61
16.         Barnet                 46    16    11    19    48    50    -2    59
17.         Eastleigh              46    16    11    19    53    59    -6    59
18.         Southport              46    16    9     21    45    59    -14   57
19.         Canvey Island          46    16    8     22    44    60    -16   56
20.         Farnborough            46    14    11    21    41    49    -8    53
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
21.   R     Kettering              46    12    13    21    40    51    -11   49
22.   R     Salisbury              46    13    10    23    47    70    -23   49
23.   R     Crawley                46    7     17    22    47    74    -27   38
24.   R     Woking                 46    7     12    27    34    63    -29   33

 

Conference North

Promoted: Alfreton Town (1st, 81 pts), York City (3rd, 74 pts).

Also in Play-Offs: Harrogate Town (2nd, 75 pts), Mossley (4th, 71 pts), FC Halifax Town (5th, 67 pts).

Relegated: Stamford (20th, 39 pts), Soham Town Rangers (21st, 32 pts), Accrington Stanley (22nd, 15 pts*).

* 10 points deducted

 

Conference South

Promoted: Bath City (1st, 79 pts), Romford (5th, 68 pts).

Also in Play-Offs: Basingstoke Town (2nd, 75 pts), Welling United (3rd, 74 pts), Milton Keynes Dons (4th, 72 pts).

Relegated: Havant & Waterlooville (20th, 42 pts), Chalfont St Peter (21st, 41 pts), Oxford City (22nd, 40 pts).

 

Regional Premier Divisions

Promoted from Northern Premier League Premier: Stafford Rangers (1st), Buxton (4th).

Promoted from Isthmian League Premier: Thamesmead Town (1st), Braintree Town (3rd).

Promoted from Southern League Premier: Rushall Olympic (1st), Hinckley United (2nd).

[CFuller]

2026/2027 season round-up: Part 2

Major Transfers

• Not content with spending £28.5million on Liverpool and England defender Stuart Lindsay, Manchester City smashed their transfer record twice in a matter of weeks! Firstly, they invested £44million in Atlético Madrid's German striker Martin Klonz, who scored 22 times in his first Premier League season. They then equalled the British transfer record of £45.5million to take Spanish attacking midfielder Juan Manuel Sanz away from Real Madrid!
• Despite those big-name arrivals, the Blue Moon's biggest star disappeared from the Etihad Stadium in August. After losing the City captaincy to Chad Gauss, winger Iván Guillermo kicked up a fuss and issued a transfer request. Just a fortnight later, Guillermo completed a £30.5million move to Bayern Munich.
• Manchester United weren't averse to spending big to try and maintain their status as England's premier club. Left-back Estanislao Flor was an instant hit after arriving from Real for £17.75million, but United's other major purchases were on mere squad players such as West Bromwich Albion midfielder Phil Hunter. The double loss of manager Roberto Donadoni and playmaker Alessandro De Patre to Real arguably hurt the Red Devils more than their signings helped them.
• A new right-back was top of Chelsea's shortlist, and they found a magnificent one in Ratinho. The 28-year-old Brazil international signed from Flamengo for £22million, and he was arguably the standout player in an otherwise disappointing season for the Stamford Bridge club.
• After being taken over by American billionaire Eddie Harris, Real Sociedad went on a wild £110million summer spending spree! They started by signing Chelsea midfielder Vágner for a club-record £31.5million, and then brought in City defender Yasar Eroglu, Wolverhampton Wanderers right-back Javier Garagarza, and Dinamo Moscow's Chilean youngster Danilo Labbé. 'Los Txuriurdin' could only finish 6th in La Liga, although they did win the UEFA Europa League after beating Feyenoord 1-0.
• Having ended his 11-year stay at City, centre-back Phil Jones joined Portuguese giants Porto on a free transfer. At the age of 35, Jones added a Primeira Liga title to a very impressive CV that now includes 149 England caps - with potentially more to come! One not-so-golden oldie was Eden Hazard, who decided to retire at 36 after suffering relegation with Huddersfield Town.

 

Managerial Movements

• After winning the FIFA World Cup, Sean Dyche resigned as England head coach - and promptly took a new, less pressurised job at Dundee United. The FA then placed Gianluca Atzori in charge, leaving Manchester City without a manager. The Citizens surprisingly brought back Ciro Ferrara from Granada, even though he had failed so miserably at the Etihad Stadium five seasons earlier. Ferrara's second coming was much more successful, as he regained the Premier League title for City.
• Manchester United also had a new manager for the new campaign. Donadoni had walked out on them to take the Real Madrid reins after one ex-United boss - Slaven Bilic - succeeded yet another - the retired José Mourinho - at Porto. Miodrag Bozovic arrived at Old Trafford from Barcelona... but less than eight months later, he was out on his ear! The Red Devils then hired Ciriaco Sforza, whose old job at Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich promptly went to Bozovic!
• Three of London's big clubs replaced their coaches during the campaign. First out was Billy Davies, who was replaced at Fulham with Michael Appleton. West Ham United then ditched Chris Powell and swiftly brought in Zema Abbey, who just months earlier had won Celtic their first Scottish title in six years. Finally, Arsenal axed Malky Mackay and appointed FC Utrecht's Kenneth Vermeer as his successor.
• Vermeer was succeeded at Utrecht by Ard van Peppen, who'd just lost the Norwich City job. The Canaries then persuaded Gary Rowett to leave high-flying Newcastle United and take them forward. Powell took the Newcastle job, and successfully guided the Magpies to their first top-four finish since 2002/2003. Elsewhere, West Bromwich Albion sacked Darren Ferguson and poached another Scot - David Wotherspoon - from fellow Midlands club Leicester City.
• With Nottingham Forest battling against relegation, Vitor Pereira abandoned ship and joined Granada, who'd cut their losses with Juan Manuel Lillo after seven months. Forest eventually survived under their new boss - former Aberdeen chief Nathaniel Clyne. Another coaching change in La Liga saw Frank Lampard lose the Atlético Madrid job to Florent Sinama-Pongolle of Lyon.
• Aykut Kocaman was dismissed by Chelsea after a disastrous first full campaign at Stamford Bridge. The Blues will begin next season with Robbie Simpson in charge after hiring the man that delivered Watford their first major trophy. The Hornets brought in Burnley's Elvis Scoria to replace him, with the jilted Clarets turning to Lee Clark. Following Clark's exit, Wigan Athletic appointed Rangers chief Lee Wallace as their ninth manager in barely eight years.

 

Other Major Stories

• Spain beat France in the UEFA Champions League Semi Finals, with Real Madrid and Barcelona seeing off Paris Saint-Germain and Valenciennes to set up an 'El Clasico' showdown at Wembley. However, the Final was not as dramatic as some may have hoped. Petar Skenderski gave Real the lead after just four minutes, and two goals from Ulisses later on gave Los Merengues a 3-0 win - and their first CL title since 2016. After that chastening defeat, Barca coach Rafael van der Vaart announced that he was leaving the Nou Camp after just one year to take the reins at his beloved Hamburg.
• Barcelona actually came 2nd in all three of the major competitions they contested this season. Before losing both the La Liga title and the Champions League Final to Real, they suffered a shock 1-0 defeat to mid-table Cádiz in the Copa del Rey Final! Israeli midfielder Baruch Ganon's 55th-minute goal secured a first major trophy for the 'Yellow Submarine', who were beaten on penalties by Barca in last year's Copa Final!
• PSG and Valenciennes were involved in a thrilling Ligue 1 title race that almost went all the way. The Parisians eventually regained their crown in the penultimate round of matches, claiming their 16th championship overall. Deposed champions VA will have to try and challenge them again next season with a new coach, as Hein Vanhaezebrouck has retired.
• Juventus wrestled back the Serie A scudetto from Empoli's grasp in emphatic fashion. The Old Lady scored a record 101 points, conceded just 20 goals, and only lost one game - at home to Alessandro Del Piero's Pescara, who achieved a best-ever finish of 3rd. AC Milan completed the top four, but Inter Milan were relegated, ending their proud record of being Serie A's only ever-present team over 95 seasons!
• Manchester United legend Neymar, who scored 274 goals in 627 matches across 13 seasons at Old Trafford, announced his retirement aged 35. Ex-Manchester City midfielders James Rodríguez and Nicusor Stanciu also finished their careers while at Wigan Athletic and Atlético Madrid respectively. City's iconic former manager Roberto Mancini hung up his scarf after failing to lead Real Betis back into the Champions League.
• Republic of Ireland have been shocking in the UEFA Euro 2028 qualifiers, losing their first five matches and scoring just one goal! The FAI are now onto their third manager of the campaign, with Darron Gibson taking over from Ross Gaynor and his predecessor Glenn Whelan. In fact, Whelan has had such a dramatic fall from grace that he is now coaching part-time Slough Town in the Southern League Division 1 Central!

 

Cup Winners

FA Cup: Fulham 3-1 Manchester United (aet).

League Cup: Watford 2-1 Manchester United.

Community Shield: Manchester United 1-1 Manchester City (3-2 penalties).

Football League Trophy: Derby County 2-0 Ipswich Town.

 

UEFA Champions League: Real Madrid 3-0 Barcelona - at Wembley, London.

UEFA Europa League: Real Sociedad 1-0 Feyenoord - at Aviva Stadium, Dublin.

UEFA Super Cup: Manchester City 2-0 Granada - at Gelredome, Arnhem.

FIFA Club World Championship: Manchester City 3-1 Corinthians - at Estadio Azteca, Mexico City.

 

Major European Leagues

Dutch Eredivisie: PSV (1st), FC Utrecht (2nd), Ajax (3rd).

French Ligue 1: Paris Saint-Germain (1st), Valenciennes (2nd), Monaco (3rd).

German Bundesliga: Bayern Munich (1st), Borussia Dortmund (2nd), Bayer Leverkusen (3rd).

Italian Serie A: Juventus (1st), Empoli (2nd), Pescara (3rd).

Portuguese Primeira Liga: Porto (1st), Braga (2nd), Benfica (3rd).

Russian Premier League: Zenit St Petersburg (1st), Anji Makhachkala (2nd), CSKA Moscow (3rd).

Scottish Premier League: Celtic (1st), Rangers (2nd), Hibernian (3rd).

Spanish La Liga: Real Madrid (1st), Barcelona (2nd), Sevilla (3rd).

 

Award Winners

PFA Player of the Year: Alexandre Ricardo (Manchester City).

PFA Young Player of the Year: Juan Manuel Sanz (Manchester City).

FWA Footballer of the Year: Clive Johnson (Arsenal).

Premier League Manager of the Season: Ciro Ferrara (Manchester City).

PFA Premier League Team of the Year:

• Stephen Palacios (Tottenham Hotspur and United States)
• Ratinho (Chelsea and Brazil)
• Stuart Lindsay (Manchester City and England)
• Lasse Larsen (Tottenham Hotspur and Denmark)
• Estanislao Flor (Manchester United and Spain)
• Mike Robinson (Manchester United and England)
• Alexandre Ricardo (Manchester City and Brazil)
• Juan Manuel Sanz (Manchester City and Spain)
• Taariq Khan (Newcastle United and South Africa)
• Glauco Dotto (Manchester City and Italy)
• Clive Johnson (Arsenal and England)

 

FIFA Ballon d'Or: Clive Johnson (Arsenal).

World Soccer World Player of the Year: Clive Johnson (Arsenal).

European Golden Shoe: Glauco Dotto (Manchester City).

UEFA Best Player in Europe: Nando Ribas (Barcelona).

FIFA/FIFPro World XI:

• Andy Boyes (Manchester City and England)
• Nelson Parra (Paris Saint-Germain and Colombia)
• Stuart Lindsay (Manchester City and England)
• Fabián Valino (Real Madrid and Argentina)
• Sam Barnett (Manchester City and England)
• Will Hughes (Fulham and England)
• James Ward-Prowse (Arsenal and England)
• Lorenzo Crisetig (Paris Saint-Germain and Italy)
• Claudio Aureli (Arsenal and Italy)
• Christos Vassiliadis (Bayern Munich and Greece)
• Clive Johnson (Arsenal and England)

[CFuller]

And that's your lot - for a few weeks, at least. I told you a little while ago that I was going to take a short break from 'House of Flying Daggers', and now that time has come.

In fact, I'm taking a short break from FM13 altogether. I've been playing the same save game for coming up to three years, and now - having recently completed my 20th season in the game - feels like an ideal time to take a step back and do other things.

For the last few weeks, I've been working hard on a new international story on FM16 that will fill the gap between now and when 'HoFD' returns. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, this new story will hopefully be ready to go live on Friday afternoon - just before the European Championship starts.

Also, I will be going on holiday in the middle of this month - I'll be staying with my sister and her fiancé in Telford for a few days before going up with my parents to Derbyshire. Unlike last year, when I didn't post at all during my holiday, I will hope to provide story updates while I'm away if time allows.

Finally, I'm sure some of you will want an update on my family situation. Well, you'll be glad to hear that the latest news regarding the family illness is positive, but that's all I want to say right now. When the time is right, I might reveal a bit more on the Community Thread.

'House of Flying Daggers' will return at some point in July. As you've probably gathered, I'm five seasons ahead of publication in-game, so there is much, much more to come over the coming months if not years.

Until next time, goodbye for now.

Christopher Fuller (CFuller)

4 June 2016

[mark wilson27]

Enjoy your well deserved break and have fun in Derbyshire, its not too bad a place.

[CFuller]

Enjoy your well deserved break and have fun in Derbyshire, its not too bad a place.

Thanks. We really enjoyed our last holiday to Derbyshire, so we're going back for a second year. This year, we'll be staying near the town of Darley Dale, which I believe isn't too far from Matlock.

[mark wilson27]

Darley Dale is actually were I live. Got plenty to do there for my little terrors

[CFuller]

JULY 2027

League One was not an unfamiliar place for Dagenham & Redbridge. They'd been in the third tier of English football twice before, but firmly establishing themselves at that high a level was something they had never quite achieved. Their previous stints in League One ended after just one and three seasons respectively, and on each occasion, relegation from League Two would soon follow.

 

Back in 2022, I was called upon to pick up the pieces following the Daggers' latest descent into the Conference Premier. The club was in disarray on and off the pitch, but five years and two promotions on, our renaissance had taken us back to the highest level we had ever played at.

 

The days when Dagenham had a squad full of ageing misfits were long gone. Only Tim Beech and Yasser Ibrahim remained from the original squad that I had taken charge of. In fact, Yasser was the only Daggers player who had previously represented the club in League One. That was during his first stint with the Daggers way back in 2017/2018, when he played a small part in leading the club to its best ever league finish of 17th.

 

A decade ago, Ibrahim was a fresh-faced teenage loanee from Arsenal. Now, he is - along with Matt Warren and Mark West - one of the elder statesmen at Victoria Road. Those three give much-needed experience to a Daggers team with so much young talent that I wouldn't be surprised if Simon Cowell started lurking outside our training ground.

 

I'd already signed up three more teenagers for the new season, and a fourth would soon follow. 18-year-old Ollie Pert - a native of South Shields in the north-east - signed a three-year contract with us after being released by Leicester City. Ollie is a burly, left-footed target man who I see as the long-term successor to West.

 

One of our homegrown kids, Wayne Parmenter, left pre-season training early to start a seven-month-long loan at Conference South outfit Salisbury City. Wayne's not a teenager anymore, so it's about time that the right-winger starts to live up to his potential.

 

Our first pre-season friendly was at Chelmsford City, who just two months earlier had missed out on a first-ever promotion to the Football League. After losing in the Conference Premier Play-Off Final, Chelmsford's financial situation took a turn for the worse, forcing manager Gary Meakin to release almost his entire first-team squad.

 

7 July 2027: Chelmsford City vs Dagenham & Redbridge

An incredibly youthful Chelmsford team quickly came under fire as we looked to start the game with an early goal. After three minutes, Josh Charles headed wide from a corner by Geraint Harding. Geraint was also involved in our next serious attack during the 18th minute. Harding chipped the ball ahead of Troy Hands, who fired a delicate volley past goalkeeper Samuel Laycock for the first goal.

 

Troy could've had another goal two minutes later, but his header was caught by Laycock. On 28 minutes, Daggers captain Mark West nodded Matt Warren's cross just beyond the post. Our pressing game was allowing us to roll over the City kids and create even more opportunities.

 

Hands and Harding each missed the target with ambitious drives either side of the 40th minute, although the latter would soon produce his second assist of the evening. The recipient on that occasion was Tim Beech, who bent in an excellent low drive to give us a 2-0 cushion at the interval.

 

Centre-half Harry Gorman was one of four subs that I brought on for the second half. The Irish youth international's game didn't begin all that well, as he got booked in the 53rd minute for shoving Shaquille Ogden. The young defender then watched Andy Hampshire head home the resulting free-kick from Mick Williams... but the offside flag spared Harry's bacon. Six minutes later, Gorman's match would get a whole lot better.

 

A clearance from Chelmsford captain Curtis Dyson fell towards Gorman, who volleyed the ball forward from well inside our half. Harry hoped to find Joel Honeyball with his clearance, but - much to his surprise - the ball looped straight towards and into the Chelmsford net! City's reserve keeper Alex Matthews was left feeling as helpless as Neil Sullivan was when he tried to keep out David Beckham's memorable goal for Manchester United against Wimbledon in 1996! Harry had scored his first ever goal from Dagenham & Redbridge - from a good 65 YARDS out!

 

That stunner gave us a 3-0 lead... until Matthew Fraser enhanced it even further in the 65th minute. The Scotsman scored direct from a free-kick after West had been tripped by City's schoolboy midfielder James Winsper.

 

Chelmsford's suffering ended at 4-0, although we did have a few chances to rub even more salt into their wounds. Gianluca Cecere had the best of them, striking the foot of Matthews' left-hand post on 87 minutes.

 

Chelmsford City - 0

Dagenham & Redbridge - 4 (Hands 18, Beech 43, Gorman 59, Fraser 65)

Friendly, Attendance 985

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan (Newman), Coton (Plummer), Busetto (O'Reilly), Charles (Gorman), Beech (Johnson), Warren (Giangoudakis), Harding (Scott), Barnes (Fraser), Hart (Martin), West (Cecere), Hands (Honeyball). BOOKED: Gorman, Scott.

 

A few days later, I received some surprising news regarding one of our former players. Lee Heffernan - the ultra-aggressive centre-back whom we basically gave away to Portadown last year - had been sold to Ross County for around £230,000. My decision to put a 50% sell-on clause in the deal that sent Lee to Portadown had paid off handsomely, as we now found ourselves £115,000 richer!

 

You'll surely recall that Ross County bought Thomas Tierney off us last month, and while I was delighted that they'd had given us money for another central defender, I did not see this particular move coming. Heff played 31 times for Portadown last season, picking up 16 yellow cards and FOUR red cards! The Staggies were taking a huge risk by paying so much for a player whose disciplinary record made Vinnie Jones look like Mother Teresa!

 

Still, that windfall did move our bank balance up into positive numbers for the first time in about three years. The following afternoon, we travelled to Crawley Town, who had recently plunged into the Conference South after finishing 23rd in the Conference Premier.

 

10 July 2027: Crawley Town vs Dagenham & Redbridge

After six months out with knee tendonitis, Gareth Flood needed just two minutes to get back up to speed. The young Irish winger hit an excellent shot from just inside Crawley's area, and goalkeeper Dave Jukes could only tip it towards Gavin Dalton, who volleyed in the follow-up.

 

With an early goal in the bag, we looked to pull even further clear of a team who were now three tiers below us. In the 17th minute, Matthew Fraser's half-volley forced Jukes into another tricky save. Jukes was beaten again less than a minute later... by a deadly finish from Dagenham debutant Ollie Pert!

 

Ollie's excellent start to his Daggers career almost got better after 20 minutes, when he pulled wide a shot from the edge of the area. Our attackers were tormenting the Red Devils, and our defensive players weren't doing too badly either. On 26 minutes, Harry Gorman made an excellent tackle just before Crawley striker Macualey Parkinson could connect with Nick Pooley's left-wing cross.

 

The hosts nearly opened us up in the 40th minute, when Parkinson latched onto Garry McGee's incisive pass. Daggers keeper Louis Newman came off his line to block Parkinson's shot, and Pooley's rebound effort sailed inches wide. Had Crawley missed their chance to get back in the game?

 

A poor strike from Dagenham right-winger Jonathan Roche less than a minute into the second half was a potential turning point. When 18-year-old Crawley striker Chris Hughes fired past Newman in the 51st minute, the Red Devils started to look much more frightening.

 

We needed to restore our two-goal lead as quickly as possible, and Dan Plummer almost did that with a cross-shot that hit the crossbar in the 53rd minute. That same bar kept out Ollie's header from Gareth's 56th-minute cross. Pert wasn't to be denied a second goal, however, as the tyro from Tyneside struck again after 61 minutes to put us 3-1 up.

 

Four minutes later, Crawley's substitute keeper Ross King parried away an effort from our young Italian forward Gianluca Cecere. King also got his fingers to a follow-up cross from Roche, but his save deflected towards our other Irish wing wizard Flood. Gareth's volley struck Town's Northern Irish centre-back Andrew Ferguson before crossing the line!

 

That own goal killed off Crawley's hopes of getting a positive result. Mind you, Hughes did go close to giving them another consolation goal in the 80th minute.

 

Crawley Town - 1 (Hughes 51)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 4 (Dalton 2, Pert 18,61, Ferguson og65)

Friendly, Attendance 618

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Newman (Ryan), Plummer (Simpson), Gorman (Busetto), Dalton (Charles), O'Reilly (Hopkins), Roche (Parkinson), Fraser (McLean), Martin (Barnes), Flood (Ibrahim), Pert (West), Honeyball (Cecere). BOOKED: Dalton, Hopkins.

 

Another new face joined our coaching staff the following week, with 33-year-old Jamie Cochrane becoming our new defensive coach.

 

Victoria Road opened its doors for the first time this season when Championship side Swansea City paid us a visit. Swansea were now under the management of ex-Scotland international Ian Murray, whose coaching staff included our former assistant manager Wayne Burnett.

 

13 July 2027: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Swansea City

As expected, Dagenham's Daryl Ryan was the first of the two goalkeepers to be called into action. Within the first five minutes, Daryl kept out strikes from the Scottish midfield duo of Bobby Sutherland and the experienced Fraser Fyvie.

 

In contrast, Swansea's new Greek custodian Argyris Skrivanos was not at all troubled by a wayward strike from Mark West in the 8th minute. Five minutes later, a weighted pass from winger Mathew Walters allowed 33-year-old Adam Morgan to hammer in the game's first goal for the Swans.

 

A Daggers breakaway two minutes after that almost resulted in a swift equaliser. Gianluca Cecere showed real determination to win the ball off Swans captain John French and take it to the byline, but his cross was volleyed into the side netting by Yasser Ibrahim.

 

We then survived poor strikes from Alex Payne and Fyvie before launching our next counter-attack in the 31st minute. Newcomer William Barnes hit a long first-time pass ahead of stalwart Ibrahim, who blasted it beyond the onrushing Skrivanos! We were level, and we would stay level at half-time thanks to Ryan's 36th-minute save from Morgan.

 

Louis Newman looked to continue where Daryl left off in the second half. About half a minute after play restarted, our backup goalkeeper turned Swans right-winger Rob Matthews' shot behind for a corner that was easily cleared by Geraint Harding. Matthews' next attempt, in the 50th minute, was much less accurate. A minute later, though, the Wales international passed to the focal point of Swansea's attacks, and Morgan drilled in a clinical shot from the 'D'.

 

With the Swans back in front, we switched to a much more attacking strategy. On 67 minutes, striker Troy Hands won an aerial tussle with Swans defender Rob Harris to leave himself with just goalkeeper Tim Burton to beat! Hands easily rounded 'Edward Scissorhands'... but then struck the post! Dalton also went close to restoring parity with a header in the 69th minute before Burton caught another Hands strike in the 72nd.

 

On 76 minutes, French - a veteran of nearly 400 competitive games for Swansea - got his head to Payne's cross and bulleted it towards the Daggers goal. Newman panicked and spilt the ball, but Josh Charles bailed him out by clearing just in the nick of time!

 

Then, with five minutes to go, Swansea skipper French put his team's lead in jeopardy with a poor clearance from Lumumba McLean's long ball. Troy quickly pounced on French's mistake and took the ball past Harris to leave himself one-on-one with Burton again. I expected Hands to provide a much more clinical finish this time round... but, incredibly, he clipped the same post that he had hit midway through the half! Troy's nightmare before full-time against Burton continued, and we were consigned to an unfortunate defeat.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Ibrahim 31)

Swansea City - 2 (Morgan 13,52)

Friendly, Attendance 1,895

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan (Newman), Beech (Charles), Coton (Dalton), Busetto (Gorman), O'Reilly (Warren), Hart (Roche), Barnes (McLean), Harding (Martin), Ibrahim (Flood), West (Pert), Cecere (Hands (Honeyball)). BOOKED: O'Reilly.

 

It was too early in pre-season to say with confidence whether we would be good enough to stay in League One. The bookmakers seemed to have remarkable belief in us, though. One bookie placed us as 16-1 sixth-favourites to go up - behind only Leeds United, Bradford City, Rochdale, Brentford and Fleetwood Town!

 

To be honest, I'd be delighted if we finished in the top 20, let alone the top six!

[CFuller]

JULY 2027 (continued)

As has been the case in every pre-season campaign since 2014/2015, we welcomed Premier League big-spenders Fulham to Victoria Road. We'd never beaten the Cottagers in any of our prior meetings, and I didn't expect that record to change against Michael Appleton's FA Cup winners.

 

17 July 2027: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Fulham

We showed Fulham that we weren't afraid of them by attacking in the 7th minute. Joel Honeyball had a shot blocked by England Under-19s defender Liam Wood, and Ollie Pert sent the follow-up past the upright. Pert went even closer to scoring in the 18th minute, flicking Paul Hart's free-kick just beyond the opposite post.

 

Fulham's first serious attack came about three minutes later. Moments after Cottagers centre-back Christopher Khan saw his header cleared by Daggers midfielder Matthew Fraser, winger Samir Kovacevic sent a cross over the bar.

 

We remained resolute and kept the score goalless at half-time, though not before a couple of worrying moments. On 31 minutes, our new Scottish teenager Tommy Scott was injured in a tackle from Fulham's new £12.75million signing - France midfielder Damien Leroux. Ten minutes later, another of Michael Appleton's major summer signings - ex-Arsenal striker Martyn Thomas - blazed the ball over the top.

 

Fulham brought on a couple of their leading players at half-time, and one of them made an impact after just four minutes. After receiving a cross from Swiss international Kovacevic, Dutch superstar Johan van Keulen broke the deadlock with an unstoppable low finish. Incredibly, Fulham's other half-time sub - Canada midfielder Joseph Daley - was himself substituted almost immediately after that opening goal and replaced with American striker Kane Ball!

 

Meanwhile, van Keulen looked for another quick goal, but his long-range bender shortly after the restart was just off target. Fulham captain Will Hughes bent another banana shot wide in the 62nd minute. In the 72nd, Ball's tackle on a hesitant Alex Busetto led to a great opportunity for him to score. After playing a one-two with van Keulen, Ball took the ball forward... and fired a 20-yarder into our replacement goalie Daryl Ryan's hands.

 

Ryan made three more saves over the next nine minutes from Leroux, Khan, and then Ball again. In the end, our backline had done very well to only concede one goal against the Cottagers. I was a little disappointed, though, that we had failed to register a shot on target or give the Premier League side anything to think about defensively.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

Fulham - 1 (van Keulen 49)

Friendly, Attendance 5,532

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Newman (Ryan), Charles (Gorman), Dalton (Roche), Coton (Busetto), Beech (Plummer), Warren (Hopkins), Scott (Harding), Fraser (Flood), Hart (Martin), Pert (West), Honeyball (Hands). BOOKED: Beech, West.

 

Harry Gorman was in some discomfort at full-time, and he was later found to be suffering from a hernia. The young Irish defender's promising pre-season had come to an early end.

 

Our next friendly saw us renew our east London rivalry with Leyton Orient at Brisbane Road. We took four points off the O's in League Two last season.

 

20 July 2027: Leyton Orient vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Just 14 seconds into the game, Leyton Orient goalkeeper Alan Tobin made his first save - a simple catch from Mark West's header. Our custodian Daryl Ryan was first tested by O's midfielder Steven Weir in the 15th minute. The match remained tight for the first half-hour, although scoring chances were sporadic.

 

Ex-Daggers striker Sean Short cleared the crossbar for Leyton Orient in the 21st minute, while West's 25th-minute header from Yasser Ibrahim's cross went much the same way. By the 29th minute, though, we were really turning the heat on the O's. After tipping behind a 20-yard drive from Troy Hands, Tobin had to stop Troy from tapping another Yasser cross in from close range two minutes later. The hosts' 6ft 6in goalie stood tall again on 35 minutes, denying Dean Martin after our rising star had broken through the defence.

 

Martin later brought Weir's game to a premature end with a rough foul. Orient bounced back from losing Weir quickly, and in the 40th minute, Ryan had to push away Short's header before our old friend could send us behind. Two minutes later, Orient were the side who were left trailing, as Mark slotted in Joel Honeyball's right-wing delivery to finally break the deadlock.

 

Captain West had ended the first half with a goal, and he started the second half in a similar manner. Three minutes after the restart, Alex Busetto cleared O's winger Scott Clark's corner out of our area and found Martin. Dean charged towards goal and then played in Mark, who calmly did the rest to put us 2-0 up.

 

A 3-0 lead was looking likely in the 50th minute, but Yasser scuffed his shot at the critical moment. That miss could have been very costly, as Aaron Madden hit the post for Orient five minutes later. About a minute after that, Madden slid in hard on Daggers right-back Dan Plummer, who fell awkwardly on his arm. Dan was immediately taken off and was later found to have broken his arm, thus putting him out of action for around four weeks.

 

Madden continued to make an impact for Leyton Orient on 67 minutes. After Coton cleared Deren Quaye's corner out of our box, Madden sprayed the ball back out right to Quaye. He then entered the area to receive the return cross, which he volleyed home to reduce our lead to 2-1.

 

Our victory looked to be in some doubt now, but by the 73rd minute, any fears of a late collapse had been cast aside. Dead-ball specialist Matthew Fraser powered in a clinical penalty after Joel had been brought down by Gavin Hendry in the Orient box, and we had a two-goal cushion again.

 

Abou Magaye was now keeping goal for the hosts, and after 80 minutes, he denied Paul Hart what would've been our fourth goal. Another midfielder would go on to grab number 4 for the Daggers in the 87th minute. Geraint Harding provided a real scorcher that Magaye couldn't quite get his fingers to. Orient did have the last say, with Pip Gudgeon scoring in added-on time, but we had recorded another comfortable win against lower-league opposition.

 

Leyton Orient - 2 (Madden 67, Gudgeon 90)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 4 (West 42,48, Fraser pen73, Harding 87)

Friendly, Attendance 2,373

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan (Kinsella), Plummer (Beech), Charles (Coton), Busetto (Dalton), O'Reilly (Warren), Barnes (Fraser), Hands (Harding), Honeyball (Roche), Martin (Hart), Ibrahim (Flood), West (Pert).

 

We had one last home friendly a week before the League One season was due to begin. The opposition were Crystal Palace, who had become a steady mid-table Championship side in recent years.

 

24 July 2027: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Crystal Palace

When Dagenham left-back Matt Warren misdirected a back-pass aimed for Daryl Ryan in the third minute, Howard Stewart found himself with a great opportunity to strike for Crystal Palace. Daryl anticipated the situation brilliantly, as he charged forward to parry 16-year-old Stewart's effort! A minute later, Eagles winger Ryan Bird flighted a drive towards goal, only to miss the target. Ryan made another fine save in the 8th minute to keep out a header from 18-year-old Matt Woodward.

 

Geraint Harding had our first meaningful shot at goal after 18 minutes, although he failed to test Palace goalkeeper Stacy Levy from distance. Levy produced a comfortable save from Troy Hands' long-range bender on 24 minutes, and then caught Harding's next attempt seven minutes later.

 

We were starting to believe that we could break the deadlock... and then a dreadful pass from Gavin Dalton in the 35th minute ruined all our good work. Wales international Bird hoovered it up, advanced to the byline, and then provided a cross that Woodward met with an unstoppable diving header! Palace had the advantage, and though captain Pete Baker came off injured shortly after that goal, they would remain 1-0 up at the break.

 

On 49 minutes, Eagles winger Rob Wannell knocked the ball past our substitute left-back Daniel O'Reilly to find Woodward on the edge of our six-yard box. Woodward looked certain to score again... until Ryan produced a wonderful save to turn his shot behind!

 

Two minutes later, we had a clear opportunity of our own. Palace midfielder Brian Johnson's tackle on Gareth Flood knocked the ball on to Troy Hands, who burst clean through... and struck the post! I was cursing our luck again in the 55th minute, when Jonathan Roche was denied by Levy having received a brilliant through-ball from Paul Hart.

 

Roche had another great chance in the 58th minute, and he was determined not to mess that one up. After receiving a crossfield pass from compatriot Flood, Jonny placed a controlled volley to finally give us some luck of the Irish!

 

The match was level at 1-1, but if the first 60 minutes had been thrilling, the next 30 would be rather mundane. Neale Cooper's Eagles struggled to create chances, with Bird and Nigel Sherry each heading efforts wide in the 65th and 75th minutes respectively.

 

Wannell was a bit more threatening in the 83rd minute, as his header from Liam Devlin's cross was caught by Ryan. Daryl quickly rolled the ball to right-back Zac Johnson, who pumped it ahead of striker Sotiris Giangoudakis. A missed interception from Crystal Palace defender John De Waele allowed Sotiris to burst through, but the young Cypriot bent his shot beyond the far post. That was our last major chance to snatch a famous win against the Eagles, who lost Brian Johnson to a broken arm in injury time.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Roche 58)

Crystal Palace - 1 (Woodward 35)

Friendly, Attendance 2,564

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Beech (Johnson), Dalton (Coton), Busetto (Simpson), Warren (O'Reilly)                , Fraser (Barnes), Harding (Scott), Roche (Parkinson), Hart (Giangoudakis), Flood (Ibrahim), Hands (Cecere). BOOKED: Hart.

 

For the third match in a row, one of our rising stars suffered a serious injury. William Barnes had twisted his ankle, meaning he wouldn't be able to play again for at least four weeks.

 

Another young Daggers midfielder - Tommy Scott - was soon on his way to Burton Albion to start a six-month loan. Several clubs from the Conference Premier wanted to take Tommy on loan, and the 17-year-old was most impressed by Burton's state-of-the-art training facilities.

 

I was also seriously considering sending Joel Honeyball out on loan. Before making a firm decision on that, though, I gave the forward a new and improved three-year contract.

 

On the staff front, I hired one more new recruit before the new campaign. 40-year-old Joseph Yoffe - a former striker who played for the likes of Enfield Town and Maldon & Tiptree - was appointed as an Under-18s coach.

[CFuller]

JULY 2027 (continued)

We visited Conference Premier side Stevenage to cap off our pre-season. With just four days to go until our opening league game at Fleetwood Town, I chose to leave most of our key players at home.

 

27 July 2027: Stevenage vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Most of those who started for us at Broadhall Way were reserve players, and it clearly showed. In the 8th minute, right-back Zac Johnson sent a deep cross to Ollie Pert, who was unable to keep his shot on target. That would be our only attempt at goal in a dire opening half-hour.

 

After 37 minutes, things got much worse. Left-back Marc Hopkins failed to take the ball off Stevenage winger Kevin Freeman, who played a one-two with Philip Boateng and calmly drilled his shot into the net.

 

The Boro led 1-0, and they could've moved 2-0 up five minutes later. Eddie Lee's free-kick found Stevenage skipper Jon Towler just outside our six-yard box, but Louis Newman made a vital stop in the Daggers goal. Louis' save only made the half-time scoreline a bit less embarrassing, as we were facing the prospect of a humiliating defeat to non-league opposition.

 

Joel Honeyball had a couple of decent efforts either side of the half-time whistle, but Boro goalie Donal Law denied him on each occasion. Another of our youth graduates - midfielder Dean Martin - showed promise in the 56th minute with a fine run towards goal before missing from 30 yards out.

 

My decision during the interval to switch formation from 4-4-2 to 3-5-2 was paying off, as we were starting to dictate play in midfield. On 64 minutes, our star middleman Paul Hart fired a shot into Law's hands. Three minutes later, a thunderous strike from forward Gianluca Cecere rattled the crossbar. Lewis Southon went within inches of giving Stevenage a two-goal lead from a free-kick shortly afterwards, but the tide had turned emphatically towards us.

 

On 76 minutes, a couple of 16-year-old talents combined to finally give us an equaliser. Lloyd Bailey knocked the ball through the Boro defence to right-winger Mitchell Paratusic, who marked his senior debut with a delicate finish into the corner of the net!

 

Another young Dagger scored his maiden first-team goal in the 86th minute to complete the comeback. The unlikely hero was Daniel O'Reilly, who flicked Hart's corner in at the near post! Daniel's fellow Irish youth international Mick Kinsella caught a free-kick from Stevenage's Aaron Bragg a minute later to make our victory certain.

 

Stevenage - 1 (Freeman 37)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Paratusic 76, O'Reilly 86)

Friendly, Attendance 849

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Newman (Kinsella), Johnson (Busetto), Charles (Simpson), Dalton (O'Reilly), Hopkins (Bailey), Parkinson (Paratusic), McLean (Wannell), Martin (Hart), Ibrahim (Flood), Pert (Cecere), Honeyball (Middleton). BOOKED: Parkinson.

 

As pre-seasons go, that wasn't too bad. We won all four of our away matches against lower-league opponents, while we didn't get thrashed by any of the three bigger teams we played host to.

 

Our pre-season had begun at Chelmsford City, and that's where one of our young reserves will be playing his football for the next six months. Midfielder Lumumba McLean has gone on loan to City until the end of January.

 

Unusually, the league season kicked off right at the end of July. Welcoming us back to League One were Fleetwood Town, who came to Victoria Road just two-and-a-half months after suffering one of the biggest chokes in recent play-off history. The Lancashire side were 2-0 up at Wembley after just 20 minutes against Derby County, but they went on to lose 3-2 in extra-time, with Derby going up to the Championship instead.

 

The ground was absolutely jam-packed, with a capacity crowd of 6,077 turning up for our season-opener. We'd sold an impressive 2,790 season tickets to our most loyal followers, so this was unlikely to be our only sell-out.

 

31 July 2027: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Fleetwood Town

It was a nervous start to life in League One for Wayne Coton, whose headed clearance in the 8th minute was intercepted by Fleetwood midfielder Augustine Agu. The former England Under-19s star then passed to Kris Bell, who drove his shot over the bar. Bell missed another chance later on, and then his Town team-mate Jeff Holloway forced Daryl Ryan into his first save after 10 minutes.

 

On 12 minutes, our playmaker Paul Hart lifted a long ball over Fleetwood's defence and towards Mark West. The Daggers captain chested Paul's pass and took it into the penalty area, from which he struck the far post! We had another great opportunity two minutes later, after Hart was brought down by Agu. Paul quickly dusted himself off and powered the free-kick into the top-left corner of Jon Wigley's net!

 

Our opening goal really set the Cod Army back, as they didn't trouble us again until Bell's header was caught by Ryan in the 32nd minute. Garry Johnston snatched at another Fleetwood chance very soon afterwards.

 

By the 37th minute, we were very much in control of proceedings. West capped off an excellent passing move by the Daggers with a flick-on to Hart, who thundered the ball beyond goalkeeper Wigley for a second time.

 

Paul returned the favour on 43 minutes, providing a free-kick that Mark headed home to score his 50th competitive goal for the Daggers. More importantly, that gave us a 3-0 half-time lead against the Cod Army - one of the division's big fish!

 

We were already looking so comfortable that I handed youth winger Mitchell Paratusic his competitive debut from the start of the second half. Mitchell could've had a dream start to his Football League career with a goal inside the first minute, but he couldn't strike his 25-yard attempt with enough power or accuracy. On 50 minutes, left-winger Gareth Flood was guilty of hitting a shot with too much velocity.

 

Holloway struck a very powerful effort for Fleetwood four minutes later, but it was only ever heading straight into Daryl's safe hands. Another four minutes passed, and then we effectively wrapped up the win with a fourth goal! Hart selflessly fed the ball to Paratusic, whose cross was chested and volleyed in by captain West!

 

Before long, large laps of the Cod Army began to leave Victoria Road early. Not only were Fleetwood getting battered (sorry), but their frontman Bell had been forced off with a broken arm. Those who decided to return home to Lancashire early would miss a fifth Dagenham goal in the 74th minute.

 

Fleetwood midfielder Jake Reeves tried to head the ball back to centre-half Daniel Bradley, only to see Paratusic intercept it and burst through on goal! Mitchell hit the post when he went one-on-one with Wigley, but he quickly converted the follow-up to make history! At 16 years and 124 days old, Paratusic had broken Hart's record as the youngest player to score a competitive goal for Dagenham & Redbridge! That was the icing on the cake as far as our attackers were concerned.

 

On the defensive side, Ryan ensured a clean sheet with an excellent save to deny Graham Melia a Fleetwood consolation in the 87th minute. Daggers sub Dean Martin came off hurt just before full-time, but we had started this season just like we had completed the last - with a resounding 5-0 win at home!

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 5 (Hart 14,37, West 43,58, Paratusic 74)

Fleetwood Town - 0

League One, Attendance 6,077 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 2nd, Fleetwood 24th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Beech, Coton (Charles), Busetto, O'Reilly, Fraser, Harding, Roche (Paratusic), Hart (Martin), Flood, West.

 

All in all, it had been an unbelievable start to the League One season. Other results included a 6-3 victory for Charlton Athletic at Colchester United, and a stunning comeback from Hartlepool United, who scored twice in injury time to beat Rotherham United 5-4!

 

Ordinarily, a 5-0 win on the opening weekend would've sent us straight to the top of the table. However, AFC Telford United had already won two games, having started their campaign three days early, so they led the way.

 

Regardless of Telford's head start, 2nd place in the third division is as high as Dagenham & Redbridge have ever been at any stage in our history. I'd be quite happy if we stayed there!

[CFuller]

Dagenham & Redbridge squad - Start of 2027/2028 season

(All ages correct as of 1 August 2027)

GOALKEEPERS

1. Daryl Ryan (age 22, Irish)

Although not quite consistent enough to be a leading League One keeper, Daryl should more than hold his own there. The two-time Republic of Ireland international commands his area so well for someone so young.

13. Louis Newman (age 24, English)

Louis is a decent all-round keeper who can easily slot into the starting XI if and when required.

DEFENDERS

2. Tim Beech (age 25, English)

Vice-captain Tim is our longest-serving player, and he epitomises what this team is about. With excellent physical fitness and a tremendous work ethic, the right-back is a great player to have in any situation.

3. Matt Warren (age 30, English)

My job would be so much easier if all of my players were like Matt. Always first in and last out when it comes to training, he provides solidity and experience on the left side of our defence.

5. Josh Charles (age 26, English)

Josh has exceptional strength, even for a centre-half, so very few strikers can get past him. His aggression and bravery make him a reliable stopper, and his height is more than useful when defending set-pieces.

6. Gavin Dalton (age 22, English)

I'm pleased that Gavin decided to stay with us after prolonged talks over a new contract. The centre-back didn't have a great pre-season, but his commitment to the Daggers cause cannot be questioned.

20. Wayne Coton (age 22, English)

Wayne has excelled since arriving at Victoria Road four years ago, but the step up to League One will really test him. He'll need to stay composed and make better decisions under pressure to stay in the starting line-up.

22. Alex Busetto (age 21, Italian)

Alex made a promising start to his Dagenham career, and I expect him to improve even further this term.

29. Daniel O'Reilly (age 19, Irish)

This is a big campaign for Daniel, who wants to make a strong challenge for Warren's spot at left-back.

MIDFIELDERS

4. Geraint Harding (age 23, Welsh)

Geraint is a fine ball-winning midfielder who can take possession without going over the top. Although his defensive strength can be vital at times, a bit more attacking creativity wouldn't go amiss.

7. Jonathan Roche (age 24, Irish)

Jonathan's a hit-and-miss winger who can go from naught to explosive in a matter of seconds. He's in the last year of his current contract, so it's time that he started to deliver the goods on a more consistent basis.

8. Paul Hart (age 20, English)

Paul is, technically, the best player I have ever managed by miles. Whether it's his long-range shooting, his eye for a pass, or his speed out wide, this young playmaker always has something that can influence a match.

11. Yasser Ibrahim (age 29, Egyptian)

Yasser's hoping to hit the heights again in what's likely to be his final season at Victoria Road. The inside-forward is still an explosive player on his day, but goals have become less and less frequent for him.

12. William Barnes (age 18, English)

Ex-Southampton youth player William might well be part of the Daggers set-up for a long time to come. He's got the attributes to be a brilliant playmaker, whether from deep or in a more advanced position, in the future.

14. Matthew Fraser (age 20, Scottish)

Matthew is the main reason why I allowed Mitchell Clark to go in the summer. This hard-working kid from the outskirts of Glasgow, who has seven caps for Scotland Under-21s, looks set to become a midfield mainstay.

17. Gareth Flood (age 20, Irish)

Left-winger Gareth has bounced back from an injury-ravaged season and wants to make up for lost time.

18. Dean Martin (age 19, English)

Dean broke into the first-team ranks last summer and is a fine attacking midfield understudy to Hart.

FORWARDS

9. Troy Hands (age 26, English)

Troy knows where the back of the net is, having scored 39 goals in the last two seasons. He has a predatory instinct in and around the six-yard box, but he can occasionally be too aggressive for his own good.

10. Mark West (age 29, English)

Captain Mark is a massive unit whose strength and aerial ability can be a lethal combination. The Yorkshireman may struggle to match his 34-goal tally from last term, but even half that would be a fantastic return in League One.

15. Joel Honeyball (age 19, English)

Striker Joel can be a real homegrown hero at Dagenham if he brushes up on his finishing. Otherwise, the left-footer could still make a first-team spot his own as an inside-forward.

16. Ollie Pert (age 18, English)

Ollie is an ambitious young Geordie target man who could fill West's boots when the skipper departs.

 

RESERVE & YOUTH PLAYERS

Goalkeepers: Engin Cetinkaya, Mick Kinsella

Defenders: Harry Gorman, Zac Johnson, Marc Hopkins, Dan Plummer, Will Simpson

Midfielders: Lloyd Bailey, Michael Dunn, Lumumba McLean (on loan at Chelmsford City), Mitchell Paratusic, Paul Parkinson, Wayne Parmenter (on loan at Salisbury City), Tommy Scott (on loan at Burton Albion), Thomas Wannell

Forwards: Gianluca Cecere, Sotiris Giangoudakis, Patrick Middleton, Richard O'Hara

 

BACKROOM STAFF

Manager: Christopher Fuller

Assistant Manager: Fabio Saraiva

Coaches: Jamie Cochrane, Danny Keohane, Lewis Proudfoot

Fitness Coach: David Wheater

Goalkeeping Coach: Scott Carson

Physio: Sam Cutler

Scouts: Callum Donnelly (chief), Goma Lambu, Chris Lewington, Dylan McGeouch, Nicky Reynolds

 

Head of Youth Development: Curtis Langton

Under-18s Manager: James Stevens

Under-18s Coach: Joseph Yoffe

[CFuller]

AUGUST 2027

A quirk of the fixture list meant that we would play Rotherham United on back-to-back Tuesdays at this very early stage in the season. Seven days before hosting the Millers in the League Cup, we travelled to the New York Stadium for a League One meeting.

 

3 August 2027: Rotherham United vs Dagenham & Redbridge

A second-minute corner from Matthew Fraser led to plenty of drama in the Rotherham penalty area. Firstly, Mark West's attempted flick-on was intercepted by Millers winger Alan Shaw, who headed it against his own crossbar! Mark got to the rebound and cut it back to Yasser Ibrahim, whose strike also hit the bar and deflected out of play!

 

Rotherham's defence was in panic mode again in the 10th minute. West's header from Geraint Harding's aerial pass seemed to be bouncing harmlessly towards goalkeeper Alastair Webb... but Webb and his defenders seemed reluctant to take the ball! The Millers' hesitancy allowed Jonathan Roche to burst in from nowhere and have a punt for the Daggers! Had Webb not made a quick save just in time, he surely would've had egg on his face!

 

We had a worrying moment of our own after 16 minutes, when Rotherham defender Padraic Glynn headed Shaw's corner over our bar. Six minutes later, Wayne Coton could only clear Shaw's right-wing cross as far as former Wales midfielder Chris Dawson, who drove the ball wide.

 

As the half progressed, we began to test Webb a bit more. The on-loan Everton youngster saved a 28th-minute strike from Hart, and two later attempts from Ibrahim, before we finally had a stroke of luck in the 37th minute. Roche closed down Rotherham defender Phillip Corrigan in the Millers' box, and Hart then managed to squirm the ball between Webb and his left-hand post! 1-0 to the Daggers!

 

Our lead came under threat in the first minute of the second half, when Gavin Dalton barged into Stewart Carswell. Shaw flighted the resulting free-kick towards goal... and struck the woodwork!

 

We would get lucky again in the 50th minute. Rotherham striker Brad Webster - a half-time replacement for Reiss Woodley, who scored a hat-trick on the opening weekend but was starved of service here - fed an excellent pass through our defence to Andrew Davis. Davis struck the ball on the volley, and he missed the target by a matter of inches. Shortly afterwards, Webster struck a more accurate effort that Ryan caught superbly.

 

Our next foray deep into Millers territory came in the 61st minute, when Webb charged off his line to parry Yasser's shot. Dean Martin quickly retrieved the ball and back-heeled it to West, who pulled it just beyond the target. Webb thwarted us again a minute later, tipping Martin's thunderbolt behind for a corner that would soon go to waste.

 

On 66 minutes, Ryan caught a Webster header that would prove to be Rotherham's last meaningful shot in this game. We would be celebrating back-to-back wins at the final whistle, but not before Webb produced two late saves to prevent either Gareth Flood or Troy Hands from getting our second goal. Without the excellent Webb in goal, the final score could've been much more emphatic than 1-0. Nevertheless, that win was still enough to take us above AFC Telford United and to the top of League One!

 

Rotherham United - 0

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Hart 37)

League One, Attendance 7,785 - POSITIONS: Rotherham 23rd, Dag & Red 1st

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Beech, Coton, Dalton, Warren, Fraser, Harding (Martin), Roche, Hart, Ibrahim (Flood), West (Hands).

 

Two wins from two - not bad! If I had any doubts about whether we could hack it in League One, they were now gone!

 

Our next game was likely to provide a sterner test, as we hosted a Portsmouth side that had drawn their opening two games. Pompey's current manager was Greg Abbott, who was the last manager before me to lead Dagenham & Redbridge into League One.

 

7 August 2027: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Portsmouth

Another capacity crowd at Victoria Road saw Mark West and Gavin Dalton each miss early chances for the Daggers. In the 9th minute, winger Gareth Flood picked up a knock in a tackle from Portsmouth midfielder Danny Craggs. Gareth's injury wasn't too serious, but I couldn't really take a gamble on his fitness, considering his recent record. Yasser Ibrahim came on as a substitute, and our game suffered somewhat in Flood's absence.

 

Stevie Finnie almost gave Pompey the lead after 27 minutes with a fierce shot that Daryl Ryan did well to push away. The Portsmouth captain's crosses from the right wing were causing us some concern, and his creativity led to another great chance just before half-time. Finnie shrugged off Matt Warren's challenge to lay the ball low to Craggs, who smashed it against the bar. Tim Beech then cleared the ball into touch as we breathed a sigh of relief at half-time.

 

Finnie worried us again after 47 minutes, as his direct free-kick was caught by Ryan. Pompey keeper Owain Pugh had to make his first save of the match three minutes later, as Mark's powerful drive was kept out. Joel Honeyball swung the resultant corner deep to Paul Hart, who couldn't get his header on target. Yasser was on target when he connected with a Beech cross in the 52nd minute, but his header went straight into Pugh's grasp.

 

Portsmouth's attack was also struggling, so Greg Abbott brought on the experienced Saido Berahino to replace Swedish teenager Gustaf Kjall. Abbott made another change midway through the half after midfielder Tom Mowthorpe aggravated a knock that he'd picked up in the first period.

 

Pompey's anxiety grew when Tim played a first-time cross towards Mark in the 71st minute. Scotland defender Stuart Duncan made a crucial interception for the visitors, knocking the ball behind for a corner. Joel took the corner again, and this time, it was Gavin Dalton whose header missed the goal.

 

After 78 minutes, our multitude of missed chances threatened to come back and bite us. Finnie played a free-kick long to James Weatherly on the left wing, and the young full-back swung the ball into the area, where Berahino headed past Ryan! However, the 34-year-old appeared to have pushed Daryl while in the process of scoring, so his goal was ruled out.

 

Several late interceptions from man of the match Dalton would keep Portsmouth stuck on nil, and we looked to steal a late victory in the third minute of injury time. West searched out Ibrahim in space on the left wing, allowing Yasser to have a final shot at glory. It wasn't to be for the Egyptian, as a stunning fingertip save by Pugh ended our hopes of continuing our 100% start. We were no longer top, though we were still unbeaten.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

Portsmouth - 0

League One, Attendance 6,077 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 2nd, Portsmouth 15th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Beech, Charles, Dalton, Warren, Fraser (Martin), Harding, Honeyball (Paratusic), Hart, Flood (Ibrahim), West. BOOKED: Fraser, Hart.

 

While our senior side were making an encouraging start to life in League One, three of our younger players were sent out on loan to feeder club Dulwich Hamlet. Goalkeeper Engin Cetinkaya and defender Will Simpson would both play for the Isthmian Premier side for five months, while forward Sotiris Giangoudakis would initially be there for three.

 

Next on the fixture list was that League Cup Round 1 tie at home to Rotherham United. The Millers were 23rd in the league after losing their opening three games, so I was confident that we could progress, even without several key players. Mark West was dropped to the bench, while Tim Beech, Paul Hart and Daryl Ryan were rested.

 

10 August 2027: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Rotherham United

Ollie Pert's first competitive start for Dagenham began disappointingly, with a 7th-minute shot flying well wide. Two minutes later, a Rotherham side that had played so poorly against us on the previous Tuesday roared into life. Brad Webster passed to Andrew Davis on the edge of our 'D', and Davis in turn provided an excellent weighted ball that Chris Dawson slotted home. First blood to the Millers.

 

A retaliatory strike from Daggers midfielder Dean Martin in the 13th minute drifted off target, as did Matthew Fraser's free-kick in the 18th. The next time either team came close to scoring was after 39 minutes. Webster played a through-ball ahead of Davis, and our Italian centre-back Alex Busetto had to slide the ball behind before Davis could reach it. The subsequent Rotherham corner was swung in by Alan Shaw and headed over by Webster.

 

Three minutes after that, Troy Hands hit a poor drive in his first start as Dagenham captain. Unless the Lancastrian striker rediscovered his scoring touch quickly, our League Cup days would be numbered.

 

Two minutes into the second half, our cup run looked even more likely to end after the first episode. Shaw's chipped free-kick evaded Daggers right-back Josh Charles and found Webster, who tucked away Rotherham's second goal. The Millers threatened to score again in the 52nd minute, but Dawson's long-range strike didn't get close to our full debutant keeper Louis Newman.

 

Rotherham goalie Billy Granger made his first save on 55 minutes, clutching onto a weak effort from Jonathan Roche. There was nothing weak about our next attempt nine minutes later, which Troy thrashed into the net after receiving an excellent pass from Jonny.

 

We were back in contention, and so I sent on Mark West to try and continue the comeback. Shortly after Mark came on, in the 68th minute, Wayne Coton headed over a fantastic opportunity from Fraser's corner. Fraser himself went close to scoring via a free-kick on 78 minutes. The Scottish midfielder had another punt four minutes later, but Granger made light work of Matthew's 30-yard strike. Sadly, West's impact on this match would be limited, and our time in this season's League Cup was brief.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Hands 64)

Rotherham United - 2 (Dawson 9, Webster 47)

League Cup Round 1, Attendance 1,003

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Newman, Charles (Johnson), Coton, Busetto, O'Reilly, Roche, Fraser, Martin, Flood (Honeyball), Pert (West), Hands.

 

I actually wasn't too concerned at our early exit from the League Cup. This was our first season back in League One, and consolidating our place at that level had to take precedence over cup runs for the time being.

 

A much greater setback occurred a day later, when Daryl Ryan pulled his hamstring in training. How well could we cope for the next four weeks without our first-choice goalkeeper?

[CFuller]

AUGUST 2027 (continued)

The next two away games would be a great indicator of just how we were doing back in League One. The first of them was at Priestfield against Gillingham. Although the Gills had only taken two points from their first three league games this season, they still had plenty of quality in their squad. After all, they did score five goals against us in last season's Football League Trophy.

 

14 August 2027: Gillingham vs Dagenham & Redbridge

When Paul Hart fired a free-kick into the hands of Gillingham goalkeeper Jonathan Flatt in the 8th minute, we seemed to have the early edge over our hosts. What followed was an unbelievable period of play. About a minute later, Gills left-back Larry Coburn played a one-two with winger Matteo Cragnotti before crossing to striker Regan Stroud. The ex-Liverpool trainee's header found the net, but not before Louis Newman made a feeble attempt to catch it.

 

Louis' performance would soon go down the pan completely. Just as the match was about to enter its 12th minute, Stroud picked up a cross from right-winger Simon Spelman and set up a thunderous finish from Ugonna Thompson. We were now 2-0 down, and to say we struggled to come to terms with that deficit would be putting it lightly.

 

Almost as soon as we had restarted play, Geraint Harding lost possession when his back-pass to Gavin Dalton was intercepted by Thompson! The Nigerian striker sprinted well clear and then bent a shot through Newman's legs en route to the goal! Thompson had scored TWO goals in the 12th minute, with just 42 seconds separating them!

 

After letting in three really early goals, I completely lost patience with Newman, and Mick Kinsella was brought on to take his place between the sticks. Gillingham slowed down somewhat after their incredible start to the game... but by the 25th minute, they were revving up again. Spelman's free-kick into the Daggers area was met by Gills centre-back Gary Wylie, who scored his first senior goal with a little help from the crossbar. The Gills had been absolutely lethal, scoring from each of their first four shots at goal! Was the game already over?

 

At such a difficult time, we really needed some inspiration from our captain. That inspiration first came in the 27th minute, when Mark West leapt above Stroud to flick a Geraint Harding corner into the Gillingham net. With a quarter of our four-goal deficit removed, our fightback got underway.

 

Paul Hart had a long-distance shot parried by Flatt in the 29th minute, while Yasser Ibrahim headed inches wide in the 31st. After 33 minutes, though, a rare poor first-touch from West allowed Gillingham to launch a counter-attack. The move ended with Thompson attempting to score his third and the Gills' fifth goal, but Kinsella made an assured catch.

 

Seven minutes later, my second substitution of the first half made a big contribution of his own. Joel Honeyball had replaced the hopeless Jonathan Roche as soon as we went 4-0 down, and he reduced the arrears to 4-2 with a superb assist for captain West. Mark breached the defence to connect with Joel's through-ball and slot it beyond Flatt. Was it game on again?

 

Our momentum was lost with the half-time whistle, and Gillingham looked more likely to score the first goal of the second period. Young Mick did well to catch an effort from treble-chasing Thompson on 53 minutes. Two minutes later, the Gills' on-loan Manchester City teenager Cragnotti hit an audacious strike from distance, and failed to get it on target. An attempted piledriver from Daggers playmaker Hart in the 58th minute had the same outcome.

 

Our third goal did come shortly after the hour mark - and, unsurprisingly, it was West who completed his hat-trick. A fabulous headed connection to Honeyball's corner pulled us back from 4-0 down to only 4-3 behind!

 

The Gills were clearly getting nervous, so when Spelman took the ball off Daniel O'Reilly deep in Dagenham territory after 64 minutes, the home fans sensed that the pendulum was swinging back to them. Spelman passed to Stroud, who had to decide whether he should drill a cross towards Thompson in the middle of the penalty area or shoot from a tight angle. He chose the latter... and he missed.

 

When Spelman twisted his knee moments later, Gillingham switched most of their focus to defending what little remained of their advantage. After 67 minutes, Coburn was booked for clattering into Honeyball just outside the Gills' area. Paul swung the free-kick into the box for Mark, who had the beating in the air of Wylie. Sadly, West's header beat the bar and deflected over.

 

Mark rued his luck again a minute later, when Flatt got across his goal to tip wide a thunderous strike from our skipper. There was a sense that we were about to complete a comeback to rival that of Newcastle United's against Arsenal in 2011.

 

With less than ten minutes remaining on the clock, Wylie made a panicked clearance that was intercepted by O'Reilly. Daniel passed to Yasser, who jinked past Gills midfielder Graham Dair and then fed the ball into the danger area. The recipient of Ibrahim's pass was West, who instantly spotted Hart to his left. Paul struck the ball delicately past Flatt, and as it crossed the goal line, a huge roar went up in the away end.

 

All of us in the Dagenham dugout jumped off our seats in celebration... but then referee Lewis Morton whistled and signalled for a Gillingham free-kick. His assistant on the right-hand touchline had flagged for offside, and so the goal didn't stand. Paul, Joel and Yasser all confronted the linesman in a fruitless attempt to get the decision reversed, and Joel got a yellow card for his particularly vociferous protests.

 

That offside call was an absolute killer. Apart from a woeful strike by West in the 83rd minute, we wouldn't get near the Gillingham goal again. One of the most remarkable matches of my Dagenham & Redbridge tenure had ended in a heartbreakingly narrow, but valiant, defeat.

 

Gillingham - 4 (Stroud 9, Thompson 12,12, Wylie 25)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 3 (West 27,40,61)

League One, Attendance 4,780 - POSITIONS: Gillingham 13th, Dag & Red 7th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Newman (Kinsella), Beech, Dalton, Busetto (Coton), O'Reilly, Warren, Harding, Roche (Honeyball), Hart, Ibrahim, West. BOOKED: Busetto, Honeyball.

 

I did my best to try and console a very disappointed group of players at full-time. We had come tantalisingly close to erasing a 4-0 deficit, and if Paul Hart's goal had been allowed, who knows what might've happened in the final nine minutes.

 

My disappointment was clear at the post-match press conference, when I said, "I think the officials have something to answer for. It looked to me that Paul had scored a perfectly good goal, and it really should have stood."

 

The television replays proved otherwise. Paul was just fractionally offside when he received that final pass from Mark West, and so the assistant referee's decision to flag was spot on. The FA reacted to my comments by issuing me a written - well, emailed - warning, and that was that.

 

Three days after the events at Priestfield, I hoped for a less stressful evening out at Kenilworth Road. Like us, Luton Town were back in League One after some time away, and they'd kicked off with three wins from four.

 

17 August 2027: Luton Town vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Luton winger Guillermo Preciado dribbled towards goal shortly after kick-off, but he pulled his shot woefully off target. At the other end, Mark West looked to follow up his hat-trick against Gillingham with another goal early on. The Daggers skipper fired into Hatters goalie Darran Drury's hands in the 6th minute, and he found himself with an arguably better chance in the 19th.

 

Paul Hart lobbed the ball upfield to West, who chested it into the penalty area. Drury had charged well out of his goal to try and close down Mark, leaving him with a clear target... but the big man made a big mess of his shot and sent it wide.

 

At the start of the 24th minute, an excellent tackle from Dean Martin on Daren Atkinson started off a promising counter-attack for the Daggers. Hart played the ball wide to Gareth Flood, who advanced up the left flank and then tried to play a centre for West. Gareth's cross didn't reach Mark... because Luton defender Daryl Rowley had put it into his own net with a diving header that would’ve made any striker proud!

 

The Hatters' first meaningful response came after 37 minutes, when striker Ikechukwu Babayaro's shot was tipped away by Mick Kinsella. Two minutes later, a clever backheel from Curtis Hulse found ex-Dartford hotshot Tom McInnes, who failed to hit the target. Nevertheless, we had to keep a closer watch on both Babayaro and McInnes in the second half if we wanted to keep our advantage.

 

In the first minute of the second half, Flood cut skilfully into Luton's area to give himself a real opening. His run was cut short by a strong but fair challenge from Joel Ruby, whose intervention effectively denied us a 2-0 lead. The tackle also left Gareth with a knock that he struggled to shake off.

 

Our defence also started to struggle, as Hulse had a pop at goal in the 59th minute, putting it high and wide. Two minutes later, Hulse passed to Babayaro, who had plenty of space to play a through-ball for McInnes in our penalty area. The result was predictable - McInnes drew the Hatters level.

 

From that point on, the match was pretty much Luton's for the taking. Although midfielders Hulse and Atkinson both had dismal efforts on goal midway through the second period, the Hatters have a much better opportunity in the 71st minute. Preciado knocked an Atkinson pass towards Babayaro just before Josh Charles could make an intervention, leaving Luton's homegrown hero free to put his side in front. Babayaro's goal would be the decisive one, as we succumbed to our third straight defeat.

 

Luton Town - 2 (McInnes 61, Babayaro 71)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Rowley og24)

League One, Attendance 8,656 - POSITIONS: Luton 3rd, Dag & Red 11th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Kinsella, Beech, Charles, Coton, O'Reilly (Warren), Fraser, Martin, Honeyball (Roche), Hart, Flood (Warren), West.

 

In the space of a few days, our unbeaten start had been torn apart, and we had fallen all the way down from 2nd to 11th. The honeymoon period was definitely over.

[CFuller]

AUGUST 2027 (continued)

After a four-game winless run, we looked to get back on track in an all-London clash with Charlton Athletic at Victoria Road. Charlton narrowly avoided relegation in each of the last two seasons, but they'd made an encouraging start to this campaign.

 

21 August 2027: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Charlton Athletic

Charlton almost dealt an early blow from a Paul Millen free-kick in the fourth minute. Addicks striker Mick Baird knocked Millen's delivery back to midfielder Vinny Ashdjian, who sent his strike just past the post. Four minutes later, an intercepted pass from Baird resulted in a Dagenham counter-attack. Dean Martin started the move, and he then provided the final pass before Troy Hands' fierce shot was parried by Charlton keeper Rob Lainton.

 

We were slowly taking control of the game, and when the visitors lost attacking midfielder Marc Bull to injury in the 14th minute, our hopes were raised further. Daggers defender Josh Charles claimed the game's first goal on 23 minutes with an exquisite bullet header from Geraint Harding's corner.

 

Geraint had a rare shot at goal himself after half an hour, although his attempt didn't seriously trouble Lainton. Charlton's 37-year-old goalie, who had recently joined the Addicks after nearly a decade with Gillingham, made another comfortable save in the 32nd minute from Mark West's weak header. Mark cleared the bar with his next effort three minutes later, and although our captain was not firing on all cylinders, we were still in the ascendancy at half-time.

 

Dagenham goalkeeper Louis Newman had little to do in the first half of this meeting with his old club. The second half was a different story for Louis, who caught an early effort from Baird. He then watched Ashdjian miss the target from distance on 49 minutes.

 

In the 54th minute, shortly after West had nodded wide an opportunity to put us 2-0 up, one of our former strikers came back to haunt us. After Kyle Bowker had found him in acres of space, Neil Munn displayed the sort of clinical finishing that we didn't see too much of when he was a Dagger.

 

Charlton were level... but only for a couple of minutes. A missed interception from Charlton defender Liam Moore allowed Troy Hands to flick Yasser Ibrahim's byline cross and give us the lead again!

 

Moore had another howler seconds after the restart, when a lapse in concentration saw Ashdjian's back-pass to Lainton get hoovered up by West! The joke was on Mark, though, when he snatched at his shot after going one-on-one with Lainton. Hands also missed a sitter after breaking clear in the 59th minute.

 

Five minutes after that, we did at last get our third goal. Paul Hart's sublime start to the campaign continued when the young attacking midfielder with a low shot that went underneath Lainton's dive and found the target.

 

Paul effectively rubber-stamped the win after 69 minutes. He fearlessly ran at the defence before knocking the ball on to Hands, whose thunderous second goal of the night made it 4-1.

 

Troy couldn't quite get his hands on the match-ball, as a comfortable save by Lainton in the 76th minute denied him a hat-trick. Nevertheless, we closed out the win without too many hiccups. Well... there was one major scare after 81 minutes, when Newman dropped Jonathan Allan's cross right in front of Bowker! Louis' bacon was spared, however, when the Addicks striker hit the post, ending his side's faint hopes of a comeback.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 4 (Charles 23, Hands 57,69, Hart 64)

Charlton Athletic - 1 (Munn 55)

League One, Attendance 6,077 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 6th, Charlton 12th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Newman, Beech, Charles, Coton, Warren, Hart (Parkinson), Harding, Martin (Fraser), Ibrahim, West (Pert), Hands.

 

It was fantastic to see Troy Hands back on top form again. Sadly, he would not be able to play in the following weekend's home game against Walsall, having been struck down by food poisoning.

 

Walsall had one of the division's longest-serving managers in Justin McBride, who'd been at the helm since 2016. The Northern Irishman was under some pressure, though, as the Saddlers were 15th after six games.

 

28 August 2027: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Walsall

Two of Walsall's most experienced players combined for a first-minute attack. Bulgarian right-winger Yavuz Serifoglu crossed to former Wolverhampton Wanderers striker Cole Stockton, whose header was caught by Louis Newman.

 

The Saddlers' defence first came under pressure in the fifth minute, when captain and centre-back Brian York's clearance was deflected by Matthew Fraser into the path of Mark West. Our skipper sensed an opening, but Walsall's other centre-half - Martin Murray - managed to slide the ball behind before Mark could make a connection. Shortly after that, Paul Hart hit a fierce shot that stung the palms of Walsall keeper Dimitar Evtimov. Hart had another decent chance in the 14th minute, when he curled a free-kick just over.

 

On 28 minutes, Newman struggled to hold onto a strike from Serifoglu. Thankfully, he managed to pick it up just before the Saddler could poke in a rebound strike. Eight minutes after that, Hart moved the ball forward to Joel Honeyball, who had taken Troy Hands' place up front. Joel turned past Murray, and then slipped a low shot beyond Evtimov to give us the opener! Walsall couldn't respond before half-time, as Newman saved a 41st-minute header from York.

 

The first half may have been pretty even, but the second was a different story. Joel's goal had given us the confidence to dictate terms, and as the match was about to pass the 60-minute mark, we threatened to score again. Hart powered the ball towards goal from just outside Walsall's area, and Evtimov met it with an excellent acrobatic save.

 

Matthew Fraser had a couple of pops at goal shortly afterwards. After Fraser's first effort was blocked by former Manchester City midfielder Marcos Lopes, Paul returned the ball to Matthew, who forced Evtimov into another fine save. Walsall left-back George Jones knocked the ball behind, and we had ourselves a corner.

 

Fraser dallied over the corner for what seemed like an age, and then he swung it towards Mark West in the six-yard box. West went down, seemingly under a push from Saddlers striker Charlie Robertson, and the referee pointed to the spot! Paul took the penalty, slotting it underneath the diving Evtimov to put us two up!

 

The Saddlers' hopes went up in smoke as we strolled towards a victory that could've become more emphatic in the 81st minute. Having come on to make his debut, teenage midfielder William Barnes provided an excellent centre for Harding, who headed against the post. Walsall were panicked into conceding a corner, from which Josh Charles had an attempt saved by Evtimov. A third goal would've been nice, but I was happy enough with a result that moved us up into 3rd place.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Honeyball 36, Hart pen62)

Walsall - 0

League One, Attendance 5,989 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 3rd, Walsall 19th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Newman, Charles, Busetto, Coton, Beech, Warren, Harding, Fraser (Barnes), Hart (Martin), West (Pert), Honeyball.

 

The month ended with a trip to Dartford for our Round 1 tie in the Football League Trophy. We hadn't won a match in that competition since the 2021/2022 season, but here was a great chance to end that barren run against a side who we beat twice in League Two last term.

 

31 August 2027: Dartford vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Dartford may have been the lower-league side, but they looked like the favourites early on. Peter Docherty came within inches of heading them in front after 12 minutes. Three minutes after that, Conor McDonald struck a free-kick just over the crossbar. We didn't seem to get going until the 20th minute, when Jonathan Roche knocked the ball across the edge of Dartford's area to find Joel Honeyball. Joel controlled the ball very skilfully, and a low finish into the corner of the net appeared to have put us in control.

 

On 32 minutes, Honeyball tried to follow up his first goal with a sublime second. After taking the ball deep in our half, he dribbled unchallenged all the way to the opposition 'D', where he unleashed a drive that went disappointingly off target.

 

The Darts went back on the attack a minute later, with Wayne Tomlinson's strike being met by an awkward save from Louis Newman. Louis also had difficulty in securing a shot from Ruaridh Scott on 42 minutes, and he was thankful to Gavin Dalton for passing the ball back to him before Tomlinson could score from the rebound.

 

Dartford still had the edge in terms of possession, and in the dying seconds of the second half, they eradicated our more important advantage. Right-winger Corey Archibald found his way past Daggers left-back Daniel O'Reilly before drilling the ball home.

 

Dartford's bright spell continued into the second half, as we kept giving the ball away with too many stray passes. On 52 minutes, teenager Sol Abbey split open our defence with a weighted ball for Tomlinson, and we were relieved to see the Ipswich Town loanee send his shot skyward. We were also relieved to see Tomlinson's game end early in the 57th minute, as he picked up a knock in a tackle from Daggers substitute Harry Gorman.

 

The Darts still had one dangerman up front in the form of captain Kieran McCall - a half-time replacement for Scott. On 63 minutes, McCall sent the Princes Park faithful into raptures with a stunning diving header past a helpless Newman.

 

With the hosts now leading 2-1, it seemed that our dreadful Football League Trophy record would continue. Three minutes later, Daggers defender Alex Busetto flew into McCall with an ugly tackle. Busetto was happy to take the yellow card that followed, as McCall had been left with a torn hamstring. To further compound Dartford's pain, they had already used all three subs, so they had to play on with just 10 men.

 

McCall's enforced exit would change the entire course of this match. In the 78th minute, we made our extra man count. Geraint Harding intercepted a header from Darts winger Joel Cousins and fed it to Ollie Pert, who in turn passed to Dean Martin. After taking it on the bounce, Dean directed his shot beyond goalkeeper David Page's reach, and we were level!

 

By the 82nd minute, we were more than level. Yasser Ibrahim had only been on the pitch for a few minutes when Pert picked him out in the Dartford area. Yasser made the most of his golden opportunity, and we'd gone from 2-1 behind to 3-2 ahead.

 

The Darts tried to battle back, but Greg Hughes' powerful strike on 85 minutes never got close to forcing a penalty shoot-out. After a hard slog, we had stumbled over the line and into the next round.

 

Dartford - 2 (Archibald 45, McCall 63)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 3 (Honeyball 20, Martin 78, Ibrahim 82)

Football League Trophy South Round 1, Attendance 1,237

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Newman, Johnson, Dalton, Busetto, O'Reilly (Gorman), Roche, Barnes (Harding), Martin, Flood (Ibrahim), Pert, Honeyball. BOOKED: Busetto.

 

We're 3rd in the league after the first seven games, and now we're through to Round 2 in the Football League Trophy. I may be getting a little ahead of myself, but I reckon we're going to be just fine in League One...

[CFuller]

...and we are back from the forum upgrade!

 

The bad news is that the upgrade has screwed up my old formatting, and most of this story looks like a mess right now. I've managed to sort out the formatting for this season's entries, but I'll need to find time to fix all of the previous seasons. That may take quite a while.

 

And that brings me onto the good news. It is now much easier to paste my story over from Word onto the forum without having to faff around with formatting tags. What you're seeing now is almost exactly how the story looks in my Word documents - colours and all! You will now see the proper kit colours in match reports, along with appropriate labels for yellow and red cards.

 

Feedback is always appreciated, so don't hesitate to leave any thoughts you have on this story (and its new look).

 

P.S. For those of you interested in my avatar, it's the cover art of an album by one of my favourite bands - CHVRCHES. Specifically, it's from their debut album "The Bones Of What You Believe". My favourite tracks from that album are "The Mother We Share", "Recover", and "Lies", so if you're into electronic music and would like to know more, feel free to have a listen! 

[mark wilson27]

The issue with the coding etc will be sorted within the next few days....

Their is a few issues at the moment as expected with a forum move but should be back to normal soon. I'll put a link into the Community thread regarding this