House of Flying Daggers

[CFuller]

DECEMBER 2023 (continued)

We faced a difficult challenge at home to Farnborough on the eve of Christmas Eve. The Boro were breathing down our necks in 4th place, and they'd lost only one of their previous 12 matches in all competitions. If Farnborough continued that good run by winning at Victoria Road, they'd be level on points with us - with a game in hand.

 

Our task was made all the more difficult by the absences of two strikers. Stuart Gould was suspended after he did a great impersonation of Ashley Young against Chelmsford City, and Lee Finnie suffered a facial injury in training that rendered him unavailable until the New Year.

 

23 December 2023: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Farnborough

This was our game in hand on Cambridge United, and we would take 1st place back off them if we won it. We didn't start off too badly, as Jamie Bell scored the opening goal after 82 seconds! Michael King played a fantastic pass ahead of Bell, and Jamie managed to skin defender Johnny Fenwick before beating goalkeeper Peter Stewart!

 

Having gone 1-0 up in the 2nd minute, we nearly took a 2-0 lead in the 4th, as Aaron McEwan's downward header went just the wrong side of the far post. On 8 minutes, Farnborough striker Cameron Lancaster stretched Robbie Ryder with a bullet strike that the Daggers keeper just about got his fingers to. Five minutes after that close shave, we were firmly in control, and leading 2-0. Bradley Dack delighted the Victoria Road crowd - well, most of it, anyway - with a thumping 25-yarder that bounced in off the bar!

 

Bradley tried to follow that with another long-range effort almost as soon as play resumed, but lightning didn't strike twice. In the 27th minute, Dack's midfield colleague James Dunne struck another blow for us. Mitchell Clark's long ball led to some frantic defending in the Boro penalty area, as right-back Colm Carberry stopped it from finding King. Dale Bennett slid the loose ball away from Bell, but it deflected off Fenwick's heel before Dunne drilled it into the corner of the net! James' first competitive goal in a Daggers shirt had put us three in front after less than half an hour!

 

We played a bit more conservatively for the rest of the first half as our comfortable lead seldom came under threat. Farnborough's on-loan Crystal Palace midfielder Jake Sprosen blasted a shot high and wide in the 41st minute, and Lancaster snatched at an opportunity three minutes later.

 

If you've read about my exploits at Romford, you'll probably remember that I once surrendered a three-goal lead to Farnborough whilst I was in charge of my beloved Boro. The other Boro did not threaten to make a similar comeback here - at least not in the early stages of the second half.

 

Dack tried to put us 4-0 up with another long-distance attempt in the 55th minute. Two minutes later, Bell came much closer to that fourth goal, with only Stewart's brave goalkeeping stopping Jamie from administering a lethal blow. An even better chance to vanquish Farnborough came a minute after that. Rikki Scarlett's cross escaped the Boro defenders and found King, whose stunning volley went into the side netting.

 

After all those missed opportunities, it seemed inevitable that we would pay the price. On 66 minutes, Dunne's attempted pass back to Dack went wrong, as Bradley was closed down by Courtney Harris. Harris then hit a nice little ball forward to striker Ryan Brunt, who ran through our defence and slotted in the first of three goals that Farnborough needed.

 

I wasn't too worried initially, and when Scarlett grazed the crossbar with a free-kick in the 69th minute, I reckoned that we were still on track for victory. I reckoned wrong. Rikki's foul on Brunt after 76 minutes led to a Boro free-kick, which George Honeyman passed to Dave Jacobs. The 19-year-old defender put the ball into our area, and Tom Lancey's clever flick was slotted home by Brunt. It was now 3-2. Memories of what happened on one November afternoon in 2016 were flooding back.

 

Billy Kenyon's failure to stop Lancey led in part to that second goal. Although Billy was otherwise having a good game at centre-back, I replaced him with who I saw as a more dependable Thomas Tierney for the closing stages. Tommy did his level best to try and stop Farnborough from completing their recovery, but another defensive substitute from much earlier on made a very costly mistake after 87 minutes.

 

Left-back Ben Purrington - a half-time replacement for Wes Wright - was accused of tripping Harris in the penalty area, and that gave Brunt the opportunity to equalise with what would be his hat-trick goal. You can guess what happened. From 3-0 down, Ryan Brunt and Farnborough had levelled the match at 3-3 and stolen a late point!

 

The thieves almost went back to Hampshire with all three, but Ryder's injury-time save from Harris at least ensured that our shocking collapse wouldn't get worse still. That was no consolation to me, as an old demon from my Romford days had resurfaced.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 3 (J Bell 2, Dack 13, Dunne 27)

Farnborough - 3 (Brunt 67,76,pen87)

Conference Premier, Attendance 2,440 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 2nd, Farnborough 4th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryder, Beech, Kenyon (Tierney), McEwan, Wright (Purrington), Clark, Dunne, Dack (Green), Scarlett, King, J Bell. BOOKED: Wright.

 

I hadn't been so annoyed about a result for a long time, and my post-match team talk reflected that. In fact, I was so furious that I cancelled their Christmas Day off, and ordered them to an extra training session on the eve of our Boxing Day match. One of the younger lads called me a 'dictator' as he arrived at the training ground that morning, but I had a particularly good reason to turn into Kim Jong-Fuller.

 

Although York City were only in 19th place, they were in excellent form under new manager Josh Thompson. The Minstermen were unbeaten in nine league games - indeed, they'd won five in a row. As far as I was concerned, we need as much time as possible to prepare for their visit to Victoria Road.

 

26 December 2023: Dagenham & Redbridge vs York City

Yasser Ibrahim returned to the Dagenham & Redbridge line-up after being dropped against Farnborough. In the fourth minute, he cut inside brilliantly before hitting a disappointing shot. Like us, York struggled to find the target with their first attempts on goal. Right-winger Macauley Bonne didn't get close to scoring from a couple of long-rangers in the 8th and 17th minutes.

 

Daggers striker Jamie Bell then hit the side netting with his header on 20 minutes. That proved to be an important miss, as York went ahead after 29 minutes. After hitting his free-kick against the wall, Minstermen midfielder Alex Smith curled in a cross that left-winger Sam Bywater stabbed home at the far post.

 

Two minutes after that, Bell found Ibrahim in space in York's penalty area, and we looked set to claim a quick equaliser. It wasn't to be, as Yasser volleyed against the woodwork. After 36 minutes, Jamie had his first chance, which was parried by goalie Darren Conneely and knocked behind by Lee Farman. Bradley Dack took the corner, and his delivery was headed in by Aaron McEwan!

 

There was another goal in the 42nd minute... and it gave us a 2-1 lead! York captain Ryan Schofield thought he'd headed Yasser's cross to safety before the ball fell to James Dunne, who fired it in off the post!

 

Instead of trying to preserve our lead, we went even more attacking after the break. Yorkshireman George Green went close to doubling our advantage with a 48th-minute free-kick, while Dack was also unlucky not to score a minute later. Green's next attempt, in the 57th minute, was a poor one - and it would be our last real chance to strengthen our lead.

 

York tightened up their defence before gradually putting us under pressure. A couple of Minstermen corners were followed in the 81st minute by a poor shot from on-loan Leicester City midfielder Gareth Bradshaw. York had registered eight shots at goal, with just one on target. After 89 minutes, they had their second.

 

Defender Stacey Bond intercepted Louis Jack's header before it could find Jonathan Roche, and crossed it to Eoghan McCawl. The Northern Irish midfielder attempted to nod the ball on to Bonne, but Big Mac did that for him with a weak interception. When Bonne's volley from out wide found the net, I let out an enormous groan. York had levelled at 2-2, and we'd let two more points slip from our grasp!

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (McEwan 37, Dunne 42)

York City - 2 (Bywater 29, Bonne 89)

Conference Premier, Attendance 2,090 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 3rd, York 19th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Nguyen, Jack, Tierney (Clark), McEwan, Wright, Dack, Dunne (Beech), Roche, Green, Ibrahim (King), J Bell.

 

We'd failed to win in three successive home matches, throwing away leads in two of them. Every time we turned a win into a draw, it chipped away at our confidence, making us more and more vulnerable.

 

I tried to repair the damage in our last match of the year, which was away to 17th-placed Salisbury City. Salisbury's own confidence was at rock-bottom after five defeats on the spin.

 

30 December 2023: Salisbury City vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Salisbury captain Demar Collins led by example in just the third minute, when he headed Dagenham full-back Wes Wright's cross off the goal line. Another City player put his body on the line after 12 minutes, as Rikki Scarlett's free-kick deflected off Ashley Douglas for a corner. That Daggers opportunity was wasted, as was Mitchell Clark's strike from distance in the 23rd minute.

 

A minute later, 18-year-old Salisbury striker Douglas, who started his career in our youth set-up, got behind Billy Kenyon to receive a lobbed through-ball from Conor McGlynn. Douglas turned round Daggers keeper Robbie Ryder... and then hit the post!

 

That was the closest we came to conceding in the first half, which ended with Stuart Gould being gifted an opportunity to score an opener in injury time. City midfielder Romar Ward's tackle on Jamie Bell knocked the ball back towards his own goal, and Gould was all set to draw first blood when Kevin Burns made a vital save.

 

We had a major scare five minutes into the second period. After his free-kick bounced back to him off the Daggers wall, Salisbury left-back Mark Hewitt blasted a rebound shot that Ryder did brilliantly to tip over the bar! Robbie did not need to do anything about the hosts' next opportunity, which Ward curled high over the bar after 57 minutes.

 

Dagenham midfielder Bradley Dack missed the target by miles in the 63rd minute, but an excellent pass two minutes later led to an opening for Bell. Alas, Jamie's shot was too weak to worry Burns.

 

The rest of the match was a very miserable affair, as neither team attacked with any real confidence. Bradley had a late pop at goal in injury time, but he struck the ball with too much power, and the deadlock remained unbroken.

 

Salisbury City - 0

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

Conference Premier, Attendance 1,361 - POSITIONS: Salisbury 16th, Dag & Red 3rd

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryder, Jack, Tierney, Kenyon (McEwan), Wright, Scarlett, Clark (Dunne), Dack, King, J Bell, Gould (Green).

 

And so 2023 has come to a depressing end for Dagenham & Redbridge. We've not won in five league matches, and morale in the dressing room is at its lowest ebb this season. Will I be able to pick us up in the New Year?

[CFuller]

Conference Premier Table (End of December 2023)

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.          Cambridge              29    16    6     7     53    34    +19   54
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.          Chelmsford             29    15    7     7     40    27    +13   52
3.          Dag & Red              29    13    12    4     44    24    +20   51
4.          Stalybridge            29    15    5     9     48    38    +10   50
5.          Grimsby                30    14    8     8     43    37    +6    50
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6.          Ebbsfleet              29    15    3     11    58    37    +21   48
7.          Farnborough            28    13    9     6     35    21    +14   48
8.          Cheltenham             30    14    6     10    54    41    +13   48
9.          Eastleigh              29    13    9     7     48    40    +8    48
10.         Lincoln                30    11    10    9     34    29    +5    43
11.         Accrington             29    10    10    9     32    31    +1    40
12.         Bury                   29    12    4     13    41    50    -9    40
13.         Boreham Wood           29    12    3     14    43    44    -1    39
14.         Kingstonian            28    11    5     12    37    43    -6    38
15.         AFC Wimbledon          30    10    7     13    36    38    -2    37
16.         Salisbury              30    10    7     13    19    26    -7    37
17.         Darlington             29    9     9     11    42    40    +2    36
18.         Newport County         30    9     8     13    38    45    -7    35
19.         York                   30    7     11    12    29    44    -15   32
20.         Preston                30    8     7     15    33    52    -19   31
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
21.         Carlisle               29    7     9     13    28    41    -13   30
22.         Dorchester             29    4     14    11    29    43    -14   26
23.         Bromley                29    4     12    13    38    54    -16   24
24.         MK Dons                29    5     7     17    22    45    -23   22

[edtheguy]

It's better to slump around the new year than at the end of the season.... I guess... hopefully the new year will see a new surge from the Daggers!

[CFuller]

It's better to slump around the new year than at the end of the season.... I guess... hopefully the new year will see a new surge from the Daggers!

That's one way of looking at it, and you're right - it's more about how you play at the end than at the start or in the middle.

[CFuller]

JANUARY 2024

We'd had a change of year, and I was hoping for a change of fortune to go with it when we visited Cambridge United on New Year's Day. If we lost, we'd be six points adrift of Rio Ferdinand's league leaders. If we won, we could replace Cambridge at the top - as long as Chelmsford City did not beat York City.

 

1 January 2024: Cambridge United vs Dagenham & Redbridge

The New Year started off with a bang - literally. Just eleven seconds into the match, Joe McNeil blasted a 25-yarder that flew past Nguyen Van Phung and gave Cambridge the lead with the quickest goal in their history!

 

Incredibly, that was almost followed in the 3rd minute by an equaliser for Dagenham! Wes Wright chipped the ball forward to Stuart Gould, who turned past United captain Dwight Campbell and drove his shot over the bar.

 

Two minutes later, the game's second goal was scored... by Cambridge again. Mark Goodman had set up the hosts' record-breaking opener, and the Kidderminster Harriers loanee racked up another assist when his cross was half-volleyed in by Rossi Millard.

 

The U's were 2-0 up, and they were still feeling greedy! They unsuccessfully protested for a penalty after seven minutes, when Daggers defender Aaron McEwan clashed with McNeil.

 

A poor start for us became even more stressful on 15 minutes. Nguyen seemed to hurt his wrist while throwing the ball to Tim Beech, but our goalkeeper bravely played on. The Vietnam international was nearly beaten again six minutes later, as Millard's header from a Campbell free-kick bounced back off the crossbar.

 

Having come so close to falling three goals behind, we looked to snatch one back. A rare strike from Wright was parried by goalie Milton Bannister in the 23rd minute, while Jamie Bell went one better in the 25th. Bannister turned Mitchell Clark's free-kick against his bar, but he was powerless to prevent Jamie from burying the rebound.

 

Our self-belief flowed back, and by the 36th minute, Bell had eradicated our disadvantage. Stuart chipped the ball over U's right-back Miles Wardell, and it bounced past Bannister before Jamie took it across the goal line! The score was 2-2, and it wasn't even half-time yet!

 

We were clearly made of stern stuff. At Victoria Road in September, we clawed back a two-goal deficit against Cambridge before eventually going down 3-2. Things would be somewhat different at the Abbey Stadium.

 

Gould unluckily clipped the outside of Bannister's left-hand post after 37 minutes as he tried to put us in front. By the 40th minute, he had succeeded. Stuart moved inside after collecting a fine pass from Jamie, and he drilled the ball into the far corner from the edge of Cambridge's area. This had been a half of two halves, and we were leading 3-2 at the end of it!

 

Bell started his bid for a hat-trick on 47 minutes, when his fierce shot was bravely stopped by Bannister. Jamie had played a key role in our first three goals, and he helped to give us a fourth in the 53rd minute. Stuart joined him on two goals after heading his team-mate's flick-on past Bannister! Cambridge had been two goals up for much of the first period, and they now found themselves two adrift!

 

Substitute Joseph Sodiq couldn't get United going again with a woeful shot in the 56th minute, while Millard's 62nd-minute attempt also failed to test Nguyen. A minute later, Bell almost created what would've been an incredible fifth Dagenham goal. Jamie nodded Jonathan Roche's long ball on to Gould, who broke free of Cambridge's defenders and powered in a shot that Bannister could only parry.

 

Then, in the 69th minute, our old nemesis Goodman made a crucial tackle, sliding Wright's pass away from Clark's feet. Within moments, Millard had given Cambridge fresh hope with a low 25-yard strike that beat Nguyen.

 

The U's were back in business, and although Sodiq couldn't equalise on 75 minutes, another goal was easy to foresee. After 81 minutes, Clark lost the ball again - this time to Lee Brennan, who moved it forward to Sodiq via Millard. Sodiq hit a savage shot, and McEwan's attempted block only helped it into his own net! Big Mac's misfortune had lost us a two-goal cushion, but the drama wasn't quite over.

 

With two minutes left to play, Ben Purrington bent a cross into United's six-yard box, and Gould headed it high and wide. Sodiq later missed an injury-time attempt to win the match for Cambridge before the final whistle blew on an eight-goal thriller. We had let two more points slip away and missed out on a great opportunity to lead the Conference Premier, but I wasn't going to criticise my players this time. An away draw against the table-toppers was not a disaster in my book.

 

Cambridge United - 4 (McNeil 1, Millard 5,69, McEwan og81)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 4 (J Bell 25,36, Gould 40,53)

Conference Premier, Attendance 3,124 - POSITIONS: Cambridge 1st, Dag & Red 4th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Nguyen, Beech, McEwan, Kenyon (Tierney), Purrington, Roche, Clark, Wright (Dunne), King, Gould, J Bell (Molyneux). BOOKED: Dunne.

 

After that game, striker Neil Munn returned from his four-month loan spell at Barnet, for whom he scored five times in ten matches. Injury-prone Neil had missed two months' worth of games after damaging his spine on his debut, and he was now nursing a sprained ankle.

 

Speaking of fragile players, Nguyen Van Phung was soon back on the sidelines. Our Vietnamese goalkeeper strained his right wrist in a training session and would have to sit out the next fortnight.

 

Our first home game of the New Year was against Grimsby Town, who had just moved ahead of us in 3rd. Failure to beat the Mariners, who we thrashed 4-0 away from home earlier this season, would leave us open to being edged out of the play-off spots altogether.

 

6 January 2024: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Grimsby Town

After five minutes, James Dunne played a clever ball through the Grimsby defence, with the aim of finding Jamie Bell. Jamie did get to the ball, but Grimsby goalkeeper Darragh Doyne was in prime position to block his shot. Stuart Gould then collided with a pack of visiting defenders as he tried to convert the rebound. Stuart came off briefly for some treatment, and then it was back to business.

 

Gould's 11th-minute cross found the head of strike partner Bell, but Doyne again came to Grimsby's rescue with a superb reflex save. Doyne also saved a half-volley from Bradley Dack on 15 minutes, either side of two disappointing efforts from Mitchell Clark. Our fans' frustration would grow in the 23rd minute. Former Northern Ireland midfielder Matthew Lund's corner was perfectly weighted for compatriot Andy McAlea to tuck away the Mariners' opener.

 

McAlea's contributions in attack, as well as at the centre of Grimsby's defence, ensured that they would go into the second half with a slender advantage. Charlie Robertson could have enhanced it in the 42nd minute, but the former Hibernian striker's half-volley flew miles off course.

 

I made two changes in the interval, with Lee Finnie and Billy Kenyon coming on for Dack and Thomas Tierney. The latter had twisted his knee in the first half, therefore putting him out of action for the next three weeks. Those changes seemed to have little effect in a stop-start second half.

 

We were guilty of committing far too many fouls, although Grimsby weren't impeccably behaved either. Mariners defender Graeme Goodall gave away a 63rd-minute free-kick for a trip on Rikki Scarlett, who blasted the set-piece into the wall.

 

Three minutes later, after Goodall fired a free-kick of his own into Robbie Ryder's hands, we hit Grimsby on the break. A well-crafted counter-attack ended with Louis Jack's cross behind nodded on by Finnie to Dunne, who hammered in his third goal in five games to draw us level.

 

Grimsby quickly went back on the offensive. A first-time piledriver from Ken Grainger on 69 minutes was parried by Ryder, who faced another major test two minutes later. Sadly, Robbie could not keep out Robertson's rocket after the mohawked youngster received a pinpoint pass from Brazilian midfielder Paco.

 

With the Mariners leading again, and our winless run set to continue, we threatened to boil over. Gould and Wes Wright each picked up bookings just before the 75-minute mark, and our foul count kept increasing until it eventually reached 23. Robertson also went in the book late on for Grimsby, whose lead was seldom troubled.

 

Bell's horrible long-ranger in the dying moments of normal time was actually the closest we came to taking even one point from this match. Our sequence of four consecutive draws ended with a defeat, and we fell all the way down to 7th place as a result.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Dunne 66)

Grimsby Town - 2 (McAlea 23, Robertson 71)

Conference Premier, Attendance 2,458 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 7th, Grimsby 2nd

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryder, Jack, Tierney (Kenyon), McEwan, Wright, Clark, Dunne, Dack (Finnie), Scarlett, Gould (Hart), J Bell. BOOKED: Gould, Wright.

 

It was clear that we were still suspect defensively, particularly on the flanks. It was perhaps just as well that I'd already lined up the signing of another left-back.

 

After the grim defeat to Grimsby, I announced that we had signed veteran left flanker Joe Bryan on loan from Chesterfield for the rest of the season. The 30-year-old Bristolian replaced Wes Wright, who was sent back to Colchester United midway through what would've been a three-month loan.

 

Wright wasn't the only player I had lost patience with. After scoring a grand total of zero goals in 22 matches, Lee Finnie was placed on the transfer list. The Scotsman didn't receive any offers immediately, but a player of his quality would surely attract a suitor before the month was over. Surely?

[CFuller]

JANUARY 2024 (continued)

We had failed to record a win in seven consecutive Conference Premier matches. Indeed, our last victory in any competition had been against Havant & Waterlooville in Round 2 of the FA Trophy. Our reward for that was another home tie in Round 3, where Eastleigh stood between us and a Quarter Final spot.

 

While we were stalling, Eastleigh were flying. A run of three successive wins had moved the Spitfires directly above us in the table, and they were the favourites going into this match.

 

10 January 2024: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Eastleigh

For this match, I went back to the solid simple-passing game that had helped us through our incredible run between mid-September and early December. We also showed our counter-attacking qualities again in the very first minute, when Eastleigh midfielder Billy Bingham's pass was intercepted by Jonathan Roche. Jonny played it through to Stuart Gould, who surged towards goal... and blasted a sitter high and wide!

 

That was the first of many early chances we failed to take. Yasser Ibrahim went close in the 4th minute, Gould's next effort was blocked by visiting keeper Timmy Maher in the 7th, and George Green fired spectacularly high in the 8th. After 16 minutes, Bradley Dack went for a wild 30-yarder that almost paid off for him. Maher just about got a glove to the ball, and Eastleigh defender Stuart Warren knocked it behind before Gould could apply the finish.

 

Four minutes later, Spitfires centre-back Steve Digby slipped as he received a simple pass from his keeper, gifting Stuart arguably his greatest opportunity yet. He drilled it wide. Gould's confidence took another dip in the 29th minute, when he fired over the bar.

 

My Staffordshire terrier appeared to have as much bite as a Chihuahua, so I considered taking him off. That was until Gould finally got a shot on target in the 34th minute, when his bullet was parried by Maher. He went one better a minute after that, tucking Yasser's flick-on into the corner of the net! Patience had paid off for Stuart, and after an incredibly dominant first-half display in which we had 15 shots at goal, we entered the break with a slender lead.

 

Eastleigh didn't trouble our goal at all in the first period. Just five seconds after the interval, substitute striker Louis Barkus took the ball off a hesitant Billy Kenyon, only to then fire the Spitfires' opening shot hopelessly wide.

 

Three minutes later, Corby Moore's clumsy trip on Ibrahim led to us winning a free-kick about 30 yards from goal. Dack loved a long-range shot, so it was no surprise to see him step up. To be fair to Bradley, couldn't have struck the set-piece any sweeter, and we now had ourselves a 2-0 lead!

 

The visitors put up more of a fight in the 52nd minute, but Barkus' low shot was still relatively easy for Robbie Ryder to push aside. Almost as soon as they started attacking, Eastleigh went back into their shell, and the result was an anti-climax. Our dominance was such that we found the net for a third time after 70 minutes, but Yasser was miles offside when he cheekily turned Stuart's lob beyond the reach of Maher.

 

By full-time, we'd registered an incredible 21 shots at goal - nine of them on target. The Spitfires, in contrast, had only troubled Ryder twice, the second occasion coming when Robbie tipped Loyiso O'Malley's header behind on 89 minutes. It looked like we were back to our best as we cruised through another round in the FA Trophy.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Gould 35, Dack 49)

Eastleigh - 0

FA Trophy Round 3, Attendance 1,429

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryder, Beech, Kenyon, McEwan (Coton), Bryan, Dunne, Dack, Green (Jones), Roche (Scarlett), Ibrahim, Gould. BOOKED: McEwan.

 

We were safely into Round 4, but we wouldn't discover the identity of our next opponents until after our league game at Milton Keynes Dons. The Dons hadn't fully recovered from the heavy beating we'd given them on the first day of this season, as they sat in 22nd place and were battling against relegation.

 

I enhanced our midfield options before the game by signing Stevenage's 20-year-old defensive midfielder Geraint Harding on loan. The Wales Under-21s international would be with us for the rest of the campaign, and he went straight into the team that travelled to Milton Keynes.

 

13 January 2024: Milton Keynes Dons vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Geraint Harding's debut for Dagenham & Redbridge got off to a reasonable start. On 10 minutes, Harding headed away a corner from MK Dons captain Christian Gough, who had just forced Robbie Ryder to turn a difficult shot behind. Geraint then lifted a fabulous long ball to striker Stuart Gould, who jinked towards goal before narrowly missing the target.

 

A minute later, Jonathan Roche threaded the ball through to Mitchell Clark, and the midfielder's close-range shot hit the post before Dons goalkeeper Aaran Sills parried it away. The loose ball was then powerfully volleyed into the net by 'Egyptian enigma' Yasser Ibrahim, and we had the opening goal!

 

That was as good as Yasser's day got. Ibrahim was badly hurt in a 17th-minute tackle from Albanian midfielder Andi Thanoj and was hampered for the rest of the first half, after which I took him off to avoid risking further injury.

 

Our lead was put very much at risk on 24 minutes, when Harding handled a header from Dons winger Paul Shields close to our goal. Jason Hewitt's subsequent free-kick was confidently saved by Ryder. Robbie's opposite number Sills tipped away a fierce strike from Ibrahim five minutes later, although neither keeper would be threatened again before half-time.

 

Jamie Bell took Ibrahim's place for the second half, one minute into which he could've set up a second Daggers goal. Sadly, Gould's knack for missing great opportunities returned again, as he fired wide from Bell's pass. MK Dons were under more pressure just before the hour mark, when Sills pushed over a brilliant bending effort from Clark.

 

Another Daggers chance went begging on 64 minutes, as a wonderful pass from Gould was followed by a woeful finish from Bell. Two minutes later, the Dons hit back at us with a proverbial kick in the groin. Actually, it was more of a headbutt in the groin, as Geoff Simpson nodded Gough's corner past a flapping Ryder to erase our lead.

 

That corner had come about because Robbie had turned behind a low strike from Dominic Mackenzie. The 21-year-old ex-Burnley striker was involved in another devastating corner in the 70th minute. Wayne Coton's header from Simpson's cross only went as far as Mackenzie, who took his time before drilling the ball through a gap in our defence. In the space of four minutes, we'd gone from leading 1-0 to losing 2-1!

 

We tried to fight back, but by that point, our players had been consumed by nerves. With nine minutes remaining, Bell skipped past MK defender Kevin Green to pick up an incisive pass from Gould, but Jamie pulled his shot wide as soon as Sills rushed out of his six-yard box. Three minutes after that, Michael King headed wide a clear-cut opportunity from Gould's cross.

 

Although Hewitt, Nathan Byrne and Thanoj all picked up late injuries for MK Dons, the wounded warriors would not be broken by a Daggers team that looked mentally spent. Harding's promising debut had gone downhill in the second half, and he picked up a yellow card in the 86th minute of a match that we should never have lost.

 

Milton Keynes Dons - 2 (Simpson 66, Mackenzie 70)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Ibrahim 11)

Conference Premier, Attendance 4,091 - POSITIONS: MK Dons 22nd, Dag & Red 7th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryder, Beech, Coton, McEwan, Purrington, Harding, Clark, Green (Dunne), Roche (King), Ibrahim (J Bell), Gould. BOOKED: Purrington, Harding.

 

After another terrible result, the players felt the full force of my anger. I locked them in the dressing room for a good half-hour as I gave them a serious dressing-down. By the end, they were in no doubt that any future off-days would not be tolerated, either by me or by the chairman.

 

Before our visit to Buckinghamshire, I had pleaded with Antonello Scolaro to keep faith in me during our lean spell. Mr Scolaro admitted that we had been given some difficult fixtures in recent weeks, so he agreed to give me more time. However, that defeat to a relegation candidate had riled the Italian so much that he threatened me with il sacco if I couldn't make amends quickly. (Gulp.)

[CFuller]

JANUARY 2024 (continued)

On the Monday following our latest league defeat, we were given an away draw against either Cheltenham Town or Ebbsfleet United in our FA Trophy Quarter Final. Ebbsfleet won the replay between the two sides on Wednesday, so we would be travelling to Kent on 27 January.

 

On the weekend before that, United came to our place for a crucial Conference Premier game.

 

Like us, Ebbsfleet had been strong promotion contenders before gradually falling away in recent weeks, but a win for either team could kick-start their challenge again.

 

We went into this meeting without right-back Tim Beech, who had been dropped after performing dismally against Milton Keynes Dons. I'd also threatened to drop holding midfielder Geraint Harding, but he kept his place after Mitchell Clark suffered a serious chest injury during the week.

 

20 January 2024: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Ebbsfleet United

It would be fair to say that our midfield made an excellent start to proceedings. James Dunne's pass was driven into the Ebbsfleet net by Bradley Dack after only three minutes!

 

The experienced pair each had chances to double our lead in the 10th minute, and both went fairly close to doing so. Ebbsfleet were very slow to get going, and when midfielder Luke Giverin mistimed his jump as he tried to intercept Rikki Scarlett's 12th-minute free-kick, it was almost costly. Jamie Bell got to Rikki's delivery and hit a first-time shot that Fleet keeper Dan Hanford turned round his post!

 

The away team didn't trouble us at our end until the 30-minute mark, when Gavin Lee-Bulmer's low shot went inches wide. It would be Ebbsfleet's only chance in a first half that we otherwise dominated. Billy Kenyon was unlucky to head a Dack corner just over the bar on 38 minutes, while Dunne forced Hanford into a tricky save a minute after that.

 

Ebbsfleet's first opportunity to equalise after the break was from Giverin's 51st-minute free-kick, which defender Arron Nelson nodded wide. Two minutes later, Scarlett and Bell blew the Fleet away with a clever one-two before Rikki finished. It wasn't to be our second goal, though, as Rikki had been flagged offside when he received the return pass from Jamie.

 

That disallowed goal annoyed us for a little while. Daggers defender Wayne Coton made a crucial interception on 57 minutes, heading Danny Laverty's cross away from our goal line before Sean Lowe could convert it.

 

That was one of many major contributions from Wayne, who was up and running again following his injury lay-off. Coton's centre-back partner Kenyon wasn't having such a great game, so I replaced him with Aaron McEwan. In the 59th minute, McEwan was unable to stop Lee-Bulmer from having a header at goal, but he was thankful that Robbie Ryder was perfectly placed to catch it.

 

Ebbsfleet would be shut out completely for the next half-hour, and their hopes completely diminished when midfielder Joseph Maloney came off injured after 75 minutes. The closest we came to another goal was Dack's stunning 30-yard volley in the 77th minute, which struck the bar. Despite that, Bradley's early opener would be all we needed to end a run of eight league games without victory.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Dack 3)

Ebbsfleet United - 0

Conference Premier, Attendance 2,019 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 6th, Ebbsfleet 10th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryder, Jack, Coton, Kenyon (McEwan), Bryan, Harding, Dunne, Dack, Scarlett (Green), Ibrahim (Gould), J Bell. BOOKED: Dunne.

 

While Robbie Ryder was keeping his 15th league clean sheet this season, another Dagenham & Redbridge goalkeeper was having a good day of his own. Irish youngster Daryl Ryan had just been sent to Conference North high-flyers Kettering Town on loan for four months, and he impressively shut out Altrincham on his debut.

 

The win over Ebbsfleet was James Dunne's 30th league appearance of the campaign, and that invoked a clause in his contract entitling him to an automatic one-year extension. Yasser Ibrahim would also be staying at Victoria Road for another season after signing a new deal that made him the club's best-paid player - on £1,600 per week.

 

Could we get another win on the board when we travelled to the north-east for a meeting with 18th-placed Darlington? Our last visit to Heritage Park was a horrible experience, as we choked on a two-goal lead and lost 3-2.

 

24 January 2024: Darlington vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Dagenham midfielder Bradley Dack blasted a thunderous drive well off target in the third minute, but our next attempt a minute later was much more promising. When a Darlington attack broke down, Daggers left-back Joe Bryan headed the ball on to inside-forward Yasser Ibrahim. The ball seemed like it was tethered to Yasser's feet as he dribbled from well inside our half into Darlo's penalty area, where he slipped a shot in off the post!

 

It was a fabulous solo goal from Ibrahim, and Mike Hurst tried to replicate it for Darlington after 17 minutes. The Quakers winger dribbled about halfway up the left flank before cutting inside and hitting a shot that was, in the end, rather tame.

 

Darlington gave us more of a fright a minute later. Striker Carl Ritchie lost the ball to Aaron McEwan, but it fell nicely for his partner Danny Whitehall, whose strike was pushed away by Daggers goalie Robbie Ryder.

 

Ritchie had earlier been booked for diving to try and win a penalty. When he went down under a tackle from McEwan in the 21st minute, there was perhaps a case for a red card, but the referee instead chose to book Big Mac. Another Daggers foul - from Bryan - moments later led to a Darlo free-kick, and Hurst's curler was well held by Ryder.

 

Ibrahim then went close to scoring again in the 25th minute, but it was our other wide attacker who doubled our money two minutes afterwards. Right-winger Jonathan Roche played a one-two with full-back Louis Jack, slipped past Quakers keeper Charlie Mann, and then tapped into an empty net for 2-0!

 

Stuart Gould threatened to make it 3-0 on 37 minutes with a promising effort that Mann turned over the bar. That would be a significant moment, as Darlington got back in contention just before half-time. A first-time strike from American winger Johnny Howarth went in off the crossbar, and our advantage had been cut down to 2-1.

 

Fast-forward three minutes into the second half, and I felt like I had gone back 15 months in time! 'Safe hands' Ryder inexplicably dropped a cross from Howarth, allowing Whitehall to draw Darlington level at 2-2! Surely we weren't going to fall apart at Heritage Park again?!

 

Darlington had all the momentum now, and when Hurst missed an opportunity to give them the lead on 52 minutes, I made a massive gamble. Wayne Coton was having a mare at centre-back, so I replaced the 19-year-old with the even younger Jeff Whincup. Despite his inexperience at just 17, Jeff was able to steady the ship and stop Darlo from dominating further.

 

We went forward again after 59 minutes, as Ibrahim's lob was met by a diving header from Dack that Mann did well to catch. Seven minutes later, it almost went horribly wrong for Whincup. Ritchie's flick-on towards Whitehall struck Jeff in the back of his head, and Whitehall looked odds-on to score under Ryder redeemed himself with a vital block!

 

Robbie's counterpart also kept the scores level in the 78th minute, as Mann got his hands to a heavy first-touch from Jamie Bell after Roche had sent the substitute through. I brought on my third substitute a couple of minutes, with George Green replacing a tiring Dack. That subtle change alone would make a huge difference to the outcome.

 

With eight minutes to go, Whincup hoofed the ball deep into Darlington territory. Mann felt the need to come well out of his area and fire it back up the pitch. Unfortunately for him, the ball dipped towards Green, who hit a left-footed volley at a gaping target. It flew 50 yards, bounced on the goal line, and rustled into the net! 3-2 TO THE DAGGERS!

 

George's stunner was a crushing blow for Darlington, who battled in vain to level the scores again. After Hurst's 88th-minute effort went over the bar, and Jonjo Joyce's injury-time strike was held by Ryder, we eked out a priceless victory!

 

Darlington - 2 (Howarth 45, Whitehall 48)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 3 (Ibrahim 4, Roche 27, Green 82)

Conference Premier, Attendance 1,594 - POSITIONS: Darlington 18th, Dag & Red 5th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryder, Jack, Coton (Whincup), McEwan, Bryant, Harding, Dunne, Dack (Green), Roche, Ibrahim, Gould (J Bell). BOOKED: McEwan.

 

Although we were back in the play-off spots, I was still annoyed that we had almost thrown away another victory. Instead of praising my players for getting the three points, I chastised them for showing too much complacency. A few players, including our hero George Green, felt that I was being far too harsh, but I had to get them psyched up and in the right frame of mind for our crucial cup game.

[CFuller]

JANUARY 2024 (continued)

A week after completing the league double over Ebbsfleet United, we attempted to beat them again in our FA Trophy Round 4 meeting at Stonebridge Road. If we could see off Ebbsfleet, we would be in the Semi Finals for the first time since 1997, when we went on to reach the Final.

 

27 January 2024: Ebbsfleet United vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Ebbsfleet had already lost twice to us this season, and they started this meeting very nervously. After just four minutes, Stuart Gould got ahead of Fleet right-back Sean Long to tap Jamie Bell's through-ball into the net. We already had the upper hand in the Quarter Final, and another goal was soon looking likely.

 

George Green had the confidence to try a banana shot in the fifth minute, and though it didn't quite pay off, his time would come later on. On seven minutes, it was Wayne Coton's turn to trouble Ebbsfleet with a header that was caught by goalkeeper Dan Hanford.

 

The hosts' first attack came in the 18th minute, but captain Sean Lowe miscued his diving header from Mauro Vilhete's cross. Vilhete's game met an early end a minute later after a firm challenge from Ben Purrington left the Portuguese winger with a sprained ankle. Midfielder Euan Sharp went close to levelling with a 25-yard drive in the 23rd minute, but that was the end of Ebbsfleet's promising spell.

 

Five minutes later, Gould fearlessly ran at the Fleet defence until he was on the edge of their area. He then selflessly squared the ball to Green, who thundered it beautifully past Hanford! The Daggers were now two goals clear!

 

We looked comfortable until Tony Preston's free-kick hit the bar after 38 minutes, and Sharp's stunner forced Robbie Ryder into a desperate save after 42. We could relax again by half-time, though, as Bradley Dack's deft injury-time finish from George's pass sent us into the dressing room leading 3-0.

 

I warned my players during the interval not to get cocky, as Ebbsfleet had the power to strike back in the second half. Two minutes after play resumed, Lowe chipped a dangerous ball to Gavin Lee-Bulmer at our far post... and Lee-Bulmer put too much power into his volley.

 

Ebbsfleet created another chance in the 62nd minute, when Geraint Harding's clearance was picked up by Joseph Maloney. The United stalwart came forward and went for a piledriver, which Ryder palmed away. Three minutes later, the Fleet sank without trace. Dack tore them apart with a great pass to Bell, who slipped his shot beyond the approaching Hanford and gave us a four-goal cushion!

 

That was the end of our scoring, and though John O'Brien headed just over in the 69th minute, Ebbsfleet rarely looked like they could get even a consolation goal. After a pain-free end to the second half, we were confirmed as FA Trophy Semi Finalists!

 

Ebbsfleet United - 0

Dagenham & Redbridge - 4 (Gould 4, Green 28, Dack 45, J Bell 65)

FA Trophy Round 4, Attendance 2,311

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryder, Beech, Coton, McEwan (Kenyon), Purrington, Harding, Dack (Bryan), Green, Scarlett (Finnie), Gould, J Bell.

 

We were now only 180 minutes away from a return to Wembley. To book our place in the Final, we would need to defeat Salisbury City over the course of two matches. The first would be played at the Raymond McEnhill Stadium on 17 February, and the second at Victoria Road on 24 February.

 

For our last two away games, back-up goalkeeper Nguyen Van Phung had been sitting on the bench nursing a damaged shoulder. However, after putting Nguyen on painkillers for a week, we couldn't afford to take any more risks with him. He would have to miss four weeks of action while he received proper treatment, and I would need to consider loaning in another goalie for the time being.

 

Meanwhile, two young Daggers returned to the club after loan spells in the Conference South. Left-back Warren Barrett had six unremarkable months with Dulwich Hamlet, and promising striker Joel Honeyball scored three goals in 21 matches during his five-month stay at Oxford City.

 

We had yet another away game to finish the month off with, as we visited rock-bottom Dorchester Town. The Magpies had last tasted victory in the Conference Premier three months, and 15 games, ago.

 

30 January 2024: Dorchester Town vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Dorchester had a couple of early shots, but neither Johnny Goddard nor Darragh Kehoe could trouble us in the opening three minutes. Goddard was also booked in the fifth minute for bringing down James Dunne. A minute later, George Green registered our first shot on target, with his 25-yarder drawing Magpies keeper Johnny Maddison into a catch.

 

George was also involved in an 11th-minute attack that resulted in us taking the lead. Green passed to left-back Joe Bryan in the Dorchester area, and Bryan knocked the ball past Magpies centre-half Gavin Watson for Stuart Gould to turn it into the net! A missed interception from Dorchester's other central defender, Liam Guest, had allowed Gould in.

 

Just four minutes later, Guest headed clear a cross from Bryan to set the wheels in motion for a counter-attack from the hosts. The result was devastating, as Goddard volleyed in a quick leveller for Dorchester after Robbie Ryder had parried Bradley Champion's initial effort.

 

Having failed to prevent the equaliser, Aaron McEwan was determined to put us back in front. The Dagenham centre-half nodded Dunne's throw-in just wide after 19 minutes, but Aaron had better luck from another set-piece after 23. Big Mac jumped clear of young Dorchester full-back Wayne Bath to reach Geraint Harding's corner and nod it into the net.

 

We were leading again at 2-1, and this time, we were able to hold onto our advantage. Dorchester had only one serious chance before half-time, and Ryder parried Kehoe's 44th-minute cross to keep us in control.

 

Yasser Ibrahim and Dunne each missed early shots in the second half, and they could consider themselves lucky that their profligacy was not punished. Champion cracked a shot just past Ryder's right-hand post on 52 minutes, and there were more scares to come.

 

For example, Bath's cross in the 59th minute looked like flying into the net until McEwan got back to head it over the crossbar. Daniel Philliskirk swung in the resulting Magpies corner, and former Liverpool forward Michael Ngoo's header also cleared the bar.

 

Dorchester's attack lost momentum after that, and in the 75th minute, we prepared to hit them on the break. Watson's mistimed jump allowed Gould to latch onto Michael King's lobbed pass, but Stuart couldn't quite draw his shot into the net. That miss didn't really matter a great deal, as we went 3-1 up anyway four minutes later. Gould played a pinpoint ball to Ibrahim, whose last contribution before being substituted was to score the goal that effectively won us this match.

 

King could've rubber-stamped victory in the 81st minute, but he pulled the ball across Dorchester's goalmouth from out wide. A minute later, Kehoe cut our lead down to one goal when he broke free of a sluggish McEwan and struck Ngoo's pass beyond Ryder. That was as good as it got for the Magpies. They could not summon enough energy for a third goal, and we held on for three more away points.

 

Dorchester Town - 2 (Goddard 15, Kehoe 82)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 3 (Gould 11, McEwan 24, Ibrahim 79)

Conference Premier, Attendance 565 - POSITIONS: Dorchester 24th, Dag & Red 4th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryder, Beech, Coton (Kenyon), McEwan, Bryan, Harding, Dunne, Green, Roche (King), Ibrahim (J Bell), Gould. BOOKED: Dunne.

 

Just like at Darlington, we got the victory, but our performance fell short of my expectations. When I told the players of my disappointment, young midfielder Geraint Harding stormed out of the dressing room in a huff.

 

I really hope Geraint's strop doesn't unsettle what is a mostly happy Daggers camp. This could be the most open title race in Football Conference history, and we need everybody to pull together over the coming weeks.

[CFuller]

Conference Premier Table (End of January 2024)

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.          Cambridge              35    18    9     8     64    43    +21   63
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.          Grimsby                35    18    9     8     52    40    +12   63
3.          Chelmsford             35    18    8     9     50    33    +17   62
4.          Dag & Red              35    16    13    6     57    36    +21   61
5.          Farnborough            33    16    11    6     43    25    +18   59
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6.          Stalybridge            32    18    5     9     57    41    +16   59
7.          Cheltenham             35    17    6     12    61    47    +14   57
8.          Eastleigh              34    15    10    9     56    50    +6    55
9.          Ebbsfleet              35    16    5     14    62    42    +20   53
10.         Boreham Wood           35    16    4     15    55    49    +6    52
11.         AFC Wimbledon          34    12    9     13    43    43    0     45
12.         Bury                   33    13    6     14    47    57    -10   45
13.         Lincoln                34    11    11    12    36    35    +1    44
14.         Accrington             34    10    13    11    38    41    -3    43
15.         Salisbury              35    10    11    14    22    30    -8    41
16.         Newport County         33    10    9     14    43    49    -6    39
17.         Kingstonian            31    11    6     14    39    49    -10   39
18.         Darlington             35    9     11    15    49    54    -5    38
19.         Carlisle               34    9     10    15    35    46    -11   37
20.         York                   35    8     13    14    32    50    -18   37
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
21.         MK Dons                35    8     9     18    28    49    -21   33
22.         Preston                34    8     9     17    35    58    -23   33
23.         Bromley                34    6     13    15    46    62    -16   31
24.         Dorchester             35    4     16    15    35    56    -21   28

 

[CFuller]

FEBRUARY 2024

Our on-loan striker Stuart Gould should have been returning to Aston Villa at the start of February. That was not the case, because Villa allowed us to extend his stay at Victoria Road for the rest of the season. That went down well with Daggers fans, who were excited at the prospect of more goals from the 23-year-old.

 

With Gould staying in Dagenham, teenage striker Neil Munn had to wait a bit longer for his first-team breakthrough, and he was sent out on loan for a second time. After an earlier stint at Barnet, Neil would end this campaign with another Conference South team - Oxford City.

 

As one player left Victoria Road on loan, another arrived in the shape of Leyton Orient goalkeeper Pete Riley. The 27-year-old Teessider would act as Robbie Ryder's understudy for a month while Nguyen Van Phung was on the treatment table.

 

In other news, Aaron McEwan became the latest Dagger to sign a new contract. The Scottish centre-back committed his future to Victoria Road for at least two more seasons.

 

A vital month for the Daggers began with a home tie against Lincoln City. The mid-tablers had picked up just one point from their previous five games.

 

3 February 2024: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Lincoln City

The early skirmishes did not make pleasant viewing, either for myself or my Lincoln counterpart Matt Watson. Dagenham centre-halves Thomas Tierney and Aaron McEwan were both fortunate to avoid bookings in the first 15 minutes for ugly fouls on Lincoln's attackers. Neither team had a shot on target until Stuart Gould's edge-of-the-area effort was pushed away by Lincoln goalie Ben Hutchinson in the 17th minute. Bradley Dack narrowly missed the target with a trademark long-range attempt shortly afterwards.

 

Bradley was having better luck than fellow Daggers midfielder Paul Hart, who looked very nervous on his first senior start since November. When Paul hurt his elbow in a collision with Imps winger Joey Judge after 20 minutes, I decided to take the 16-year-old off. In-form George Green took his place, but by the 25th minute, our opponents looked to have the edge. Defender John Winter latched onto Jamie Allen's free-kick and half-volleyed it off McEwan before sending his rebound shot wide.

 

Another Allen free-kick gave us a scare on 31 minutes, when the midfielder went straight for goal and Ryder saved. Two minutes later, Dack had a free-kick of his own just outside the Imps' penalty box... and he found the top corner with it!

 

Our new lead quickly came under threat, but Robbie pulled off a couple of crucial saves in the next three minutes to frustrate Judge and Paul Donaldson. After Hutchinson kept out another of his ambitious strikes in the 41st minute, Dack consolidated our lead with an injury-time assist for Yasser Ibrahim. At 2-0 up, we were rocking and rolling!

 

Hutchinson faced further pressure from the Daggers early in the second half. He had to hold onto Green's drive after 48 minutes, and four minutes later, he blocked Dack's latest attempt with his legs. Hutchinson was nearly beaten for a third time in the 56th minute, when James Dunne unleashed an incredible 25-yard volley that bounced off the corner of the goal frame! Our woodwork also took a hit on 63 minutes, as Judge's free-kick thundered off the bar after Dack had shoved Donaldson inside the 'D'.

 

The game then went into a lull for a while, although substitute Jamie Bell and Green each went close to putting us three up after 69 and 80 minutes respectively. George's near-miss was followed a minute later by an effort from Jamie that was absolutely spot on. Bell towered over Imps defender Kyle Osbourne to nod Jonathan Roche's corner into the net! That would surely give us a 3-0 victory... except, it didn't.

 

A fantastic display from the Daggers ended with another headed goal after 87 minutes, as 5ft 10in Yasser beat 6ft 4in Winter to flick Joe Bryan's cross in at the near post! We had won 4-0, thus securing our fourth league win in a row - and our fifth in all competitions! The Daggers were looking sharp once again!

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 4 (Dack 33, Ibrahim 45,87, J Bell 81)

Lincoln City - 0

Conference Premier, Attendance 2,180 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 3rd, Lincoln 14th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryder, Beech, Tierney, McEwan (Coton), Bryan, Dunne, Dack, Hart (Green), Roche, Ibrahim, Gould (J Bell).

 

Paul Hart was ruled out for the next three weeks after damaging his elbow midway through the first half. It was another setback for the gifted midfielder, who was developing nicely but had already missed two months' worth of training this season with various injuries. I will certainly have to manage Paul's training schedule carefully in the future.

 

I had no idea what was in store in our next away game, which was at Kingsmeadow against an inconsistent Kingstonian team who were in 17th place.

 

10 February 2024: Kingstonian vs Dagenham & Redbridge

The first half did not generate much excitement for Kingstonian fans. Alan Dowson's team played conservatively in the early stages, when their only effort on goal was a tame 9th-minute header from Luke Norris that didn't seriously worry Robbie Ryder. On 15 minutes, Jamie Bell nodded our first attempt into the safe hands of Kingstonian keeper Mark Scott. The veteran shotstopper was very nearly beaten four minutes later, as Yasser Ibrahim's header from a Bradley Dack free-kick hit the crossbar!

 

For our next attempt to beat Scott, we chose not to use our heads. It was a wise decision, as after 27 minutes, Bell's right foot gave us the opening goal from just inside the hosts' area.

 

The K's were slow to respond, but when they did, they almost produced a stunning equaliser! On 44 minutes, Ross Gray cut the ball back from the right wing to midfielder Michael Onovwigun, whose first-time shot deflected off the bar and went behind! Although we were still 1-0 up, we had been warned.

 

Rikki Scarlett's 55th-minute strike for Dagenham & Redbridge, which sailed well over, was not a sign of things to come in the second half. Rather, it was Kingstonian who pushed further up and put us under strain.

 

The K's won three corners midway through the half, although their dominance didn't begin to tell until the 76th minute. Phil Shepherd was helping them to rule the middle of the park, and his promising forward pass to Ronnie Hall was dragged wide by the substitute striker. A minute later, another home sub demonstrated much greater incisiveness. Greg Tempest's pass was laid off first-time by Hall to 19-year-old David Fisher, whose edge-of-the-area strike caught Ryder off his guard!

 

Stuart Gould had replaced Ibrahim by that point, and he could've rendered Fisher's leveller meaningless in the 80th minute. Stuart's low attempt was turned away by 33-year-old Scott, who thwarted him again with another save just before injury-time. In the end, a 1-1 draw was perhaps the fairest result.

 

Kingstonian - 1 (Fisher 77)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (J Bell 27)

Conference Premier, Attendance 1,491 - POSITIONS: Kingstonian 17th, Dag & Red 4th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryder, Beech, Tierney, McEwan, Bryan, Harding, Dack, Green (Scarlett), Roche (Clark), Ibrahim (Gould), J Bell. BOOKED: Green.

 

Failure to beat Kingstonian didn't hurt us too badly, and after a fairly quiet week of training, we were ready for our FA Trophy Semi Final. The first leg of our two-legged affair with Salisbury City took place at the Raymond McEnhill Stadium in Wiltshire. At the same time, the K's took on Preston North End in the other Semi.

 

Salisbury had become a difficult team to beat in recent weeks. Since losing at home to Farnborough on New Year's Day, the Whites had gone through nine straight matches without being defeated again. That run included a revenge win over the Boro in a Round 3 replay, and a comfortable 3-0 victory at Darlington in Round 4.

 

17 February 2024: Salisbury City vs Dagenham & Redbridge

We suffered a major blow nine minutes into this Semi Final. Stuart Gould was about to get to Bradley Dack's short pass when Salisbury left-back Donal Webb cut through him with a crunching tackle! Gould let out a piercing scream, and Dack quickly knocked the ball into touch so that his team-mate could receive treatment. Sadly, it was already game over for Stuart, who had to be stretchered off and replaced by Rikki Scarlett. That disrupted any rhythm the game had.

 

Neither team was up and running by the 21st minute, when Salisbury had an injury of their own to contend with. Midfielder Jordan Barrow damaged his elbow while slide-tackling Mitchell Clark, but he bravely soldiered on. Six minutes later, he was probably wishing he hadn't.

 

As the rain hammered down, Clark hammered the ball towards Daggers striker Jamie Bell. City skipper Demar Collins' weak interception sent Bell clear, but Jamie slipped just as he connected with the ball! Despite that, the ball still bypassed Salisbury keeper Kevin Burns and crossed the line, giving us a bizarre opening goal!

 

Two minutes later, a mistake from Webb almost resulted in Dack scoring our second, but Bradley blazed his shot over the bar. The first half ended nervously from our point of view, as Jack Hall's 44th-minute free-kick was deflected behind for a Salisbury corner, from which Ian Marsh headed wide.

 

A bad day for Webb got worse three minutes into the second half, as he was booked for tripping Rikki Scarlett. A minute later, one of our full-backs - Tim Beech - collided with City winger Ashley Douglas. While Douglas emerged unscathed, Beech hurt his elbow, so I took Tim off as a precaution. That didn't damage us too greatly, as we extended our lead after 53 minutes. Aaron McEwan caught the Salisbury defence off guard with a powerful free-kick to Yasser Ibrahim, who moved inside and slipped in a simple finish!

 

The Whites sought a quick response through their substitute Jak Bull, who had two chances to pull one goal back in the 54th minute. The first was pushed away by Robbie Ryder, and the second was headed against the top of Robbie's crossbar. On 61 minutes, Jamie had two quickfire opportunities to enhance our position, as his volley was blocked by Collins and his header caught by Burns.

 

Bell had another chance to head us into a three-goal lead after 71 minutes, and he took it gleefully. Jamie rose above Salisbury's hapless trio of Collins, Marsh and Webb to flick Yasser's cross into the net and put us well on the road to victory!

 

When James Craigen volleyed over the bar two minutes later, scores of Salisbury fans began to leave the stadium. Those who stayed witnessed a further capitulation on 76 minutes. Webb gave away a penalty for felling Rikki in City's area, and although he escaped a red card that would've made a befitting end to his day from hell, he didn't get off scot free. Bell's emphatic penalty about a minute later rounded off his hat-trick and secured us a famous victory.

 

With six minutes remaining, though, Douglas headed Craigen's cross home to give Salisbury a glimmer of hope going into the second leg. City would need to score at least three more goals at Victoria Road to have any chance of winning the tie.

 

Salisbury City - 1 (Douglas 84)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 4 (J Bell 27,71,pen77, Ibrahim 53)

FA Trophy Semi Final Leg 1, Attendance 3,125

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryder, Beech (Tierney), Coton, McEwan, Purrington, Clark, Dack, Green (Dunne), Gould (Scarlett), Ibrahim, J Bell. BOOKED: Green.

 

With a 4-1 advantage after the first leg, we were surely heading to the FA Trophy Final, barring a disaster. Unfortunately, it seemed that a disaster had already occurred...

[tenthreeleader]

Looks like a real good race. Can't afford a slip -- but the Daggers are playing well!

[CFuller]

Looks like a real good race. Can't afford a slip -- but the Daggers are playing well!

It sure is a thrilling title race, and we'll definitely be in the running for automatic promotion if we can push on over the next couple of months. The FA Trophy looks very winnable as well, so there could be a double celebration when the season's over!

[CFuller]

FEBRUARY 2024 (continued)

Although we had won emphatically at Salisbury City in the FA Trophy, we did lose two key players in the process. Tim Beech had damaged his elbow and would be out for around three weeks, but the right-back's injury paled in significance compared to Stuart Gould's.

 

I couldn't believe it when I discovered that our on-loan striker had torn his calf muscle. Stuart's season had been cut short after 36 matches, in which he scored 14 goals. He would leave a big hole in our team.

 

I was cursing my luck again about 48 hours later, when a second loanee was ruled out for the rest of the campaign. A weight-room accident left Joe Bryan with a slipped disc, which meant he couldn't play again for three months. Joe had impressed at left-back during his seven appearances for us, so I was sad that he'd been forced to leave us early.

 

With three stars on the sidelines, I was praying that we wouldn't lose anyone else in our next league game at home to Cheltenham Town. I was also hoping for a good result against 7th-placed Cheltenham, who would be just two points behind us if they took the spoils at Victoria Road.

 

20 February 2024: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Cheltenham Town

In the sixth minute, Dagenham defender Thomas Tierney cut out a free-kick from Cheltenham goalkeeper Ross McDonald and headed it on to Michael King. Michael then played a first-time pass to Jamie Bell, who had just given away that free-kick. Jamie took the ball from the centre circle to Cheltenham's penalty area, where he coolly placed a shot into the net! We were already 1-0 up!

 

The blue-clad Robins couldn't launch a meaningful retort until the 23rd minute, when Guy Lennon's strike from the edge of our area cleared the bar. Cheltenham got closer to our goal in the next two minutes, as our debutant keeper Pete Riley made a couple of excellent saves from Ashley Barnard and Montell Moore.

 

Tierney had a chance to put us two goals clear on 27 minutes, but the American defender couldn't keep his header from Jonathan Roche's corner on target. Despite that, we remained on course to take a 1-0 lead into the interval. That was until the 43rd minute, when Barnard got ahead of Wayne Coton to stab Moore's centre into the net and draw Cheltenham level.

 

Following that late first-half equaliser, Daggers fans became even more nervous early in the second half. When George Green headed wide a golden opportunity from Roche's cross in the 47th minute, they must have felt that we had missed a trick. After 53 minutes, George made them forget all about that missed sitter. King played a first-time pass ahead of Green, who raced through and slipped the ball between McDonald and his right-hand post!

 

Cheltenham's players were badly affected by going behind again - particularly Barnard, who twice snatched at long-distance efforts just before the hour. By the 63rd minute, however, we were starting to look vulnerable again. Ben Purrington fell on his arm after fouling Guy Lennon, bringing the Dagenham left-back's game to an end. Ben was replaced by youngster Warren Barrett, who gave away a free-kick after 69 minutes for a push on Christian Davidson. Jordan Keegan floated the kick into our box, where Barnard miscued his header.

 

Cheltenham would be on the front foot for effectively the rest of this game, save for the 80th minute, when McDonald turned behind a Bradley Dack free-kick. Robins skipper Lennon had an 84th-minute curler tipped out of play by Riley, while his fellow midfielder Davidson hit an awful shot three minutes later. After one final Cheltenham attack broke down in injury time, we claimed a narrow win that moved us back up to 3rd in the Conference Premier.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (J Bell 6, Green 53)

Cheltenham Town - 1 (Barnard 43)

Conference Premier, Attendance 2,009 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 3rd, Cheltenham 7th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Riley, Jack, Coton, Tierney, Purrington (Barrett), Harding, Dunne (Dack), Green, Roche, King, J Bell (Honeyball).

 

There was good and bad news about Ben Purrington's injury. The good news was that he'd only gashed his arm. The bad news was that he would have to miss our crucial FA Trophy game four days later.

 

I was unable to recall striker Neil Munn from Oxford City, so how could I replace my injured Aston Villa loanee Stuart Gould? By persuading Villa to loan us another forward, of course!

 

21-year-old Robbie Shenton, who scored seven goals during a six-month stay at Swindon Town earlier this season, was a very similar player to Stuart. They were both quick, left-footed, and from the West Midlands... but, obviously, Robbie hadn't been incapacitated by a calf injury. Not yet, at any rate. Sadly, he was ineligible to play in our next cup game.

 

On 24 February 2024, we stood on the brink of our first FA Trophy Final in 27 years. We could afford to lose by two goals in our home leg against Salisbury City, but I wasn't in the mood to play conservatively. I wanted a strong and, more importantly, professional performance to finish the Whites off and book our tickets for Wembley Stadium.

 

24 February 2024: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Salisbury City

I already had three full-backs out of contention, so the last thing I wanted to see was an injury to another. After just four minutes, left-back Warren Barrett went down in the Dagenham penalty area. Warren told the physio that his groin was feeling a bit tight, but he was able to carry on. Another Daggers defender, Aaron McEwan, had our first scoring chance in the 7th minute, when he headed the ball straight into Kevin Burns' hands.

 

We didn't threaten again until a 25th-minute bullet from Bradley Dack raced past the post. With regards to Salisbury, they only had two shots at our goal in the entire first half. Winger Ashley Douglas took both of them, in the 31st and 44th minutes, and Robbie Ryder made a comfortable catch on each occasion. City were really struggling to retain possession, and had we been more clinical with our shooting, the tie might've been well and truly over by half-time.

 

Warren's groin strain led me to reshuffle my defence during the interval. Our backline briefly came under pressure on 50 minutes before a couple of McEwan interceptions thwarted Salisbury's attacks. City would be back, though not before Dack blasted another Daggers shot into the stands a minute later.

 

After 56 minutes, the visitors were ready to go again. Ian Marsh got to a long goal-kick from Burns, and headed the ball over our defence for Andy Hughes to run onto it. Hughes did exactly that, and his powerful strike from a tight angle put Salisbury back in the game. They were 1-0 up on the afternoon, and two more goals would take the game into extra-time.

 

Yasser Ibrahim tried to restore our three-goal aggregate lead a minute after play resumed, but he could only drag a shot off target. Then, after 58 minutes, a byline cross from Jamie Bell found Jonathan Roche in a great position to head the ball home at the far post. It wasn't to be for Jonny, as Burns somehow got a glove to the header, and defender Jake Cooper made a crucial tackle before Roche could convert the rebound. Was that our best chance to seal victory?

 

On 70 minutes, Lanre Azeez's brilliant knock-down to Hughes sent Dagenham hearts racing. Thankfully for the home supporters, substitute defender Billy Kenyon intervened with a strong block before clearing the ball behind for a corner. That corner led to an opening for Azeez, but his piledriver was nodded clear by Kenyon.

 

After Mitchell Clark and Lee Finnie each failed to equalise in the 75th and 81st minutes, we went back on the defensive. With four minutes to play, the Whites won another corner after Daggers right-back Louis Jack nodded the ball behind. Douglas floated it in to Salisbury's holding midfielder Marsh, who beat McEwan to the header. The ball was on course to loop into the net... until Wayne Coton stepped in at the last moment and cleared it off the line!

 

Wayne's intervention would be decisive. After the final four minutes of normal time, plus a couple of additional minutes, we could start to celebrate! We may have lost, but that didn't really matter, because we were in the bloomin' FA Trophy Final!!!

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

Salisbury City - 1 (Hughes 56)

FA Trophy Semi Final Leg 2, Attendance 2,816

[Dagenham & Redbridge win 4-2 on aggregate]

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryder, Jack, Coton, McEwan, Barrett (Kenyon), Clark, Dunne, Dack (Harding), Roche (Finnie), Ibrahim, J Bell. BOOKED: Clark.

 

The players were understandably excited as they entered the dressing room at full-time. I wasn't quite so ecstatic, as we'd lost for the first time in nine matches, but I still calmly congratulated them on a wonderful achievement.

 

Our prize was a return trip to Wembley, right at the very end of March. We would be playing against...

 

...Preston North End, who reached the Final in dramatic circumstances. Having lost 3-1 at Kingstonian in the first leg, Preston were only leading 2-1 at Deepdale in the return fixture until Junior Morias scored in literally the last few seconds of injury time! The Lilywhites then scored one more goal in extra-time to win 5-4 on aggregate!

 

We've now got a mouth-watering FA Trophy Final to look forward to, but before then, we have to concentrate on our promotion bid. With five league matches scheduled for March, things are starting to get very, very serious.

[CFuller]

MARCH 2024

I'll begin my summary of this month with a quick recap of what happened in the first few days.

 

Back-up goalkeeper Pete Riley returned to Leyton Orient after his brief stay at Victoria Road, where he made just one appearance. Meanwhile, after struggling to hold down a first-team place, defender Billy Kenyon went on loan to Dulwich Hamlet for the remainder of the campaign.

 

There was one addition to the Daggers ranks, as we took West Ham United's 22-year-old left-back Irvine Moyo on loan for three months. The Uxbridge-born Zimbabwe international would act as deputy to Ben Purrington, who was back in action after recovering from his arm injury.

 

A vital month in the Conference Premier began with back-to-back home matches against north-western opposition. Firstly, we received a visit from Bury, who were in 11th place, despite having conceded more goals than any other team bar relegation-threatened Bromley.

 

9 March 2024: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Bury

The first quarter-hour saw only one mini-chance for either side, as Bury's teenage midfielder Barry McGonigle fired well wide in the third minute. We didn't get the Shakers shaking until the 19th minute, when Jamie Bell's cross found the head of Robbie Shenton. Robbie was denied an early debut goal by an excellent fingertip save from Bradley Watkins, who conceded a corner. Michael King lifted the set-piece into Bury's six-yard box, and Wayne Coton leapt majestically to nod it in at the far post! We were leading 1-0 after 20 minutes!

 

However, just moments after giving us the lead, Wayne almost lost it with his failure to intercept Charles Banya's cross to Jim O'Hanlon. Thankfully, our other centre-half Aaron McEwan was on hand to tackle O'Hanlon, while right-back Tim Beech blocked a shot from Carl Castles shortly afterwards. We then tried to counter-attack through Bell, but Jamie was off target with his strike.

 

Bury continued to pop shots at our goal in the first half without success. Rob Connery and Ian Cross sent efforts wide in the 28th and 37th minutes, and McGonigle went fairly close with a free-kick three minutes from half-time. The Shakers' hopes suffered a significant blow when Banya came off with a knock just before the break.

 

Shenton was not far off giving us a 2-0 lead in the closing stages of the first half. Four minutes into the second, he should have done precisely that. We slowly worked the ball into the box before finding Robbie, who struck the post from no more than 10 yards out!

 

After 61 minutes, our other striker had a clear-cut opportunity of his own. Bell intercepted a poor goal kick from Watkins and went through on goal, but Bury defender Gavin Quinn saved his team with a brilliant last-ditch tackle. As we continued to boss possession, Shenton kept on wasting chances. An awful attempt in the 70th minute was Robbie's last chance to score before he was replaced by George Green.

 

Our new loanee's wastefulness would be surpassed by the whole Bury team. McGonigle could have drawn the Shakers level after 86 minutes with a free-kick that represented their eighth shot at goal. Like the previous seven, it failed to find the target.

 

When Mitchell Clark broke up one final Bury attack in the first minute of injury-time, we set about killing them off. Green did the honours, running onto fellow sub Geraint Harding's pass and taking it into the penalty area before slotting past Watkins. After that Dagger blow, the Shakers were dead and buried.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Coton 20, Green 90)

Bury - 0

Conference Premier, Attendance 2,441 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 3rd, Bury 13th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryder, Beech, Coton, McEwan, Purrington, Scarlett, Clark, Dack (Harding), King (Ibrahim), Shenton (Green), J Bell.

 

Three days later, Preston North End came to Victoria Road for what you could call a 'dry run' for the FA Trophy Final. Preston were in fine form, having climbed out of the Conference Premier relegation zone with a seven-game unbeaten run.

 

Dagenham winger Rikki Scarlett was unable to play against Preston after pulling his hamstring in training. Indeed, Rikki would also have to miss the cup final, as our physio ruled out a pre-April return.

 

12 March 2024: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Preston North End

For a so-called 'dry run', it was actually quite rainy at Victoria Road. Preston goalkeeper Stephen Murphy was made to work hard early on, producing a stunning save from point-blank range to keep out Wayne Coton's header in the third minute. Two minutes later, Jamie Bell tried to flick the ball on to Yasser Ibrahim in North End's six-yard box, but Murphy picked it up just before Yasser could strike.

 

Daggers custodian Robbie Ryder made his first catch after 17 minutes, securing a long-distance effort from Lilywhites teenager Sean Johnson. Robbie's hands were not quite so safe in the 23rd minute, as he let a low cross from Preston left-back James Pope slip across the wet surface and into his net.

 

Preston had taken the lead in fortuitous circumstances, but they would only remain in front for four minutes. George Green was about to run through on goal when Lilywhites defender Samuel Okoye tackled him just inside the area. The ball was knocked on to Ibrahim, who tucked in an equaliser for the Daggers!

 

North End had more bad luck when midfielder Nathaniel Rees came off with a gashed leg following a challenge from James Dunne in the 29th minute. Rees was replaced by Steven McGann, whose 36th-minute shot was easily caught by Ryder. The first half finished level at 1-1 after another Coton header cleared the bar in injury time.

 

Another Preston player was forced off after 47 minutes, as veteran winger Gavin Massey was hurt in a tackle from our debutant left-back Irvine Moyo. Allan Simpson came on, and in the 53rd minute, he forced Ryder into a save from his header.

 

We then sought to put the Lilywhites under pressure with some quick and direct attacks. On 55 minutes, right-back Louis Jack played an early cross to Bell, whose effort Murphy pushed away. Ibrahim got to the loose ball and drilled it in to Jonathan Roche, who thumped the bar.

 

There would be many more 'what if' moments for us as time wore on. Substitute Robbie Shenton was guilty of a horrible miss in the 57th minute, firing Bell's flick-on over from the edge of the six-yard box. That was followed in the next few minutes by further misses from Yasser and Jamie. Preston weren't much more potent, in all honesty. Leading scorer Junior Morias was off target after 70 minutes, although he went mighty close to scoring eight minutes later.

 

Shenton then headed over a delivery from Jack in the 85th minute, shortly before Murphy gifted us one final opportunity. His scuffed clearance fell to Mitchell Clark, who hit a 30-yard volley towards an open target... and narrowly missed. Just like at Deepdale, there was nothing to separate Dagenham and Preston when the final whistle blew at Victoria Road.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Ibrahim 27)

Preston North End - 1 (Pope 23)

Conference Premier, Attendance 2,263 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 3rd, Preston 16th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryder, Jack, Coton, McEwan, Moyo, Roche (King), Clark, Dunne (Hart), Ibrahim, J Bell, Green (Shenton). BOOKED: Jack.

 

That was our 15th draw of the league season, and every dropped point was looking more and more costly. We now trailed leaders Cambridge United by six points, although we did have one game in hand. More worryingly, we were just a single point ahead of the 5th and 6th-placed teams. My backside was getting really squeaky...

[CFuller]

MARCH 2024 (continued)

Our latest crop of youth players didn't get me excited. After a trial match, we signed just four schoolboys to youth contracts - three midfielders (Reiss Edwards, Dean Martin and Jeremiah Plummer), and a left-back (Ben Wordsworth). Dean was the standout player from that quartet, and not just because of his famous name.

 

After taking four points from our last two home games, we went on three long road trips in succession. The first was to south Wales, where Newport County awaited us. The Exiles were not in play-off contention, although they had dented Chelmsford City's hopes with a shock 5-1 win in Essex four days earlier. Would we also suffer at their hands?

 

16 March 2024: Newport County vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Newport did inflict some early pain on us - literally. After just 13 seconds, winger Jaye Hillman turned into Richard Hillman, kicking out violently at Daggers right-back Tim Beech near the touchline! Referee Adam Bromley brought out his red card immediately, and despite a fervent protest from County left-back Robbie Curtis, the hosts were down to ten men!

 

That dismissal didn't stop them from almost taking the lead after seven minutes, though. Striker Stevie Maxwell broke free of our defence to reach Robert Devaney's cross and head it just over. Maxwell had another go in the 12th minute, but he fired his shot straight at our goalkeeping captain Robbie Ryder.

 

It wasn't until the 21st minute that we started to make our extra man count. Yasser Ibrahim forced home keeper Owain Pugh into a simple save, while Thomas Tierney flicked a header over two minutes later. Eventually, after just under half an hour, we made a breakthrough. Tim's long ball into the Newport area was nodded on by Jamie Bell to George Green, whose deadly half-volley made it 1-0.

 

By the 34th minute, it was 2-0. Bradley Dack hit the crossbar from 20 yards out, but Newport were slow to react, allowing Jamie to easily convert the rebound. Was this match over already?

 

After 49 minutes, victory looked even less in doubt, as County's catastrophic day lurched from bad to worse. After receiving a cross from Ben Purrington, Green tried to find Bell, but his centre took a nick off defender Martyn Brown and deflected across the goal line!

 

This was becoming embarrassingly easy for us... but one slip from a North Walian in the 60th minute gave the South Walians a lifeline. Geraint Harding slipped up as he tried to control a pass from Tierney in the centre circle, and that allowed Maxwell to take the ball for County. Within seconds, the Scot had cut our lead down from 3-0 to 3-1.

 

The Exiles were starting to believe again, and although Shane Williams drove a shot high and wide after 67 minutes, we were on red alert. In the 78th minute, Newport's experienced winger Kazenga LuaLua defied a neck strain to bend an excellent delivery to Devaney, whose shot was tipped away by Ryder.

 

LuaLua gave us more bother two minutes later. The Congolese winger dribbled into our penalty area, and when Dack clattered into him on the byline, Mr Bromley awarded Newport a penalty. Maxwell hammered it home, and all of a sudden, I was doubting whether we could win.

 

We took the game back to County, with James Dunne and Bell each forcing Pugh into difficult saves before the 85th minute. Bell headed wide a Beech cross in the 87th, but his next effort two minutes later did secure victory. Our pair of Jameses linked up well as Dunne's pass led to Bell's 20th goal of the season.

 

That wasn't the end of the scoring, mind. 16-year-old Paul Hart made his first Daggers assist for a player twice his age in added-on time, as Michael King completed a 5-2 victory with his maiden goal for us!

 

Newport County - 2 (Maxwell 60,pen81)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 5 (Green 30, J Bell 34,89, Brown og49, King 90)

Conference Premier, Attendance 1,667 - POSITIONS: Newport County 16th, Dag & Red 3rd

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryder, Beech, McEwan (Coton), Tierney, Purrington, Harding, Dunne, Dack (Hart), Green, Ibrahim (King), J Bell.

 

After that win, I suddenly realised that we had gone nine league matches without losing. It would be incredible if we could break double figures in that respect for the second time this season... but to do it, we would need to overcome a very big obstacle.

 

Stalybridge Celtic vs Dagenham & Redbridge was arguably one of the biggest games of the Conference Premier season. It was 2nd against 3rd - the league's second-best attack against its second-strongest defence. The victor would surely fancy their chances of taking Cambridge United all the way in the title race.

 

23 March 2024: Stalybridge Celtic vs Dagenham & Redbridge

George Green came close to getting us a very early goal at Bower Fold, as he curled a free-kick against the side netting after two minutes. George was less impressive with his next effort in the 4th minute, while Aaron McEwan should've done better with an opportunity that Stalybridge gifted him in the 6th. Celtic defender Aaron Crush's interception from Mitchell Clark's free-kick was miscued towards Big Mac, who nodded it over the bar.

 

We were struggling to find the target, but so too were Stalybridge, as striker Chris Baker missed his first two attempts. Another Clark free-kick led to Bridge goalkeeper Neil Rushton making his first save in the 15th minute. Six minutes later, Rushton was forced into making another, as he got his fingers to Jamie Bell's strike after a missed interception from Daryl Francis had allowed Jamie to race through.

 

Then, in the 24th minute, Celtic had FOUR quickfire chances to take the lead. Midfielders John Rooney and Nathaniel Turner each had shots blocked, and Rooney forced Robbie Ryder into a difficult save, before Milton Blundell blundered his lines by dragging the ball off target. Our relief was short-lived, as a bad clearance from McEwan ultimately led to Stalybridge moving 1-0 up. Rooney provided Baker with an excellent pass into the area, and the Guyana international did the rest.

 

Stalybridge would stay in front at the break, thanks largely to some stoic defending, particularly from Andrew Leigh. On 39 minutes, the ex-Blackburn Rovers defender made a crucial intervention to stop the ball from finding Green just outside the six-yard box.

 

I switched to a more attacking tactic to try and turn things around in the first half. Things looked promising when substitute Yasser Ibrahim took the ball into Stalybridge's area after 49 minutes. Sadly, the hosts' tackling slowed Yasser down and he could only fire straight at Rushton.

 

Five minutes later, Baker threatened to double Celtic's lead with an excellent header from winger Lewis Clarkson's cross. Ryder beat it away, but a weak interception from full-back Irvine Moyo gave Baker another opportunity, which he did not waste. Baker's 21st goal of the season put Stalybridge on track to take three big points.

 

Our hopes of even taking one point home suffered another blow soon after that, as Aaron came off with a knock. On the attacking side of things, young Paul Hart showed promise with an exquisite pass to Bell in the 63rd minute. Alas, Jamie wasted the opening with a shot that went skyward.

 

Paul showcased some more of his ability after 76 minutes. Thomas Tierney flicked Rushton's goal kick forward to Hart, who ran at the Celtic defence and drilled in a stunning low strike! That wasn't a bad way for the teenager to score his first competitive goal for Dagenham & Redbridge!

 

Hart had set our fans' pulses racing, but Stalybridge looked to break their hearts later on. The travelling supporters were relieved to see Ryder save an ambitious shot from Blundell on 80 minutes before catching Harry Lennon's close-range header a minute later. After 86 minutes, a searching ball from Ibrahim to Jonathan Roche looked like it would result in our equaliser. It wasn't to be, as Roche snatched at his shot, and we were consigned to our first defeat in ten matches.

 

Stalybridge Celtic - 2 (Baker 26,54)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Hart 76)

Conference Premier, Attendance 2,699 - POSITIONS: Stalybridge 2nd, Dag & Red 3rd

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryder, Jack, McEwan (Coton), Tierney, Moyo, Roche, Clark, Dack, King (Ibrahim), Green (Hart), J Bell.

 

With Cambridge United winning 1-0 away to Accrington Stanley, we now trailed the leaders by seven points. That meant we had to win our game in hand at Accrington to keep alive any realistic ambitions we had of finishing top.

 

27 March 2024: Accrington Stanley vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Most of our best players stayed home to rest ahead of the FA Trophy Final. One Daggers star who did travel to the Crown Ground was Yasser Ibrahim, who got us off to a great start after just eight minutes. After his attempted pass to Jonathan Roche was knocked away by Accrington defender Dan Milton, Yasser picked up the ball and lashed it into the net.

 

Stanley's first attempt to equalise was in the 11th minute, and Nigel Johnson blasted it high and wide. The game then got rather scrappy before, in the 29th minute, we doubled our advantage. An excellent pass from Robbie Shenton allowed right-back Louis Jack to run through on goal, and although Louis' shot was parried by Ross Laidlaw, midfielder Paul Hart volleyed in the rebound!

 

After playing a big role in our second goal, Shenton attempted to score our third on 33 minutes. Robbie picked up a pass from Paul, surged past Accrington centre-back Tyrone Mings... and powered his shot into the stand. Six minutes later, Stanley midfielder Brendan Galloway gave us a warning with a fierce strike that Nguyen Van Phung struggled to save.

 

The hosts' promising end to the first half culminated in an injury-time goal. Martin Laing got ahead of Daggers defender Wayne Coton to knock Milton's centre in at the near post and put Accrington back in with a shout.

 

Coton had already cost us half of our lead, and in the 52nd minute, our other centre-back nearly lost us the other half. Thomas Tierney's interception from a Jordan Morton cross fell to Accrington winger Taylor Tombides on the byline, and Nguyen had to push away the Australian's shot. Moments later, James Dunne was booked for fouling Tombides.

 

The next quarter-hour was an end-to-end affair, although the next real opening for either team did not come until the 69th minute. Laidlaw blocked a fierce, low shot from Dagenham midfielder Geraint Harding, but the ball came to our 16-year-old substitute Joel Honeyball. Joel pulled the trigger... and he missed.

 

After 82 minutes, we were given another chance to move 3-1 up. Roche chipped a free-kick into the Stanley box, and although Milton and Johnson missed the ball, Coton did not. Wayne's header bounced past a flailing Laidlaw, delighting the visiting fans!

 

Accrington had not quite been finished off yet, though. Two minutes later, Milton's right-wing delivery for the hosts rebounded off both Tierney and Stanley striker Claudio Johnson before bouncing safely into Nguyen's hands. Claudio Johnson had another opportunity in the 89th minute, but he put it high and wide, and our victory was sealed.

 

Accrington Stanley - 1 (Laing 45)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 3 (Ibrahim 8, Hart 29, Coton 82)

Conference Premier, Attendance 956 - POSITIONS: Accrington 13th, Dag & Red 3rd

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Nguyen, Jack, Coton, Tierney, Purrington, Harding, Dunne (Jones), Roche, Hart, Ibrahim, Shenton (Honeyball). BOOKED: Roche, Jack, Dunne.

 

After the loss to Stalybridge Celtic, that win over Accrington Stanley gave us a timely confidence boost going into our biggest match of the campaign so far. Would we come away from Wembley with what I hoped would be the first of two trophies this season?

[CFuller]

MARCH 2024 (continued)

On 31 March 2024, it was Destination Wembley for Dagenham & Redbridge. Of course, we had been there before - in last season's Conference Premier Play-Off Final, which we lost narrowly to Stevenage. That felt like a cup final, but this return visit actually was for a cup final.

 

When I led out Romford in the Preliminary Round of the FA Trophy against Leatherhead way back in 2012, I could not have even dreamt that I would one day be managing in the Final. Also, if you'd told me 12 years ago that the opposition in my first FA Trophy Final would be one of English football's most historically-significant clubs, I would have scoffed. Indeed, I would've phoned the mental hospital and told them that one of their lunatics had escaped!

 

Preston North End, who had won the Football League and the FA Cup twice apiece many years ago, were hoping to give their fans something to celebrate after over a decade of steady decline. This was Preston's first opportunity to win the FA Trophy; of course, they could never have played in it during their long stay in the League.

 

We were also trying to add our name to the Trophy for the first time. It did bear the name of the original Dagenham FC, who beat Mossley 2-1 to win the 1980 Final, but not that of Dagenham & Redbridge. Our only previous Final under our current guise was in 1997, when Ted Hardy's Daggers were edged out by Woking in extra-time.

 

Was this our moment?

 

31 March 2024: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Preston North End

As expected, I brought back most of the big guns who had sat out our midweek game against Accrington Stanley. The likes of Robbie Ryder, Aaron McEwan and Jamie Bell were back... but not Bradley Dack. I took a major gamble by leaving Bradley out of my matchday squad and starting 16-year-old Paul Hart in central midfield.

 

Preston's line-up also contained a 16-year-old midfielder - Ashley Graham, who was one of three changes that manager Alfie Potter made to the team that lost against Chelmsford City the previous week. Surprisingly, top scorer Junior Morias was only named on the bench, while the experienced Youssouf M'Changama missed out altogether.

 

On our last visit to Wembley, we conceded the opening goal after three minutes. Some Daggers fans must have been relieved when we passed that mark without Preston scoring... but that feeling only lasted for a few more minutes. With just over eight minutes gone, Graham played the ball long to Allan Simpson. North End's young Scottish striker broke free from Wayne Coton, went round Robbie Ryder, and found the net. To the delight of thousands of travelling Lancastrians, Preston were leading 1-0!

 

We still had plenty of time to muster a response, of course, and our first chance to equalise came in the 12th minute. James Dunne's long throw found the head of Aaron McEwan, but Preston keeper Stephen Murphy made a routine catch. Dunne had a chance himself three minutes later, firing it beyond the post.

 

Another Dagenham midfielder - George Green - twice threatened the Lilywhites' lead later on in the half. George curled a free-kick just wide in the 28th minute, while his header five minutes later was caught by Murphy. That was followed soon afterwards by an altercation between Daggers right-back Tim Beech and Preston forward Sean Johnson. Beech made an excellent tackle just outside our penalty area on Johnson, who retaliated and brought Tim down! Johnson was booked for his petulance, and that would not be the last clash between the two players in this match.

 

On 35 minutes, another long throw from Dunne resulted in another headed chance for McEwan. Aaron hit the bar that time before Graham cleared the danger for Preston. The Lilywhites would go into the break with a 1-0 advantage, having scored with their only chance of the first half.

 

My players' frustration was clear to see in the dressing room at half-time. A few had their head in their hands in despair. "Guys," I tried to reassure them, "It's not over yet - not by a long way. You're keeping the ball quite well and you're creating a lot of opportunities. If you can get more balls into the box, we still have a chance of winning today."

 

I also made one substitution during the break. Coton was not playing well at all, so I brought on Thomas Tierney to take Wayne's place at centre-back.

 

The second half began nervously for us, as Preston midfielders Graham Webster and Nathaniel Rees each had shots at goal in the opening six minutes. Both of them missed. Rees' opportunity had come from a free-kick, which Beech gave away for impeding Johnson.

 

After 52 minutes, Tierney and Simpson collided with each other as they both tried to reach Webster's corner delivery. Simpson came off second-best, so Preston boss Potter took him off and sent on his leading scorer Morias. One of our most prolific players had his first opportunity to score three minutes later, but Yasser Ibrahim's shot flew into Murphy's hands.

 

On 60 minutes, Beech fouled Johnson again, earning himself a yellow card and giving away a free-kick. Webster played it to an unmarked Graham on the edge of our six-yard box, and the teenager looked odds on to make it 2-0. He didn't, though, as his strike clipped the post and went out of play! North End spurned another great chance in the 67th minute, when Rees' direct free-kick was pushed away by Ryder.

 

Moments later, substitute winger Lee Finnie was involved in a counter-attack that almost yielded our equaliser. Beech's cross deflected off Preston captain Liam Wakefield, and Ibrahim quickly headed the ball back towards goal, but Murphy caught it well. The Lilywhites were under pressure, and when left-back James Pope came off with broken ribs in the 71st minute, they were even more vulnerable.

 

On 76 minutes, Green and Jamie Bell tried to work the ball into the Preston area. George's attempt to find Jamie with a through-ball was intercepted by Wakefield, but the Yorkshireman reacted quickly and drilled a first-time shot into the goal! WE WERE LEVEL!

 

That goal really turned the tide in our favour, and we pushed even further forward in the final 15 minutes. On 78 minutes, Geraint Harding played a lovely ball to Yasser, whose shot Murphy could only parry to his reliable skipper Wakefield. Murphy needed to make another save two minutes later, pushing behind an excellent free-kick from our final substitute Mitchell Clark.

 

Our goalkeeper was also tested in the 84th minute, as captain Ryder brilliantly pushed away Morias' powerful effort. The last two minutes of normal time saw Harding and Finnie each miss chances to become unlikely Dagenham heroes, and so the match went into extra-time.

 

We had near-total control in the first 15 minutes of extra time. Only 15 seconds had passed when Bell's strike forced Murphy to concede a very early corner, from which Jamie headed wide. There was a scramble in Preston's area after 95 minutes, as George had a shot blocked and Geraint's follow-up drive was awkwardly parried by Murphy. Another Harding shot went begging in the 104th minute, before a second half of extra-time that was much more even than the first.

 

After 110 minutes, Morias drilled a cross into our box, hoping to find Johnson. Tierney got to the ball first with an excellent tackle on Johnson, whose claims for a penalty went unheeded. Just over three minutes later, Finnie cut into the North End box, and then showed the sort of finishing that explained why he had not scored all season.

 

Neither Lee nor Jamie were at their best, so we looked to George for our best chances to win before penalties. George couldn't quite produce enough magic, as he fired narrowly wide in the 116th and 119th minutes. With the score still at 1-1 after two hours of thrilling football, the 55th FA Trophy Final would be just the third to be decided by a penalty shoot-out.

 

Preston won the coin toss and elected to take the first penalty, which Gavin Massey calmly slotted into the net. George then repeated what he did in normal time, drawing us level at 1-1. Rees went up for Preston's second spot-kick and fired it down the middle... but Robbie stood still and made the midfielder look silly with an easy save!

 

Finnie could now give us the lead, and the Scotsman duly tucked his penalty into Murphy's right-hand corner. As Lee returned to the centre circle, I joked with him, "That's your first goal this season, isn't it?"

 

The next four penalties were converted, so we were leading 4-3 ahead of North End's fifth penalty. Teenage defender Matthew King needed to score... and he did score, with a powerful penalty beyond Ryder's reach. That meant Dagenham & Redbridge's top goalscorer - and fans' favourite - Jamie Bell now had the opportunity to win the FA Trophy.

 

Bell had found the net 20 times this season, and one of those goals had come from the penalty spot. On this occasion, Jamie fired his penalty towards Murphy's left... but the Irishman went the same way! Murphy's parry took the game into sudden-death, and when Johnson scored for Preston, we were suddenly on the brink of defeat.

 

It was up to Clark now to save us. Mitchell fired a controlled penalty down the middle, and Murphy dove to his right, so it was now 5-5. Graham was up next for the Lilywhites. The midfielder had huge pressure on his 16-year-old shoulders, and he buckled, as Ryder made a superb save! For the second time, we were one penalty away from glory.

 

Up stepped Welsh midfielder Geraint Harding, who was on loan to the Daggers from 2023 FA Trophy winners Stevenage. Harding went for power... and Murphy was left standing as the penalty almost ripped the net open! For the first time in their history, DAGENHAM & REDBRIDGE HAD WON THE FA TROPHY!!!

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Green 76)

Preston North End - 1 (Simpson 9)

[Dagenham & Redbridge win 6-5 on penalties]

FA Trophy Final, Attendance 44,683

PENALTY SHOOT-OUT: Massey 0-1, Green 1-1, Rees saved, Finnie 2-1, Morias 2-2, Ibrahim 3-2, Hoogerwerf 3-3, Tierney 4-3, King 4-4, J Bell saved, Johnson 4-5, Clark 5-5, Graham saved, Harding 6-5.

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryder, Beech, Coton (Tierney), McEwan, Purrington, Harding, Dunne (Clark), Hart (Finnie), Green, Ibrahim, J Bell. BOOKED: Beech.

 

While the Dagenham & Redbridge fans celebrated deliriously, it took me a very long time for this triumph to sink in. It wasn't until I walked with my players up the 107 steps to the royal box that I fully understood just what we had achieved.

 

One by one, the Dagenham players and staff were greeted by Football Association chairman David Gill, England manager Sean Dyche... and a very emotional Italian. As our chairman Antonello Scolaro shed tears of joy, Dyche presented the FA Trophy to captain Robbie Ryder, who took off his gloves and lifted the prize proudly above his head! It wasn't quite the FA Cup, but you could say that we had won the non-league equivalent!

 

I eventually got my turn to lift the trophy - just the second piece of silverware I had ever laid hands on. Eight years after winning the Isthmian League with Romford, this was the new proudest day of my career.

 

I gave my players the rest of the night to celebrate, but after that, we would switch our attention straight back to our promotion bid. After all, as much as we love the FA Trophy, we don't want to defend it next season!

[CFuller]

Conference Premier Table (End of March 2024)

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.    Pl    Cambridge              43    24    10    9     77    48    +29   82
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.          Stalybridge            43    24    7     12    76    56    +20   79
3.          Dag & Red              43    21    15    7     76    44    +32   78
4.          Farnborough            43    21    12    10    59    42    +17   75
5.          Chelmsford             43    22    8     13    62    48    +14   74
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6.          Grimsby                43    21    9     13    58    50    +8    72
7.          Cheltenham             43    21    7     15    69    54    +15   70
8.          Eastleigh              42    19    11    12    71    60    +11   68
9.          Ebbsfleet              43    19    7     17    71    50    +21   64
10.         AFC Wimbledon          43    18    9     16    60    50    +10   63
11.         Bury                   43    18    7     18    59    68    -9    61
12.         Boreham Wood           43    18    6     19    68    64    +4    60
13.         Accrington             43    15    14    14    52    48    +4    59
14.         Lincoln                43    15    13    15    49    46    +3    58
15.         Carlisle               43    14    12    17    48    55    -7    54
16.         Newport County         43    13    11    19    61    68    -7    50
17.         Kingstonian            42    13    11    18    55    66    -11   50
18.         Salisbury              43    12    14    17    27    40    -13   50
19.         Preston                43    13    11    19    49    69    -20   50
20.         York                   43    9     18    16    34    55    -21   45
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
21.         Darlington             43    9     14    20    56    69    -13   41
22.         Bromley                43    8     14    21    55    82    -27   38
23.         MK Dons                43    9     10    24    34    66    -32   37
24.   R     Dorchester             43    5     18    20    38    66    -28   33

 

[neilhoskins77]

Congratulations on a great achievement with the Daggers in your first full season Chris. Would be nice to complete the Double and finally get a crack at the Football League.

[mark wilson27]

Well done on the victory..always good to win a trophy. Lets hope for a promotion aswell

[CFuller]

Congratulations on a great achievement with the Daggers in your first full season Chris. Would be nice to complete the Double and finally get a crack at the Football League.

Well done on the victory..always good to win a trophy. Lets hope for a promotion aswell

Thanks, gentlemen. A double is definitely what I'm aiming for. I'd hate to go into the play-offs again, so we really have to win our last three games to have a shot at the title.

[CFuller]

APRIL 2024

As soon as I arrived at my office on the morning after the day before, I was given some startling news. Our managing director Angelo Bosco told me that we'd been forced to forfeit the FA Trophy to Preston North End, as we had fielded an ineligible player in the Final.

 

I could hardly believe it. I wondered for a while about how that could've happened... and then I remembered what date it was.

 

After his attempted April Fool fell flat, Mr Bosco gave me some serious, but positive, news about our finances. As a result of the gate receipts and the prize money we took away from Wembley, we had gone from being £200,000 in debt to being a few thousand quid in the black.

 

Some of the financial pressure had been eased, so I could now fully focus on matters on the pitch. With three games to go in the Conference Premier season, it looked like we were in a three-way battle with Cambridge United and Stalybridge Celtic for the title. Here were the run-ins for all three teams, starting with ours:

 

Dagenham & Redbridge's run-in

6 April: vs Bromley (H), 13 April: vs Eastleigh (H), 20 April: vs Boreham Wood (A)

 

Cambridge United's run-in

6 April: vs Bury (H), 13 April: vs Preston North End (H), 20 April: vs Newport County (A)

 

Stalybridge Celtic's run-in

6 April: vs Chelmsford City (A), 13 April: vs York City (A), 20 April: vs Salisbury City (H)

 

We were four points behind Cambridge and one behind Stalybridge, so we had to keep winning to remain in with a shout of automatic promotion. At the same time, we still had to guarantee a play-off place as a fall-back in case we missed out on the title. To make a top-five finish certain, we would only need four more points at most.

 

Of course, I had my mind set on top spot, so I demanded a win when we played host to 22nd-placed Bromley. The Lilywhites could not afford a defeat, because that result would send them straight back into the Conference South.

 

6 April 2024: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Bromley

The first chance of a stop-start opening half came our way in the seventh minute, but Robbie Shenton looped it over the crossbar. Three minutes later, we won a free-kick on the edge of Bromley's 'D' after former Daggers striker Cameron Smith ran into Bradley Dack. Michael King took the set-piece... and boy, did he take it well, as it curled into the top corner!

 

Bromley's rough play had cost them dear, but our own tendency to commit fouls would soon put our young lead in jeopardy. Aaron McEwan's trip on Smith in the 11th minute allowed the Lilywhites to steadily build an attack, which resulted in David Ramage firing a shot into Robbie Ryder's hands.

 

Another McEwan foul on 14 minutes gave Ben Edmonson the opportunity to shoot directly from a free-kick. Aaron was relieved to see the set-piece drift just beyond the post, but I desperately wanted him and our other players to calm down. They did calm down, and ten relatively quiet minutes later, they had a reason to get excited again. Jamie Bell evaded the presence of Bromley defender Ibrahim Ahmed and cut the ball to Shenton, who scored his first Dagenham goal from close range!

 

We now led 2-0, and that advantage should've been increased to 3-0 in the 35th minute. Sadly, Jonathan Roche couldn't quite get enough accuracy into his delicate shot from Dack's pass. Shenton and our FA Trophy hero Geraint Harding also had late opportunities to further strengthen our position before the break.

 

Mitchell Clark came on for Dack during the break, and he nearly scored from a free-kick just three minutes into the second half. Another Clark free-kick two minutes later was fired into Bromley's wall as the Lilywhites had their backs against the wall. A dreadful miss from Harding in the 53rd minute gave the visitors brief respite, but we went back on the attack seven minutes later. McEwan headed the ball forward from the halfway line to Mitchell, who ran onto it and drilled it home for 3-0.

 

We added a fourth goal in the 62nd minute as Bromley were pushed even further into the abyss. Roche's cross was flicked on at the far post by Bell, and Shenton's diving header effectively wrapped up the three points for us.

 

Bromley tried to respond with a goal of their own, but when Malcolm Melvin's 63rd-minute attempt was easily picked up by Ryder, one could tell that they'd been broken. The question was now when, and not if, we would score our fifth goal. Bell twice missed out on adding his name to the scoresheet after 66 and 70 minutes, clearing the crossbar each time.

 

For another Daggers striker, though, it really was a day to remember. In the 73rd minute, Lee Finnie nodded the ball forward to Shenton, whose close-range header went in after a feeble attempt by Bromley keeper Aljaz Cotman to save it. That wrapped up a hat-trick for the Aston Villa loanee, and a 5-0 win for Dagenham & Redbridge. Mercifully for Bromley, there were no more goals before their relegation back to the Conference South was confirmed at the final whistle.

 

That thumping win, coupled with results elsewhere, guaranteed us not just a play-off spot, but effectively also a top-three finish. In the title race, Cambridge United were surprisingly beaten 3-1, while Stalybridge Celtic won by the same score. We now trailed both teams by a single point, but we had a superior goal difference. If we won our last two games as well, and both our rivals slipped up, we would be promoted!

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 5 (King 10, Shenton 24,62,73, Clark 60)

Bromley - 0

Conference Premier, Attendance 2,520 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 3rd, Bromley 23rd

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryder, Jack (Beech), McEwan, Tierney, Moyo, Roche (Finnie), Harding, Dack (Dunne), King, Shenton, J Bell. BOOKED: Dack, McEwan.

 

Although automatic promotion was looking a real probability again, I wasn't going to get carried away. Our last home game of the regular season a week later had “potential banana skin” written all over it.

 

Eastleigh had been hovering on the outskirts of the play-off slots since December, but their charge towards the top five had been flagging until they started to hit form again in March. Darius Vassell's charges had won five of their last seven matches in the lead-up to their Victoria Road visit. They could not be easily dismissed.

 

13 April 2024: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Eastleigh

Daggers fans only had to wait five minutes for a goal in what they hoped would be the last game at Victoria Road this season. James Dunne launched a fabulous throw to Aaron McEwan, whose header bounced past Eastleigh keeper Timmy Maher and into the net!

 

Brent McGrath tried to pull the Spitfires level with a header of his own in the 9th minute. That didn't trouble Robbie Ryder, but McGrath's next effort - in the 13th minute - did. Samir Bihmoutine's first-time cross for Eastleigh was flicked on by Louis Barkus to the big Australian, who lashed in an unbeatable volley! Although I secretly admired McGrath's goal, I cursed at Dagenham defender Thomas Tierney for not doing enough to block the shot.

 

Before long, I was shouting expletives at most of my other players. Our passing - particularly from the defence - was far too sloppy, and we needed Ryder to bail us out more than a few times. Captain Robbie blocked a shot from Eastleigh striker Daniel Griffiths in the 23rd minute, and then made two more saves to thwart McGrath over the next four minutes. When Matt Bevans outjumped Thomas to reach Corby Moore's 31st-minute corner, Ryder was again on hand to save us.

 

Eastleigh's shooting became more erratic as the half wore on, with midfielder Zach Goulding proving particularly wasteful. A dreadful clearance from Ryder after 42 minutes eventually resulted in another opportunity for Griffiths, but he pulled it wide. All those misses would come back to haunt the Spitfires two minutes later. Robbie Shenton timed perfectly a run onto Dunne's through-ball, and he then slipped a low shot past Maher to give us a 2-1 lead against the run of play!

 

Eastleigh did not recover from conceding on the stroke of half-time. We had much greater control over possession in the second half, and before long, we were looking to double our advantage. Jonathan Roche followed up a promising run in the 56th minute with a shot that bent just past the post, while Wayne Coton miscued a header in the 58th.

 

About four minutes after he'd spurned a chance for 3-1, Wayne's mistimed jump gifted Eastleigh their first real opportunity to score a second equaliser. Coton's failure to intercept Bevans' volleyed clearance allowed McGrath to run to the edge of our area, where he unleashed a stunning strike. It flew just over our bar.

 

The Spitfires would soon come crashing down. After 73 minutes, Yasser Ibrahim squared the ball from the Eastleigh byline to Roche, who tapped in our third goal.

 

Barely a minute later, Paul Hart's pass put Ibrahim at the heart of another Daggers attack down the left flank. This time, Yasser went for goal himself, as he moved into a channel and smashed the ball home! Once the score became 4-1 in our favour, the match was effectively over. Indeed, we could've made things worse for Eastleigh had we scored from at least one of several late corners.

 

We'd wrapped up three points, but what about our title rivals? Well... they only picked up one each, as Cambridge United were held to a 1-1 draw by Preston North End, and Stalybridge Celtic were locked in a goalless stalemate with York City. As a result, we led the Conference Premier by one point going into the final weekend!

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 4 (McEwan 5, Shenton 44, Roche 73, Ibrahim 75)

Eastleigh - 1 (McGrath 13)

Conference Premier, Attendance 3,017 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 1st, Eastleigh 7th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryder, Jack (Beech), McEwan, Tierney (Coton), Purrington, Roche, Clark, Dunne, Ibrahim, Shenton, J Bell (Hart).

 

We had not been top since the middle of December, but now we were on the very brink of promotion! If we could win our final game at Boreham Wood on 20 April, we would be back where we belonged - in the Football League.

[EvilDave]

C'mon the Daggers, what a time to hit form! The double is on, Boreham Wood have got nothing to play for, fingers crossed you pull it off on the final day. Great work Mr Fuller, very good work indeed.

[CFuller]

C'mon the Daggers, what a time to hit form! The double is on, Boreham Wood have got nothing to play for, fingers crossed you pull it off on the final day. Great work Mr Fuller, very good work indeed.

Thanks again, Dave. We've timed our surge to perfection, but can we hold our nerve and get one final win on the board? You'll find out within the next hour!

[CFuller]

APRIL 2024 (continued)

Last season, Dagenham & Redbridge got within 90 minutes of promotion back to the Football League. We now found ourselves in that position once again, but this time, we were determined to finish the job.

 

This was how the Conference Premier table looked on the morning of 20 April:

 

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.    Pl    Dag & Red              45    23    15    7     85    45    +40   84
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.    Pl    Cambridge              45    24    11    10    79    52    +27   83
3.    Pl    Stalybridge            45    25    8     12    79    57    +22   83

 

For us, the situation was straightforward. If we won at Boreham Wood, who had nothing to play for on the final day, the title - and that automatic promotion spot - would be ours.

 

If we did not beat Boreham Wood, we would be relying on the two results involving Cambridge United and Stalybridge Celtic. Cambridge would need to win at Newport County, and Stalybridge had to defeat Salisbury City, for either of them to snatch top spot from our grasp. A draw would not be enough for either side, even if we lost, because our goal difference was vastly superior.

 

In the event that we were bumped into 2nd or 3rd place, we would have to face a two-legged Play-Off Semi Final against one of four teams: Grimsby Town, Farnborough, Chelmsford City, or Eastleigh.

 

I did not want to return to the play-offs. I had been burnt so many times in the past, most recently against Stevenage in last May's Final, and I couldn't bear the prospect of another failure. For me, it really was win or bust.

 

20 April 2024: Boreham Wood vs Dagenham & Redbridge

As long as we won, the other results wouldn't matter, so I urged my players to take control early on. After three minutes, goalkeeper Robbie Ryder hoofed the ball long to Jamie Bell, who played a pass ahead of his strike partner Robbie Shenton. Robbie drilled in his fifth goal in three games, and we were already in the ascendancy!

 

The Daggers fans were getting excited, and they cheered again in the 8th minute, when it emerged that Newport County had taken the lead against Cambridge United! Of course, a few more away goals at Meadow Park would render events at Rodney Parade meaningless.

 

Rikki Scarlett - playing for the first time since suffering a hamstring injury last month - tried to put us two goals ahead in the 19th minute, but his shot went high and wide. In the 24th, James Dunne intercepted a sloppy pass from Boreham Wood winger Dymon Labonne and found Yasser Ibrahim. The Egyptian cut inside, and then scooped the ball over the bar.

 

After Wood keeper Ryan Boot pushed away a fierce effort from Dunne on 27 minutes, we began to slow down somewhat. Boreham Wood couldn't take advantage, as they finished the first half without a single shot at goal. We had one more effort before the interval, with Mitchell Clark's near-post header from Scarlett's corner skimming past the post.

 

Here was the situation report at half-time. Cambridge had equalised late in the half, only for Newport to quickly regain their advantage and go into the break leading 2-1. Stalybridge Celtic now looked like the team most likely to upset us, but they were only drawing 0-0 against Salisbury City. If Celtic took the lead in the second half, and Boreham Wood equalised, the Greater Manchester side would be in pole position.

 

One half of Stalybridge's dream became reality six minutes after the restart. Louis Morgan curled a Wood corner towards our near post, where his skipper Kieran Stallard outjumped a shaky Scarlett and drew the hosts level! It was now 1-1, but if Salisbury could hold firm at Bower Fold, we would still be okay.

 

Soon after Wood's equaliser, Dunne embarked on a one-man mission to restore our lead. The evergreen midfielder forced Boot into a tricky save on 52 minutes, and then blasted a long-ranger wide four minutes later. By then, Newport had scored a third goal, effectively killing Cambridge's title hopes. There was, though, still no news from Stalybridge.

 

No news was good news as things stood. But when Ryder made a desperate 61st-minute save from Paul Digby, and Gregor Kirk narrowly cleared Robbie's crossbar a minute later, I was praying for Salisbury to score and give us a bigger safety net.

 

After 64 minutes, my prayers were almost answered closer to home. Ibrahim and Shenton drew a couple of saves in quick succession out of Boot, whose heroics for Boreham Wood would be for nought. Two minutes later, Shenton found Dunne in acres of space, and James applied a cool first-time finish! We were 2-1 ahead, and if it stayed that way, we'd be going up!

 

I now needed my defence to be more resilient than ever. When Tony Randall ran past our right-back Tim Beech at the end of a Boreham Wood breakaway in the 75th minute, I feared the worst. Randall took aim... and he couldn't keep his shot on target. Wood's Portsmouth loanee Digby blasted over another chance for the hosts on 82 minutes.

 

Three minutes later, Daggers substitute George Green could've all but sealed promotion. Ben Purrington made a great interception from Boot's long kick, playing it forward to Green, who headed just past the post. At that stage, I brought on holding midfielder Geraint Harding to further tighten up our defence. If we could hold on for five more minutes plus injury time, we'd be home and dry.

 

As it turned out, Boreham Wood would have one final opportunity to equalise. It came in the first minute of added-on time. Rory Smith played the ball short to Labonne, who attempted a left-footed piledriver... and missed spectacularly.

 

Two-and-a-half minutes later, the referee put the whistle to his lips and blew three times. We could now ignore what was happening at Stalybridge. After a two-year journey, Dagenham & Redbridge had found their way back to the Football League as CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS!!!

 

Boreham Wood - 1 (Stallard 51)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Shenton 3, Dunne 66)

Conference Premier, Attendance 920 - POSITIONS: Boreham Wood 12th, Dag & Red 1st

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryder, Beech, McEwan, Coton, Purrington, Scarlett (Finnie), Clark (Harding), Dunne, Ibrahim, Shenton, J Bell (Green).

 

Mission. Accomplished.

 

There was a mixture of ecstasy and relief on my face as the visiting fans streamed onto the Meadow Park pitch. Before long, I was being mobbed by scores of delighted Dagenhamites, as were many of my players!

 

The stewards took longer than they'd perhaps expected to clear the pitch so that we could receive the Conference Premier trophy. The chairman of the Football Conference presented it to Robbie Ryder, who held onto it like a father cradling his newborn child for the first time. Indeed, our captain had become a dad just a few days after our 5-0 thumping of Bromley, so this was a particularly poignant moment for Robbie.

 

That marked the end of undoubtedly the greatest season of my career so far, and it would soon be time to begin a new chapter. After 12 seasons of toil, tears, and tantrums, I was finally about to enter the big leagues. Everyone in League Two had better watch out!

[edtheguy]

Congratulations! Hello Football League - it looks like the Daggers might be well suited for the next level too. Looking forward to next season.

[neilhoskins77]

Congratulations Chris, what a season that was. And you've now reached the promised land of the Football League. It's been some journey getting there.

[CFuller]

Congratulations! Hello Football League - it looks like the Daggers might be well suited for the next level too. Looking forward to next season.

Congratulations Chris, what a season that was. And you've now reached the promised land of the Football League. It's been some journey getting there.

Thanks! It's taken quite a bit of hard work to turn this team into title challengers, but it's been well worth it. Winning the Conference AND the FA Trophy in the same season is undoubtedly one of my greatest achievements in my CM/FM life.

I'm confident that we can kick on further and establish ourselves as Football League mainstays over the coming years. Survival has to be the number one priority in our first season up, but the quality gap between the Conference and League Two is getting smaller, so don't rule out another promotion challenge.

[CFuller]

APRIL 2024 (continued)

Not many teams win both the Conference Premier and the FA Trophy in the same season. Indeed, only four teams had achieved the 'non-league double' - Wealdstone in 1985, Colchester United in 1992, Wycombe Wanderers in 1993, and Luton Town in 2015. In 2024, Dagenham & Redbridge joined that exclusive club.

 

It had been a truly remarkable season for the Daggers, and at the end of it, we were deserving champions. Our final goal difference of +41 was the best the Conference had seen in 12 years, we scored a league-best 87 goals, and we had the second-best defensive record. The only team to concede fewer goals than us were those dullards at Salisbury City, who also scored less often than everyone else.

 

It was a season in which we went a club-record 16 league matches without losing between September and December. There was also a nine-game unbeaten run later on, but it was arguably our late surge that clinched us the league title. Four consecutive victories allowed us to cross the finish line ahead of Cambridge United and Stalybridge Celtic, who would go on to contest the Play-Off Final.

 

One particularly pleasing aspect of our season was that so many players upped their game and produced remarkable performances. Aaron McEwan was consistently brilliant at centre-half alongside Wayne Coton, who displayed maturity way beyond his 19 years. They gave even more security to a goal guarded impressively by captain Robbie Ryder, who kept 20 clean sheets in all competitions.

 

For most of our games, we had a defensive midfielder in front of the back four. Mitchell Clark usually filled that role to good effect, and Geraint Harding provided more than adequate cover later in the campaign. Then there's James Dunne - the man who guaranteed promotion with his winner at Boreham Wood. At 34, James has shown that there's life in the old dog yet, and that dog will surely have one last season in the Football League.

 

On the attacking front, Jamie Bell matched his 20-goal tally from last season and was once again our top scorer. Jamie's contributions, though, paled in comparison to Yasser Ibrahim's. The incredible Egyptian finished with 17 goals and 12 assists - not bad for an inside forward!

 

We couldn't forget about our Aston Villa loanees, either. Stuart Gould scored 14 times before his season was cut short by injury. Team-mate Robbie Shenton came in as a replacement, and after a sluggish start, he scored five goals in his last three games. Those goals would result in Robbie being named the Conference Premier Player of the Month for April.

 

Even though our season was now over, the players still had two more weeks of training before they could go on their summer holidays. That final fortnight was more light-hearted than usual, as I let the players take things easy on the training ground and kept squad morale high.

 

We will be returning to League Two in the summer, and I feel that my current squad can more than hold its own in the higher division. I certainly don't plan to make sweeping changes during the off-season. Of course, there will be some new faces and a few reluctant departees, but my core team will by and large remain intact.

[CFuller]

MAY 2024

Just before we went on our holidays, we attended the Football Conference's annual awards ceremony. Surprisingly, Dagenham & Redbridge would not receive any accolades.

 

After winning the league title, I was one of the favourites to win the Conference Premier's Manager of the Season award. As it turned out, I was only voted in third place, behind Rio Ferdinand, who'd won the play-offs with Cambridge United, and George Friend of Stalybridge Celtic. I could understand that, because while I was expected to win promotion for my team, Ferdinand was not.

 

What stunned me more was that the Player of the Season award did not go to a Dagger. Instead, it went to the 'last of the Mohicans' - Grimsby Town's Charlie Robertson, who scored 29 goals while sporting his distinctive hairstyle.

 

We broke up for the summer after the ceremony, and at least seven players would not be coming back to us.

 

Our second-choice goalkeeper Nguyen Van Phung had been plagued by injuries, and as a result, he only played six times in the space of two seasons. I told Nguyen that he was free to move on, and the Vietnam international promptly signed for Farnborough.

 

Midfielder Bradley Dack would also be moving on in the summer. With his Daggers contract due to run out, Dack received offers from five other clubs, and eventually chose to join Ebbsfleet United.

 

George Green, Michael King, Irvine Moyo, Rikki Scarlett and Robbie Shenton all went back to their parent clubs following the end of their loan spells. However, one loanee would be staying put.

 

My first signing of the forthcoming season was that of Geraint Harding. The Wales Under-21s international had been a solid presence whenever he featured in defensive midfield, and the Daggers fans already loved him for scoring the penalty that won us the FA Trophy. Geraint turned down a new contract from Stevenage to stay with us for at least the next two seasons.

 

Our second arrival was a brand new one from slightly further afield - Kyrgyzstan. No, really. KYRGYZSTAN.

 

A few months ago, I read about the plight of former Celtic and Hibernian midfielder Ahletdin Israilov, who had been unable to find a new club since leaving Celtic Park last June. After watching some online clips of Israilov in action, I was convinced that the 29-year-old playmaker had a great talent that should not be allowed to waste away.

 

I got in touch with Ahletdin, and made him an offer. However, we faced stiff competition for his signature from Ross County - a Scottish Premier League club, no less.

 

A few days later, the player contacted me again, and said that he would rather move to Dagenham than Dingwall. We had just pulled off a major coup, by beating an SPL team to a full international who'd represented his country 44 times and played in the UEFA Europa League with Dynamo Kiev!

 

Of course, signing Israilov was a risk financially - we would be paying him £1,300 per week and offering substantial bonuses - but it was a risk I felt was worth taking.

 

I made another gamble with regards to my coaching staff. Assistant manager Wayne Burnett had been a trusty sidekick, but I wanted to have a closer acquaintance as my number 2. Wayne was reluctant to stay on as a coach, so after 15 years at Victoria Road, the Londoner parted company with Dagenham & Redbridge.

 

My new assistant would be another Londoner - former Romford midfielder Fabio Saraiva. Fabio had stopped playing at the age of 30 due to injuries, but he was keen to go into management one day. I offered him a chance to start his coaching career with the Daggers, and he was more than willing to take it.

 

I would also be reunited with another old mucker from Romford. In fact, it wasn't just any old mucker.

 

Nicky Reynolds had spent the last two seasons as a scout at Elgoibar - the Spanish lower-league club where I had failed so miserably in 2022. Nicky now wanted to return home, so he asked me whether he could start working for me again. I said yes, and after paying Elgoibar a couple of thousand Euros in compensation, I brought my former striker back to Blighty.

 

Nicky will join a Dagenham scouting team that is about to lose Mick Loughton, who is retiring at the age of 72, and Tony Simpson, who won't be receiving a new contract. With his newly-built knowledge of Spanish football, Reynolds might well be able to find us a bargain from the land of paella and tiki-taka.

 

I also spoke with another former Boro colleague at Elgoibar about coming to Victoria Road. Wayne Daniel turned me down, though, as he was happy in the Basque Country and not willing to leave his current job.

 

I then began the process of finding a new fitness coach to replace Dave Richardson this summer. Ex-Middlesbrough and Bolton Wanderers defender David Wheater was interested in the job, but talks with the 37-year-old were stalled over his wage demands. I hope we can reach a compromise soon, because Wheater would be a fantastic addition to my backroom.

[CFuller]

Conference Premier Table (End of 2023/2024)

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.    C     Dag & Red              46    24    15    7     87    46    +41   87
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.    P     Cambridge              46    24    12    10    82    55    +27   84
3.          Stalybridge            46    25    9     12    79    57    +22   84
4.          Grimsby                46    23    10    13    62    52    +10   79
5.          Chelmsford             46    23    9     14    67    52    +15   78
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6.          Farnborough            46    21    12    13    62    49    +13   75
7.          Eastleigh              46    20    13    13    78    68    +10   73
8.          Ebbsfleet              46    21    8     17    79    53    +26   71
9.          AFC Wimbledon          46    20    10    16    66    53    +13   70
10.         Cheltenham             46    21    7     18    72    66    +6    70
11.         Lincoln                46    18    13    15    54    47    +7    67
12.         Boreham Wood           46    19    7     20    72    68    +4    64
13.         Bury                   46    19    7     20    65    74    -9    64
14.         Accrington             46    15    16    15    53    51    +2    61
15.         Carlisle               46    14    14    18    51    59    -8    56
16.         Newport County         46    14    12    20    67    73    -6    54
17.         Salisbury              46    13    15    18    29    43    -14   54
18.         Kingstonian            46    14    11    21    60    73    -13   53
19.         Preston                46    13    13    20    52    73    -21   52
20.         Darlington             46    12    14    20    67    73    -6    50
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
21.   R     York                   46    9     20    17    36    59    -23   47
22.   R     Bromley                46    9     14    23    58    91    -33   41
23.   R     MK Dons                46    10    11    25    37    70    -33   41
24.   R     Dorchester             46    6     18    22    40    70    -30   36

 

[CFuller]

Dagenham & Redbridge Player Statistics (2023/2024)

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

 

GOALKEEPERS               APPS    CON  CLN  MOM  P%   TR   ST%  Y    R    AV RAT
Nguyen Van Phung          6       10   2    0    78%  -    -    0    0    6.75
Pete Riley                1       1    0    0    66%  -    -    0    0    7.00    
Daryl Ryan                2       1    1    0    59%  -    -    0    0    6.85
Robbie Ryder              47      40   20   0    78%  -    -    0    0    6.90
OUTFIELD PLAYERS          APPS    GLS  AST  MOM  P%   TR   ST%  Y    R    AV RAT
Warren Barrett            1 (1)   0    0    0    71%  0.00 -    0    0    6.75
Tim Beech                 37 (4)  0    4    0    81%  3.39 0%   3    0    7.14
Jamie Bell                37 (10) 20   7    4    76%  1.77 49%  0    0    7.22
Joe Bryan                 6 (1)   0    3    0    74%  5.67 0%   0    0    7.33
Glenn Canham              0 (1)   0    0    0    61%  0.00 -    0    0    6.90
Mitchell Clark            39 (5)  4    6    1    80%  3.77 34%  3    0    7.03
Wayne Coton               31 (12) 6    0    8    68%  2.39 43%  0    0    7.44
Bradley Dack              32 (9)  8    6    0    84%  5.21 31%  2    0    7.08
James Dunne               35 (11) 4    8    1    81%  5.38 40%  5    0    7.08
Lee Finnie                11 (16) 0    9    0    75%  2.67 23%  1    0    6.94
Stuart Gould              26 (10) 14   6    5    73%  2.82 48%  5    1    7.17
George Green              26 (10) 8    3    2    83%  3.29 26%  3    0    7.00
Geraint Harding           11 (3)  0    2    0    70%  4.27 33%  1    0    7.01
Paul Hart                 7 (7)   2    2    0    79%  1.90 57%  1    0    6.92
Joel Honeyball            0 (2)   0    0    0    73%  0.00 0%   0    0    6.20
Yasser Ibrahim            39 (4)  17   12   3    74%  2.76 51%  2    0    7.24
Louis Jack                19 (2)  0    3    1    81%  4.01 100% 3    0    7.08
Roy Jones                 0 (3)   0    0    0    72%  -    100% 0    0    6.90
Billy Kenyon              5 (7)   0    0    0    59%  2.61 -    0    0    6.65
Michael King              13 (14) 2    7    1    78%  2.15 21%  0    0    6.97
Aaron McEwan              42 (3)  6    2    6    65%  2.06 45%  6    0    7.53
Pat Molyneux              0 (2)   0    0    0    83%  -    0%   0    0    -   
Irvine Moyo               3       0    0    0    76%  3.67 -    0    0    7.23
Wayne Parmenter           0 (1)   0    0    0    74%  0.00 0%   0    0    5.90
Ben Purrington            30 (3)  0    2    1    78%  4.34 0%   2    0    6.98
Jonathan Roche            33 (2)  4    6    0    77%  2.24 32%  1    0    6.96
Rikki Scarlett            20 (9)  2    2    0    84%  1.65 24%  1    0    6.86
Robbie Shenton            5 (1)   5    1    2    66%  2.60 39%  0    0    7.57
Matthew Taylor            1       0    0    0    52%  1.00 -    0    0    6.50
Joe Thomson               11      0    2    0    80%  3.80 -    0    0    7.13
Thomas Tierney            31 (8)  1    1    0    73%  2.16 38%  0    0    7.14
Ken Turner                1       0    0    0    76%  1.00 0%   0    0    6.70
Daniel Ward               1       0    0    0    88%  1.00 -    0    0    6.80
Jay Weaver                0 (1)   0    0    0    43%  -    -    0    0    6.60
Jeff Whincup              1 (1)   0    0    0    54%  0.70 -    0    0    6.30
Wes Wright                6 (2)   0    0    0    73%  4.97 33%  2    0    6.67

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

 

[mark wilson27]

Congratulations CFuller, well done on promotion to the Football League...

[CFuller]

Congratulations CFuller, well done on promotion to the Football League...

A couple of days late, but thank you! Let's hope this is just the beginning of our climb up the leagues!

[CFuller]

JUNE 2024

Ahletdin Israilov officially completed his move to Dagenham & Redbridge early in June, when the Kyrgyzstan midfielder received his work permit. He and Geraint Harding would soon be joined by a couple of new signings.

 

18-year-old former Norwich City trainee Joel Jones was one for the future. The Wales Under-19s international, who can play either as a centre-forward or as a left-winger, signed an initial 12-month deal with us.

 

We also signed another 18-year-old - ex-Chelsea youth defender Lee Heffernan, who would be contending for a regular spot at centre-back straight away.

 

'Heff' was a particularly exciting signing for a number of reasons. Firstly, he was born in Dagenham, so the fans could be excited about having a local boy in the first-team ranks. Secondly, he had played internationally for Republic of Ireland Under-20s. Lastly, our scouts were unanimous in their opinion that Lee had the potential to be very good - and I mean seriously good.

 

I hadn't forgotten about goalkeeper Daryl Ryan and striker Neil Munn, who had ended the season on loan at Kettering Town and Oxford City respectively. Both Daryl and Neil had shown great promise elsewhere, so they would be in my first-team plans for the coming campaign.

 

By contrast, Lee Finnie did not fit into my plans. Although he provided nine assists in 22 matches last term, he did not score a single goal. For a natural striker, that simply would not do.

 

I was hoping to get a good sum of money for Lee's services. Unfortunately, only Leyton Orient showed interest, and the most they would pay was £6,000, plus 40% of the profit from any future sale.

 

It was a pitiful offer, but I accepted it and asked Finnie to discuss terms with Orient. Talks stalled a couple of times before the Scotsman finally reached an agreement. After two very different seasons at Dagenham & Redbridge, he made a short trip across east London.

 

We also had to bid farewell to six youth players who were not offered professional contracts. Shaun Simpson, Matthew Taylor, Ken Turner, Seámus Watts and Jay Weaver never played for the first-team under my stewardship, while Jeff Whincup had featured in three league games.

 

Meanwhile, I continued my overhaul of my backroom staff, with four new members signing up.

 

Firstly, I welcomed in 55-year-old Steve Moss as our new technical coach. I also finally reached an agreement with David Wheater to become our fitness coach. Wheater took over from Dave Richardson, who left Victoria Road after 16 years with the Daggers.

 

Physiotherapist John Gowens was another long-serving staff member on his way out after giving 20 years of service to the club. His replacement was 34-year-old Sam Cutler, who previously enjoyed a playing career with several semi-professional clubs, including Dover Athletic and Chelmsford City.

 

Former Woking and Kingstonian midfielder Goma Lambu was the last addition to my backroom. The 39-year-old, who is Congolese but has lived in London for most of his life, joined our scouting set-up.

 

There was one other change to my backroom, as Nathan Kilcourse's contract as our Head of Youth Development was not renewed. I decided to forego finding a replacement for the time being.

 

As pre-season loomed, the Dagenham & Redbridge supporters' club unveiled its best XI for 2023/2024. The eleven players who made the cut were Robbie Ryder, Tim Beech, Aaron McEwan, Wayne Coton, Ben Purrington, Mitchell Clark, James Dunne, Bradley Dack, Jonathan Roche, Yasser Ibrahim, and Jamie Bell.

 

The Fans' Player of the Year award went to centre-back Aaron McEwan, who won by a landslide. Big Mac's performances in our Double-winning campaign had been consistently brilliant, and I would definitely have voted for him.

 

Aaron and our other players returned for pre-season training in the final week of June, which coincided with the fixture list being published.

 

Our first match upon returning to League Two would be at Kidderminster Harriers on 3 August. The first home league game on our schedule would take place seven days later against Morecambe.

 

It was sure to be an exciting first season in the Football League for me, and I couldn't wait for it to begin.

[CFuller]

Romford watch: 2023/2024

After narrowly losing in the play-offs last season, Romford were confident that they could finally win promotion from the Conference South this time round. However, with many long-serving players now gone, that would be easier said than done.

 

Conference South: 5th (Lost in Play-Off Semi Final)

Romford's season began, rather worryingly, with a 2-0 defeat at Maidstone United. That was a sign of struggles to come, as after five games, they were rock bottom with just two points and one goal to their name. It wasn't until the Boro recorded a comfortable 4-1 win over Worcester City that their fortunes improved. An impressive run saw them win six of their next nine matches, and as a result, they found themselves just outside the play-off spots.

 

Romford broke into the top five in December, but an alarming run of results post-Christmas put them back out for a while. The Boro would blow hot and cold for the rest of the season. With five games to go, they were in 7th place, and they looked like missing out on the play-offs. A run of three wins in a row moved them back up to 5th, but a defeat at Woking meant that their fate was still up in the air on the final day.

 

The last day of the regular season saw play-off rivals Romford and Canvey Island go head-to-head in a crucial Essex derby. Canvey had to win to keep their hopes alive and eliminate the Boro from contention. Despite going 1-0 down and a man down, Romford salvaged a 1-1 draw thanks to an 85th-minute goal from 16-year-old Welsh striker Lee Pardue. That meant they would go into the play-offs unless Maidstone beat Havant & Waterlooville. The Kent side lost 3-0, so the Boro secured a Semi Final meeting with runners-up Barnet, who narrowly missed out on the title to Southend United.

 

Romford accrued 22 fewer points than Barnet, but that didn't stop them from taking a first-leg lead at Ship Lane through young right-back Martin Charnock. Kelvin Mellor then equalised for Barnet, so the tie was still up for grabs when the sides met again at The Hive. Alton Hardwick put Romford ahead in the first minute of an end-to-end tie, only to see the Bees move 2-1 up within 15 minutes. Wes Fletcher took the tie to extra-time, where Glenn Fieldwick broke Boro hearts with a 95th-minute strike. Despite losing defender Rory Davoren to a red card early in the second half, Barnet won 3-2 on the afternoon - and 4-3 on aggregate - to eliminate Romford from contention.

 

FA Cup: Round 1

Romford made light work of Ramsgate in Qualifying Round 2 before Wingate & Finchley gave them a much tougher test in the next stage. After the initial tie finished 1-1, the Boro won 4-1 at Ship Lane and progressed to a Qualifying Round 4 tie with Dorchester Town, who were dispatched 3-1. A Round 1 draw at Farnborough gave Romford an opportunity to reach Round 2... but they fluffed their lines completely, going down 4-0.

 

FA Trophy: Qualifying Round 3

Romford suffered more FA Trophy heartache in their qualifier against Havant & Waterlooville. After securing a 1-1 draw in Hampshire, they were held 3-3 at home before losing the penalty shoot-out. My Dagenham & Redbridge team would later avenge my old club by beating Havant in Round 2, and the rest was history.

 

Essex Senior Cup: Round 2

This was an unmitigated disaster for Romford, who were beaten 2-0 at Braintree Town Reserves in Round 2.

 

Best Players

Romford's new captain Kieron Gray was once again a solid presence at the back in his eighth season at Ship Lane. The 25-year-old has also won eight caps for Barbados, where his mother was born. Gray was regularly partnered at the back by on-loan Charlton Athletic youngster Solomon Emenike, who was also consistently impressive. In midfield, Irishman Kealan Dillon provided 15 assists, and Seidu Asante continued to show promise in a season devastated by injuries. The Boro's top scorers were Wes Fletcher and new signing Jason Forster, who found the net 22 and 11 times respectively in all competitions.

 

The Future

In spite of the odds being stacked against them, Romford have once again reached the play-offs in successive seasons. With the Conference South's two dominant teams, Southend United and Barnet, both returning to the Conference Premier next term, the Boro have a great chance to go one step further in 2024/2025. However, Tony Burman will not be at the helm for that campaign. The 66-year-old manager announced his retirement after the Boro's Semi Final defeat to Barnet, and chairman Jeff Bonser is now having to decide on his replacement.

[EvilDave]

I absolutely love that you have a Kyrgyz international at D&R. Shame that you'll probably have to rely on the cups to get a meeting with Romford now, but I'm looking forward to seeing how you fare in L2 - this remains a great read.

[CFuller]

I absolutely love that you have a Kyrgyz international at D&R. Shame that you'll probably have to rely on the cups to get a meeting with Romford now, but I'm looking forward to seeing how you fare in L2 - this remains a great read.

Israilov's probably the most exotic signing I've ever made on CM/FM. I've had players from Bermuda, Madagascar and obviously Vietnam before, but it's not every day that you see someone from Kyrgyzstan move to Dagenham!

I was disappointed to see Romford lose in the play-offs yet again, but at least they've remained relatively stable since I left. I've promised myself that I won't play against Romford until we draw them in one of the cups, although I suspect I'll be waiting a long time for that to happen.

[CFuller]

2023/2024 season round-up: Part 1

Premier League

Two of England's biggest rivals battled on all three major fronts, and Manchester City claimed a clean sweep over Manchester United. City pipped their bitter foes to the FA Cup, and the Premier League on the final day, before delivering the final insult by winning the UEFA Champions League - at Old Trafford. Gianluca Atzori's treble winners finished with 102 league goals (25 of them coming from Austrian goal machine Uwe Schumacher), while Argentine right-winger Iván Guillermo showed why he was considered the world's best player. Despite Damien King being named the Premier League's Top Goalscorer with 27 goals, United came away empty-handed.

 

Chelsea looked for a while like challenging the Mancunians for the title, but too many late blips cost them dear. The Blues finished 3rd and won another UEFA Europa League crown in what would be their only season under the management of Milodrag Bozovic, who subsequently left Stamford Bridge for Barcelona. Liverpool battled back into the top four, with Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur not too far behind them.

 

When Roberto Donadoni left Arsenal to take over at United last summer, the Gunners appointed the renowned Vitor Pereira as their new boss. However, Pereira's reign at the Emirates Stadium was a shambles, and Arsenal were 18th when the Portuguese was sacked in mid-December! Ex-Fulham boss Elvis Scoria got the London giants back into European contention, but a 9th-place finish was their worst for 29 years. Fellow Champions League qualifiers Wolverhampton Wanderers also battled relegation before finishing 14th in manager Mick McCarthy's final season.

 

Former Chelsea coach Marco van Basten quickly found another job in England, but not even this Serie A winner could keep Huddersfield Town from finishing bottom. Nottingham Forest were also out of their depth, but the other relegation spot went right down to the wire. After years of top-half security, it was Norwich City who surprisingly went down, with Newcastle United, Reading and Wigan Athletic all hanging on for dear life.

 

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.    C/CL  Man City               38    30    2     6     102   44    +58   92
2.    CL    Man Utd                38    28    5     5     88    36    +52   89
3.    CL    Chelsea                38    25    4     9     84    51    +33   79
4.    CL    Liverpool              38    18    6     14    58    51    +7    60
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.    EL    Southampton            38    15    12    11    55    47    +8    57
6.    EL    Tottenham              38    15    11    12    73    59    +14   56
7.          Fulham                 38    15    10    13    61    57    +4    55
8.          Burnley                38    14    12    12    55    53    +2    54
9.          Arsenal                38    15    9     14    64    64    0     54
10.         West Ham               38    13    12    13    58    62    -4    51
11.         Sunderland             38    13    12    13    64    70    -6    51
12.         West Brom              38    12    14    12    49    58    -9    50
13.         Watford                38    12    10    16    44    55    -11   46
14.         Wolves                 38    8     17    13    55    58    -3    41
15.         Wigan                  38    10    11    17    41    57    -16   41
16.         Reading                38    11    8     19    46    64    -18   41
17.         Newcastle              38    10    10    18    52    70    -18   40
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
18.   R     Norwich                38    10    9     19    43    61    -18   39
19.   R     Nottm Forest           38    7     5     26    35    68    -33   26
20.   R     Huddersfield           38    6     7     25    30    72    -42   25

 

Championship

Chris Powell's Aston Villa returned to the Premier League after winning the Championship. Club favourite Chris Wood finished as the division's top scorer with 28 goals. Brighton & Hove Albion will also be in the top flight again, as their final-day win over Villa saw them take 2nd spot ahead of Blackburn Rovers and Middlesbrough.

 

Blackburn went on to beat Queens Park Rangers in extra-time in their Play-Off Semi Final, but Middlesbrough came a cropper against Everton. The Wembley showdown finished 2-1 to Everton, with Kiril Genchev getting the decisive goal after team-mate Marlon Davidson's opener had been cancelled out by Alejo Ghirardelli. That meant the Toffees' yo-yoing between the top two divisions continued for a fifth year!

 

Ian Holloway's Stoke City were the shock winners of the League Cup, as they edged out Arsenal on penalties after a thrilling 3-3 draw. That epic game had an adverse effect on City's league form, and they could only finish in 10th place. Meanwhile, Leicester City finished just outside the play-off places under new manager Leighton Baines, who took over in October after working wonders with League One side Exeter City.

 

Colchester United were atrocious, picking up just seven wins as they dropped down to League One. Walsall were also relegated before the final day, when Coventry City and Rochdale both survived at the expense of Portsmouth.

 

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.    C     Aston Villa            46    26    12    8     78    42    +36   90
2.    P     Brighton               46    26    9     11    84    55    +29   87
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.          Blackburn              46    24    14    8     88    51    +37   86
4.          Middlesbrough          46    26    6     14    77    61    +16   84
5.    P     Everton                46    24    9     13    76    51    +25   81
6.          QPR                    46    22    14    10    73    47    +26   80
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7.          Swansea                46    23    9     14    74    59    +15   78
8.          Leicester              46    22    8     16    73    59    +14   74
9.          Crystal Palace         46    19    12    15    64    66    -2    69
10.   EL    Stoke                  46    18    14    14    64    48    +16   68
11.         Barnsley               46    19    8     19    63    63    0     65
12.         Leeds                  46    18    10    18    59    59    0     64
13.         Bradford               46    19    5     22    57    62    -5    62
14.         Ipswich                46    16    13    17    60    61    -1    61
15.         Notts County           46    15    13    18    70    70    0     58
16.         Hull                   46    17    7     22    69    73    -4    58
17.         Crewe                  46    15    8     23    55    71    -16   53
18.         Rochdale               46    14    8     24    56    73    -17   50
19.         Doncaster              46    13    10    23    56    76    -20   49
20.         Sheff Wed              46    12    12    22    43    66    -23   48
21.         Coventry               46    12    11    23    51    72    -21   47
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
22.   R     Portsmouth             46    12    10    24    43    76    -33   46
23.   R     Walsall                46    11    10    25    49    81    -32   43
24.   R     Colchester             46    7     12    27    45    85    -40   33

 

League One

The League One title race was nail-bitingly close, with Peterborough United finishing top courtesy of having conceded just two goals fewer than Sheffield United. Fleetwood Town were a single point behind both Uniteds, and they would have to go into the play-offs.

 

Fleetwood overturned a first-leg deficit against Gillingham to win their Play-Off Semi Final in extra-time. Their opponents at Wembley were Cardiff City, who recorded a couple of 2-0 wins over Bolton Wanderers. The Final was decided by a 60th-minute penalty from Bryan Paton, who took ten-man Fleetwood into the Championship for the first time in their history!

 

Bottom club Hartlepool United racked up a pathetic four wins on their way back to League Two. Bristol Rovers and Rotherham United also suffered relegation, as did Barrow, whose ascent came to a shuddering halt after their long-serving manager David Bayliss left for Sheffield Wednesday.

 

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.    C     Peterborough           46    23    10    13    57    38    +19   79
2.    P     Sheff Utd              46    22    13    11    57    40    +17   79
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.    P     Fleetwood              46    24    6     16    71    64    +7    78
4.          Bolton                 46    21    13    12    72    46    +26   76
5.          Cardiff                46    22    9     15    69    60    +9    75
6.          Gillingham             46    21    8     17    63    57    +6    71
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7.          Exeter                 46    18    16    12    66    52    +14   70
8.          Wrexham                46    18    16    12    61    53    +8    70
9.          Stockport              46    19    12    15    61    53    +8    69
10.         Shrewsbury             46    20    8     18    54    53    +1    68
11.         Plymouth               46    17    16    13    63    54    +9    67
12.         Oxford                 46    19    10    17    63    55    +8    67
13.         Northampton            46    15    19    12    56    56    0     64
14.         Brentford              46    16    13    17    51    54    -3    61
15.         AFC Telford            46    15    15    16    60    63    -3    60
16.         Derby                  46    15    14    17    49    56    -7    59
17.         Oldham                 46    16    9     21    59    69    -10   57
18.         Scunthorpe             46    15    11    20    61    65    -4    56
19.         Burton                 46    14    13    19    51    69    -18   55
20.         Millwall               46    14    12    20    49    54    -5    54
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
21.   R     Barrow                 46    12    13    21    50    66    -16   49
22.   R     Rotherham              46    10    17    19    53    65    -12   47
23.   R     Bristol Rovers         46    10    13    23    46    69    -23   43
24.   R     Hartlepool             46    4     18    24    31    62    -31   30

 

League Two

Incredibly, the top three in League Two all finished on 83 points. Charlton Athletic won the division on the basis of having scored more goals than Yeovil Town, who finished above Tranmere Rovers on goal difference. Those three would all be going up into League One, but who would join them from the Play-Offs?

 

It wouldn't be either AFC Bournemouth or Blackpool, as they both lost 4-2 on aggregate to Birmingham City and Swindon Town respectively. Instead, it was Birmingham who took that last promotion place. An early goal from defensive midfielder Jonny Duncliffe against Swindon was enough to end the Blues' brief stint in the fourth tier.

 

Regular viewers of Soccer AM would have noticed Helen Chamberlain growing grey and wrinkly very quickly. That may or may not have been related to the plight of her beloved Torquay United, who were relegated from the Football League alongside Crawley Town.

 

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.    C     Charlton               46    24    11    11    67    41    +26   83
2.    P     Yeovil                 46    23    14    9     64    38    +26   83
3.    P     Tranmere               46    23    14    9     60    41    +19   83
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.    P     Birmingham             46    19    18    9     61    44    +17   75
5.          Swindon                46    18    17    11    49    39    +10   71
6.          Blackpool              46    19    12    15    57    57    0     69
7.          Bournemouth            46    18    13    15    65    57    +8    67
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8.          Dartford               46    19    10    17    61    54    +7    67
9.          Stevenage              46    18    10    18    63    52    +11   64
10.         Chester                46    17    13    16    54    53    +1    64
11.         Leyton Orient          46    16    16    14    51    53    -2    64
12.         Port Vale              46    17    11    18    59    57    +2    62
13.         Aldershot              46    17    11    18    56    58    -2    62
14.         Hereford               46    16    13    17    64    63    +1    61
15.         Bristol City           46    16    12    18    53    55    -2    60
16.         Chesterfield           46    16    12    18    52    59    -7    60
17.         Kidderminster          46    15    14    17    58    66    -8    59
18.         Forest Green           46    14    15    17    49    55    -6    57
19.         Wycombe                46    12    20    14    47    52    -5    56
20.         Mansfield              46    12    15    19    54    57    -3    51
21.         Morecambe              46    11    18    17    48    55    -7    51
22.         Luton                  46    13    10    23    48    69    -21   49
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
23.   R     Crawley                46    11    8     27    39    67    -28   41
24.   R     Torquay                46    11    7     28    40    77    -37   40

 

Conference Premier

Dagenham & Redbridge regained their Football League status after pipping Cambridge United and Stalybridge Celtic to the Conference Premier title on the final day.

 

Cambridge and Stalybridge would meet in the Play-Off Final after respectively seeing off Chelmsford City and Grimsby Town. Cambridge scored two first-half goals at Wembley, and Celtic could only reply with one in the second half, so that meant the U's finally returned to League Two after 19 years away!

 

Going through the trapdoor to the regional Conferences were Dorchester Town, Milton Keynes Dons, Bromley and York City. York's relegation was confirmed on the final day, with Darlington narrowly surviving.

 

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.    C     Dag & Red              46    24    15    7     87    46    +41   87
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.    P     Cambridge              46    24    12    10    82    55    +27   84
3.          Stalybridge            46    25    9     12    79    57    +22   84
4.          Grimsby                46    23    10    13    62    52    +10   79
5.          Chelmsford             46    23    9     14    67    52    +15   78
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6.          Farnborough            46    21    12    13    62    49    +13   75
7.          Eastleigh              46    20    13    13    78    68    +10   73
8.          Ebbsfleet              46    21    8     17    79    53    +26   71
9.          AFC Wimbledon          46    20    10    16    66    53    +13   70
10.         Cheltenham             46    21    7     18    72    66    +6    70
11.         Lincoln                46    18    13    15    54    47    +7    67
12.         Boreham Wood           46    19    7     20    72    68    +4    64
13.         Bury                   46    19    7     20    65    74    -9    64
14.         Accrington             46    15    16    15    53    51    +2    61
15.         Carlisle               46    14    14    18    51    59    -8    56
16.         Newport County         46    14    12    20    67    73    -6    54
17.         Salisbury              46    13    15    18    29    43    -14   54
18.         Kingstonian            46    14    11    21    60    73    -13   53
19.         Preston                46    13    13    20    52    73    -21   52
20.         Darlington             46    12    14    20    67    73    -6    50
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
21.   R     York                   46    9     20    17    36    59    -23   47
22.   R     Bromley                46    9     14    23    58    91    -33   41
23.   R     MK Dons                46    10    11    25    37    70    -33   41
24.   R     Dorchester             46    6     18    22    40    70    -30   36

 

Conference North

Promoted: Mossley (1st, 74 pts), Southport (2nd, 71 pts).

Also in Play-Offs: Kettering Town (3rd, 69 pts), Altrincham (4th, 68 pts), Tamworth (5th, 67 pts).

Relegated: Market Drayton Town (20th, 40 pts), Buxton (21st, 35 pts), Rugby Town (22nd, 34 pts).

 

Conference South

Promoted: Southend United (1st, 91 pts), Barnet (2nd, 85 pts).

Also in Play-Offs: Woking (3rd, 75 pts), Hayes & Yeading United (4th, 71 pts), Romford (5th, 63 pts).

Relegated: Oxford City Nomads (20th, 43 pts), Dover Athletic (21st, 39 pts), Wingate & Finchley (22nd, 38 pts).

 

Regional Premier Divisions

Promoted from Northern Premier League Premier: Bradford Park Avenue (1st), Droylsden (3rd).

Promoted from Isthmian League Premier: Welling United (1st), Staines Town (3rd).

Promoted from Southern League Premier: Basingstoke Town (1st), Ashford Town (Middlesex) (5th).

[CFuller]

2023/2024 season round-up: Part 2

Major Transfers

• Watford lost two England internationals to the Manchester giants on free transfers last summer. Goalkeeper Andy Boyes made an instant impact for Manchester City, as he took the number 1 jersey off Cameron Green and won three trophies in his first season. Striker Josh Dyke fared reasonably well at Manchester United, for whom he scored 16 league goals - mostly as a substitute.
• Tottenham Hotspur also had a bad transfer window, but at least they made some money from selling three big assets. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain went to oil-rich Italian side Empoli for £18.5million, while Real Madrid stole defender Petar Skenderski and striker Maxim Rybin for a combined £41.5million. Most of Spurs' cash went on Israeli midfielder Adi Nasser Al-Din - a £23.5million purchase from FC Krasnodar.
• Across North London, Arsenal wasted £65million on three expensive flops - Rennes midfielder Willy Wawa, Southampton defender Keorapetse Zulu, and Cruzeiro hardman Val. That splurge, combined with the sale of star centre-back Imerio Ferrini to Bayern Munich, quickly turned Gunners fans against new manager Vitor Pereira. By the time the hapless Pereira was dismissed in December, another Arsenal defender - Ivan Bulat - had agreed a £17million January move to Paris Saint-Germain.
• Chelsea's most expensive signings were 22-year-old Serbia centre-back Stevo Buac, who was bought from Fenerbahce for £25.5million, and Mexico goalkeeper Valentín Castillo, who cost £16million from Fulham. The Blues also raided United for another young striker in the shape of future England international Nick Barnes. The Yorkshireman would score 13 goals in 28 games for Chelsea after arriving for £11.25million.
• Juventus went on an incredible shopping spree, paying £30million to Bayern Munich for Slovakian midfielder Peter Jakubek, and £22.5million to AC Milan for young Italy full-back Cristiano Magnolo. In total, the Old Lady spent £98million on new players this season, but that wasn't enough for another scudetto!
• After avoiding any extravagant purchases in the summer, Manchester City went all out in January - by spending £37.5million on PSV midfielder Alexandre Ricardo. With 11 assists in just 17 league appearances, the Brazilian playmaker proved to be the last piece in City's Treble jigsaw.

 

Managerial Movements

• Following Slaven Bilic's move to Real Madrid, Manchester United announced that Roberto Donadoni would leave Arsenal to take the helm at Old Trafford. The Gunners replaced Donadoni with Barcelona boss Pereira, who was ousted six months later after a disastrous reign left the Gunners in the relegation zone. Elvis Scoria came in to save the giants and lead them to a barely-respectable 9th-place finish.
• Scoria's move to Arsenal came just nine days after he had been sacked by Fulham. The Cottagers replaced him with prolific Scottish turncoat Billy Davies, who abandoned Hibernian and guided Fulham to another 7th-place finish. Hibs then hired former Watford manager Colin Cameron for a THIRD spell as manager.
• Cameron's old position at Watford went to Owen Coyle. Another former Hibs boss, Mark Robins, lost his Wigan Athletic job to Bradford City's young coach Nicky Bailey. Meanwhile, Reading appointed Heart of Midlothian boss Bobby Mimms as successor to Mark Bowen, who had taken over from Paul Groves at Norwich City. Finally, Newcastle United sacked their manager Lee Clark at the end of a difficult season and hired 39-year-old Steven Davis, who had failed to keep Nottingham Forest up.
• With Pereira gone, Barcelona looked to Real Betis' title-winning coach Pepe Mel to try and bring back the glory days. It was not a great move for all parties concerned. Barca finished 5th in La Liga, Mel was sacked, and Milodrag Bozovic left Chelsea to become the Nou Camp's new manager. One place behind Barca were Betis, who had their worst campaign since 2017/2018. As a result, Béticos head coach Riccardo Montolivo was replaced with Vadim Skripchenko, who'd just won the Russian league with Anji Makhachkala.
• There was yet more chaos in Milan. AC Milan sacked Stale Solbakken in November and replaced him with their tenth coach in nine years - Luis Enrique, who moved from Spanish side Sporting Gijón. At Inter Milan, Stefano Colantuono and the returning Andrea Stramaccioni were both dismissed before Franco Lerda arrived from Torino to preserve relegation-threatened Inter's Serie A status.
• In November, Bayer Leverkusen boss Thomas Tuchel paid the price for a shaky start. Bayer, who will move to a new 47,000-seater stadium next season, hoped that Marco Caligiuri could reignite a title challenge after his arrival from 1.FC Koln. It wasn't to be, as Leverkusen finished 8th (their worst performance in the Bundesliga for 15 years), and Tuchel's new club Schalke 04 were two places above them.

 

Other Major Stories

• Manchesters City and United saw off Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund to set up a historic Final showdown at Old Trafford. City had already pipped their rivals to two major trophies, but this would really rub salt into United's wounds. In the 78th minute of a scrappy contest, defender Grigoris Stasinopoulos headed home from Iván Guillermo's free-kick to secure a 1-0 win for the Citizens. Gianluca Atzori's side had completed their first Treble - almost exactly 25 years after United achieved that feat!
• Empoli had an unforgettable season, which ended with them winning Serie A for the first time in their 104-year history. The Azzurri also reached the Champions League Quarter Finals, knocking out holders Paris Saint-Germain before coming a cropper against United. Empoli's achievements were particularly impressive because they had replaced coach Marco Parolo with Neil Lennon in November.
• The La Liga title race was so thrilling that five teams were still in contention before the final two weekends! On the very last day, it boiled down to a local derby between Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid. Real won it 3-0, with goals from Rybin, Ulisses and Skenderski securing their 37th championship after a five-year wait. Atlético would actually finish in 4th place - behind Roberto Mancini's Granada and Real Sociedad!
• Porto are now Portugal's most successful league champions outright. Their seventh consecutive Primeira Liga title was their 35th overall, overhauling Benfica's current tally of 34. In France, PSG won their TWELFTH straight Ligue 1 championship, but only after staving off a surprise challenge from Rennes.
• Cameron's third coming at Easter Road could not inspire Hibernian to what would've been a fourth straight Scottish Premier League title. Instead, Paul Jewell's Motherwell side caused a major shock by staving off a resurgent Rangers to win their second Scottish championship - their first for 92 years!
• Two of the greatest goalkeepers of their generation hung up their gloves, as Joe Hart and Manuel Neuer retired at Valenciennes and VfB Stuttgart respectively. Indeed, many of Germany's 'golden generation', which promised much but delivered little, bowed out at the same time. Holger Badstuber, Benedikt Howedes, Sami Khedira and Marco Reus all rode off with Neuer into the sunset.

 

Cup Winners

FA Cup: Manchester City 3-1 Manchester United.

League Cup: Stoke City 3-3 Arsenal (3-2 penalties).

Community Shield: Manchester United 6-2 Fulham.

Football League Trophy: Chester 1-0 Aldershot Town.

 

UEFA Champions League: Manchester City 1-0 Manchester United - at Old Trafford, Manchester.

UEFA Europa League: Chelsea 2-1 Bayern Munich - at Philips Stadion, Eindhoven.

UEFA Super Cup: Arsenal 4-2 Paris Saint-Germain - at Ulleval Stadion, Oslo.

FIFA Club World Championship: Sao Paulo 2-0 Paris Saint-Germain - at Stade Olympique, Rades.

 

Major European Leagues

Dutch Eredivisie: FC Utrecht (1st), Ajaz (2nd), AZ Alkmaar (3rd).

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

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

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

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

Russian Premier League: Anji Makhachkala (1st), Kuban Krasnodar (2nd), FC Krasnodar (3rd).

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

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

 

Award Winners

PFA Player of the Year: Iván Guillermo (Manchester City).

PFA Young Player of the Year: Clive Johnson (Sunderland).

FWA Footballer of the Year: Grégory Lefevre (Manchester United).

Premier League Manager of the Season: Gianluca Atzori (Manchester City).

PFA Premier League Team of the Year:

 

• Andy Boyes (Manchester City and England)
• Kevin Bigler (West Ham United and Switzerland)
• Kevin Strootman (Chelsea and Holland)
• Stuart Lindsay (West Bromwich Albion and England)
• Zbigniew Szwarga (Norwich City and France)
• Iván Guillermo (Manchester City and Argentina)
• Jack Wilshere (Arsenal and England)
• Alison Brito Neves (Chelsea and Portugal)
• Grégory Lefevre (Manchester United and Belgium)
• Uwe Schumacher (Manchester City and Austria)
• Damien King (Manchester United and England)

 

FIFA Ballon d'Or: Iván Guillermo (Manchester City).

World Soccer World Player of the Year: Eden Hazard (Paris Saint-Germain).

European Golden Shoe: Maxim Rybin (Real Madrid).

UEFA Best Player in Europe: Iván Guillermo (Manchester City).

FIFA/FIFPro World XI:

• David De Gea (Manchester United and Spain)
• Nelson Parra (Paris Saint-Germain and Colombia)
• Emmanuel Guinazu (Barcelona and Argentina)
• Petar Skenderski (Real Madrid and Bulgaria)
• Samuel Umtiti (Real Madrid and France)
• Jack Wilshere (Arsenal and England)
• Marco Verratti (Arsenal and Italy)
• Iván Guillermo (Manchester City and Argentina)
• Lorenzo Crisetig (Paris Saint-Germain and France)
• Eden Hazard (Paris Saint-Germain and Belgium)
• Nando Ribas (Barcelona and Spain)

[neilhoskins77]

Israilov's probably the most exotic signing I've ever made on CM/FM. I've had players from Bermuda, Madagascar and obviously Vietnam before, but it's not every day that you see someone from Kyrgyzstan move to Dagenham!

I think I signed a player from Kyrgyzstan once. He was about 24, and had around 50 caps already, which I thought was fantastic. When I signed him, I realised why that was, he seemed to be away on International duty every other week.

[CFuller]

I think I signed a player from Kyrgyzstan once. He was about 24, and had around 50 caps already, which I thought was fantastic. When I signed him, I realised why that was, he seemed to be away on International duty every other week.

I'll almost certainly have that problem with Israilov as well. The Asian international football calendar is not exactly kind to European clubs who have players from that continent.

EDIT: I've just checked, and for the record, Ahletdin Israilov has 44 caps at the age of 29. Curiously, there's an Ahlidin Israilov of the exact same age with 42 caps. I assume that they're the same real-life player duplicated, but for story purposes, let's just say they're twins!

[mark wilson27]

A couple of days late, but thank you! Let's hope this is just the beginning of our climb up the leagues!

Yeah been alittle busy with other stuff to do with the forum and haven't caught up on many of the stories

[CFuller]

UEFA European Championship review: Italy 2024

Qualification

Holders Spain sent out a clear message to their rivals by winning nine of their ten qualifying matches. Nando Ribas was in absolutely blistering form, scoring 20 of his country's 36 goals. France were even more impressive, finishing with a 100% record. Germany, Romania and Scotland also survived unbeaten, but England and Holland barely scraped into the automatic qualifying places.

 

2014 FIFA World Cup winners Ukraine finished 3rd in their group, and when they lost 2-1 in the first leg of their play-off with Poland, it looked like they would fail to qualify. Real Madrid superstar Maxim Rybin saved his nation's skin in Lviv, scoring twice in a 3-1 win that took the Ukrainians through to the Finals. However, both the Republic of Ireland and Greece missed out after losing play-offs against Latvia and debutants Lithuania respectively.

 

Slovenia, who were so impressive in Turkey four years previously, finished bottom of France's group with just a single win. With the Slovenes absent, a lot of people were tipping Sweden to be Euro 2024's dark horses. Juventus striker Marcus Ekberg scored 16 times as the Blagult narrowly beat Belarus into second place in their group.

 

QUALIFIERS: Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Holland, Italy (hosts), Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Scotland, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain (holders), Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine.

 

Group Stage

Serbia surprisingly won Group A, as a treble from Mátyás Vágó saw them overcome Switzerland in a decider for top spot. In Group B, Portugal found the going very tough. André Villas-Boas' side twice went behind to Latvia and were 2-0 down against Belarus, but they won both games before beating Holland to top spot.

 

A hat-trick of penalties from Marco Verratti helped Italy beat Scotland 4-2 in their opening Group C game. Gianfranco Zola's Azzurri would eventually top the group ahead of Russia. Scotland, who suffered another 4-2 defeat against the Russians, took third place after coming from behind to defeat Ukraine. Czech Republic and England dominated Group D, and the Czechs surprisingly finished top after winning their decider 3-2.

 

Spain blitzed through Group E after Ribas scored hat-tricks against both Denmark and Turkey. The Barcelona ace 'only' found the net once against Slovakia, who came a distant second. Group F was won by France, but not before Les Bleus had an early 'coq-up' against Sweden, who would go through unbeaten. Notably, France's Moussa Kari scored a European Championship-record five goals in a 7-3 victory over whipping boys Lithuania.

 

Croatia, Denmark and Scotland all progressed to Round 2 as the best third-placed teams, along with Germany, who squeaked through despite picking up just two points from what should've been an easy Group A.

 

GROUP A: Serbia* (1st, 7 pts), Switzerland* (2nd, 6 pts), Germany* (3rd, 2 pts), Romania (4th, 1 pt).

GROUP B: Portugal* (1st, 9 pts), Holland* (2nd, 6 pts), Latvia (3rd, 1 pt), Belarus (4th, 1 pt).

GROUP C: Italy* (1st, 7 pts), Russia* (2nd, 4 pts), Scotland* (3rd, 3 pts), Ukraine (4th, 3 pts).

GROUP D: Czech Republic* (1st, 9 pts), England* (2nd, 6 pts), Belgium (3rd, 1 pt), Bosnia & Herzegovina (4th, 1 pt).

GROUP E: Spain* (1st, 9 pts), Slovakia* (2nd, 6 pts), Denmark* (3rd, 3 pts), Turkey (4th, 0 pts).

GROUP F: France* (1st, 6 pts), Sweden* (2nd, 5 pts), Croatia* (3rd, 5 pts), Lithuania (4th, 1 pt).

* through to Round 2

 

Round 2

Holland suffered double heartache in the first knockout game against Serbia. The Oranje chucked away a 2-0 lead and were taken to a penalty shoot-out, where former Chelsea midfielder Kevin Strootman and current Blues star Ronald Pot missed the decisive spot-kicks. There was an even bigger turn-up for the books when Sweden destroyed Spain 4-0! A hat-trick from Filip Svensson brought the holders' bid for a fourth successive major title crashing down!

 

Goncalo Coentrao took just seven minutes to give Portugal the lead against Scotland. That wasn't a sign of things to come, as Kevin McHattie scored a 75th-minute equaliser for the Tartan Army, who would later win a dramatic shoot-out 3-2. Their Quarter Finals opponents would be France, who showed why they were the new favourites. Goals from Hamed Diallo, Hervin Ongenda and Antoine Griezmann secured a solid 3-1 victory over Germany.

 

Switzerland were made to work by Slovakia before emerging victorious to the tune of 3-1. Gabriel Steffen's double helped the Swiss on their way to their first European Championship Quarter Final. To go further, they would have to eliminate the hosts. Italy scraped past Denmark thanks only to an injury-time strike from Manolo Gabbiadini.

 

Czech Republic won their Round 2 game against Croatia, with Vaclav Kadlec and Jan Petr scoring in between a goal from Atlético Madrid's Croat star Teo Surac. Finally, Russia got sweet revenge on England for the thrashing they received in the Euro 2020 Semi Final. CSKA Moscow midfielder Evgeny Zaitsev scored his first two international goals in extra-time to send the Russians through. A red card for captain Phil Jones capped the Three Lions' misery.

 

RESULTS: Serbia 2-2 Holland (4-2 penalties), Sweden 4-0 Spain, Scotland 1-1 Portugal (3-2 penalties), France 3-1 Germany, Switzerland 3-1 Slovakia, Italy 1-0 Denmark, Czech Republic 2-1 Croatia, Russia 2-0 England (aet).

 

Quarter Finals

If Scotland thought they could cause another shock against France, they had another thing coming. Les Bleus were quite simply magnifique, and when a first-half double from Ongenda was complemented by Kari's 51st-minute strike, their Semi Final place was secured. The Quarter Final between Serbia and Sweden was much tighter, even when Andrija Zivkovic received an injury-time red card for the Serbs. Following two goalless hours, Sweden won the tie 4-3 on penalties, with Leo Nordin hammering home the clincher after Jovan Djurovski had struck the post.

 

Russia took a 2-1 half-time lead against the Czech Republic, as Jonathan Rodriguez cancelled out Matej Vydra's early Czech opener before Petr put the ball into his own net. The tide turned in the second half, with Fenerbahce's Zdenek Benda equalising and Vydra striking again to end Russian dreams. The last Quarter Final was an absolute epic between Italy and Switzerland. Admir Mehmedi struck first for Switzerland, but Verratti's penalty took the game to extra-time, where the Azzurri lost Mohammed Said to a red card. Then came a record-breaking shoot-out, where both teams scored 10 penalties before Gabbiadini had a spot-kick was saved by Stéphane Germann. The Swiss goalkeeper then scored his penalty to leave the Italian hosts shell-shocked.

 

RESULTS: France 3-0 Scotland, Sweden 0-0 Serbia (4-3 penalties), Czech Republic 3-2 Russia, Switzerland 1-1 Italy (11-10 penalties).

 

Semi Finals

Two of the tournament's surprise packages met in Rome for the first Semi Final. Watford midfielder Svensson gave Sweden the perfect start after 15 minutes, only to see Czech Republic right-back Jan Matusik level the tie after 72. Extra-time followed, and in the 94th minute, Pavel Prihoda put the Czechs level from the penalty spot. Jiri Ciganek - the Bayern Munich winger who had won that penalty - added another goal six minutes later to clinch victory. The Czech Republic didn't even qualify for Euro 2020, but Vitezslav Lavicka had led them to the Final of Euro 2024!

 

France were expected to roll Switzerland over in the other Semi Final in Naples. Although Les Bleus did indeed dominate proceedings, they found few holes in a Swiss defence held together brilliantly by young Spezia centre-half Théo Forster. Diallo finally opened up the backline in the 67th minute with a sublime cross to his Monaco colleague Kari, whose header bounced past Germann. That single goal was enough to put Paul Le Guen's team into a fourth European Championship Final. France had won their previous three, and a fourth triumph looked very likely.

 

RESULTS: Czech Republic 3-1 Sweden (aet), France 1-0 Switzerland.

 

Final

Czech Republic's sensational tournament got better still early in the Euro 2024 Final at Milan's San Siro. Greuther Furth midfielder Jan Petr, who hadn't played a competitive club game for over three years, fired a stunning shot past France goalkeeper Victor Mayasi after just 19 minutes. Les Bleus huffed and puffed for an equaliser, which finally came when Ongenda struck his eighth goal of the tournament in the 62nd minute. That drew the Marseille man level with his compatriot Kari, but Ongenda would win the Golden Boot on account of having played fewer minutes.

 

There were no more goals in normal time, so at least 30 more minutes would be needed to separate the finalists. In the eighth of those, Czech winger Rudolf Cieslar curled a stunning free-kick into Mayasi's top-left corner. It was the PAOK man's first international goal, and it would prove to be the winner. France could not conjure up a response, so for the first time in 48 years, the Henri Delaunay trophy was on its way to Prague!

 

It had been a remarkable fairytale for the Czech Republic, whose captain - former Reading defender Benda - had done well to come back after breaking his leg last November. For their unassuming coach Lavicka, it was the perfect way to end his tenure, and indeed his career in football. The 61-year-old had delivered the Republic's first major football silverware since the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1993.

 

RESULT: Czech Republic 2-1 France (aet).

 

Award Winners

Best Player: Marco Verratti (Italy)

Golden Boot: Hervin Ongenda (France, 8 goals).

Best Goal: Glauco Dotto (Italy, vs Scotland - Group Stage).

Dream Team:

• Victor Mayasi (France and Atlético Madrid)
• Yury Pagaev (Russia and Rubin Kazan)
• Zdenek Benda (Czech Republic and Fenerbahce)
• Alexander Milosevic (Sweden and Montpellier)
• Filip Hradil (Czech Republic and Kuban Krasnodar)
• Gabriel Steffen (Switzerland and Borussia Moenchengladbach)
• Marco Verratti (Italy and Arsenal)
• Pavel Prihoda (Czech Republic and Marseille)
• Jiri Ciganek (Czech Republic and Bayern Munich)
• Moussa Kari (France and Monaco)
• Hervin Ongenda (France and Marseille)

[CFuller]

JULY 2024

Newly-promoted teams have an excellent record when it comes to surviving in League Two. Since automatic promotion and relegation between the Football League and the Football Conference was introduced in 1987, only two sides had returned to the Conference after just one season up. Milton Keynes Dons in 2021 and Crawley Town this spring were the exceptions to the rule.

 

You could therefore understand why we at Dagenham & Redbridge were not fearing relegation back to the Conference Premier. Chairman Antonello Scolaro and I both agreed that we were more than capable of consolidating our League status.

 

I was aiming to finish well above the bottom six, let alone the bottom two. Mr Scolaro gave me a weekly wage budget of £28,500 - plus a transfer fund of just over £30,000 - to assemble a squad that could achieve that.

 

Some of my budget went on a Portsmouth loanee by the name of Pablo Vázquez. The 23-year-old Mexican, who came through Celtic's youth academy, was a very quick left-winger with great dribbling ability. We would be paying half of Pablo's £725-per-week wages during his loan spell, which would run until at least the end of January.

 

My main priorities for the rest of the transfer window were to sign a goalkeeper and a left-back. Although Robbie Ryder and Ben Purrington were solid performers in those respective positions last season, I had my doubts about whether they could step up a level.

 

I had another minor headache when centre-back Wayne Coton damaged his shoulder on the first weekend of pre-season. Wayne would be unable to take part in at least our first three friendlies.

 

There were no more arrivals before our opening pre-season match at home to Millwall, who finished 20th in League One last season. The Lions were utterly shambolic off the pitch - former Southampton midfielder Adam Lallana was their ninth different manager since 2017.

 

9 July 2024: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Millwall

On our left wing, Yasser Ibrahim attempted a first-minute banana shot that bent well off target. On the right, debutant Ahletdin Israilov suffered a rib injury after being tackled by Millwall left-back James Capstick in the 12th minute. The Lions started to take control from that point, and Robbie Ryder's excellent 13th-minute save from Cameron Stewart merely delayed their opener.

 

After 19 minutes, Daggers midfielder James Dunne lost the ball to Ashley Powell, and Lions winger Rob Oosting played it deep into our half. When another Dagenham new boy - Lee Heffernan - missed his interception, Jim Holland was free to run through and slide the ball past a sluggish Ryder.

 

Millwall were 1-0 up, and they could've stretched their lead in the 23rd minute had Oosting not hit the post. At that point, I took off Israilov and told my team to play much slower. That tactical change did the job, disrupting the visitors' momentum.

 

On 31 minutes, Mitchell Clark played a sublime ball to right-back Tim Beech, whose shot was parried by Niall Sutcliffe. Mitchell made an even bigger contribution four minutes later, scoring direct from a free-kick to draw us level!

 

Clark had another pop at goal three minutes into the second half, but that particular effort was too tame to trouble Sutcliffe. On 52 minutes, Stewart gave us a real scare by trying to float a left-footer into the top corner. Ryder turned it over his bar just in time.

 

Millwall took a while to get going again. Our substitute keeper Daryl Ryan was tested in the 75th and 78th minutes by Kyle Howarth and Holland, but the young Irishman made assured saves on each occasion.

 

We took the game to Millwall later on, as Roy Jones' shot narrowly evaded the goal in the 83rd minute, and Thomas Tierney's header a minute later was caught by Nigel Dodsworth. Then, in the last minute of normal time, Geraint Harding fired a bullet at goal. Dodsworth could only parry it as far as Pablo Vázquez, who tapped in the rebound and gave us an unlikely 2-1 victory!

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Clark 35, Vázquez 90)

Millwall - 1 (Holland 19)

Friendly, Attendance 1,685

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryder (Ryan), Beech (Jack), Heffernan (Tierney), McEwan (Kenyon), Purrington (Barrett), Clark (R Jones), Dunne (Harding), Hart (Honeyball), Israilov (Roche), Ibrahim (Vázquez), J Bell (Munn).

 

Ahletdin Israilov had only suffered a bruised rib in that victory, but he would still miss the rest of pre-season. He had been called up by Kyrgyzstan to play at the AFC Challenge Cup in Laos. Although Kyrgyzstan's first game wasn't until August, Israilov had to join up with his national team in the middle of July. That didn't impress me much.

 

After beating Millwall, I was hopeful that we could get another victory at Dulwich Hamlet. Our feeder club placed 9th in last season's Conference South.

 

13 July 2024: Dulwich Hamlet vs Dagenham & Redbridge

It was a sweltering Saturday afternoon at Champion Hill, and many of our players got hot and bothered in the first half. We conceded too many fouls for my liking, though we were fortunate not to receive any yellow cards.

 

Our persistent fouling meant that neither team could get into a rhythm until after half an hour, when Dagenham midfielder Joel Honeyball had a shot saved by Dulwich's 17-year-old keeper Jake Sestanovich. Three minutes later, another midfielder - Roy Jones - sprayed a pass out to the left wing. On-loan Mexican winger Pablo Vázquez then made a promising run towards goal before comfortably missing the target.

 

Hamlet captain Will Bor wasted his team's first chance in the 36th minute, shortly before receiving a caution for tripping Neil Munn. The hosts would end a woeful first period strongly, as winger Paul McCall fired a long-range shot past the post a couple of minutes before half-time.

 

Less than two minutes into the second half, Dagenham left-back Warren Barrett curled the ball into Dulwich's six-yard box. Jamie Bell swung his left foot at the ball and nearly scuffed it into the net, but Sestanovich fumbled it away before Lee McArdle conceded a corner.

 

When Dulwich launched their first attack of the second half after 50 minutes, they were much more convincing. They cleverly worked the ball round our half before Emmanuel Oyeleke found McCall, who slotted a cool finish past Daryl Ryan. Just like in our previous meeting 12 months earlier, Dulwich Hamlet had drawn first blood.

 

Vázquez could have pulled us level in the 57th minute, but his low shot was parried away by Sestanovich. Three minutes after that, Barrett received our first yellow card for pushing the hosts' substitute winger Peter Searle.

 

Another booking came our way after 70 minutes. As Dulwich increased the pressure, Dagenham captain Aaron McEwan surprisingly lost his call, pushing Oyeleke just inside our penalty area. Aaron's name went into the book, and Bor converted the penalty to put Hamlet two goals ahead.

 

That was effectively game, set and match. Not even a tactical switch on my part - or a late injury to McCall - could get us going, and we fell to a very disappointing defeat.

 

Dulwich Hamlet - 2 (McCall 50, Bor pen71)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

Friendly, Attendance 416

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan (Ryder), Jack (Beech), Tierney (Heffernan), McEwan (Kenyon), Purrington (Barrett), R Jones (J Jones), Harding (Dunne), Roche (Parmenter), Honeyball (Hart), Vázquez (Ibrahim), Munn (J Bell). BOOKED: Barrett, McEwan.

 

That was probably just a very bad day at the office, but I was still convinced that we needed strengthening. Fortunately, I had already lined up two more signings, both on free transfers.

 

30-year-old goalkeeper Reice Charles-Cook, capped four times by Jamaica, arrived at Victoria Road following his release from Wycombe Wanderers. Reice had been Wycombe's first-choice keeper for the last two years.

 

Also joining us was a big, strong Glaswegian target man by the name of Willie Dickson (please, no laughing at the back). The 22-year-old scored 16 goals for Partick Thistle in the Scottish First Division last season.

 

Both of our newest recruits would feature in our next away game against Isthmian League Premier Division stalwarts St Albans City. In 29-year-old Christy Gale, they had one of English football's youngest managers.

 

16 July 2024: St Albans City vs Dagenham & Redbridge

We had our first scoring opportunity after just nine minutes. Jamie Bell's header from Jonathan Roche's cross was kept out by St Albans goalkeeper Eddie Andrews, who conceded the first of two early corners. Sadly, our set-piece specialist Mitchell Clark couldn't make the most of them.

 

The hosts got to attack for the first time after 19 minutes. Winger Jack Wallace glided past our left-back Warren Barrett before hitting the side netting. Two minutes later, Dagenham forward Yasser Ibrahim almost found Bell with a wonderful left-wing cross, but Andrews pushed it against his bar.

 

The rest of the half was very mundane. That being said, Andrews was forced into another save after 37 minutes, when he stopped a powerful shot from Daggers midfielder Paul Hart.

 

A patient approach didn't work in the first half, so we adopted a more direct, attacking strategy for the second period, with Willie Dickson coming on as our target man. That started well at first, as Willie and Jamie Bell both troubled Andrews with headers in the opening five minutes.

 

In the 56th minute, Dickson played a superb flick-on to Bell, whose volley hit the bar and went out. Jamie was later replaced by Neil Munn, but Neil couldn't get into the game, as he was restricted to a couple of hopeless long-rangers. The last half-hour was so dull that it would have cured many a case of insomnia, and the ground was almost deserted when the referee finally called time on a 0-0 draw.

 

St Albans City - 0

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

Friendly, Attendance 369

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Charles-Cook (Ryder), Jack (Beech), Heffernan (McEwan), Tierney (Kenyon), Barrett (Purrington), Harding (Dickson), Clark (R Jones), Hart (Dunne), Roche (Martin), Ibrahim (Vázquez), J Bell (Munn). BOOKED: Hart.

 

If we couldn't score past two non-league sides, what hope did we have of finding the net in our next friendly - at home to Premier League Fulham? To be honest, if we could avoid losing by the three-goal margin our parent club beat us by last pre-season, it would be a great result.

 

My opposite number in the Fulham dugout was Billy Davies - a job-hopper who made Nicolas Anelka look extremely loyal! In the last decade, Davies has managed (deep breath) Peterborough United, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Blackburn Rovers, West Ham United, Stoke City, Aston Villa, Blackburn again, Hibernian, and Fulham. I would have loved nothing more than to give this Scottish heartbreaker a proverbial kick in the Jimmy.

[CFuller]

JULY 2024 (continued)

20 July 2024: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Fulham

Fulham's first couple of shots didn't worry us, as Alistair Hamilton-Omole half-volleyed wide in the opening minute and Kevin Robson's third-minute header was caught by Reice Charles-Cook. However, when Cottagers winger Amr Mahmoud nicked the ball off Jonathan Roche after nine minutes, we suffered at the hands of a brilliant counter-attack. Mahmoud took the ball forward and played it right to Ash Verrall, who provided the assist for his 18-year-old strike partner Robson.

 

Our first chance to get back on level terms came in the 11th minute, but Willie Dickson headed wide from Ben Purrington's deep cross. Three minutes later, a defensive error from Dickson led to another opportunity for Robson, whose header was parried by Charles-Cook. That was the last shot on target either team could muster in the first half.

 

We had our fair share of possession and chances, but the closest we came to scoring was from Thomas Tierney's 24th-minute header, which cleared the bar. Willie had been very wasteful up front, and he was one of three Dagenham players who made way at half-time.

 

Reice also came off, but the goal he had guarded so bravely looked more vulnerable with Robbie Ryder between the sticks. After 49 minutes, an intricate display of Fulham passing resulted in Egypt international Mahmoud drilling home Fulham's second goal.

 

The Cottagers' third goal came four minutes later. Robbie made a horrendous error in trying to punch away Taxiarchis Fountas' cross, and his mistake allowed Scottish striker Jack Smith to nod the ball home.

 

Ryder was much more composed when Smith aimed another header at goal on 54 minutes, gathering it safely. He also met Luka Djordjevic's 61st-minute effort with a comfortable catch. Fulham were now putting us under severe pressure, and after 72 minutes, Robbie had to tip over a fierce strike from Mahmoud. A lengthy delay followed before Fountas floated in an exquisite corner that Djordjevic flicked past the keeper.

 

We were 4-0 down, and when Daggers substitute Joel Jones missed the target in the 75th minute, our fans seemed resigned to a heavy defeat. Their mood changed with Joel's next attempt four minutes later - a stunning strike that flew straight into the far corner of Fulham's net!

 

The shackles were off, and in the 83rd minute, a sloppy back-header from Fulham full-back Nathan Smart presented us with another opening. Jamie Bell beat Cottagers goalie Joe Allen to the loose ball and then calmly placed it into the net!

 

We'd halved our four-goal deficit, and we could have cut that down to a single goal in the last few seconds of injury time. Mitchell Clark's free-kick was saved by the visitors' replacement keeper Jorge Arnaldo Martínez, but we still came away from an expected defeat with plenty of pride.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (J Jones 79, J Bell 83)

Fulham - 4 (Robson 9, Mahmoud 49, Smith 52, Djordjevic 73)

Friendly, Attendance 5,301

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Charles-Cook (Ryder), Beech (Jack), Tierney (Heffernan), Kenyon (McEwan), Purrington (Barrett), Roche (Parmenter), Harding (Clark), Dunne (Hart), Vázquez (Ibrahim), Dickson (J Bell), Munn (J Jones).

 

That was Paul Hart's first match since signing a professional contract on his 17th birthday. Another promising Dagenham midfielder, Dean Martin, agreed to sign a full-time deal when he reaches that age next summer.

 

The next player to sign with us had much more experience under his belt. My search for a left-back ended with the capture of 31-year-old Arno Andersen on a free transfer from Barrow. The 5ft 5in Belgian is now at his seventh English club, having been in this country since joining Crystal Palace eight years ago.

 

Our last home friendly was against Ipswich Town, who were about to start a 23rd consecutive season in the Championship. The Tractor Boys recently appointed ex-Arsenal defender Johan Djourou as their new manager.

 

24 July 2024: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Ipswich Town

Jamie Bell should've given us the lead in the seventh minute, but he fired his shot right at Ipswich keeper Stuart Burns, who parried it away. Four minutes later, Paul Hart - playing in an unusual position on the right wing - cut inside before blasting the ball off target.

 

In the 20th minute, Ipswich attempted to hit us on the break. Iain Partner chipped a lovely pass to his German team-mate Manfred Hennebole, but the Eintracht Frankfurt loanee's volley struck the post. Another chance for the Tractor Boys went begging when Will Fox sent his free-kick wide on 31 minutes.

 

The Championship side then missed two sitters in the next five minutes, as Robert Hall's close-range side-footer was caught by Reice Charles-Cook before Partner spurned an even greater opportunity. In between those misses came two clear-cut chances for Bell in the 34th minute. Jamie nodded Paul's cross against the crossbar, and his follow-up header was fumbled by Burns before the former England youth international secured it.

 

There had been some dreadful finishing at both ends in the first half, and Ipswich sent another opportunity begging just moments into the second period. Tractor Boys right-back Christoffer Remmer played a superb cross to Partner on the edge of Charles-Cook's six-yard box, but Partner incredibly missed the target!

 

The rest of the half was, to be honest, absolutely dreadful. We struggled to keep possession, and Ipswich's horror show continued when Burns was replaced in goal late on by Tim Burton. The young goalkeeper had safe Edward Scissorhands in the 79th minute, when he caught Geraint Harding's header from Mitchell Clark's free-kick.

 

Burton would face a much sterner test in the third minute of injury time. As full-time loomed in what looked like being a drab 0-0 draw, Geraint sent a hanging corner to Wayne Coton, who was making his first pre-season appearance. Coton got to the delivery before the rushing Hennebole, and his header bulleted over a desperate Burton! Out of nowhere, we had smashed and grabbed a 1-0 victory against the Tractor Boys!

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Coton 90)

Ipswich Town - 0

Friendly, Attendance 1,867

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Charles-Cook, Jack (Beech), Heffernan (Tierney), McEwan (Coton), Andersen (Purrington), Hart (Vázquez), Clark (Munn), Honeyball (Martin), Ibrahim (J Jones), Dickson (Harding), J Bell (Molyneux).

 

An incredible result really lifted our spirits going into our final friendly, which was at Roots Hall against Southend United. The Shrimpers were back in the Conference Premier, having won the Conference South in April.

 

Sadly, we were without the services of Lee Heffernan. The young defender has strained his thigh in training, and he would be out of action for three weeks as a result.

 

27 July 2024: Southend United vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Both teams had their first chances after four minutes. Dagenham forward Willie Dickson drew a comfortable save out of Southend keeper Kyle Blair, while Shrimpers winger Lee Jacob fired over our bar soon afterwards. Jacob's chance had been created by Norman Jones, who later hurt our experienced midfielder James Dunne with a firm tackle.

 

After some treatment on the sidelines, James was back on the field by the 12th minute, when he fed a short pass to 16-year-old Dean Martin. Dean belied his years to play an excellent ball to Dickson, who placed his shot beyond the onrushing Blair!

 

Our opening goal could have been complemented with another in the 25th minute. Dunne's first-time centre found Wayne Coton, whose header bounced out off the crossbar.

 

Dickson found the net again seven minutes later, when he turned James' flick-on into the net. However, Willie had barged into Blair whilst scoring, and so his goal was disallowed. As Joel Honeyball was booked for protesting against the decision, Dickson went down clutching his ribs. It later turned out that he'd only suffered some minor bruising as a result of his collision with Blair.

 

Southend soon had a scare of their own, as Jacob picked up a knock in the 34th minute. On 40 minutes, the returning Dickson almost nodded another Dunne delivery into the net, but Blair's catch kept our half-time lead down to a single goal.

 

Jonathan Roche came on in the second half, and he made an instant impact with a goal after just 13 seconds! Our second goal came about after Roche played a one-two with Martin, who delighted the Daggers fans with another assist!

 

Dean was playing a blinder, but it was more a case of blunder as far as Southend's 15-year-old striker Calum Ruddy was concerned. Ruddy didn't give us hell with two dreadful long-range shots, which went wide in the 53rd and 67th minute. Another Shrimpers frontman, Gareth Worby, looked very wobbly when he skewed an effort off target on 58 minutes.

 

Southend would finish the afternoon without a shot on target, while we nearly rounded it off with a third goal after 87 minutes. Youth striker Pat Molyneux couldn't find the target from Yasser Ibrahim's fine pass, but this match was all about another rising Daggers star. Memories are made of this for Dean Martin!

 

Southend United - 0

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Dickson 13, Roche 46)

Friendly, Attendance 1,405

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryder (Ryan), Ward (Jack), Coton (Canham), Kenyon (McEwan), Andersen (Purrington), R Jones (Clark), Dunne (Hart), Honeyball (Roche), Martin (Munn), Vázquez (Ibrahim), Dickson (Molyneux). BOOKED: Honeyball.

 

That completed what was, in the end, a rather productive pre-season. We won three and lost two of our six matches, and we scored as many goals as we conceded, so we certainly weren't looking like relegation candidates.

 

After a cameo appearance at Southend, reserve goalkeeper Daryl Ryan signed a new four-year contract with us. The promising Irishman then went straight off to Boreham Wood for a six-month loan spell. Centre-back Billy Kenyon would also be playing in the Conference Premier until late January after agreeing on a temporary move to Ebbsfleet United.

 

I had one final decision to make before the League Two season could begin - who would be my captain? As Robbie Ryder was no longer our undisputed first-choice keeper, I felt that he shouldn't be skipper anymore.

 

Instead, the armband went to our star performer from last season. Big Aaron McEwan had shown real leadership qualities in his first season at Victoria Road with some wonderful displays at centre-half. Right-back Tim Beech was retained as vice-captain.

[CFuller]

Dagenham & Redbridge squad - Start of 2024/2025 season

(All ages correct as of 1 August 2024)

GOALKEEPERS

1. Reice Charles-Cook (age 30, Jamaican)

Reice has outstanding aerial ability and starts the campaign as my first-choice shotstopper.

13. Robbie Ryder (age 26, English)

Deposed captain Robbie is still a dependable goalkeeper who possesses great agility and reflexes.

DEFENDERS

2. Tim Beech (age 22, English)

I really like vice-captain Tim for his high work rate, but the wing-back's position can be suspect at times.

3. Ben Purrington (age 28, English)

Experienced Ben is a no-frills left-back who is very tactically astute and positionally aware.

5. Lee Heffernan (age 18, Irish)

Lee is a very promising centre-half who has a great desire to succeed with his local team.

6. Thomas Tierney (age 20, American)

Thomas is one of our most enthusiastic defenders, and he very seldom mistimes his tackles.

14. Aaron McEwan (age 27, Scottish)

With his strength and height, centre-back Aaron was a massive asset last season and is now our captain.

15. Arno Andersen (age 31, Belgian)

Arno may be our shortest player, but the diminutive left-back has massive heart and a great work ethic.

17. Warren Barrett (age 20, English)

Warren has not developed much since his arrival, and the full-back is now fighting for his future.

20. Wayne Coton (age 19, English)

Wayne was one of last season's surprise packages, but can the burly Midlander continue his rapid progress?

22. Louis Jack (age 20, Scottish)

One of our fittest players, young Louis is improving slowly but steadily as a right-back.

28. Billy Kenyon (age 23, English)

After a frustrating first year at Victoria Road, Billy will spend the next six months with Ebbsfleet United.

MIDFIELDERS

4. James Dunne (age 34, English)

Ball-winning midfielder James has worryingly shown signs this pre-season that he might be past his best.

7. Jonathan Roche (age 21, Irish)

Jonathan is fairly quick and has good technical ability, but the right-winger can sometimes get lost in games.

8. Ahletdin Israilov (age 29, Kyrgyzstani)

Ahletdin should be an excellent attacking playmaker for us - as soon as he returns from international duty.

11. Yasser Ibrahim (age 26, Egyptian)

Egyptian rocket Yasser was sublime last season with 17 goals and 12 assists, but can he replicate that form?

12. Geraint Harding (age 20, Welsh)

Defensive midfielder and FA Trophy hero Geraint has joined us permanently after a loan from Stevenage.

16. Mitchell Clark (age 22, English)

Now in his fifth term at Dagenham, versatile Mitchell gives us great solidity in our midfield.

19. Pablo Vázquez (age 23, Mexican)

Left-winger Pablo, aka 'Speedy Gonzales', is on loan from Portsmouth, initially until the end of January.

21. Paul Hart (age 17, English)

Paul's a real team player who is already challenging for a regular place in attacking midfield.

24. Roy Jones (age 18, English)

Injuries and inconsistency have so far affected Roy's hopes of breaking into the senior set-up.

FORWARDS

9. Neil Munn (age 19, English)

Neil is apparently a great finisher, but I have yet to see that in his first full season at Victoria Road.

10. Jamie Bell (age 23, English)

Jamie bagged 20 goals in each of the last two campaigns, so expect more from the big man.

18. Willie Dickson (age 22, Scottish)

Willie is the ideal target man for us, as the Glaswegian is strong, selfless, and beastly in the air.

25. Joel Jones (age 18, Welsh)

Ex-Norwich City trainee Joel can utilise his pace and flair on the left wing or up front.

 

RESERVE & YOUTH PLAYERS

Goalkeepers: Sam Bell, Daryl Ryan (on loan at Boreham Wood)

Defenders: Glenn Canham, Daniel Ward, Ben Wordsworth

Midfielders: Reiss Edwards, Dean Martin, Wayne Parmenter, Jeremiah Plummer

Forwards: Joel Honeyball, Pat Molyneux

 

BACKROOM STAFF

Manager: Christopher Fuller

Assistant Manager: Fabio Saraiva

Coaches: Mike Jones, Danny Keohane, John Potter, Steve Moss

Fitness Coach: David Wheater

Goalkeeping Coach: Scott Tynan

Physio: Sam Cutler

Scouts: Callum Donnelly (chief), Goma Lambu, Nicky Reynolds

[CFuller]

AUGUST 2024

I had been a football manager for 12 years and 637 competitive matches, but my 638th was, you could say, a completely different ball game.

 

No, I hadn't suddenly quit to become a tennis coach. On 3 August 2024, I took Dagenham & Redbridge to Aggborough for my first ever Football League match. The opposition on that milestone occasion were Kidderminster Harriers, who had graced League Two since 2014 - without ever finishing higher than 16th.

 

Following his man-of-the-match display at Southend United, 16-year-old Dean Martin travelled with us to Worcestershire, where he was hoping to make his competitive debut.

 

The much more experienced James Dunne was told to stay at home after discussions over his long-term future turned very sour. I'd warned James that I was thinking about letting him go if he didn't start the season well, and he interpreted that as, “You're surplus to requirements.” Dunne took my warning very personally and was not in the right frame of mind for this opener.

 

3 August 2024: Kidderminster Harriers vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Kidderminster midfielder Mark Gibson went close to scoring from a free-kick in the 8th minute. Three minutes later, another Gibson free-kick caused us real problems. Anthony Ward outjumped our goalkeeper Reice Charles-Cook to head it home and start our Football League return in the worst possible way. It wouldn't get a great deal better.

 

In the 21st minute, Daggers right-back Tim Beech was booked for a foul on Harriers winger Jay Seeley. Moments later, Kiddy striker Ward fired a shot just the wrong side of the post. My fears for a second home goal only grew when our left-back Arno Andersen headed Simon Lenighan's header off the line after 26 minutes.

 

Sure enough, Kidderminster built up a 2-0 lead two minutes later. It was a nightmare moment for Aaron McEwan, who lost the ball in a sliding tackle from Ward. Mitchell Warden took the ball forward for the hosts and then played a slide-rule pass for Ward. Reice could only parry the striker's shot on to Seeley, who buried the follow-up.

 

With less than half an hour gone, I made a desperate change, as Yasser Ibrahim was sacrificed for Pablo Vázquez. The Mexican created an opportunity for Geraint Harding to strike back in the 31st minute, and Geraint fired it just wide. That was encouraging, but our defenders continued to get stressed out, and McEwan went in the book for fouling Ward after 35 minutes.

 

Big Mac did, though, make a brave block to deny the ex-Derby County striker another goal in the 39th minute. I couldn't fault either Aaron or his fellow centre-half Wayne Coton for lack of effort, but the other nine players needed to pull their socks up if we were to take any points from this game.

 

After a furious half-time team-talk from me, the temperature soared further in the second half. Harding and Gibson both saw yellow within the first three minutes, and Ward was also booked in the 57th minute.

 

On 60 minutes, Jamie Bell played a superb pass to Jonathan Roche, who looked on course to halve our deficit until Kiddie keeper Jamie Mowbray pulled off a tremendous save. By the 68th minute, we were still no closer to a breakthrough. I looked to my bench for one last substitution, and after toying with the idea of bringing on Dean Martin, I decided to throw on Willie Dickson.

 

Willie reinvigorated our attack and almost scored in the 75th minute. The big Scot got a fabulous header to Pablo's corner, but his effort hit the post and deflected into Mowbray's hands. With four minutes to go, Dickson had another go direct from a free-kick. Mowbray made another assured save, and we were resigned to a shutout defeat on the opening day.

 

The referee brought out his yellow card again for Harriers midfielder Wayne Jones and our brave defender Coton in the dying moments. Then, seconds before full-time, he reached for a red card. McEwan and Ward were involved in a minor scrap, and although it was the Kidderminster man who got his marching orders, that sending-off was almost as pointless as we were.

 

Kidderminster Harriers - 2 (Ward 11, Seeley 28)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

League Two, Attendance 4,884 - POSITIONS: Kidderminster 6th, Dag & Red 19th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Charles-Cook, Beech (Jack), Coton, McEwan, Andersen, Harding, Clark, Hart, Roche (Dickson), Ibrahim (Vázquez), J Bell. BOOKED: Beech, McEwan, Harding, Coton.

 

I saw the Kidderminster match as a gauge of where we were comparative to the other League Two teams, so to lose 2-0 was rather worrying. We now had a week to mull that defeat over and try to put things right.

 

During that week, Geraint Harding suffered a chest injury in training. It was highly doubtful that he would play again this month.

 

Our first home game back in League Two was against Morecambe, who had drawn their opening fixture with Rotherham United. The Shrimps finished a very disappointing 21st last season, having struggled to get over their relegation from League One.

 

10 August 2024: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Morecambe

After less than four minutes, Dagenham defender Thomas Tierney hurt himself whilst fouling Morecambe striker Joe Goss. As Tommy received treatment on the sideline, Ryan Smith curled the Shrimps' free-kick just over. Smith gave us another scare two minutes later, when his cracking drive was caught by Robbie Ryder. The restored Daggers keeper also kept out a 14th-minute volley from Matt Grimshaw, which came about after a weak clearance by Aaron McEwan.

 

Aaron showed much greater composure later on to thwart Morecambe's next few attacks. We also had a number of chances to score - the first of which came in the 21st minute, when Pablo Vázquez made an excellent run at goal before hitting a dreadful shot.

 

Tierney went much closer after 40 minutes, when his header was cleared just in time by Shrimps defender Craig Cramb. A goalless first half ended with Mitchell Clark and Jonathan Roche both picking up minor injuries for the Daggers. Clark's was the more serious, so he would not be back after the break.

 

Willie Dickson had been anonymous in the first half, so I adopted a more direct approach in the second half to try and get him in the game. The early signs were encouraging, as Willie had a shot at goal in the 48th minute, though it never got close to the target.

 

By the hour mark, however, we were having to defend deep again. Smith clipped the crossbar with another free-kick in the 60th minute, while Ryder was called upon to save Grimshaw's attempt three minutes later. On 66 minutes, McEwan conceded a Morecambe corner following a crucial saving tackle on Goss. Ashley Rhodes swung the corner to the far post, where Shrimps captain Ryan Starbuck met it with a header that Ryder could only help into the net.

 

Robbie's own goal was a real killer for us. Although our goalie did well to punch away a 72nd-minute corner from Grimshaw, the other Daggers looked broken. When substitute Paul Hart hurt his ankle after running into Morecambe's Jimmy Stuart shortly afterwards, I knew that this would not be our day. We went down to our second straight defeat without much more than a whimper.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

Morecambe - 1 (Ryder og66)

League Two, Attendance 4,005 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 22nd, Morecambe 7th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryder, Jack, Tierney, McEwan, Purrington, Roche, Clark (Hart), Dunne, Vázquez (Ibrahim), Dickson, J Bell (Ibrahim).

 

My disappointment grew further when I learned that Paul Hart had twisted his ankle, putting him out of action for at least five weeks. Mitchell Clark - the man he had replaced at half-time - would miss the next couple of games with a bruised rib.

 

That meant we had three midfielders injured, a fourth - Ahletdin Israilov - was still in south-east Asia with his national team, and a fifth - James Dunne - had accused me of trying to force him out of the club! What's more, we were languishing third-bottom of League Two with zero goals and zero points from our first two fixtures.

 

Other than that, my first month in the Football League was going swimmingly!

[CFuller]

AUGUST 2024 (continued)

To try and solve our midfield crisis, I loaned in 29-year-old Millwall midfielder Aaron Tshibola on a five-month deal. I also persuaded the chairman to increase my weekly wage budget to £32,000, in case my need to sign new players became greater still.

 

Tshibola signed just in time for our League Cup Round 1 match at home to Championship side Notts County - the oldest team in the Football League. Teenagers Dean Martin and Wayne Parmenter both made their competitive Daggers debuts, although injuries meant that this was more out of necessity than of choice.

 

Interestingly, Notts County are managed by Steve Evans - one of the most loathsome characters in British football. Evans has been persona non grata in these parts since 2002, when his shady dealings helped Boston United unfairly pip the Daggers to the Conference title. A lot of our fans have never forgiven him and never will.

 

13 August 2024: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Notts County

Dagenham fans were very encouraged to see us win a couple of corners inside the 18th minute. Three minutes later, though, Notts County nearly fluked an opening goal. County striker Robbie Clements slipped as he tried to reach right-back Aaron Tomkins' pass into the box, and though he just about connected with the ball, Daggers goalie Reice Charles-Cook turned it behind.

 

Magpies keeper Steve Doswell made his first save in the 23rd minute, when he got his fingers to a low drive from Dean Martin. Two minutes after that, Yasser Ibrahim got behind Tomkins to reach an excellent long ball from Daggers captain Aaron McEwan. Yasser looked odds-on to score, but his half-volley came back off the bar, and his follow-up shot was blocked by Tomkins.

 

Our agony was compounded after just over 28 minutes, when Roy Jones' failure to clear a Tomkins cross was punished by an incisive Clements. We were 1-0 down, and had Daggers vice-captain Tim Beech not blocked Sam Morley's 32nd-minute strike, we might have been further behind.

 

Five minutes after that narrow escape, Aaron played another long pass forward to Ibrahim. Yasser had acres of space, and this time, he made the most of his opportunity! Our first goal of the season had restored parity in this cup tie!

 

Notts County were determined to avoid an upset, and when a Daggers attack broke down in the first minute of the second half, they looked to hit us on the counter. Jamaican winger Mario Bernard curled a lovely cross to Clements, who won a corner off Wayne Coton.

 

County didn't create anything directly from that corner, but they came back at us a minute later, when Charles-Cook saved from Milcho Angelov. Wayne was forced to concede another corner, from which the Magpies did pinch a 2-1 lead. Bernard's delivery was perfect for Liam Simpson, who outjumped his fellow Scottish defender McEwan and nodded home for the visitors.

 

From then on, we were really up against it. Notts County became even more comfortable in possession, and Clements could've put them further in front with a 54th-minute header that Reice easily picked up. I later replaced Martin with fellow debutant Aaron Tshibola before a County corner in the 66th minute, from which Tom Stabb stabbed a shot wide. After 75 minutes, Morley played a one-two with Stabb, and then thrusted a dagger into our League Cup hopes by beating Reice at his right-hand post.

 

Doswell's strong save from Willie Dickson's attempt two minutes later proved to be the final death knell for us. Although Morley came off in the 87th minute following a firm challenge from Tshibola, he and his Notts County team-mates had done enough to reach Round 2 at our expense.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Ibrahim 37)

Notts County - 3 (Clements 29, Simpson 48, Morley 75)

League Cup Round 1, Attendance 1,007

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Charles-Cook, Beech, Coton, McEwan, Andersen, R Jones, Dunne, Martin (Tshibola), Parmenter (Vázquez), Ibrahim, J Bell (Dickson). BOOKED: Andersen.

 

Our League Cup run was short and not very sweet, so we swiftly moved on to our next league game. It took place at Chester's Deva Stadium, which was situated right on the England-Wales border. Our hosts Chester had firmly established themselves in League Two under their long-serving manager Marcus Bignot.

 

Two new Dagenham signings were in line to make their long-awaited league debuts from the bench. Lee Heffernan had recovered from a thigh strain, while Ahletdin Israilov had finally come back from Laos, having won the AFC Challenge Cup with Kyrgyzstan. At least we had one winner in our team!

 

17 August 2024: Chester vs Dagenham & Redbridge

The Deva Stadium pitch may have been on the Welsh side of the border, but by the third minute of this match, we felt right at home! Jonathan Roche's low cross was finished from close range by Willie Dickson, and we were already 1-0 to the good!

 

The away fans' excitement didn't last, as Daggers keeper Robbie Ryder had to make a stunning acrobatic save a minute later to keep Bickram Cook's header out. When Cook took the ball off Tim Beech's feet in the 7th minute, Chester prepared to deliver a more substantial blow. Scott Gray rounded off a fine passing move by creating the equalising goal for right-back Aryn Williams.

 

The Blues almost had another goal in the 10th minute. Gray nodded the ball into our six-yard box, where Uche Ikpeazu was all set to finish… until Ryder got his fingers to Ikpeazu's header and Thomas Tierney flicked it away.

 

Another scare came when Steven Symington scooped his shot over the bar after 16 minutes. Four minutes later, Symington played in Chester left-back Matthias Fanimo, who slipped the ball past Ryder! As if our start to the season couldn't get any worse, we were 2-1 down after conceding goals to each of Chester's full-backs!

 

I became even more annoyed in the 26th minute, when Roy Jones sent Neil Munn clear, only for Blues keeper Alan Page to pluck the ball from Neil's feet! The first half ended with Chester piling on the pressure, and Ryder having to make four saves in the last 11 minutes from Ikpeazu, Gray, and Cook twice. Tierney also bailed us out again in the 36th minute, nodding Joseph Debayo's header off the line. Without Robbie or Tommy at the back, we might have been miles behind at half-time.

 

Our hopes of a second-half revival grew in the 47th minute, when Yasser Ibrahim's tackle on Williams left the Australian with a sprained ankle. Williams came off, and Chester didn't threaten our goal again until Gray went wide on 59 minutes. Indeed, that was the last chance the hosts had to increase their advantage, as Tierney almost single-handedly kept the Blues at bay.

 

At the other end, Dagenham strikers Dickson and Munn were continuing to sing the blues. Willie missed out on a second goal in the 68th minute as he failed to keep a vicious drive on target. Five minutes later, Neil couldn't quite get to a hopeful punt from Ben Purrington before Page picked it up. Only when Munn made way for Ahletdin Israilov soon afterwards did we really start to push Chester.

 

On 79 minutes, Blues substitute Andrew Flood's slide tackle on Dickson knocked the ball on to Ibrahim, who somehow missed a gaping target. Yasser was cursing his luck again with five minutes to go. Willie played an excellent through-ball to James Dunne, whose shot hit the post and deflected towards our Egyptian forward. Sadly, Brad McKay got to the ball before Ibrahim, and we came away from another game without any points.

 

Chester - 2 (Williams 7, Fanimo 20)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Dickson 3)

League Two, Attendance 5,762 - POSITIONS: Chester 3rd, Dag & Red 23rd

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryder, Beech, Tierney, McEwan (Heffernan), Purrington, Roche, R Jones (Tshibola), Dunne, Ibrahim, Dickson, Munn (Israilov). BOOKED: Beech, Dunne.

 

That defeat sent us into the relegation zone and left us as one of three teams still stuck on nil points. We were now trailing Dartford on goals scored, and narrowly ahead of Luton Town on goal difference.

 

We now had back-to-back home games to look forward to. If we couldn't get anything from either of those matches, I would be seriously doubting whether we could recover.

[CFuller]

AUGUST 2024 (continued)

The day after our defeat against Chester was Joel Honeyball's 17th birthday. The promising striker marked that occasion by signing his first senior contract, which would keep him at Victoria Road until 2027.

 

Joel had something to smile about, but that could not be said about many of our first-team players as they prepared for a big home game against eco-friendly Forest Green Rovers. Defeat to the Football League's greenest club would blacken the mood at Victoria Road even more.

 

20 August 2024: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Forest Green Rovers

Forest Green had only won one of their first three games this season, but they started like a team bang in form. Dagenham goalie Robbie Ryder had to save a free-kick from Zak Ballard in the fourth minute before parrying a half-volley from Philip Kirkpatrick five minutes later. Ryder then watched Scottish teenager Gavin O'Hagan narrowly miss his right-hand post after 16 minutes.

 

Rovers continued to press us midway through the first half, and their dominance was finally rewarded in the 26th minute. A counter-attack resulted in O'Hagan playing a superb pass to Austin O'Sullivan, who shot through a gap in our defence and beat Ryder.

 

We were playing very poorly up until then, but that goal gave us a real kick up the backside. After 33 minutes, Jonathan Roche set up a rare scoring opportunity for Daggers right-back Louis Jack, who showed why he could never be a striker with a woeful shot straight at Russell Lawless. Forest Green's goalie also saved a more promising effort from Willie Dickson in the dying moments of normal time. By the half-time whistle, though, we were still no closer to levelling the scores.

 

Mitchell Clark came on for Tim Beech at half-time, but just two minutes into the second half, the midfielder strained his neck while tackling Ballard. That injury would affect Mitchell for the rest of this match. A minute later, Ryder saved us from going 2-0 down by catching O'Hagan's close-range header.

 

Forest Green captain Ballard then sent a free-kick just over Robbie's bar in the 50th minute. Six minutes later, some good build-up play from Yasser Ibrahim should've resulted in our equaliser, but Willie Dickson ballooned his shot over.

 

We then flirted with disaster a couple of times, as O'Sullivan's header in the 65th minute cleared the bar, and Ballard missed a real opening soon afterwards. The Rovers wouldn't let us off so lightly next time, as an incisive volley from O'Sullivan doubled their advantage after 68 minutes.

 

Predictably, it only got worse from there. Aaron Tshibola was lucky to escape with a yellow card when he elbowed Forest Green's two-goal hero in the 75th minute. A minute after that, Daggers defender Wayne Coton was forced off with a twisted knee following a clash with Rovers striker Carlton Morris.

 

Then, after 81 minutes, Jack was booked for pushing Ballard just outside our area. The resulting free-kick from Ballard was volleyed in by Kirkpatrick, and we trailed 3-0.

 

We should have had one goal back after 87 minutes, but Jamie Bell's headed finish from Louis' cross was scrubbed out for a seemingly non-existent foul on Lawless. Tshibola did get us a consolation two minutes later by nodding Ahletdin Israilov's corner home, though it didn't bring a smile to my face. We had suffered a fourth straight defeat and were now in last place.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Tshibola 89)

Forest Green Rovers - 3 (O'Sullivan 26,68, Kirkpatrick 81)

League Two, Attendance 3,219 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 24th, Forest Green 16th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryder, Jack, Tierney, Coton (J Bell), Andersen, Tshibola, Beech (Clark), Roche, Israilov, Ibrahim (Vázquez), Dickson. BOOKED: Tshibola, Jack, Roche, J Bell.

 

Mitchell Clark had played very poorly after coming on, and that could be explained by the severity of his neck injury. Mitchell would have to miss the next fortnight with an injury that, in hindsight, he shouldn't have been allowed to play with. Wayne Coton joined him on the sidelines with a twisted knee that would keep him out for at least three weeks.

 

We were now literally at rock bottom, so I called an emergency team meeting for the following morning. The meeting was very constructive, as we set about sorting out our problems. Top of the agenda was our very high foul count - we'd conceded 62 in our four league matches thus far. I told the players that such a high tally was far from acceptable, and that they really had to cool down.

 

I hoped for a positive reaction when we hosted AFC Bournemouth in front of the Sky Sports cameras. Andy Scott's Cherries were the bookies' favourites to win automatic promotion, but they'd started the campaign indifferently.

 

24 August 2024: Dagenham & Redbridge vs AFC Bournemouth

After five minutes, Dagenham defender Thomas Tierney collided with Bournemouth striker Stuart Clark in our penalty area. Tommy suffered a pretty nasty facial injury, but he bravely insisted that he could carry on. Two minutes later, the American allayed my fears about him. Cherries captain Chris Sutherland took Alfie Donaghue's through-ball past our goalkeeper Reice Charles-Cook and looked set to score… until Tierney made a crucial tackle.

 

Charles-Cook made a fine save to deny Clark in the 16th minute, and we then launched a counter-attack, from which Jamie Bell missed the target. Reice thwarted Clark again after 27 minutes, when he stuck his leg out to block the forward's shot. Two minutes later, Bournemouth finally broke the deadlock through Alex Wynter - a midfield journeyman whose previous clubs included Dagenham & Redbridge.

 

Despite falling behind, we continued to counter-attack whenever we could. Bell had a decent opportunity from one such breakaway in the 36th minute, only to see Jak Alnwick block his close-range attempt. Willie Dickson had headed a James Dunne throw-in just over the bar two minutes earlier, but we would need to do much better in the second half to avoid yet another defeat.

 

Two minutes into the second half, Charles-Cook hoofed the ball long to Dickson. Willie spotted that Ahletdin Israilov was ready to cut inside, so he played in the Kyrgyzstani forward. Ahletdin had a great view at goal, and when Alnwick charged out, he pulled the trigger. Israilov had equalised with his first Daggers goal, and his game would soon get better still.

 

In the 50th minute, there was a mini-scramble for possession in the Cherries' area. Dickson eventually took the ball and laid it off to Israilov, who hammered a low shot between Alnwick and his left post! It was 2-1 to the Daggers, and Victoria Road was rocking!

 

Our fans grew more optimistic in the 58th minute, when we won a free-kick just outside the box. Willie bent it high and wide, but he had a better effort a minute later, when Alnwick pushed his shot away. Alnwick came under further pressure midway through the half, as he was forced to save efforts from Bell and Aaron Tshibola in the 64th and 66th minutes.

 

We eventually made it 3-1 on 74 minutes, as Israilov's corner was volleyed in by our wounded warrior Tierney! At last, it looked like we were going to win a game!

 

Barely two minutes later, however, Ben Purrington's sliding foul on Clark gifted Bournemouth a lifeline from the penalty spot. Clark made no mistake, and we became more and more nervous.

 

Purrington was swiftly replaced by Arno Andersen, but it was another substitute who almost restored our two-goal advantage in the 82nd minute. Israilov selflessly found 17-year-old Joel Honeyball just inside Bournemouth's area, and Joel couldn't quite keep his shot on target.

 

In the second minute of injury time, the Cherries had an opportunity to make us pay for that miss. Daniel Perrin attempted a banana shot from 20 yards out… and Reice was relieved to see it drift past his post. When the final whistle blew about a minute-and-a-half later, it was sweet music to our ears! After four successive losses, we had won our first points of the season!

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 3 (Israilov 47,50, Tierney 74)

AFC Bournemouth - 2 (Wynter 29, Clark pen77)

League Two, Attendance 3,671 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 20th, Bournemouth 16th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Charles-Cook, Jack (Beech), Tierney, McEwan, Purrington (Andersen), Tshibola, Dunne, Vázquez, Israilov, Dickson, J Bell (Honeyball).

 

That was a massive victory for us - but we still had defensive problems. Thomas Tierney would miss the next couple of games with his facial injury, and our injury crisis deepened further when Lee Heffernan gashed his head in training two days later.

 

It was painfully clear that we needed another centre-half, so I looked to loan in one before our next game. I eventually found one in the shape of Charlie MacGregor - a very brave 19-year-old who joined us from Nottingham Forest until the end of November.

 

August finished with a trip to Kenilworth Road, where we entertained Luton Town. The Hatters had picked up just one point in their first five fixtures, so this was a great opportunity to move further clear of the drop zone.

 

31 August 2024: Luton Town vs Dagenham & Redbridge

My 100th competitive match as Dagenham & Redbridge boss started with Luton midfielder Byron Gay putting a long-distance strike wide in the second minute. Five minutes later, Daggers forward Yasser Ibrahim thundered a drive off target after a promising run towards goal.

 

On 12 minutes, Hatters right-back Andy Dalman crossed to striker Joseph Cleaver in our penalty area. Cleaver tried to square the ball to his strike partner and captain Simon Killeen, but Tim Beech got to it first… and slid it into his own net! Luton had been gifted the opening goal!

 

We reacted strongly to Tim's clanger, as Willie Dickson headed narrowly over from Ahletdin Israilov's corner in the 17th minute. Dickson's next two efforts, in the 26th and 31st minutes, were not quite so close. We had two more woeful attempts at goal before half-time. Israilov hammered the ball well wide after 32 minutes, and an unusually impotent Willie failed to finish from Yasser's pass in the penultimate minute of normal time.

 

Another bad day worsened still nine minutes into the second half. Luton's experienced wide midfielder Jake Howells made a firm but fair challenge on Jonathan Roche, who was left in utter agony as a result. The Irish winger was stretchered off with what appeared to be a serious hamstring injury.

 

The Hatters almost inflicted further pain in the 61st and 64th minutes, as Killeen twice came close to scoring. In the 69th minute, though, Israilov found an opening for Beech, and Daggers fans were hoping to see him find the net. It wasn't to be, as luckless Tim struck the post. About four minutes later, substitute Pablo Vázquez almost turned Dickson's free-kick into the Luton net, but 38-year-old Scott Flinders tipped the ball behind before Pablo could get there. When Willie got another free-kick in the 81st minute, he went straight for goal… and fizzed his effort past the post.

 

Luton also spurned several chances to enhance their lead, but that early own goal would be enough for their first victory of the campaign. Our fifth defeat in six league matches dropped us back into the relegation zone.

 

Luton Town - 1 (Beech og12)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

League Two, Attendance 6,921 - POSITIONS: Luton 20th, Dag & Red 23rd

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Charles-Cook, Beech, MacGregor, McEwan, Anderson, Tshibola, Dunne (Harding), Roche, Israilov, Ibrahim (Munn), Dickson.

 

It's one thing to lose a match without having a shot on target. It's quite another to lose when your opponents haven't had a shot on target either!

 

As if August couldn't end on a worse note for us, it emerged that Jonathan Roche had torn his hamstring. Jonny won't be back in action until December at the very earliest.

 

So, after our first six matches back in League Two, we sit very miserably in 23rd place. Erm… well, at least we're ahead of Dartford, who've lost six on the trot!

[mark wilson27]

A terrible start to the season, Football League life isn't treating you well. However a man of your capabilities will surely turn it around. Good luck and lets hope for a better September