Daggers 0-1 Brighton: Was We Robbed ?

Brighton & Hove Albion came away from Victoria Road with all 3 points to extend their run to eight straight wins as the Daggers own six game unbeaten run ended, but not without a mighty fight.

Walking down Victoria Road with the masses of Brighton fans I was quietly confident of getting a good result here despite the differing league positions. We always seem to be up for night games against the bigger teams in particular and with good recent results there was no reason why we couldn't pull off one of the biggest wins of the season. Going into the ground I encountered our old friends, the winkballers once again who I brushed aside although one did look like Bobby Zamora to my amazement, saying that I was a little tired and he probably didn't look anything like Bobby. Doing the usual rituals of you know what I went into the ground, got my coke and got ready for the game, having a quick breeze through the programme before hand. The teams came over the tannoy and no surprises really, all the usual faces playing and on the bench, with the exception of Bingham whose been dropped from both at the moment, poor lad. So the teams emerged in front of an unusually packed Victoria Road under the floodlights for what promised to be an intriguing affair.



Was Savages Shot In ?

 The usual toss up etc resulted in both teams staying as they were, Daggers attacking the Marcus James end and Brighton the Bury Road end with Dagenham & Redbridge kicking off. The first good little passage of play was by Craig Noone who dribbled around a couple of players before Vincelot made a good tackle to get the ball away. Just a couple of minutes in, the ball fell to the feisty Vincelot who hit it on the volley, it looked as though it was flying in to the back of the net before Bas Savage blocked his own mans shot, the first real opportunity. The next shot was by Damien McCrory on the left whose half volley went sailing over Ankegrens bar. Then came the major talking point of the whole game on 14 minutes or so. Danny Green who has been in good form of late made a great darting run down the left before sticking a delightful ball into the middle, Nurses original shot was blocked, but the ball rolled dangerously across the penalty area. Tommy Elphick and Bas Savage were going for it, Savage got his toe onto the ball and from where I was it looked like it hit the underside of the bar and then the net, as I'm sure I saw the net ripple. Everyone jumped up as we thought it was a goal but Mr Woolmer gave nothing, absolutely nothing after looking to his assistant, everyone was incensed, surely it was a goal, I'm pretty sure I saw the net ripple. Never the less we had to carry on, the ball was cleared off the line by Elphick as Peter Gain clutched his head in disbelief.



Robbo could have had
a cup of tea !



Whilst everyone was in shock Brighton sprung a quick break away with a corner being forced, the Spaniard Sandaza took it but it came to nothing. The Daggers then broke away again, Savage getting a shot away on the edge of the box but Ankergren got his full body behind it to make a simple save. A ball straight from the Brighton back came forward, it seemed like no trouble but Roberts dropped it and luckily enough there were no Seagulls players around to capitalise. The Daggers were now firmly on the front foot and a great turn shot bu Nurse was deflected to once again fall safely into their keepers hands. By this point Roberts hadn't really been tested and the next move was to prove more of the same, Green once again going down the right another brilliant ball in through the box missed everyone with Nurse inches away from getting a vital connection. Then it was Gains turn to get a shot away, the daisy cutter type of shot was blocked once again by Brighton who for a top of the league team were not performing the way they perhaps should of done. The last action of note in the first half was when Sandaza, possibly the moaniest player in the league got down the right before sticking a decent ball in that was cleared by Damien McCrory. One minute of added time was put up on the fourth officials board which was over in a flash. The first half summary, well what a great performance, putting the league leaders on firmly on the back foot in the game with Robbo not having a single save to make that I can remember. The only down point was of course that controversial incident whether the ball crossed the line or not.

The half time entertainment was as ever, the same, but then again it's a lot better than what most clubs offer, at least we have dancers, even if they're not very good. Yes I am of course talking about those fabulous dancers Pulse, who seemed to have recruited some more members again recently, a simple routine but none the less entertaining for everyone. The half times were read out, a couple of decent ones, Sheffield Wednesday losing was pretty handy of course and England drawing fully justifies why I went to watch the Daggers. Not just because of my passion for them, but the fact it's a meaningless friendly at Wembley, I'd much rather go to Viccy Road on a Tuesday night than watch England play and I'm sure I speak for a lot of you reading this as well. As for the 50/50 draw you guessed I didn't win, but then again I've one it once this season already so I shouldn't really be greedy. The teams emerged for the second half, Brighton first and Dag & Red second, with both sets of fans raring to go it was anyones contest.



Green Looked Dangerous



The Daggers kicked off, at the second time of asking after the previously booked Calderon "encroached" as Green was kicking off. So they had to take it again and true to form, smashed forward well, not even that a nasty bobble meant it didn't really go far and gave Brighton instant control of the ball. Albion fashioned the first half chance of the second period, a neat flick on to Glenn Murray looked promising before the player was shut down well by the Daggers defenders, the ball being cleared to safety. Then the Daggers came extremely close, a decent break away resulted on Scannell getting down the left, cutting inside and putting a curling shot inches wide of the far post, should it have been on target Ankergren was not getting to it. Liam Bridcutt then fouled Jon Nurse outside of the box, with no advantage for the Daggers the play was pulled back for a free kick, about 30 yards or so out. With a 4 step run up Green smashed the free kick with ferocious pace, but like most of them it hit the wall who done their job well and bravely. Danny Green then went into the referees book for a soft challenge on Craig Noone who had been pretty anonymous since the opening minutes. The Daggers then got another opportunity. A good move down the left resulted in Savage flicking the ball over a defender, lining up a good shot that was parried well by Casper the unfriendly Ankergren, sorry I had to get that reference in there somewhere. None the less a great piece of skill and he almost made up for his "miss" earlier.



Murray For Brighton



Then came the gut wrenching moment for the Daggers. A throw in from Brighton, well I think so, was headed away by Doe and it fell to Noone just inside the box. He hit a Di Canio like scissor volley that was going miles wide, before being touched down Glenn Murray and smashed off of the underside of the bar and in. This was over the line unfortunately and once again a piece of luck benefited the away team, make no mistake though this was an excellent finish by Murray as it bounced over the line, the 1400 or so visiting supporters were sent into raptures. This was Brightons first real opportunity of the game and they took it. I remember watching highlights of their 1-0 win against Oldham the other week, Oldham were killing them but Brighton got the vital goal. Same again here, if you don't take your chances you don't get the result, the lesson that has been harshly learnt on several occasions by us this season. So then with everyone surprised by the goal we lined up for the restart with Brighton singing all the way down to cloud cookoo land. At this point I do feel the need to say that a Brighton fan has just messaged by saying that the ball was over the line.



Lancaster Looked Lively

 Albion then made a substitution straight away, the former Charltom player Radostin Kishishev coming on for the largely anonymous Elliott Bennett. Straight from the restart Scannell got down the left and forced Ankergren into a save from his high cross into the box. Brighton then went up the other end and it was Calderons turn to put one in, but it was headed away convincingly by Scott Doe who has been in fine form of late. The inevitable sub was then made by Stilly, Bas Savage who had a decent game bar that miss was replaced by loanee Cameron Lancaster who looked lively on Saturday against Sheffield Wednesday, lets hope he could bag us a quick fire goal. With Murray running towards goal Arber made a clever or perhaps clumsy challenge, view it in your own way which resulted in a foul and a booking for the skipper. Then after Roberts gathered the ball and made the usual lump upfield Green got a free kick after being blocked off by two Seagulls players. The ball was swung in and it reached the back post where Doe headed it back across only for it to be smothered up yet again by Ankergren. Then came another sub, just like at the weekend Damien Scannell came off for the man who seems to make a bit of a difference as it goes, Darren Currie against one of his many former clubs. Just before the sub Ogogo made some space for miself down the right and swung the best ball of the night in, it went straight across the goalmouth, it was absolutely begging for a touch into the net ! As per usual no one found their way on to it, we created the chances but we just couldn't finish them.



Gain Was Sensational



A well done to the Albion fans who gave Savage a round of applause previously as he went off and Currie a round as he came on, it's what you like to see. Another sub saw Gary Dicker replaced by Matt Sparrow as Poyet looked to freshen things up in the midfield. Then it was Peter Gains turn to shine, after going round two or three players he unleashed yet another fierce shot which was blocked by Greer in the Seagulls defence as it goes for a corner. Green played a short corner, my least favourite and it did come to nothing. Ironically enough just minutes later Gain had another drilled shot that was blocked again by Greer that once again went out for a corner. Before the corner could be taken Poyet made his last sub, the non existent Noone was replaced by New Zealand international Chris Wood. Currie took the corner which came to nothing, Brighton went down the left and a shot by Murray from outside the area resulted in a goal kick for Roberts which he took very hastily as you would understand. Danny Green then went down the right and swung a ball in that was only partially cleared to Vincelot on the edge of the box whose attempt at goal hit the scoreboard and bounced back down. It was last chance saloon now. The fourth official put up four minutes of injury time on the board, we still had a chance. A minute or so into that the Daggers were still pressuring, a shot by Ogogo was cleared out as far as Arber on the left whose dreadful ball back in went over the top. That was possibly the last chance. Ankergrens boot down the far end resulted in Sandaza dribbling down the left and being taken out by Ogogo. From where I was i feared the worst, but luckily Abu only got a yellow.

That was the last action of the game and the referee blew up for full time.
Dagenham & Redbridge 0-1 Brighton & Hove Albion



How it all stats up

 Despite the defeat, there are countless number of positives from the game. The fact that we gave the league leaders a real run for their money, in fact we should have at least got a draw out of that game we were simply superb. We made them look ordinary, not ten points out in front, Noone was marked out of the game and Robbo didn't have anything to do except pick the ball out of the net. We were amazing, honestly, if our goal wasn't unjustly ruled out we would have won that game I'm confident. Poyet even said after the game they were lucky. However that's why they're top of the league, the ability to grind out results, they've done it before and they done it again here. Fair play they took their half chance well and stole all three points. Take nothing away from the lads tonight though, they were sensational against a virtually promoted team, proud to be a Daggers every game, but tonight was simply amazing. Credit must go to the Brighton fans, great support for the team bringing down good numbers tonight.

Ratings:
Tony Roberts 7: Didn't have anything to do, made a couple of slips early on, but nothing major.
Abu Ogogo 7: Done well, no real challenges to be made, a couple of good crosses.
Scott Doe 8: Made a few good tackles, solid as usual.
Mark Arber 7: Good game, nothing of note really.
Damien McCrory: Like Arbs, done well no mistakes good game.
Romain Vincelot 8: Great game, got stuck in completely almost man of the match.
Peter Gain 9: Amazing game, done everything right, tackling, passing, shooting & dribbling, great game tonight.
Danny Green 8: Done some good balls and tracked back well.
Damien Scannell 7: Played well, a couple of good balls in and a close shot.
Jon Nurse 8: Worked tirelessly, done well with the heading and got some shots away.
Bas Savage 7: Whether it was in or not, i tend to think it was, done well tonight held up the ball, got a few flick ons and tested the keeper a bit more than he usually does.
Cameron Lancaster 7: Given 20 minutes, chased down everything, not really given a chance, looks promising
Darren Currie 7: Whipped a few good balls in, maybe he should have started or come on earlier.

Referee 7: Bar the goal he should have allowed or maybe it was his assistant he done well, blew up for fouls at the right time and played advantage very well.
PA Announcer 7: A new feature, clear and everything but who are Brighton & Hove Albert ?

Next Up: Exeter City vs Dagenham & Redbridge. March 2nd. 15:00 Kick Off



As It Stands