Trips to Morecambe are usually
eventful for, The Daggers
Scale - predominantly because our last two attempts to reach the Globe Arena
have failed due to inclement weather. But on Saturday, we finally made it to
the seaside resort to witness Dagenham & Redbridge salvage a last gasp draw
courtesy of a Rhys Murphy 94th minute equaliser. That was only after Morecambe
turned the game around through Mark Hughes and Ryan Williams following Abu
Ogogo's strike early on.With no risk of the game being called off due to the weather this time around, we set off from Chadwell Heath at around 8am for the long journey to Lancashire. After a quick change, we boarded our surprisingly empty Virgin Trains Service to Lancaster just shy of 9:30am. Another quick change onto possibly the most modern Northern Rail service I've ever been on (this was more 1990's rather than the usual 1960's feel); we arrived in Morecambe at around 12:30pm.
Upon arrival we opted to take the scenic route through the town by walking the one mile distance to the ground rather than calling a taxi. It allowed me the chance to make several judgements about the place. Namely one - it resembled God's waiting room, and two, it didn't seem like a very multicultural community. Then again, we only get a snapshot of the town in the time that we're there and as a result can only base our opinions on what we see in that short time.
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| The must see attraction on Morecambe seafront. |
After finding directions to the ground, we set about finding the seafront to guide our path to the stadium. It's fair to say Morecambe is quite a rundown place unfortunately. Dilapidated buildings line the streets; while a multitude of houses down the side roads remain unused and seemingly forgotten about. What Morecambe does have however, is a polo tower. Quite why I'm not sure, but nonetheless it amused me.
Having walked down the long, straight road for a good 20 minutes, we finally came across the Hurley Flyer Pub where we resided for an hour or so. With no Sky TV to show the lunchtime kick off's and ID required to buy a drink - we were devoid of both pre-match entertainment and a pre-match pint. Nevertheless it was a quaint little pub that I'd recommend to away fans if they can go without watching the early Saturday kick-off's.
With 15:00 approaching we exited
the pub for the Globe Arena, which is situated literally a stone’s throw from
the back of the pub itself. With a slick front entrance, not
to dissimilar to the one at Burton Albion - it's easy to think that
the Globe is just your run of the mill modern build. The away turnstiles
quickly tell you otherwise, at just over a foot wide making it nigh on
impossible for anyone above average build to enter into the stadium.
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| The vacant away terrace. |
The away concourse is what I've come to expect of the stadiums in League Two. The cold concrete structure has a large amount of space complete with Sky TV in the corner to catch Jeff Stelling and co with the scores at half time. After a short twisting walk you reach the pitch, made to seem park like by the lack of a real stand on the far side. At this point I should mention we were housed in the corner of the main stand for the afternoon, rather than the away terrace that supporters who travel in large numbers receive.
Our stand which is named after the current chairman, Peter McGuigan, is all seated and also accommodates home fans. With a capacity of 2,200 it's completely undercover with no viewing restrictions and plenty of leg-room if you want to sit down. It also has reinforced sides to ensure that the sea-breeze doesn't give away supporters frostbite - a feature that is especially important in the winter months.
The rest of the ground feels a lot more "League Two", but that's not to say I didn't like it. The majority of the home support stands in the West Terrace which has a capacity of 2234, allowing for a great deal of noise to be generated when the Shrimps are doing well. The rest of the supporters are given the long uncovered terrace that is split into two parts on the far side. At just a few steps high, only the hardiest of souls would dare to set foot their on a rainy day - which begs the question, why was a roof not put over it when the stand was built?
Nevertheless we took our seats in the rather steep main stand, which gave us a terrific view across the town including the now famous, Polo Tower. The PA system blared out some terrific pre-match tunes, which were unfortunately somewhat out of place in a stadium that contained just over 1700 people. I was enjoying myself anyway. After the final song had played over the tannoy, the teams emerged from the tunnel to a warm ripple of applause. They lined up as follows...
Morecambe: Roche, Hughes, Diagne,
Wright, Parrish, Kenyon, Williams, Drummond, Sampson, Ellison, Amond.
Dagenham & Redbridge: Lewington, Connors, Doe,
Saah, Hoyte, Bingham, Ogogo, Howell, Hines, Murphy, Obafemi. Subs: Seabright, Woodall, Elito,
Wilkinson, Femi, Reed, Saunders.
Wayne Burnett chose to name an
unchanged side for the visit to Morecambe, allowing forward Afolabi Obafemi to
retain his starting place. Jake Reed returned to the bench in place of winger
Sean Shields, while Josh Scott remained missing due to illness/injury.
With the teams announced and
ready to go, the referee blew his whistle to indicate the start of the match.
It started lively with Daggers on the attack, Zavon Hines seeing his shot
deflected onto the post and behind for a corner. It was end to end action, with
Jack Sampson testing Chris Lewington before Padraig Amond crashed his glancing
header onto the crossbar and out for a goal kick.
With both sides pressing early
on, it was inevitable that the match would quieten down as the half
wore on. Even with that lull, Daggers still looked threatening and as a result
took the lead with 20 minutes played. Neat build up down the right hand side
released Afolabi Obafemi in the centre who threaded through for Abu Ogogo to
slot the ball calmly through the legs of Barry Roche for a 1-0 lead. Incredibly
it was Ogogo's fourth goal of the season, despite having only scored five in
his previous four years at Daggers.
Nonetheless it was a deserved lead for the visitors who would now undoubtedly sit back inviting pressure from the Morecambe front line. And as predicted, that was the case. First the lively Kevin Ellison saw his shot comfortably saved by Lewington, before Amond tested Lewy who gathered at the second attempt. Even with the Shrimps pressure, Daggers were still able to carve out opportunities - Obafemi dragging a shot wide of the post on the half hour mark.
From then on in it was all Morecambe and in particular Kevin Ellison, the chief orchestrator in the home sides onslaught. First he saw his fierce strike closed down well by Brian Saah, while minutes later Padraig Amond headed just over from Ryan Williams' corner that initially came about through Ellison down the right.
With the pressure increasing, Lewington was forced into two more brilliant diving saves before the break to deny both Ellison and in particular Rhys Williams, whose effort just before half-time was extraordinarily parried over the bar by the former Leatherhead 'stopper. Meanwhile ex-Macclesfield left-back Tony Diagne glanced over unmarked from a corner as Daggers just about held on following a succession of controversial free-kicks towards the end of the half.
As the ball was booted upfield,
the referee who was being lambasted by Daggers fans blew for half time. It was
an immense relief to hear the whistle for all concerned in the visiting camp,
whose had been under siege for large parts of the second half. Quite how
Morecambe hadn't gone in level at half-time was a mystery. But
more bewildering was why Daggers had slumped so poorly in the latter
stages of the second half after such an impressive start.
During the interval I decided to go downstairs to sample some of Morecambe's famed cuisine. They may officially have the best pies in the country, but what the surveys don't tell you is that they have the most overpriced hot-dogs. At £2.60 for a hot dog about as long as my index finger, in a bun that crumbles faster than Barnet's Conference promotion challenge - I was not impressed.
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| The second half restarts. |
With that discouraging episode out of the way, the teams returned for the second half to yet more uplifting music. It's a shame really, because Morecambe's selection of tunes would be brilliant in a sell out stadium at full capacity, but with just under 2000 inside the Globe, it was always going to be hard to create a good atmosphere. Also, I'm pretty sure I mentioned that at the top of the Blog.
After the break, Morecambe continued from where they left off. Tony Diagne's ball in from the left was quickly cleared away, before Rhys Murphy was flagged offside for the umpteenth time up the other end. The Shrimps were finally rewarded for all of their hard work on 52 minutes, and unsurprisingly it was yet another set-piece goal conceded by Daggers.
A free-kick on the left from Ryan Williams found the unmarked head of ex-Accrington frontman Padraig Amond who glanced home past Chris Lewington to level things up at 1-1. Unusually it wasn't the poor defending for the goal that caused the most frustration for the away fans, more the contentious nature of free-kick in the first place. Most (including myself), felt that Gavin Hoyte had made a perfectly good challenge, but the referee who I'm obliged to say was having a shocker anyway, felt differently and ultimately awarded the free-kick. I know it doesn't excuse the poor defending, but you have to ask the question of whether it was even a free-kick in the first place.
If you think for a minute that the Morecambe goal may have sprung Daggers back into action, you're wrong. If anything it worked as an incentive for the hosts to push on even more and go for a winner. The dangerous Kevin Ellison headed over from close range, before Diagne screwed a shot wide from distance and then Ellison again flashed one wide of the post. Sandwiched inbetween the Morecambe pressure Wayne Burnett managed to make a change - bringing on the bigger Brian Woodall for the pacey, but ineffective Afolabi Obafemi.
The Shrimps onslaught continued as the half wore on, Jack Sampson the latest to see an effort go wide of the post after he had worked himself into a good position. He was soon substituted for Joe Mwasile in a like for like change. With 15 minutes remaining the hosts came the closest yet, Diagne's ball in from the left headed goalward by Amond, but Lewington saved comfortably.
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| The fans in the open terrace had something to cheer about. |
With the pressure steadily increasing throughout, a goal was inevitable and on 77 minutes, both sets of supporters were finally put out of their contrasting miseries. Ryan Williams' corner wasn't dealt with properly, leaving former Barnet midfielder Mark Hughes to scoop up and slam the ball home into the roof of the net from close range. No matter how much you expect the goal, it's always a killer when it goes in and unfortunately this time, we deserved it.
That goal made it 2-1 to the hosts, leaving Daggers deflated after a dismal second half showing. Medy Elito was quickly introduced for the unusually poor Billy Bingham to try and give the visitors more attacking intent going into the final 10 minutes. Yet it was the hosts who continued to provide the majority of the pressure, Amond forcing another diving save from the overworked Lewington.
With time running out, Daggers launched a final onslaught in the closing five minutes and but for Barry Roche, would have been level. Gavin Hoyte's brilliant inswinging ball into the box was knocked back by Hines towards Rhys Murphy, who saw his tame header saved at point blank range by Roche to preserve the Morecambe lead. Brian Woodall followed up with the rebound but could only blast into an empty terrace. Surely it was Daggers' best and ultimately final chance of the afternoon.
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| 77 Travelling Daggers fans. |
But just as all looked lost, Daggers salvaged a late equaliser four minutes into stoppage time. Chris Lewington's hopeful punt upfield was latched onto by Hines who interchanged with Abu Ogogo before advancing into the box and squaring for Rhys Murphy to slam the ball home past Barry Roche and into the roof of the Morecambe net, sending the away fans delirious in the process. The 73 Daggers in the away stand couldn't believe it - myself included.
The players ran into the corner where several supporters had gathered to celebrate together, making a congregation of high octane emotions. There was the small matter of having to suppress a late Morecambe surge from the restart, but the referee quickly blew up to send Daggers home with a perhaps undeserved share of the spoils. Cue the biggest cheer you'll hear for an away point all season, with the exception of Scunthorpe last month where we did exactly the same thing for Luke Howell's last gasp equaliser.
Morecambe supporters quickly evacuated the Globe Arena, disconsolate that such a dominant performance had seen them come away with just the point. It also broke the clubs run of four successive victories, moving them outside of the play-off zone in the process. The Daggers faithful meanwhile remained, applauding the players and management team following a hard earned, but not deserved point.
It's an interesting one really. We dominated the opening 20 minutes, but after taking the lead we looked like a different side. There was a lack of urgency in all areas, we were second best all over. If not for Chris Lewington in particular during the first half, the scoreline could have looked a lot different.
Nevertheless we came away with a point, and maybe that's testament to our resolve this season. In past years I think that's the sort of game where we may have caved in completely and shipped three or four - but we didn't. We dug in at the end and that extra bit of quality that you pay for in Hines paid off. His dazzling bit of skill was his only really significant contribution all afternoon, but what a contribution it was. Coupled with Murphy's predatory striking instinct, we have a cracking pair of players going forward. Credit also needs to go to Abu Ogogo for notching yet another goal!
I have to admit though; I was
very surprised with the selection of Obafemi up front instead of a more
physical sort of player like Brian Woodall. I know we need pace, but away from
home generally we've seemed to go for the approach that best combats the
centre-halves - which normally is strength. Elsewhere Jack Connors continued to
impress, looking assured on the ball at left-back while Luke Howell put in
another committed performance in midfield.
My only other qualm is our
worrying deficiancies when defending from set-pieces. It’s clear to everyone at
the club, management staff included that this is our major weakness this
season. And once again it was exposed on Saturday afternoon. If we can sort
that out somehow, we will be a far sturdier outfit.
Unfortunately I can't let the game go without having a moan at the officials. They were absolutely abysmal, the worst I've seen in League Two in a good few years. You don't expect them to get all decisions correct at this level, but a decent grasp of the game would have been nice. Some of the decisions didn't make sense and quite frankly, it became embarrassing. I don't like moaning at the officials (contrary to popular belief), but Saturday's collection were bordering on a joke.
And that was it basically. Finally we had completed a trip to Morecambe and secured a point for our troubles. The journey home was largely uneventful, although Zavon Hines was on our train for one reason or another.
Next up for Daggers is Bury at
home on Saturday, while Morecambe travel south to Northampton Town. I do regret
to tell you that due to Sixth Form work and other
writing responsibilities, The
Daggers Scale will now only
be reserved for away matches - meaning no home games will be reported upon.
That is of course unless there's a freak home result, in which case a report
may be filed.
