Fleetwood Town 3-1 Daggers, Murphy's Law.

The 2013/2014 SkyBet League Two got up and running on Saturday afternoon and unsurprisingly for one particular team it started with defeat. That team of course, was Dagenham & Redbridge. A combination of atrocious defending and inconsistent marking ensured that Wayne Burnett's first game of the new campaign ended in defeat to one of the division’s promotion favourites.

It's slightly disappointing to say, but for most Daggers fans that set out up on the trip to Lancashire, defeat seemed almost inevitable. Graham Alexander had recruited well over the summer, bringing in League Two quality in the form of Steven Schumacher and Ryan Cresswell amongst others. Daggers meanwhile had completed minimal transfers over the close season, with forward Rhys Murphy and centre half Brian Saah the only likely starters.

All of this and more was discussed on the trip up to the distant North-West which began at 6:30am, before meeting at Chadwell Heath for 8am. After gathering several others along the way we reached Euston in good time to make our Orient filled train at 9:30am. With a lack of seating, sol, and a blow up doll all on the same carriage it was sure to be an eventful journey. After nearly departing at Wigan North-West we arrived at Preston just after 12:00 where we changed onto the luxurious Northern Rail service.

I moan about public transport in London, but when you step onto a Northern Rail service it makes you really appreciate what you've got. Two carriages of misery, toilets that didn't work and a distinct lack of seats - welcome back to the North, Daggers fans.

The front of the stadium.

With half an hour of toil completed, we finally arrived at Blackpool North just after 13:00. Thanks to the blustery sea breeze wearing shorts no longer seemed like a good idea. At least it was warmer than our last trip to Highbury in March! With the taxi's already and waiting we hopped in and headed along Blackpool promenade to Highbury Stadium, located a good 15 minutes away from real civilisation. 

Once there our first port of call, naturally, was Jim's Bar - the Fleetwood Town clubhouse. And it is without doubt, one of, if not the best clubhouse in the whole of League Two. It's so swanky it feels like a nightclub. Leather seats litter the pristine wooden flooring whilst "booths" are also available for groups of supporters. All of this is completed by a vast array of TV's all over the bar, including two in each individual booth. If you go to Fleetwood this season, I can't recommend this place highly enough. 

A good hour and a half was spent drinking Cider in the company of the home supporters with several songs exchanged as 15:00 edged ever closer. As the bell tolled for final orders (at 14:40?!), we headed towards the away end and went in through the automated turnstiles. The cold concrete concourse greeted us as we went along and up the stairs into our seats for the afternoon.

For the second year running at Fleetwood we had been allocated the Parkside Stand as our support didn't warrant opening the terrace behind the goal. As our mini allocation began to fill up, the sprinklers rose from the ground to douse the pitch underneath the "blazing" Lancashire sun. With little over 5 minutes until kick off, that anticipation for the new season began to rise like it does every year. The pitch was in pristine condition and the supporters were full of optimism (maybe not for both sides). The new season was finally here.

The teams emerged from the tunnel to a rapturous round of applause from both sets of supporters, eager to see their relatively new look sides in competitive action for the first time. The pre-match pleasantries took place before the Daggers XI came over to clap the 133 travelling fans that had made their way to this secluded corner of Northern England.

Fleetwood Town: Davies, Hogan, Cresswell, Roberts, Jordan, Schumacher, Hughes, Brown, Sarcevic, Ball, Crowther.

Dagenham & Redbridge: Lewington, Femi, Doe, Saah, Hoyte, Howell, Ogogo, Bingham, Scott, Murphy, Elito. Subs: Seabright, Reed, Conners, Dennis, Woodall, Shields, Obafemi.

As expected Daggers lined up in a hybrid 4-4-2/4-3-3 formation which saw Abu Ogogo revert to central midfield and Gavin Hoyte to right back. With Luke Wilkinson still sidelined Brian Saah partnered Scott Doe at centre half. Billy Bingham started in midfield whilst a front two of Rhys Murphy and Josh Scott would be assisted by Medy Elito. Tricky wingers Sean Shields and Louis Dennis remained on the bench alongside new signing Afolabi Obafemi.

With the huddles completed and the photographs taken, the teams lined up to begin the new 2013/2014 season. The referee blew his whistle and we began. Surprisingly it was the visitors that started on the front foot. Despite the early momentum, Fleetwood quickly asserted themselves and Chris Lewington was soon forced into action to deny David Ball's drilled shot with less than three minutes played.

The early pressure from the hosts continued before eventually manifesting itself into a crucial mistake by the visitors. Billy Bingham was caught with the ball just outside his 18 yard box and was forced to track back and concede a corner. From the resulting set-piece, the hosts took the lead. Ryan Crowther's floated ball towards the back post was perfect for debutant Mark Roberts who escaped his marker to power home his header with just four minutes played. 

Wayne Burnett attempted to gee up the troops but by the time his enthusiasm could muster a response, Daggers found themselves two goals behind. Jeff Hughes, who once scored a hat-trick against Daggers whilst at Bristol Rovers latched onto a loose ball twenty yards out before rifling it past a crowd of defenders and into the corner of the net for 2-0. By all means I didn't expect to win this match, but to be 2-0 down inside 10 minutes was shambolic - criminal even. Oh well, only 4130 minutes of the season to go lads.

The shell-shocked visitors now had a mountain to climb against one of the promotion favourites and already it seemed as if the game was beyond our reach. Nevertheless the Essex outfit persevered and nearly pulled one back five minutes later, but Medy Elito's delivery evaded all of those in the box before drifting out for a goal kick. Unusually Daggers looked fragile at the back and but for another fantastic stop by Lewington, Hughes would have taken his tally for the afternoon to two.

Burnett's favoured passing style was being implemented in part, but it was a simple ball over the top that brought about the Daggers response. Billy Bingham picked out the arcing run of Medy Elito who beat the offside trap for the first time, before advancing and squaring for debutant Rhys Murphy who slid in to net his first ever goal in English football. After a disastrous opening, with 25 minutes gone we were suddenly back in the game. Optimism was renewed and we began once more. 

After such an explosive start the match soon quietened down and turned into more of a midfield scrap. Unfortunately for Daggers it was the Cod that were winning the majority of the battles as the visitors continued to look too lightweight in midfield. When we did get the ball, our main outlet was down the left where Medy Elito looked to get a run on the full back, but failed miserably.

Following Gavin Hoyte's booking Daggers almost found an equaliser. The ball was played down the channel to Murphy who controlled brilliantly before bamboozling his defender and curling a shot just inches wide of Scott Davies' post. It was a glimpse of what Murphy was capable of despite an ultimately weak shot. We've lacked a striker with a bit of imagination since Gayle's departure; hopefully Murphy can feel that void.

Lewington

His miss meant Daggers still trailed 2-1, a scoreline that was nearly extended just before the break. The Daggers defence were forced to defend two more corners, with Chris Lewington called into action once more to ensure that the deficit remained at just the one during half time. It wasn't an ideal half, but to go only one down at the interval after a disastrous start can be considered acceptable. 

In our brief 15 minute respite I decided to head down to the concourse to sample what minimal food Fleetwood had on offer. After seeing the menu, I decided against it. I mean, they're called the Cod and they don't even serve fish, it's an outrage! We soon headed back up to the stand where a slightly drunk Bill (@EssexDaggerBC) was optimistic for the second half.

The second half began in earnest and Daggers were immediately looking to find that elusive equaliser. Another Elito ball into the box was cleared away before Murphy narrowly failed to get on the scoresheet once more when a cross was pitched just a yard or so in front of him. That was made even more frustrating five minutes later when Daggers were undone from yet another set piece. This time it was former Southend centre half Ryan Cresswell who was left unmarked to head home past Chris Lewington despite the best efforts of Brian Saah on the line.

All of the early hard work in the second half had been undone as a result of lackadaisical defending once more. With that we were back to square one, a two goal deficit against what will probably turn out to be one of the strongest defences in the league - what chance did we have? Well if Rhys Murphy's creative runs were anything to go by, we were still in the game. He escaped his marker once more but was unable to provide a telling finish as the Fleetwood defence mopped up the danger.

With a goal looking increasingly unlikely, Burnett acted to make a double change. Medy Elito and Josh Scott were withdrawn to be replaced by Afolabi Obafemi and Jake Reed. Josh hadn't really made much of a contribution to proceedings, but playing in an unfamiliar wide left position that should come as no surprise.

Both sides continued to attack in search of goals at either end for different reasons. It was the hosts that came closest from yet another set-piece, but this time Scott Doe was on the line to make a sensational last gasp clearance to prevent the scoreline extending to 4-1. Up the other end Obafemi came close whilst Jake Reed also looked creative without really threatening the Fleetwood Town goal.

By the time Brian Woodall was introduced on 87 minutes, the game was already over as a contest. After enduring four extra minutes of pain, the referee blew his whistle to signal an end to the first match of the season. The phrase going through my mind at this point was something along the lines of, "Same sh*t, different season." Oddly enough we looked ok going forward, but it was our exploits at the back that are a cause for real concern - especially where set pieces are concerned.

In reality it was the start that killed us. That and our inexplicably bad defending from set pieces. If we can tighten our defence and improve on our organisation then we'll be a markedly better side ahead of next week - but Rome wasn't built in a day of course. The key thing for me is to play players in their favoured positions. It's so frustrating seeing Abu play in centre mid, a position where in a passing orientated outfit really doesn't suit him. I'd much prefer him playing at right back, a position where he excels.

A similar case to this is that of Josh Scott. He was forced out wide on the left on Saturday, a position that really didn't suit him. If we want to get the best out of Josh has to play down the centre. But then you have the dilemma of what to do with Murphy, who, by all accounts looks to be our biggest goal threat this season. It's a difficult situation and one that Burnett will do well to manage.

Having briefly dissected the afternoon’s performance in my head, we journeyed back past the jubilant home fans and into the rammed Fleetwood clubhouse to drown our sorrows. We even had our own booth, although we were avoided like the plague. One more pasty and half a pint of cider later we departed for Blackpool North, only to have to spend an hour at the station waiting for our Northern Rail service back to Preston.

Harry (@HarryBird94) and Bill stocked up on fosters for the train journey home, although quite how Bill was still standing was a mystery to us all. Having arrived at Preston we quickly switched onto the Virgin service before commandeering an old couples table to enjoy a jolly on the way back to Euston. After three hours (perhaps the longest of our life) we arrived back at Euston at around 22:45. 

Having parted ways with Wilson, Mike and Matt the rest of us took the short walk to Euston Square before hopping on the Metropolitan Line back to Liverpool Street. Another quick change saw us onto the overground service where we arrived back at Chadwell Heath soon after 23:30. To say it had been an exhausting day, was an understatement. Eighteen hours of laughs and misery in equal measure, you've got to love football.

A little side note to the day is quite how Fleetwood will sustain their ambitions. I know they have backers, but to have just 2500 at home on the opening day after paying around £200,000 for a player is simply not sustainable. When you couple that with the brilliantly cheap season tickets they offer, especially for Under 16's (they're free), it's a shame that so many aren't taking up the offer. I like Fleetwood, but you wonder whether in the long term it'll all work out.

Now though we turn our attention to tonight's clash with League One promotion favourites Brentford in the League Cup at Griffin Park. Personally I'd love to see Shields and Dennis given a go on the wings in a 4-4-2 formation, but whether that'll happen I don't know. We've lost on all six of our previous first round ties, so maybe, just maybe, we can finally get a win in this competition. But probably not.

Thanks for reading and remember to follow me on Twitter @NickMurphyDRFC. Oh and for the record, I will always hate Fleetwood's goal music.

Fleetwood Town 2-1 Daggers, Daggers Put In Their Plaice.

Trips to Lancashire are usually eventful when following Dagenham & Redbridge. With a postponement against Morecambe and a crucial win against Accrington, this season has brought a mixed bag. On Saturday though, Daggers left the North West empty handed as they fell to a 2-1 defeat at Fleetwood Town in bitterly cold conditions. The visitors failed to hold onto the lead given to them by Medy Elito early on from the spot, with David Evans & Junior Brown ensuring Fleetwood kept their Play Off push alive. 

Before all that though, came the arduous trek up to the land of Cod. With snow drifts bringing parts of the country to a standstill, rail travel through the Midlands and beyond was looking like a problem. The journey started at 8:45 at Chadwell Heath, where after battling through heavy snowfall we boarded our train to Liverpool Street before going on to Euston, via Euston Square. 

When there, we were forced into a tenuous wait to see whether our Glasgow bound train would be delayed. Luckily for us, it wasn't. And with unreserved seating we were treated to a table seat in the buffet car. Life doesn't get any better, does it? After flying through the picturesque scenery of the Midlands which was blanketed in snow, we arrived at a freezing cold Preston just shy of 13:20. With a quick dash over the footbridge, we boarded our luxury Northern Rail service to Blackpool North which would take little over 30 minutes.

We now had to endure the less picturesque scenery of Lancashire before our train arrived at Blackpool North just before 14:00. With wispy snow falling outside, we headed towards a taxi that would charge us £21 for the 7 mile ride along Blackpool seafront and into Fleetwood. Upon arrival our first port of call was the ticket office – where despite being 17 I was charged £17.

This griped on me. I firmly believe that in any division, there should be a concessions price for tickets along with Under 16 & Adult. The £17 was a hefty price to pay and wasn't helped by the fact I was unable to draw any money out. This is what happens when you mistakenly put your Savings Card in your wallet instead of your Credit Card - which put me in a bad mood. 

After that debacle we headed through the turnstiles and into a cold concrete concourse where a surprisingly large number of fans were situated. Before looking out onto the not so hallowed turf, I sampled the food. The hotdog was priced at just £2.10 and was of good quality, other reports of food were also complimentary. The concourse is also equipped with Sky TV such is its modern build which only enhances the stadiums already burgeoning reputation.

After all of that I headed out of the concourse and towards the field of play. Highbury is quite a small arena, with the main stand dominating its appearance. Despite the remnants dating back to 1937, the ground has undergone major ongoing redevelopments in recent years. This makes it look like one of the more modern stadia in the game, something further enhanced by the sparkling Parkside Stand which holds 2200. It serves as the main stand where press, executive boxes, dugouts and away fans (such as ourselves), are situated if they bring a low number of supporters.

The rest of the ground appears to be very new, but very low in stature. Opposite the main stand is a seated stand that goes half way along the pitch before ending abruptly for an aging clubhouse to take precedent. The Memorial Stand is a relatively new covered terrace that houses the noisier homes, whilst at the opposite end is the small Percy Ronson terrace that is given to away fans with a large support.

Following a quick look around and my hands nearly contracting frostbite, the teams were read out as follows...

Fleetwood Town: Davies. Beeley, Barry, Pond, Matt, Nicholson, Brown, Goodall, McGuire, Edwards, Evans. Subs: Michel Fontaine, Mangan, McLaughlin, Crowther, Ball, Lucas.

Dagenham & Redbridge: Lewington, Femi, Wilkinson, Doe, Ogogo, Hoyte, Howell, Saunders, Elito, Strevens, Scott. Subs: Seabright, Maher, Reed, Gracco, Shields, Currie, Green.

Wayne Burnett decided to keep with the same team that drew 1-1 against Burton last weekend which meant Gavin Hoyte remained at right midfield with Abu Ogogo continuing at right back. Louis Dennis who made such a positive impact last weekend was frozen out of the 18 along with Billy Bingham thanks to a sickness bug that had "swept" the camp.

As the howling wind continuing to cause widespread frost on the faces of Daggers fans, the teams emerged from the tunnel to the applause of just over 2000 dedicated supporters. We were then joined by a clan of Ebbsfleet fans who decided to come to Highbury after their game away at Barrow was postponed. With the pre match pleasantries completed in double quick fashion, the teams lined up and the referee blew his whistle to signal the beginning of the match. 

The game itself got off to a lively started and within the opening 5 minutes Daggers had already hit the bar twice in quick succession through Josh Scott & Gavin Hoyte, before Shaun Beeley handled inside the box from Scott's second effort. This meant yet another penalty for Daggers who have now had 15 overall throughout the campaign. Nevertheless, Medy Elito stepped up once more and dispatched the spot kick high into the top right corner to give Daggers a deserved 1-0 lead.

A steward then decided to be a killjoy and asked several fans to sit down. After initially agreeing with him, we changed our minds following a quick glance at the seats which had pigeon excrement all over them. Shortly after that incident, Fleetwood drew level in indifferent fashion. The hosts had pressed since the goal, looking very handy down the wings at the expense of our full backs. With 7 minutes gone, Junior Brown beat Femi too easily before crossing into the box which Chris Lewington somehow contrived to palm into his own net at the near post. It was a terrible mistake from Lewington but one that I’m sure he’ll get over.

To really rub salt in the wound, possibly the worst goal music ever boomed over the PA system. This was accompanied by a dancing Cod on a big screen as supporters around the ground joined in to do a sailors jig. Such is my generosity, I've scoured the internet to find this God awful piece of music for you to listen to on this link.

With less than 10 minutes played, the scoreline stood at 1-1. Could this match go down as an absolute classic? No, of course it couldn't, don't be stupid. Daggers though did nearly retake the lead soon after. Matt Saunders' corner towards the near post was flicked goalwards by Strevens whose header was tipped onto the bar by Cod 'keeper Scott Davies. The game looked as though it was heating up now with Chris Lewington glossing over his mistake by saving well from Jamille Matt's long range effort. 

Despite that explosive start the match soon died down, although our endeavours to avoid a pigeon taking a dump on us continued throughout the half. Fleetwood were maintaining the majority of possession and they were nearly rewarded on 30 minutes when Jamie McGuire chipped the ball over Lewington and into the back of the net. Fortunately for Daggers, the referee had already blown for an earlier free kick which meant the scores remained at 1-1.

Since Burnett's appointment, set pieces have become a prominent feature of our efforts on goal. Saturday was no different with Daggers coming close on 43 minutes. Matt Saunders laid the ball into the box for Luke Howell who skied his effort way over the bar and out for a goal kick. Josh Scott then saw his shot deflected behind for another corner after a well worked move on the right hand side.

Fleetwood's Away Terrace

The corner was cleared by the 'Fleet defence and the referee blew his whistle to signal the end of the half. After an explosive opening 15 minutes, the game had become more subdued leading both sides to cancel eachother out in the middle of the park. Fleetwood were exploiting the wings impressively with Junior Brown and Jamille Matt causing severe problems. This was worrying for the Daggers full backs who have been largely solid for the majority of the campaign, yet were being found out here.

The game soon resumed with Fleetwood cranking up the pressure. Daggers were looking shaky at the back and not creating enough in the midfield. With 52 minutes gone none of that mattered as a superb piece of individual quality gave the hosts the lead. Gareth Evans received the ball before shifting it onto his left foot and unleashing an unstoppable curling effort from 25 yards that had Chris Lewington beaten all ends up.

All of a sudden the wind seemed to sweep in harder with Daggers now facing a serious uphill task. The cause wasn’t helped by Luke Wilkinson picking up a booking for hauling over Junior Brown after giving the ball away in his own half. In reality I think Wilko can consider himself lucky to get away with a booking. Town were now dominating proceedings and but for Scott Doe's superb last ditch block from Evans' strike, Daggers would have found themselves 3-1 behind.

Wayne Burnett was then forced into an unorthodox substitution. Chris Lewington appeared to be pointing towards his hip/groin area at the time which meant Jordan Seabright was thrust into action for only his 2nd ever appearance for Daggers.  After the change the visitors continued to lack going forward, with Josh Scott being forced to almost work single handedly in order to create any opportunities. 

Strevens Withdrawn

With little over 20 minutes remaining, Burnett made his final two substitutions. Strevens, who had played little part in the match, was replaced by Jake Reed, whilst Gavin Hoyte was withdrawn for Dominic Green. Within seconds Daggers were on the attack. Terrific play down the left released centre half Wilkinson inside the box, he weaved one way and then another before seeing his curling goalbound strike blocked by defender Ryan Edwards.

Dagenham were now looking far more creative, especially down the right where Dominic Green gave them a new outlet. Despite that option, the play still seemed to be going predominantly down the middle much to my frustration. Five minutes later Daggers came close once more. This time Jake Reed pick pocketed the Fleetwood centre half before having his curling strike towards the far post palmed away well by Scott Davies. 

Fleetwood were now coming under constant pressure as Daggers pushed for an equaliser. With little over 5 minutes to go the visitors were given a corner. The ball was swung in before falling to Elito. Rather than take the strike on, Medy decided to foolishly lay the ball back which resulted in it being cleared and the momentum being lost. With four minutes added time, hope remained that Daggers could find that elusive equaliser. Try as they might with a succession of corners, the Essex side couldn't find that second goal which ultimately saw them go home empty handed.

Personally I'm not sure whether we'd have deserved to take a share of the spoils had we scored a second. Despite having the more chances, they were few and far between thanks to Fleetwood having the majority of the possession. Daggers rarely exploited the full width of the pitch and as a result were limited to play down the middle that was ineffective and poor in general. It further emphasises the urgent need for an out and out winger.

This happened pre match, but you don't know that.

The introduction of Jake Reed improved things, but he was unable to find that spark in the 20 minutes he was on the pitch. One thing is for sure though; his time on the field of play was better spent than that of Ben Strevens who appeared out of his depth almost, frequently giving the ball away and misplacing passes.

Two positives from the afternoon however, were the performances of Scott Doe and Josh Scott. Doey was solid all afternoon, making a number of key last ditch challenges to deny the Cod forwards chances on goal. He rarely gets a lot of credit despite doing his job to a fantastic and consistent standard, so for Saturday he should be applauded. Josh Scott also continued his good run of form. Despite not getting on the scoresheet, he looked lively all afternoon and was involved in a number of attacks when going forward. 

We now have to look forward to the key Easter weekend, with two fixtures in quick succession away at Barnet and at home to Bristol Rovers. I’ll be at both of them and hopefully by this time next week, we’ll have assured our place in League Two for next season.

Until then however, have a good remainder of the week and remember to follow me on Twitter, @NickMurphyDRFC.

Daggers 1-0 Fleetwood Town, The Codfather

Despite the loss of Dwight Gayle to Peterborough United in the week, Dagenham & Redbridge soldiered on to secure an important 1-0 victory in a scrappy game against Fleetwood Town on Saturday afternoon. Despite the driving rain and freezing cold conditions, it was perma-tanned Sam Williams who slotted home a penalty in the 90th minute to seal a frustrating day for the Cod Army.

Despite the fact we've never played Fleetwood in our history, everyone knew this was going to be a tough match. Mickey Mellon's men are notoriously tough to beat on their travels, losing just one game away from Highbury all season - and even that was back in August. In contrast the Daggers are becoming increasingly hard to beat on their own patch; we were without defeat at Victoria Road since mid September. The form and stats between the two sides all pointed to the same thing - a draw.

As the ground began to fill up, the conditions contrived to get even worse with sweeping rain cause the majority of supporters to head for the Sieve. No such problems for the 14 Fleetwood fans that were in the ground at this stage who were enjoying the luxurious corner of the Traditional Builders Stand. The teams were then announced as follows...

Dagenham & Redbridge: Lewington, Ogogo, Doe, Wilkinson, Femi, Howell, Spillane, Saunders, Elito, Williams, Reed. Subs: Seabright, Hoyte, Wakefield, Scott, Bingham, Woodall, Maher.

John Still made a single change from the side that was defeated so dramatically at Burton last weekend. Sam Williams was brought in up front to partner Jake Reed following Dwight Gayle's midweek loan switch to Championship outfit Peterborough. Loan signing Josh Wakefield made it onto the bench at the expense of Jake Caprice, whilst there was no place for Dominic Green once again.

Fleetwood Town: Davies, Beeley, McNulty, Brown, Goodall, Mawene, Nicholson, Johnson, Ferguson, Ball, Barkhuizen. Subs: Maxwell, McLaughlin, Milligan, Fowler, McGuire, Branco, Titchiner.

Mickey Mellon was forced into a quadruple change due to four members of his squad being struck down with illness before the trip to Essex. Former Crawley left back Dean Howell was missing, as was Curtis Obeng and Alex Marrow, meanwhile Jamie McGuire dropped to the bench. They were replaced by Shaun Beeley, Alan Goodall, Barry Nicholson and former Hereford frontman Tom Barkhuizen. Former Scotland captain Barry Ferguson started in

midfield whilst Jon Parkin was missing as the Trawlermen looked to avenge a 3-1 midweek defeat.

After assuming that the Daggerettes had been flooded and hence unable to perform, the teams advanced onto the pitch to brief applause. Due to the poor conditions, no one was quite anticipating this fixture for obvious reasons. Once again the Daggers would be shooting towards the TB Stand in the first half, whilst Fleetwood faced the rather sparse Bury Road Terrace.

With the referee's whistle we begun, although with the first 20 minutes worth of action you wouldn't have known it. Neither side was looking particularly threatening, with Femi and Luke Howell dragging poor shots wide of the target in the opening 10 minutes. The visitors were gradually easing themselves in the game and created a good opportunity when Nicholson slid a ball across the six yard box that was just ahead of Junior Brown. David Ball then came close on 21 minutes, but his shot flew wide of Lewington's post.

As the half wore on, the hosts began to look more and more dangerous. First Luke Wilkinson thundered a head wide of the post, and then Mickey Spillane drove a shot that Scott Davies done well to hold on to. The best opportunity of the half though fell to young Jake Reed. Former Great Yarmouth forward Reed beat the well built McNulty for pace before latching onto the ball and firing a shot against the post. The rebound didn't fall kindly for Reed who then fired over the bar as the scores remained level. 

The half ended as it has started, with very little quality and a half chance to open the scoring. Alan Goodall flashed a shot wide of the upright for Fleetwood, whilst it was Jake Reed again who went close for Daggers. The pacey forward raced through once more, but again his touch let him down allowing for Scott Davies to come out and smother the ball. In a nutshell, that was the first half. A very scrappy and wet affair with few chances. Fleetwood were enjoying the better of the possession whilst the Daggers had the better of the chances.

The teams re-emerged for the second half to very little, if any applause. Both sets of supporters had the same mentality – let’s just get this over with so we can all go home and get warm! Fleetwood started the better with the lively Junior Brown seeing his clever shot stopped well by Lewington. David Ball was next to try his luck but defensive rock Luke Wilkinson was in the way to block. 

As everyone inside the ground expected, with 60 minutes played the energetic Jake Reed was replaced by fans favourite Brian Woodall. His first piece of action was narrowly missing a well flighted ball into the box as the game became grittier. Similarly up the other end of the pitch Alan Goodall who seemed to be involved quite a lot during the match forced Chris Lewington to clamber on to a looping cross towards the back post. Medy Elito then fired a shot goalwards that bounced off the rather large backside of McNulty.

Fleetwood were extremely well organised and tight for 80 minutes, but as the match entered its final stages the game became stretched. The best chance of the second half fell to Luke Wilkinson. A Matt Saunders corner flew across the area where a flapping Scott Davies misjudged the ball, however Wilkinson was just too slow and failed to connect as the ball went out for a goal kick. 

Alex Titchiner was then brought on for the Cod Army as they readdressed the attacking balance and advanced forward. It was Titchiner himself who nearly netted the opening goal, luckily though Chris Lewington was on hand to gather following his miscued strike from Brown's centre. 

The fourth official stuck up his board to show two minutes of injury time for the second half. It would probably be fair to say the two additional minutes were the most pulsating and exciting minutes of the entire match. Following a Fleetwood attack, the Daggers broke away down the left through Sam Williams. Our own big Sam drove into the box before being nudged by Mawene and going down somewhat theatrically. All eyes darted towards the referee who blew his whistle and pointed to the spot. Penalty.

The Fleetwood players berated the referee for several minutes which resulted in two bookings. The big question was who would take the penalty following a succession of two Spillane misses from the spot in recent weeks. To everyone's surprise it was Sam Williams himself who stepped up. I and others around me weren't confident, but after several anxious minutes of waiting the referee blew his whistle. Sam Williams stepped up...and slotted it into the opposite corner of the 'keeper to give the Daggers a surprise 1-0 lead.

It wasn't over yet though as we were all certain the hosts would make hard work of the final few minutes. And so we did, Chris Lewington was alert to make a superb diving save to deny Junior Brown's header which looked destined for the bottom corner. From the resulting corner the ball was cleared and the referee blew his whistle once more, this time to single the end of a poor encounter. Intense relief from 1500 odd home supporters and despair for the 118 loyal travellers.

Did we deserve the win? Probably not. Will I take the win? You bet! It makes a change to get a bit of luck where 90th minute goals are concerned, and a goal like that against a side with the quality of Fleetwood could be telling towards the end of the season. Big credit has to go to Sam Williams and Chris Lewington today. Both were called upon after quite anonymous performances and both produced the goods when it was needed. 

It was a gritty performance in poor conditions from both sides and a draw would have been the fair result, but a bit of luck won it. Fleetwood will definitely be at the top end of the league come the end of the season. When you bear in mind they were missing several key players this afternoon - they were still a resolute team who had opportunities to take all three points. Their away form will be key and so far this season it has been superb. One bit advice I would give them though is that they need to be sharper up front, very rarely was Chris Lewington tested yesterday. That however, could be down to several key forward players being missing for the Trawlermen.

As for us, it was such an important victory and an important three points as I've emphasised. No one in particular stood out, although Femi looked like our most creative outlet down the left. Matt Saunders was also pretty good in the middle of the park, acting as the calm member of the team who’s not afraid to put his foot on the ball. The back four were all commendable and Jake Reed done well to make the runs to create opportunities, he just needs to work on his composure.

We follow this game up with a difficult trip to Torquay United next week, before we then travel to Bristol Rovers. It's doubtful that I'll be in attendance for either of those games, so the next time I speak to you will probably be following the home game with Barnet on the 15th! Once again, thanks for reading and have a good half of December!

Remember to follow me on Twitter, @NickDRFCMurphy.