Daggers 1-0 Swindon: Mamma Mia!

Dagenham & Redbridge got back to winning ways with an impressive 1-0 victory of Paolo Di Canio's Swindon Town at Victoria Road. A result that is sure to make a few heads turn considering the Daggers current injury plight.



Very Big!

In truth, before the match I was the least optimistic I've been, as were a fair few others. With our current injury list nearly as big as Gervinho's forehead, it wasn't looking promising. Walking into the ground I noticed that Richard Rose was warming up, and it was confirmed over the tannoy that he would be taking part at right back for us this evening. Alex Osborn and Danny J Green were also warming up and they found their place on the bench with James Shea, Femi and Jake Reed. At this point it should be mentioned, the abundance of sponsors on Swindon's team coach, makes our coach look somewhat plain.

Victoria Road began to fill up quite rapidly from 7:15 onwards with the Sieve seemingly in the mood for the Tuesday night fixture. We've had a decent record against the Robins last season, winning at home 2-1 and getting a somewhat lucky 1-1 draw at The County Ground. The programme was also a very good read once more, although neither competitor in the quiz managed to get our all time top goal scorer correct, the answer being Danny Shipp!



Woodall Started

Swindon & The Daggers came out to a good round of applause, with a decent crowd, although I was a bit disappointed with Swindon, for a club who boast about getting 9,000 a home game, bringing 400 away is quite poor in my opinion, but there you go. The teams were read out and Di Canio surveyed the state of the art stadium that is Victoria Road, I'm sure he loved it. So it was all set, a chance to put things right after the weekend and another first time starter in Brian Woodall, alongside Jon Nurse/ Gavin Tomlin.

The referee blew his whistle and we were off under the lights. The first five minutes were the usual midfield battle, with the amount of foreign players in Swindon's side, I won't even attempt the names, so I'll say "Italians." The first real chance of the game fell to Brian Woodall, signed from Gresley, a neat header over let Woodall in on goal. A good first touch to set his strike up was followed by a poor shot, straight into the ground leaving Phil Smith with an easy save in front of The Marcus James Stand, the first good opportunity of the contest. Damien McCrory then committed a foul on former Daggers favourite, Matt Ritchie which earned the Irishman a yelllow card.

Swindon then had their first shot of the game just after the 10 minute mark, Etienne Esajas, formerly of Sheffield Wednesday testing Chris Lewington who got down and saved comfortably. After another period of midfield battle Esajas once again, looking like Swindons main threat got a shot away that went over Lewingtons bar. Of course a bloke just under the scoreboard tried to catch it, and failed, cue abuse from everyone. Di Canio was then forces into a change with Alberto Comazzi coming off and being replaced by Nathan Thompson, he must have picked up a knock at some point in the opening 20 minutes.



De Vita

 Swindon then got a bit of a foothold in the game, De Vita had a shot which tested Lewington into making a good save, Lewy looks like a real shot stopper and has really come of age recently, definately our number one for the season for me, an even better strike by a Swindon player came from the rebound and Lewy made another fantastic stop, the flag had gone up for offside anyways! But he was not to know that. Oliver Risser should have done better when given a free header inside the box, but missed horribly to the right hand side. The Daggers then started to attack once more, the Daggers International (wry smile) Jon Nurse crossed for Brian Woodall who got slightly in front of the ball and headed way over, encouraging signs down the right hand side!

Some good promise down the left with Medy Elito all the way through the half although it frequently came to nothing, one of his shots going harmlessly over the bar, whilst a McCrory cross nearly met Jon Nurse at the far post, only for a Swindon defender to head it clear in the nick of time.

Mamma Mia!

Then came the half's big incident. Raffaele De Vita, who I recommend you don't name your child, got into the box and was "hacked" down by Scott Doe, Di Canio and Swindon left incensed that a penalty was not given. Now I didn't see the incident particularly well so in an Arsene Wengeresque way I can't comment but what I can say is two things, from reactions of others it appears that they probably could have had a penalty. The other thing is this; possibly one of the best things I have ever seen whilst watching football, Di Canio going absolutely mental on the touchline, absolutely brilliant. Of course when an Italian manager goes mental, it's followed by a dose of terrible Italian impressions and phrases which certainly went down very well with me!

That was the end of the half and as the referee blew his whistle a cluster of Swindon players surrounded the referee, it seemed as though the Daggers had got away on one for a change. All credit to Di Canio though, where most managers would have joined his players in protesting he went straight into the dressing room, fair play to the man. Half time went very quickly with some decent music and a good chat about the injuries etc, as well as laughing at a friends accumulator going straight down the swanny due to Ipswich being 3-0 down at home to Southampton.

This kit suited the little man better!

The teams re emerged for the second half, the Daggers would be attacking the Bury Road end and Swindon their own fans in the Marcus James Stand, the Daggers kicked off the half. The first thing of note for me to report on is the taking of a short corner. Anyone who knows me should know that I hate short corners, whether it's player or watching and McCrory of course angered me by playing it short. Not only did he do that, but he committed the cardinal sin of being caught offside straight after the pass back to him, lesson learned! Paolo Di Canio then made his first unforced substitution of the match, Alan Connell, replacing Billy Boden. Swindon then had a good opportunity to open the scoring. A foul by McCrory on a Swindon player gave the Robins the chance to swing a good ball into the box. Anyone who remembers Matt Ritchie, will know he has the prowess to swing in a good ball, so some of us were understandably wary. Ritchie opted to shoot and only a good block from McCrory prevented the former Portsmouth man from potentially testing Lewington.

Then came the Daggers best opportunity yet. Jon Nurse got down the left and beat a defender before hugging the byline superbly and sticking in a low ball straight to the feet of Brian Woodall. Woodall looked composed and hit it well, unfortunately for us and him it just crept wide of the far post as some of us thought it was in. Very promising signs from the new man however! Matt Ritchie then was involved once more, getting down the right, beating one and unleashing a daisycutter that was never going to trouble Lewington between the sticks.

The Daggers then made their first change of the match, John Still opting to bring off Medy Elito who received a good reception and brought on Danny J Green, who received an even better one! As many know, DJ began to creep into the team at the back end of last season and looked like the next big thing, lets see if he proved himself in the 25 minutes or so he had. Alan Connell then got a shot away that was held well by Lewington.

Then came the breakthrough. Danny Green flicked the ball on to Tomlin down the left hand side before Paul Caddis brought the tricky winger down inside the box. The Daggers fans appealed as did the players and for once it was not in vain, Mr Berry was very fruitful and gave us a penalty, you loved that pun, don't lie! Paolo was obviously very incensed, he and some Daggers fans thought it was a dive, but at the end of the day, I couldn't give a tiniest amount of shit (apologies for younger readers), we had a bit of luck, finally! Mark Arber, who's last penalty was against Morecambe, we all remember that, stepped up to take it. And my, didn't he put it away wonderfully. The Sieve erupted as the Daggers took the lead, hugs, cheers and the first home goal, beautiful!

The Daggers had to hold out for 20 minutes, but the chants were all out in force, a nice simple 20 minutes, no mistakes and a lot of fun. Of course, you have to commend whoever makes the Steve Evans one's, and when we go there, it will undoubtedly be the best atmosphere ever at a football match! The man that sounded like a biscuit franchise, De Vita went off and was replaced by Kerrouche who gets very high scores on a scrabble board.



Mr Berry!

Swindon were now looking to break back and get an equaliser, Matt Ritchie swung in a corner but Lewington gathered well. Ritchie then received a booking which obviously went down well with the Sieve, for handball with just over 15 minutes left to play. Nathan Thompson then got his name in the notebook for a cynical challenge on Gavin Tomlin. Kerrouche then got a shot away but Mark Arber blocked it very well, the fighting spirit of the Daggers was evident more than ever now. To continue the fashionable trend of being booked, Luke Howell got his name into Mr Berry's book for the first Daggers yellow card of the evening.

A number of free kicks for the nervy 80-90 minute period ensued, as Swindon looked to find an equaliser, Kerrouche getting himself into the book for "unsporting behaviour." The Daggers then made a sub, with Jake Reed coming on, Gavin Tomlin was replaced, a rapturous applause for both, especially Tomlin who had worked his socks off once more tonight and made some decent runs, not to mention winning us the penalty with his Tom Daley impression.

Then came a nervy moment, five minutes of added on time were signalled and everyone thought Swindon had found their equaliser. A brilliant ball in from the left to a man at the backpost left Lewington scrambling, I think he dropped it before a scrap for the ball began, I don't have a clue if it went in or not, it was manic. Everyone thought they'd scored I reckon, but luckily for us, heart running faster than Adan Gemilli, the referee blew for a free kick. We escaped, and that looked as though it was the last action of the contest, and thank god it was.

The referee blew for full time, the Daggers had defeated Swindon Town by a goal to nil to get their first home win of the campaign. John Still & Paolo Di Canio, two men at opposite ends of the spectrum shook hands as the Daggers players came over to applaud the fans as they do brilliantly every game and the rapport between the players & fans was evident once more.



The Players Coming Over At The End
Apologies For Poor Quality



Every player played a role in tonights game and it was a fantastic result considering the massive injury list we have. The defence were solid with Richard Rose having a very good debut at right back in place of Abu Ogogo, Damien McCrory also played well and even got a couple of crosses on point. The centre halves, were as usual, solid. The midfield was very good, Oliver Lee done his job as he always does, one of these players that sometimes you don't tend to notice, but does the work regardless. Luke Howell who I confess am a major critic of done well, battled well this evening and the two wingers were good value, Medy didn't get as much of the ball as I would have liked. My standout player was Brian Woodall, he worked his socks off and even though he didn't score and probably could have done better, making your first league start must be very hard and he can be proud of his performance tonight. Nursey played like his usual self, decent performance. Chris Lewington made another couple of brilliant stops tonight and will be our number one for a while.

Thanks for reading and I have to urge you, to whenever you see it, listen to Paolo Di Canio's interview on this game as I imagine it will be something to behold. As for any Swindon fans reading this, Esajas is your key man, no more needs to be said.

Next up: Bradford City away, a game we usually do well in, however I will not be there unfortunately! My next game is Torquay United at home, up the Daggers!!

 

Swindon 1-1 Daggers: Anyone's Game

A bumper match report for this away day special, my first since Brentford on New Years, it's been too long, all the usual stuff with the action from the game plus some extra coach and service station stuff, I hope you enjoy it !



It's only the magic roundabout !

 Starting off at 10:30 walking down Victoria Road towards the two coaches making the trip to Wiltshere with my mate, we got there and low and behold a mix up with the coaches. We end up having to go on the other coach away from the rest of the group, not the best start to the day, but still some great coach banter. After roughly two hours on the coach entertained by just the radio and my ipod, as there were no movies on the screen, just a lovely camera showing the road ahead we went past the Madjeski Stadium on the way to our stop of point Reading services. Gathering supplies for the trip ahead, several bags of crisps and a sprite were bought, walking outside to see the usual group having the kick around in the car park. Of course as you'd expect, shot saved, blasted straight over the back of the service station, just like watching the Daggers play actually ! Getting back on we had another hour or so on the coach until we reached Swindon and went past the infamous magic roundabout and onto the ground just yards away. Off the coach and getting the tickets I met up very briefly with a friend had a quick chat and went straight into the ground, up the concrete steps into the food area which was showing the FA Cup, a nice touch. Getting my food and drink which came to a reasonable £3.60 we headed up to the stand and what a good ground it is. A great view from where we was right in front of our drummer with a great view of the pitch, including a few wolf whistles at the cheerleaders in a joking manner. Possibly the highlights of the day, Swindons mascot, the Robin receiving some great banter, he ran up into the stand and began to high five everyone, great stuff and we all loved it !



Taiwo could be out for the
season.



Anyways, onto the action, we started with singing the national anthem as it was armed forces day I believe and the crowd done it very well, very respectful. We kicked off attacking the "Town End" off the pitch, forcing an early corner which was cleared. Then followed a barrage of bad tackles and so on against Solomon Taiwo, after going down twice, his day was over and he was replaced by Billy Bingham, to my mates enjoyment ! Femi got the ball down the left with the option to pass, but of course it's Femi so he turned back inside and another time until he had given away possession much to the 350 odd Daggers frustration. Just after David Prutton was released down the left side towards the Arkells Stand, one on one with Robbo, the big welshman stood his ground and made an impressive save as the daggers mopped up the pressure and got it away. The daggers frustration grew when a number of handball shouts were not given by the ref, then Savage was penalised for blocking his face with his hands, the refereeing is ludicrous at times ! A very tight first half hour, with another few corners for either side, but all being cleared away to safety. With around ten minutes to go Abu Ogogo hit a decent drive but it was blocked well by Leeds loanee Mike Grella and once again went out for a corner. By this time the daggers faithful were creating a great atmosphere challenging the four or five Swindon fans who opened their mouths, with a few "signals" exchanging sides. The daggers created a few more opportunities with a shot going just over the bar and Vincelot striking just wide. A great piece of individual skill by Savage on the bi line created a chance that once again came to nothing. Just as it looked like everything was going into the break at 0-0, Ogogo had the chance to clear it, but hesitated for Mike Grella to steal in and lob a stranded Tony Roberts into the empty net. The Daggers faithful silenced for a minute or so whilst Swindon fans found their voices for the first time, but not to be outdone, the chants started up again. The first half ended with four minutes added on and Swindon pressured, almost scoring a second, but the daggers just about survived until the whistle blew.

As the teams went in for the first half I went to get myself a coke, whilst looking at the scores, Gavin Tomlin had scored for Torquay, how ironic ! Moving back up onto the stand the cheerleaders were at full pace along with the marching band. At this point i really should commend the stewarding, really up for the banter, really friendly and after at the start when the ball was going around, it went right down to the bottom, he went there and got it for us, what a legend ! Thinking that the game was winnable was an understatement, Swindon hadn't won at home since 4th December, this was very winnable and so the teams came out for the second half.



Grella scored for Swindon



As the teams emerged so did all of the fans from inside, where they were getting drinks and looking at the tele. A couple of early bookings, one for Mike Grella for a challenge and Abu Ogogo for unsporting behaviour as it's called, all from a result of a small fight after Grella's challenge. A Nurse shot from the by line almost caught out Phil Smith but he just tipped it over the bar for a Danny Green corner which as per usual came to jack all. Just minutes later Bas Savage took a "shot" like Jon Nurses which was once again tipped over identically by Smith in the Robins goal for a corner. The corner was taken and cleared, but the daggers kept the pressure on Vincelot seemingly fouled on the far side, but nothing given as it ran out for a goal kick. Vincelot was fuming and booted the ball away onto the open terracing, a silly booking really, but you could tell his frustration. I cannot tell you enough about the daggers fans and the atmosphere we create, it is spectacular, amazing chants, great voice from only 350 odd, utterly magnificent ! I have to give a bit of praise to Femi as well, after a tough couple of months, which I didn't enjoy with him in the team and I still don't, he played pretty well yesterday, dealing with most that was thrown at him and contained a lively Ritchie pretty well. Then the daggers best chance of the game, Vincelot I think it was created good room down the right, shrugging off his defender and put in a low ball into Savages path, who side footed it into the keeper's chest, he really should have made the kepper work more and probably should have scored. Swindon gained a corner with about half an hour left, but was headed way over the bar. The daggers were then denied yet another penalty, Savage brought down, it seemed obvious, but yet again the referee waved away the protests. Then came a double daggers sub, Darren Currie replaced the original sub Billy Bingham who was pretty ineffective, this was a bad move in my opinion, surely Scannell is more suited to that sort of game. The second was the usual, Bas Savage who had a decent game coming off for marvelous Marvin Morgan.



Don't You Just Love Nurse !

 Marvin Morgan got his first action of the game, the ball lumped down the pitch into the Swindon area, after doing well to pressure the defender and seemingly get a corner, the referee gave a foul against us to the disgust of our fans yet again. Then a dreadful foul by Alan Sheehan that I felt should have resulted in a red left him with a booking as it threatened to get nasty. Danny Green then whipped in another corner which was punched away to Arber who hit a fierce drive that was blocked, then Vincelot had a go, once again blocked eventually the Swindon keeper got hands on it, to prevent what seemed like a certain goal. Just after a former daggers favourite nearly came back to haunt us, Matt Ritchie mugged off Femi, cut into the area and hit a magnificent left foot shot, that was curling into the net, but our of no where came Tony Roberts, getting a great solid hand into it and directing it out for a corner. The corner was whipped in to the back post and a header was cleared off the line amazingly by someone, it was so frantic you couldn't tell ! Swindon goalscorer Mike Grella was then taken off and replaced by a defender in Michael Rose and this decision almost immediately backfired I suppose you could say. A free kick was put into the Swindon box, which was headed away only for Peter Gain on the outside of the box to get a good strike on it. A crowd of players in the middle and Jon Nurse jumped up and got his head into it, as it looped over Smith into the empty net, the daggers faithful went crazy. Jon Nurse & the rest ran over to celebrate in front of the jubilant daggers, after a few taunts from Swindon fans, a Dagenham & Redbridge supported was ejected by the stewards, although with everyone ranting and raving it could have been anyone.



Caddis Fouled Late On



So everyone regrouped and Swindon restarted with everyone in a jubilant mood. Benyon came on as Gain unleashed another shot that went just wide of the post, it was anyone's game by this point, either team could nick it. Just inside the regulated 90, Benyon flashed a superb ball across the goal which to our disbelief no one got on to, it was there to be tapped in. The final major piece of action was when Paul Caddis burst into the area and was sandwiched between two daggers players and went down, from where I was it looked like a certain penalty and I'm sure all daggers will agree after watching it over again it was, but we got lucky for a change and to Paul Hart & Swindon's amazement it went out for a corner that was cleared away upfield. Darren Currie got onto it, but nothing came of it in the end with the referee blowing up for full time. The Swindon players surrounded the referee protesting about the penalty decision as the Robins faithful left disheartened with boo's ringing round. The daggers on the other hand, still in fine voice after a battling point in a good week left us with our survival hopes stronger and better than ever.

The way back was left discussing the point and having to listen to my mate on the blower to his bird, excuse the slang, but you know what I mean. Listening to Mr Russell Powis quizzing it with everyone else at the back of the coach was a good laugh as we made our way past Reading services and stopped at South Mimms instead for the obligatory 15 minute break that included a bite to eat and a quick slash. Back onto the coach for the final hour of the day everyone still in good spirits, arriving back at the ground at around 8pm before the other coach, some sort of victory I suppose ?

Overall it was a great day out as it always is with the Daggers, a battling performance in a game that could have really gone either way, but I'm quite pleased with the point. I cannot praise the support enough, a good chunk of the usual home attendance went to the County Ground, around 350 I believe it was and sung their hearts out for the whole game, no matter what the score, you know what you get with Dagenham, proper fans with proper voices. It's anyone's game down the bottom now with around eight teams still in with a shout of going down, including Sheffield Wednesday ! However with games in hand, all be it tricky ones, I am confident we can make the impossible, possible.

Player Ratings: Roberts 8, Femi 7, Doe 8, Arber 7, Ogogo 7, Taiwo 5, Gain 7, Green 7, Vincelot 8, Nurse 8, Savage 7. SUBS: Bingham 6, Currie 6, Morgan 7.
Referee 5.

Next Up: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Charlton Athletic 15:00 19th March 2011.