Whilst the first team squad were getting all the attention throughout the course of the season, our array of younger talent probably slipped under the radar. Now there’s a bit of a lull in close-season activity, we take a look back at the various loan spells spent lower down the pyramid.

The close season saw Daggers coach Robbie Garvey take a management role at Braintree Town, and he wasted no time in recruiting two of his former charges for the The Iron’s promotion push in the Conference South. Tommy Tejan-Sie was the first to sign and went on to make 7 appearances, scoring a goal in the 2-0 win over Maidenhead United from his position on the left wing. His excellent performances led to him getting his chance in the Daggers first team upon his return, making 4 appearances.

Harlee Dean joined up with Tommy later in August, spending a two-month period which brought 8 league appearances. Playing mainly in the middle of midfield, he started well but by all accounts faded towards the end of his spell. The experience stood him in good stead though as he made a very accomplished Daggers debut from the bench in the 1-1 draw with Port Vale. He was soon on the move again and spent the rest of the season at Grays Athletic, where he captained the side despite being just 18 years old. It is difficult to impress in a side in such dire straits but he put in some decent displays in his 19 appearances. Tipped as a good prospect not so long ago, he has surprisingly been transfer listed by the Daggers.

Another player to join struggling Grays was Billy Bingham who completed a one-month spell just before Christmas. He played 6 times mainly in midfield but actually made his Daggers debut before his loan move, as a sub in the 3-0 win over Lincoln. The club obviously have high hopes for the former Crystal Palace youngster, having extended his contract until the summer of 2012.

One player who won’t ever get to make his debut in a Dagenham shirt is defender Alex Bentley. He was signed from Fisher last summer and spent time on loan at Ryman League Aveley in December, playing 3 matches in a disjointed spell which saw him in and out of the side. He then stepped up to Conference South Bishop’s Stortford, making 8 appearances, but has now been named as one of three released players along with Hakeem Araba and Mark Nwokeji. Both of these players have suffered with injury throughout the season; Araba in particular missed the entire season with a knee ligament injury, before making a scoring return in a behind-closed-doors friendly with Charlton.

The most recent academy graduate, Stephen Demetriou, was another sent to Aveley in search of his first taste of senior football. Having impressed for the youth side and in behind-closed-doors games against the likes of Spurs, he was handed a contract early in the season and made 3 appearances for The Millers. Further loan spells would be expected next season but don’t bet against Stilly giving yet another youngster a chance at League football, even if it won’t be against his brother Jason who has recently left Leyton Orient.

Whilst never being announced as a Dagenham player by our club, Femi Ilesanmi has been widely regarded as a loan signing from ourselves during his time at Ashford Town (Middx) this season. The lanky defender, who can play either centrally or at left-back, was formerly with AFC Wimbledon before earning a stint with QPR U18s and made 14 league appearances for the Tangeries scoring 2 goals. It remains to be seen whether he ever makes it back to Dagenham after several reserve outings in the first half of last season.

Other players to have been loaned out this season are Mark Nwokeji, who was in and out of Luton’s side over 5 months playing 9 times and scoring once, and Wes Thomas who didn’t actually make it onto the pitch for Rushden after sustaining an injury the day after his arrival!

The most notable first-team player to have a loan spell though was club captain Anwar Uddin. His battle for recovery against a knee injury saw him make 13 appearances for Grays, scoring 1 goal, before injury again robbed him of another 3 months of the season. Battling back to fitness once again, he had a key part to play when injury to Mark Arber, Scott Doe and long-term victim Will Antwi struck in April. His performances belied his lack of matches, and with recent news of his departure to Barnet, it was fitting that he could play a part in our promotion to League One. Good luck Anwar, a Dagenham & Redbridge legend.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010 at 9:49 pm and is filed under Ramblings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.