Jon Nurse’s thunderous 30-yard strike against Crewe on Saturday came as something of a surprise to opposition keeper David Button and the travelling Daggers contingent. With a scant return of 6 goals in 69 appearances before Saturday, Nurse certainly cannot be regarded as a prolific goalscorer. Even now with a goal every ten matches, Nursey still has a long way to go to catch other more predatory foxes in the box. Some supporters wrongly believed Crewe’s tannoy announcer had experienced a ‘Tim Ole’ moment; the goal had all the hallmarks of a Solly screamer. That got us thinking at 9-men.co.uk about other unlikely Daggers goal heroes over the years. Here are a few that we’ve dug out.
1) Tony Roberts v Basingstoke Town (27/10/01)
Who could ever forget this spectacular leveller at the Camrose in 2001? Only in his second full season with the club, the flying Welshman re-wrote the record books to become the first goalkeeper to score in the competition’s history. In truth, the Daggers struggled to live up to their pre-match favourites billing and had been outplayed for large parts of the game. 
Yet in the deepest depths of injury time Robbo, needing little encouragement, made a foray into the Basingstoke penalty area. After an optimistic swipe, the ball eventually found its way into the back of the net. Cue the euphoria, cue the mauling of the Daggers’ No. 1, cue the magic of the FA Cup.
2) Scott Griffiths v York City (20/09/05)
Scotty is rightly seen as one of the most talented players to ever put on a Daggers’ jersey. But whilst he can juggle the ball the length of the pitch (with his eyes closed), his magical powers rarely extend to putting the ball into the back of the opposition’s net. Super Scotty did deliver the goods though with a peach of a strike in the 94th minute that left the York City goalkeeper flailing, salvaging a point for the Daggers. Sadly I’d left the ground 30 seconds before the strike to catch the last train home, only to hear the cheer, run back in, jump around for a few seconds, then run back out. That’s how you celebrate a goal in style.
3) Ashley Vickers v Boston United (04/03/02)
Regarded by many as the ‘championship decider’ that year, the top two non-league teams in the country did battle at Victoria Road in front of almost 4,000 spectators and a live SKY audience. With 21 other players more likely to break the deadlock, it was the lanky defender who delivered the goods. It came as a huge surprise to most supporters considering the Daggers’ No. 3 enjoyed collecting red cards more than he did scoring.
4) Danny Foster v Luton Town (14/02/09)
Going almost his entire Daggers’ career without so much as even a sniff of a goal, Fozzy was soon smelling of roses, delivering a Valentine’s Day double that warmed the hearts of the home crowd. The build-up to, and the final execution, of both efforts are not important on this occasion. Frankly, I can’t remember, sorry Foz. I think his brace may have had something to do with the Luton defenders thinking ‘that guy NEVER scores’, only to be left well…broken-hearted.
5) Danny Hill v Stalybridge Celtic (08/04/02)
Going against the grain of the aforementioned defenders and goalkeeper, Danny Hill makes it on to the list as the sole midfielder. Sure, Danny could score and boy could he play, but unfortunately this was seldom seen during his tenure at Victoria Road. That said, an extraordinary 30-yard strike against Stalybridge Celtic in the championship run-in with Boston, coincided with a tremendous run of form for the former Spurs’ trainee, that almost won the team the title. His effort that night took the roof off, not to mention practically lifting the frame of the goal into Pondfield Road.
