Six more matches have passed since our last round-up, and it has been a pretty mixed bag for the Daggers. When we signed off last time, just two points separated us from the leaders with a tough set of games on the horizon. Those games have left us just one place worse off, but perhaps more significantly we now lie seven points off the pace of new leaders Rochdale.

Off the back of the hammering at Huddersfield in the cup, Accrington away looked a much tougher prospect than it had previously. However, John Still dipped into his magic book of contacts and signed Adam Miller (yes, that one) and Nana Ofori-Twumasi on loan, with Matt Lockwood returning from injury to bolster the squad. Once again, Josh Scott was injured and we reverted to the tried and untrusted Nurse to partner Benson. Miraculously, Dagenham notched up a 1-0 success to go top of the league as Bournemouth could only draw at Bradford. Arber’s header was destined for somewhere other than the net until a massive deflection guided it into the top corner. It could have been more comfortable had Benson not fluffed 3 good chances which turned out to be a sign of things to come.

This set up a tantalising home clash against Rochdale who had surprisingly been turned over 3-2 on their own patch by Chesterfield the previous week. Rochdale are renowned as one of the best footballing sides in the division, but the Daggers absolutely tore into their visitors and took an early lead through Gain’s clever header. However, despite numerous chances the lead remained at a single goal; Will Antwi had two towering headers that he should have done much better with, and Tom Heaton made an absolutely magnificent save to deny Josh Scott’s long range drive. The best chance though was a 3-on-2 situation in the second half where Scott got caught between a shot and a cross, putting the ball some way wide with Benson desperate for a pass.

The inevitable happened shortly after Stuart Thurgood was forced off through injury, Kallum Higginbotham firing into the bottom corner after hesitant defending, and minutes later we failed to clear a corner with Dawson on hand to net the winner. Scott was then also forced off with injury before Wes Thomas found time to get himself sent off for a challenge over the top of the ball. A real sweet-to-sour match for the Daggers, with the chance to put pressure on a promotion rival spurned and yet more squad depletion.

Worse was yet to come as Mark Arber was also ruled out of the trip to Bournemouth, but the threadbare team including yet-another-loanee Darren Currie battled to a 0-0 draw at Dean Court. The Cherries are enduring a rather poor period of form themselves, and actually the Daggers could count themselves a little unfortunate to only take a single point from the game. However, one point from a possible six against two promotion rivals is the statistic that matters – it could and perhaps should have been so much better.

If the Daggers’ faithful had visions of putting things right at home to an Aldershot side that aren’t known for their away form, they couldn’t have been more wrong. In probably the worst home performance of the season, the perennial irritants ran in five goals to almost double their total away tally for the season. It was all change again, with Arber returning and Jamie Day making his debut at left back after, yes you guessed it, signing on loan. Paul Benson continued his drought here by putting an excellent early chance over the bar. Nana was run ragged at right-back, but it was a mistake by Roberts that led to the opener, coming off his line but being beaten in the air by Charles. Arber equalised from the spot but really it was harsh on the dominant Shots.

At the start of the second period the sides exchanged goals, a lovely volley from Sandell should really have been prevented before Nana went some way to atoning for his defending with a 20-yard drive that should really have been saved. Day’s debut became rather sour as he was beaten for the all of the remaining three goals. In truth it was a very un-Dagenham performance, the usual trademarks of high tempo and hard work absent in a team that didn’t feel like our own. With four loan players in the starting eleven this isn’t really surprising.

Somehow the entire team kept their places for the trip to Grimsby, where a fairly uninspiring match produced a 1-1 draw. Yet more poor defending led to Grimsby’s opener, somehow Coulson was allowed to collect a cross, turn around and fire into the net before anybody had managed to close him down. Suspiciously in the vicinity was Danny Green but he was probably doing his hair. Benson rediscovered his ability to put the ball in the net but was very harshly penalised for a foul in the build-up, but later managed to hit the bar from around 2 yards out with the goal gaping. Thankfully Nurse spared his blushes with an excellent looping header from Green’s redeeming cross. You have to hand it to Nursey – despite all the stick we’ve given him he has scored some impressive goals this season.

A win was vital at home to Bury if promotion ambitions have any merit, and the Daggers overcame their mini-slump with a very entertaining 3-1 victory. Benson notched the first after over a month without a goal and almost two since his last in the league. The Shakers dealt with Nurse’s cross in comedy fashion, and Benno guided a typically scuffed finish right into the bottom corner. Nardiello headed home from a corner to send the teams in level, but Benson notched with a stabbed finish from Gain’s cross for some kind of bus analogy. Nana wrapped up the points with a lovely shimmy and drilled finish in a much improved performance by the whole team, but really Josh Scott’s 713th comeback of the season from the bench was the true deciding factor as his raw strength and pace injected life into the Daggers’ attack.

So a frustrating period leaves us a little off the pace, although it was encouraging to get back to winning ways last weekend. We deserved much more than a single point from the Rochdale and Bournemouth matches, but the Aldershot defeat was the hardest to take due to its manner. The manager’s hands are tied somewhat by the transfer window but the turnover of loan players has disrupted the team and rhythm. Darren Currie isn’t really our type of player but he is seemingly signing permanently in January regardless. Nana has popped up with two goals but it seems strange to endure his obvious defensive frailty when Abu Ogogo proved himself adept before his suspension and is warming the bench.

Other worrying signs include the continued indifferent form of Danny Green, and Peter Gain struggling a little to last a full ninety minutes in the middle without Thurgood to break the play up. Adam Miller is doing his best to cover the gaps although he has yet to hit top form. Whatever you think of him, and we have a fairly low opinion based on his “exploits” whilst playing against us in the past, we really can’t do without him at the moment as Stuart spends 3 months+ on the sidelines.

On the bright side, we’re still in a decent position and if we can manage six points from the next three games we’ll be right back in the hunt. Come on you Daggers!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 16th, 2009 at 2:08 pm and is filed under Reaction. 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.