As cliche as it sounds, the last five games have been a rollercoaster. Off the back of the defeat at Port Vale which left us five points short, it seemed as if our trip to another club in the mix, Chesterfield, would be must-win. Despite us managing to snatch a draw from the jaws of victory, we were handed a reprieve as other results meant we actually clawed back another point in the race for 7th.
It all started so well for the Daggers. The game was only 27 minutes old when Allot decided to floor Jon Nurse in the area, and new penalty taker Danny Green stepped up in Arber’s absence to slot the ball home. Josh Scott produced a habitual self-made chance which he couldn’t quite finish, but early in the second half Green doubled his tally in emphatic fashion. Possibly buoyed by his free-kick against Accrington, this time he slammed one at goal from 35 yards out and the ball arrowed into the top-corner of the net. Unfortunately for us, the Spireites aren’t in the habit of lying down on their own patch, and were back in it when Demontagnac scored with a superb finish from just outside the box.
Romain Vincelot, asked this week to fill a hole in midfield, raced clear with minutes left but could only guide the ball wide of the post. And in an example of just how quickly things can change, Walsh then dived into a tackle just inside the box and Conlon netted the equaliser from the spot. It would be harsh to blame Walsh in only his 7th sub appearance as a pro, but it definitely highlighted his inexperience.
So just three days later, it was derby time with Barnet the visitors. Green picked up where he left off, scoring another brace in a 4-1 victory. Dagenham started like a train and within five minutes Benson won a penalty, his attempted flick around Leach in the box hitting the defender’s arm. It was perhaps harsh given his proximity to the ball but Green showed no mercy from the spot. Somehow the Bees survived a further 40 minute onslaught with Josh Scott twice slamming wide of the post from outside the box, and Nurse following suit. The best chance though fell to Doe when another Green missile was parried out to him but he couldn’t get enough on the ball to direct it goalwards. Of course, the inevitable happened in injury time when Jake Hyde nodded home to make it level at the break.
After a fairly even opening to the second period in which Benno somehow managed to head over from a few yards out, things swung back our way with another penalty. Benson battled into the area up against Leach and the defender had little option but to haul him down, earning himself a red card in the process. Green continued his superb goalscoring patch by slotting home. Benson himself sealed the points by netting from Green’s long throw and minutes later Josh Scott rolled his man and finished emphatically.
Now within 2 points of the playoffs, a home game against Burton seemed like a decent enough fixture to follow. Early in the game, Benson headed a superb chance over the bar, Green tried another thunderbolt free-kick which was tipped over the bar, and from this point the game swung the Brewers’ way. Harrad had far too much time to curl home from the edge of the box and the Daggers couldn’t find a way back before half-time as Benno failed twice more with headed chances. However the superb Vincelot, who has more than made the midfield spot his own of late, changed the game from nothing early in the second half. Battling through a challenge in midfield, there was absolutely no stopping his 30 yard volley which bent away wickedly into the top corner of Poole’s net.
With a trip to Morecambe to follow, nothing other than 3 points would be good enough but they were proving elusive with Green and Benson both wasting good chances with time running out. It was then that Graeme Montgomery, in the 95th minute, made himself a hero. A Green corner bobbled around the area, and Monty was on hand to guide the ball into the bottom corner and send the crowd into hysteria and the Daggers into the playoff positions.
The following week was a bit on anti-climax and the trip to Morecambe saw the Daggers under a lot of pressure for most of the game and the frame of Roberts’ goal coming to the rescue on more than one occasion. It seemed as if we would hold on for a point but in the 86th minute, Moss scored with a finish good enough to win any game. The ball came out to him on the edge of the box, and he showed excellent technique to wrap his left foot around the ball and volley it into the top-corner via the underside of the bar. With Notts County not doing their job at Port Vale, this sent the Daggers back down to 11th but just a single point away.
And so onto another vital home game, this time against Hereford. An expectant 2600 people were in the ground for the one of the biggest crowds of the season but as we all know, the Daggers don’t do things the easy way. Visiting forward Mathieu Manset was proving too hot to handle for Doe and Arber, neither of which looked 100% comfortable after recent injury worries. The main man for the Daggers was Roberts, who made two superb one-on-one stops in the first half, as his team-mates offered very little at the other end. But against the run of play and despite having just missed a similar chance, Benson came up with the goods just before the break from a suspiciously offside-looking position, with a low finish which Bartlett couldn’t quite keep out.
This marked an improved Dagenham performance but Hereford were still dangerous into the second period. They got the goal they deserved just after the hour, with Ogogo misjudging Green’s center and Pugh arriving at the back post to tap home. It was slightly irritating that Pugh was the man to score after spending most of the game complaining or throwing himself to the ground. As the game approached its climax, Green’s superb pass put Vincelot through but had just too much on it and Bartlett was out of his goal to clear. It seemed as if that would be the last chance as the game went into injury time, nobody expecting Montgomery’s arrival from the bench to yield the same results as a fortnight previous. Monty was quite willing to prove lightning can strike twice though, and when Bartlett’s punch fell to him 20 yards out, he executed a perfectly guided lob back over the keeper’s head and into the net. It was a really quite incredible finish to the game for the second home game in succession and the Daggers now go to Darlington knowing a win will guarantee a playoff place.
