Butcher is ecstatic as Exiles bag point
ENGLAND legend Terry Butcher never thought a 0-0 draw at Dagenham & Redbridge could bring him so much pleasure.
The Newport County manager saw his side double their points tally with a first clean sheet of the season at their fellow strugglers.
Butcher’s boys remain rooted to the bottom of the League Two table with just two points from eight games – four points behind the Daggers in 23rd.
However, the Exiles did at least put a stop to a run of five straight defeats and the boss was delighted with a point.
“It was a hardearned point and a clean sheet as well,” he said.
“That’s something we’ve not had this season. It’s nice to look at that and see that we didn’t concede and we didn’t lose the game.
“That’s something new for us and we didn’t know what to do at the end! It feels good to come away and get a point.
“The thing that pleased me most about the game was not so much the quality of our performance – we played far better last week and lost the match.
“We know we can play better but the togetherness and the fight from the players young and old was very good.
“It’s the first clean sheet for a long time and we were fortunate in the end when Joe Day made some good saves but we also looked a threat going forward at the end when the game became very stretched.
“It doesn’t matter how it comes along.
“It is a good point for us because you don’t get used to losing but it is demoralising when you regularly put in good performances and don’t get anything.”
Dagenham welcomed back Zavon Hines and he was a lively presence on the wing but substitute Jamie Cureton was guilty of missing several good chances after the break.
At the other end Newport sub Zak Ansah went closest before he was forced off the pitch with concussion.
And Daggers first team coach Darren Currie admitted his side lacked the spark necessary to see off a plucky Newport side.
He said: “I don’t know that we expected to win but we were certainly going into the game confident.
“With the chances we created, especially in the second half, we were disappointed not to score a goal.
“There were words said at half-time. We were playing with no real urgency in the first half. Zavon was the only real spark for us; he went on a few little runs.
“He threatened to get us going but we played at too slow a tempo and didn’t really warrant anything from the first half.
“We played with a bit more urgency after the break and we created more opportunities in front of goal but unfortunately didn’t take them.”