LATE WINNER HAS DAGGERS SEEING RED
WREXHAM boss Dean Keates was delighted his team got the better of Dagenham & Redbridge after a stoppage-time own goal saw the Robins beat the hosts, who spent much of the game playing with ten men.
Daggers had Kevin Lokko dismissed in the 32nd minute for a reckless challenge on Mark Carrington, and had to hold off the visitors.
Despite being a man down, Daggers thought they had taken the lead late on when Mason Bloomfield found the net, only to see the linesman flagging for offside.
Instead, it was the Welsh side who left Victoria Road triumphant, with Daggers defender Craig Robson turning the ball into his own net in stoppage time.
Victory saw Wrexham make it 11 games unbeaten in the league, with Keates pleased with his side’s latest success.
“We’re over the moon to get the three points because Dagenham is a tough place to go to,” he said.
“We kind of smashed-and-grabbed it if I’m honest.
“The sending off can go
one way or the other: if you score straight after, it can make your life easier, but it galvanised Dagenham if I am being honest.
“We had a little bit of luck today – we’ve not had much this season, but we had a bit of the rub of the green.
“They were maybe unlucky with one of their disallowed goals, when the off-side flag was raised.
“We were on the end of a red card at Tranmere and it can galvanise you.
“It went more in Dagenham’s favour; it brought them all together and fair play to them, they were outstanding with 10 men.
“We kept going and if you keep going, you get the rub of the green, which we got in the end.”
For Daggers, it could be a case of what might have been following Lokko’s dismissal midway through the first half.
But, refreshingly, boss John Still believes referee Adam Bromley made the correct decision in dismissing the defender.
“Kevin deserved to be sent off – I have no complaints about that. “With ten men on the pitch, I thought we were the best team,” Still added. “We couldn’t have done any more and we did everything right. We were bold and went 4-3-2. “It’s difficult for me, but talking to their manager, goalkeeper and defenders, they say Mason wasn’t offside, so we’ve scored a goal that wasn’t given. “We played at Woking a couple of weeks back when Regan Charles-Cook scored, but if you saw his tackle again, he deserved to be sent off, but wasn’t. “We can’t control that, we can only control the controllables. “Of all the games we’ve played this season, we’ve played some great stuff and had some disappointments, that was our best performance.”