CHEEK’S STREAK PEPS UP DAGGERS

DAGENHAM & REDBRIDGE kept alive their faint hopes of a top-seven finish in the National League. In a game that lacked real intensity, the hosts took the lead in the 11th minute through Michael Cheek. The former Braintree Town man headed in a cross by Fejiri Okenabirhie from the right for his fourth goal in two matches. The hosts could have doubled their lead before the end of the half, with Okenabirhie testing Magpies stopper Carl Pentney, while Luke Howell nodded over. Neither side could muster much after the break, though home keeper Mark Cousins had to dive at the feet of Sean Marks in second-half stoppage time to keep Daggers ahead. In the end, the Essex club did just about enough to take all three points, and assistant manager Junior Lewis was pleased to earn a second win just two days after success in Yorkshire. “We carried the momentum on from the win at Guiseley on Thursday,” he said. “Going forward, we looked really good and I’m really pleased with the clean sheet. “Michael is on fire and that’s what he does, he scores goals. He’s got a good record of that over the years. “If you put balls in the box, he’s very good at getting on the end of them.” For Maidenhead manager Alan Devonshire, the 62-year-old was frustrated by his side’s display. The Magpies had won their last three games before Saturday, and Devonshire was disappointed with his team’s performance. “Dagenham thoroughly deserved the win,” he said. “We had three good wins on the bounce, but we didn’t follow that up and we were poor. We’ve pleased with how we’ve done and our aim was to stay up, so we’ll move on from there.”