DAGGERS HANDED A LIFELINE!
SECOND-HALF goals from Paul McCallum and Junior Morias kept Dagenham & Redbridge’s play-off hopes alive, perhaps at the expense of London rivals Bromley.
In an “excellent” second 45, according to boss Daryl McMahon, moved the Daggers to within a place and four points of the top seven, while the Ravens are now nine points adrift and seemingly out of race.
“Our defensive unit were superb, that’s six clean sheets in the last eight games and we’ve just got to keep doing it,” McMahon said. “Bromley put it on us in the first 15 minutes, but we weathered that storm.
“At half-time we spoke about how we could hurt Bromley in the second half and we did it brilliantly as soon as the whistle blew.”
The opening 45 minutes saw both sides largely cancel one another out with both taking turns to have passages of dominance.
George Alexander had Bromley’s first meaningful chance of the half when his shot from a tight angle forced Elliot Justham into a smart save at this near post.
And Alexander went close again when he latched unto a loose ball but his lob landed on the roof of the net with Justham beaten.
Dagenham eventually worked their way into the game and fashioned the best opportunity of the half when McCallum volleyed Matt Robinson’s cross against the post.
Will Wright then tested Ellery Balcombe from distance with the Bromley custodian having to tip his effort over the crossbar.
But if the first half was a finely balanced affair the second 45 was anything but. The Daggers took the lead just two minutes into the restart through McCallum’s header and never looked back.
Myles Weston and Robinson should have extended the lead but the former curled his effort wide from the edge of the box. Robinson’s was even easier, crashed over the bar after good work from Mo Sagaf when it seemed easier to hit the target.
The second goal for the Daggers had been coming and it arrived courtesy of a brilliant show of keep ball. Patiently recycling the ball until an opportunity presented itself, the ball was eventually worked to Weston who drove into the 18-yard box and laid off to Morais to drill a low effort beyond Balcombe.
It was an excellent goal to seal the victory but for Ravens boss Andy Woodman it was symptomatic of a wider unacceptable performance.
“There will be big changes following that performance,” he said. “We had put ourselves in a really good position a few weeks back but one or two players seem to have accepted that we only have nine games left and are going through the motions, they’re going to have a big shock now.”
STAR MAN: Will Wright (Dagenham) ATT: 1,674
ENTERTAINMENT: ★★★★★ REFEREE: David Richardson