DAGGERS THRILL IN A GOAL FEAST
DAGENHAM & Redbridge continued to put pressure on the top seven by overcoming Barnet in a pulsating encounter.
A Junior Morias hat-trick, along with efforts from Paul McCallum and Myles Weston, handed the Daggers a five-goal first-half lead.
Although a Daniel Powell brace and Callum Reynolds own goal gave Barnet hope of staging a stunning fightback, McCallum and Matt Robinson completed the rout.
Daggers boss Daryl McMahon called on his charges to maintain their play-off push by overcoming Aldershot Town tomorrow.
“It’s important we keep this momentum going,” he said. “All we can do is win our games and see what happens.
“We were absolutely incredible in the first half and it could have been any score. We were terrific.
“We reacted poorly to their first goal and made it a game of basketball for 15 minutes because of being too open, but we were always going to score more goals because we kept creating chances.”
Morias put the Daggers in front on 14 minutes when driving at the Barnet defence and firing past Jake Askew.
A tremendous save from Elliot Justham in palming Ryan De Havilland’s strike around the post kept the Daggers’ lead in tact and that save proved crucial as, moments later, Morias outmuscled Jordan Thomas and ran more than half the length of the pitch before picking out the bottom corner.
Morias completed a 26-minute hat-trick by superbly rounding off an intricate, free-flowing move which involved McCallum and Mauro Vilhete.
McCallum then added his name to the scoresheet before Barnet’s miserable first half was rubber-stamped by Weston getting in on the act with a drilled effort.
The Bees hit back with two Powell goals in as many minutes to reduce the arrears early in the second half.
The comeback was well and truly on when Reynolds diverted a loose ball into the back of his own net, while Wes Fonguck failed to take a guilt-edged chance after finding himself through on goal.
Dagenham rounded off victory when, either side of Will Wright striking the post, Robinson fired home and McCallum completed his brace.
Barnet chief Dean Brennan said: “The first half was not acceptable. I’ve never had a half-time team talk like that before. We showed a bit of pride in the second half, but it was all too late.
“We need to make sure we bounce back, , showing character and commitment
“But we can’t have these Jekyll and Hyde performances.”
STAR MAN: Junior Morias (Dagenham)
ATT: 2,010
ENTERTAINMENT: ★★★★★
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