On Thursday I said here "Please John Still and the lads, can you surprise
me on Saturday and get a result!" Well done then all involved in scrapping
together a 1-0 win at a very tough place to visit, Hereford's Edgar Street to
lift some of the gloom of January..
The
Daggers deepening injury problems meant that Jake Leberl was missing on Saturday
along with Mark Janney and Lee Flynn, who had been predicted to return, and Tim
Cole out for two months. In came Danny Foster at right back with Lee Goodwin
(right) moving inside and Anni Uddin pushing up to midfield once more. Back also
came Glen Southam and Steve Clark who were unavailable against Bishops Stortford.
The
Bulls pretty much dominated the match throughout, but the Daggers seemed to
always get in a block or a tackle at the right moment, restricting the home side
to half chances. When they did get a shot in, there was Tony Roberts (left)
again and again to make the save.
The injury crisis soon worsened when Lee Goodwin felt his hamstring go and
had to limp off on 25 minutes. The replacement was Tony Boot and the whole team
shuffled round to accommodate the change, Mackail-Smith moving out wide, Bruce
inside, Uddin back into the back four.
Despite
the setback the Daggers soon had their noses in front. Glen Southam (right)
clipped a free kick into the area and there was Anwar Uddin whose flick header
went in at the far post. Chris Moore almost made it 2-0 just seconds later
but was denied by a last gasp tackle by Simon Travis.
The Bulls had a couple of chances to pull back level before half time but
found Roberts' goal unbreachable, but it was pretty clear that the second half
would bring an onslaught on the Daggers goal. Craig Mackail-Smith limped in to
the break with an ankle problem and failed to return, Shane Blackett replacing
him.
Sure enough the Bulls piled forward, David Brown and Tom Smith both going
close, but the Daggers looked threatening on the break. Chris Moore got clear of
the Hereford defence but shot wide when Tony Boot was in all sorts of space and
shortly after this Paul Bruce was put away by Steve Clark only for Mawson to
save.
As the end of the game approached, Hereford piled on more pressure and the
Daggers threw themselves in the way more and more desperately all of the back
four playing magnificently to hang on to the lead. Ashley Vickers denied Purdie,
while Uddin did likewise to get in the way of a Brown effort.
There were four minutes added time during which Hereford had a couple more
chances, but in the end the Daggers hung on somehow to take all three points.
A great win then, not necessarily in terms of the performance, but in
character. It leaves the Daggers 13th but the closeness of the race above them saw
several of the top half lose, leaving the them still only six points off 4th
place.
On the debit side, with the team already carrying a number of injuries,
several more knocks were picked up today. Both Lee Goodwin (hamstring) and Craig
Mackail-Smith (ankle) having to be withdrawn, and by the end of the 90 Scott
Griffiths (left) had also limped off and Paul Bruce was also feeling a
knock.
Already missing were Tim Cole (knee), Mark Janney (thigh strain) and Lee
Flynn with a back injury. Jake Leberl has bruising on his neck and shoulders and
missed out today leaving the Daggers squad looking a little threadbare.
It will be interesting to see what sort of team takes the field in the
virtually meaningless GLS Cup game at Ashford against Margate on Tuesday and the
Daggers face three home games in a week next week, starting with the visit of
Gravesend & Northfleet on Saturday.
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