Daggers 4-2 Barnet – JPT round 1

——————-Thompson——————-
Okunghae—–Boardman—Uddin——Griffiths
Graham——-Southam—Taiwo——Patterson
————–Benson—-Nwokeji————–

After fielding an unchanged team (apart from the departure of Dom Green) for the first 4 league matches, Dagenham & Redbridge made a total of 7 changes for their JPT clash with Barnet. The visitors had the unwanted honour of being only one of two teams to be stuck on 0 points after the first 4 games. After being mauled 5-1 by Chester (who the Daggers beat 6-0 on the opening day) at the weekend, it seemed as if this tie would be no problem for the League 2 leaders.

A quick start from the Daggers saw Mark Nwokeji have his shot saved only for Paul Benson to slide the ball home from the rebound. However, just like the Port Vale game on Saturday, the Daggers were made to pay for some sloppy defending as Barnet levelled just a minute later. Both teams were going for it at this stage with neither side looking comfortable in defence. In particular Jon Boardman seemed to be getting caught out and a slow reaction from a cross saw the Barnet player get in front of him and head home for a 2-1 lead.

Nevertheless this was as good as it got for the visitors. Midway through the first half Mark Nwokeji managed to turn and find the back of the net from 6 yards to equalise before Paul Benson beat the offside trap and expertly chipped over the goalkeepers head to give Dagenham a 3-2 lead at half time.

Although this was not the most efficient Daggers performance of the season, it is worth remembering that they made 7 changes before kick off. Even so, Richard Graham was performing well on the right whilst Mark Nwokeji was proving himself to be a very handy alternative to Benson and Strevens up front.

The second half was a much quieter affair. Peggy Lvonkdo made his debut after arriving on a 1 month loan from Southend. The midfielder looked to have quick feet and hungry for the ball. Once again it seems as if John Still had found another hungry young player.

The only real noticable moment of the 2nd half was a penalty won by the Daggers after good work from substitute Jon Nurse. Glen Southam stepped up and smashed past the keeper to give the Daggers a 4-2 victory.

Although not as fluent as people would have hoped, this is a good result which will keep the confidence and the feel good factor amongst players and fans at the club.

ROLL ON BRENTFORD!!