Adam Rooney was playing Europa League football with Aberdeen not too long ago. Nathan Pond was the figurehead of Fleetwood, two leagues above, for whom he chipped in with many goals from defence as recently as last season. Winger Danny Lloyd, also plying his trade in the third tier of English football, was on a wage of 80k a year at Peterborough and another player competing in his division was Rory Gaffney, an important asset to Bristol Rovers especially during the season they were promoted to League 1.
Then you have Danny Whitehead, who learned his trade at West Ham as a youngster and helped Macclesfield to their National League title win last season. Finally, completing their list of players that should be playing at a higher standard, Matt Green from Lincoln City. He chipped in with fifteen goals as the Imps challenged at the top of League 2 in 2017/18. Managing them all is the well-known Graham Alexander, while billionaire Peter Lim and Manchester United's Class of 92' shareholders Gary Neville, Nicky Butt, Phil Neville, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs all keep a keen eye on things. That was the challenge that awaited Dagenham & Redbridge, whose biggest signings this season arrived from Boreham Wood and Ebbsfleet United. The core of our team consisted, by contrast, of the likes of Harry Phipps and Alex McQueen, who would go on to compete fiercely with Salford's stars. Phipps was released by Maidstone and McQueen was a signing we could only get for six months because of financial limitations. Other members of our starting lineup were academy graduate Liam Gordon, Gavin Hoyte who signed on the cheap after leaving Eastleigh and a few loanees. It was almost a different world to what faced us. While the Daggers team huddled prior to kick off, Salford merely stood in their positions with casual nonchalance, as if the task of brushing Dagenham aside was so easy it didn't need to be discussed. Yet two hours later the same red shirts were once again standing around, this time watching a sea of yellow shirts celebrate with their delighted supporters after inflicting Salford's first home defeat of the season. In 2018/19 they'd averaged 2.5 points at the Peninsula Stadium, where they'd lost just once in 2018. It was a truly brilliant, battling display from the boys. We had to withstand a lot of pressure as is to be expected when Salford have that amount of quality amongst their ranks, but in the end I think it was a victory we deserved. A lot of territory went to the hosts' who put us under sustained spells of pressure yet never really had too many clear-cut chances. In the end, we were composed and managed the game superbly. The goals were absolutely brilliant. Balanta and Wilkinson both conjured up tremendous headers but they were just as influential at the other end where one of them would smash the ball away just when it seemed as if a goal was looming. Not only that, but our strikers showed their intelligence by tempting fouls to earn us a reprieve from the danger. Everybody on the pitch fought their hardest. It's another example of how far we've come - nobody expected us to get even a point at Salford, let alone three. We're the most in-form team in the league and that's a testament to the no-fear attitude with which we approach every game. Every player is giving everything to the cause and really epitomising what it means to be a Dagger. We simply wouldn't lie down, even when it seemed for all the world like they were on the verge of finding the net, one of our lot would burst their lungs to get a block or tackle in and for me that sums up our recent turnaround. We have the quality as demonstrated by two outstandingly good headers, we've got the belief to beat any team and you can see that by the way we were unfazed, but above all else we've got desire and that's one department that Salford couldn't use their millions to outdo us in. All in all an absolutely fantastic day and stands us in great stead for a busy few days, Salford away is a harder game than Orient at home in my opinion so who knows what will happen there? They won't be looking forward to it, that's for sure! So proud of the boys, we're an absolute pleasure to watch and you could see how much it meant to the team. Oh what fun it is to see the Dagenham win away! Merry Christmas
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January 2024
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