Make no mistake, we were going down. As we lost game after game, each with less vigour shown than the last, it was obvious that we were on a steady decline which would culminate in us playing Vanarama National League South football next term because, for all the effort and endeavour, we lacked the quality to survive in a cruel and unforgiving division. We weren't too far away, yet we constantly fell short; no owner, an inexperienced squad - no hope. The campaign had unfolded exactly as we feared it would.
That is in no way a message of disrespect to the team, who fought harder than any previous Daggers side and this was typified by Elliott Romain's work rate, but we simply weren't good enough. One of the worst starts any team had made to a season in non league's top tier throughout the last decade had already left us a monumental task as early as September. The first win eventually came, and was followed by a second, but it was only papering over the cracks, proven by the fact we lost our next five. Yet, in the second week of December, here we are. The most in-form team in the National League with four straight victories in a run of eighteen points collected from a possible 21, we're playing some glorious football and look a completely transformed side to the one in August. I remember Ben Goodliffe urging the fans to 'stick with us' after our game at Halifax in the third week of the season. We have, and here's the reward: nine points off the playoffs, relegation concerns seemingly a distant memory. Amongst those successes have come some fearless displays against very talented sides, too. Nobody can argue that we've had a generous run of form because Harrogate and Fylde, who both visited Victoria Road two weeks apart, are two teams who will be up there come April - we beat them both. Key to this has been some big signings, namely Balanta and loanees Wilkinson and Onariase, who have been the missing piece to the Daggers. As well as that, you have Munns, without whom we are a different side. It's not just quality that we have, but determination. Last week at Hartlepool, nobody would've given us a chance as we slumped into stoppage time a goal behind, but we somehow bagged two late goals to win the game in spite of one of our worst performances in a while. We dug in and proved that we never give up. That never happened months ago because there was no belief but, even when we didn't apply too much pressure on Saturday, we knew that we were capable of scoring when the chance came. There are bigger tests to come, though. Our festive period provides a huge challenge as we face three games against the current top two, travelling to Salford before a double-header against Orient. In addition to that there's the small matter of Barnet's trip to Victoria Road at the end of the month, which promises to be tense. Therefore, with it being almost inevitable that drop points in the coming weeks, we need to make it easier on ourselves by winning today. The opposition today are FC Halifax Town, always a difficult team to read. It seems traditional for them to enjoy a blistering start, where they top the table and look like genuine contenders, before a plummeting descent drags them into a survival battle. They were second after defeating us in August, yet since then have endured a dramatic decline which sees them 16th ahead of this weekend's reverse battle, directly below us in the table. From what I understand there's pressure on the head of manager Jamie Fullarton, who seemed to be doing a very stable job, but seems to have stagnated somewhat. The manner in which he steered the Shaymen clear of the drop last season deserves immense credit, however he seems unable to halt their slip this time around. Having won just a single away game all season, itself coming on opening day against Braintree, many of their supporters are expecting a defeat this weekend, which could seal Fullarton's fate. Last week they had a positive distraction from their domestic woes as they hosted AFC Wimbledon in the second round of the FA Cup, a tie that they earned after impressively beating Morecambe in a first round replay. While they acquitted themselves well against the League 1 Wombles, ultimately they couldn't bridge the sizeable gap in quality, but it wasn't without a very good effort from the team. Yet that journey is over and it's back to league action for the Yorkshire outfit. Their vital victory against Dover Athletic a fortnight ago was their only three points haul in fourteen matches, which saw some heavy defeats on the road including a 3-0 reverse at Aldershot and 4-0 demolition away to Ebbsfleet United. They still have some talented players, mainly their main asset Matty Kosylo, who will be one to watch this weekend. His trickery and pace has proven our undoing in the past. Should today's encounter emulate previous meetings then it will be an open, attacking game of football. Seven goals were shared throughout last season as both sides won their home games, with Daggers prevailing 3-1 at home at a time when Halifax sat top. We made two trips to the MBI Shay Stadium but only one game got played and it resulted in a 2-1 defeat for us on a cold Tuesday night. So it's another test for the team and we can't take anything for granted. We can't play as badly as we did throughout spells seven days ago, yet at least you know that we won't be giving up under any circumstances. This is a game we're very capable of winning and it will stand us in good stead ahead of the Christmas run-in. Keep doing us proud, Up the Dags.
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January 2024
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