The following words are stated with maximum caution, and caveated by the fact we're only three games into a gruelling campaign that will feature incredible turbulence over the next ten months, but... Dagenham & Redbridge look the real deal. There were murmurings during a goal-laden pre-season, amplified when we duly dismantled title contenders Stockport County on day one. The hype train then gathered further momentum last weekend as we defeated both Bromley and Barnet within the space of a frenetic 48 hour period, after which we sat top of the division having also registered more goals than anyone else, at an average of three per game. Joining us in the 100% record club are Chesterfield and Boreham Wood, neither of whom have conceded yet. However, both have benefitted from a generous start to the season in which they've been pitted against sides they would be expected to beat. Both have played Aldershot, tipped to struggle, while Chesterfield have also entertained Wealdstone and King's Lynn - incidentally our next two games - while Boreham Wood have won at Weymouth and Dover. This is not meant to discredit the Spireites nor the Wood, who as the saying goes can only beat what's infront of them, but rather to emphasise how impressive our start has been.
Now we hurtle into a more favourable run of fixtures ourselves, with a televised away trip to King's Lynn sandwiched between home games against Wealdstone and Weymouth. All three were promoted to the division prior to last season, and we managed to obtain 16/18 points across our six games against them, only a last-gasp Weymouth goal in our clash at Victoria Road preventing a clean sweep. Having fine-tuned our squad over the summer, we'll be looking to replicate that impressive form against the same trio this time around. First up is Wealdstone this weekend, which coincides with Non League Day, a long standing initative aiming to boost attendances below EFL level while the top two divisions of the English game enter a period of temporary hibernation for the first of many designated International breaks dotted throughout the campaign. Though largely immaterial at this stage, currently being the best ranked non-league club heading into a weekend that casts more of a spotlight on this level of football, is a lovely feeling. Hopefully it's still the case come Saturday 5pm. We'll be reunited with two players from differing phases of our recent history in Medy Elito and Andrew Eleftheriou. Though the Stones shipped an astonishing amount of goals at the back end of the last campaign, including five to us as we completed the double, they appear to be more resolute now, as exhibited by a gritty 0-0 draw against Southend in their most recent outing. Following that, we entertain a pair of coastal sides during mid-September - King's Lynn (A) and Weymouth (H), the former being televised on BT Sport with a delayed kick-off time of 5.20pm. This gives the Daggers an opportunity to showcase their capabilities to a wider audience and uphold the status of potential promotion candidates which we've already cultivated with our promising start to the season so far.
These three games present a real opportunity for points, and it's not beyond the realms of possibility that we triumph in all three, such is the confidence within our ranks. Regardless of the fact we've exceeded expectations so far, we really can't be lowering our standards to accepting anything less than maximum points from this trio of matches.
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May 2024
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