VNL#35 - Daggers 3 Solihull Moors 2
The early kick-off time, a gesture to facilitate the funeral of Prince Philip, wasn't the only thing vastly unconventional about this home game. We were dangerous, energetic, and played on the front foot. Above all else, it was an entertaining watch for a contingent of supporters who have been starved of such performances for the vast majority of what has been a disappointing campaign. Following a 3-2 victory over Solihull Moors, though, we move up to our highest league position of the season. That statistic carries positive connotations, but it's also a poor reflection of the past few months, where we would have been expected to compete in the top half as an absolute minimum. Such ambitions were not unrealistic, either, given the financial budget at our disposal. While those problems still linger, today is a day where the positivity supersedes the disappointment, which usually takes precedence. We've registered back-to-back victories for the first time in ages, while also scoring three times, a similarly rare occurrence. McMahon opted for an unchanged lineup and the commanding performance vindicated that decision, as everybody put in an exceptional shift. Leading the side, in every sense, was Balanta again. Sporting the captain's armband, he recorded a goal and assist against Eastleigh, repeating the feat here. He's bang in form and hitting very good standards, not just in terms of attacking contributions but his all-round display too. It's bringing the best out of McCallum, who has been excellent in the past week, dominating defenders just as he was brought into the club to do. There might not have been a deserves goal for him, but there was for Saunders and it was his long-awaited first for the Daggers. He's deserved it for a long time, and it was very important as it set us enroute to a victory from behind. Unfortunately he came off at half time due to picking up an injury, but his contribution had already been made. He's looking like a real player of late. The only blemish, then, was a second for the Moors in stoppage time, giving the game an unmerited sense of closeness. That disappointment quickly subsided though when the final whistle sounded, confirming a richly-deserved three points. The task is now to build on them; a very palatable run of upcoming games could enable us to do just that.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
WRITERArchives
May 2024
|