Nobody within the top seven divisions of the English footballing pyramid have registered more goals or points than Dagenham & Redbridge, around whom there is now a significant buzz that is beginning to expand beyond the confines of their Victoria Road home. Explosive attacking firepower has negated the undeniable deficiencies at the opposite end of the pitch, yet that is merely an (albeit undesirable) bi-product of the brave brand of football deployed by manager Daryl McMahon and his carefully-manufactured squad of highly-talented players, whose authoritative performances have helped cultivate a strong bond with supporters for the first time in several years. Everybody is pushing in the right direction towards a united cause. This has been no more evident than in a battling victory over Weymouth on Tuesday evening that was characterised by immense determination and belief. It was their fifth victory of the campaign and an incredible four of those have been from behind, partially inspired by the fact that their fanbase's vocal support has never wavered in the face of a setback. When the Daggers went 2-1 down shortly before the break in midweek, the home faithful along the North Terrace immediately belted out support rather than derisory abuse, for which they were rewarded with a stunning second-half fightback. This kept the club at the summit of the National League table, a fitting end to an occasion which marked three years exactly since the completion of the takeover by the American consortium. Peter Freund and Craig Unger, the figureheads of that group, have repeatedly reiterated their desire to oversee promotion back to the EFL, and after a sustained period of frustrating underachievement maybe the foundations for that are finally beginning to formulate. AFTER SIX GAMES...
2016/17 - Wins 5, Draws 0, Defeats 1 | Points: 15 | Position: 2nd | Goals 12:4 | Top Scorer - Hawkins (4) 2017/18 - Wins 3, Draws 3, Defeats 0 | Points: 12 | Position: 1st | Goals 16:10 | Top Scorer - Whitely (6) 2018/19 - Wins 0, Draws 1, Defeats 5 | Points: 1 | Position: 24th | Goals 6:11 | Top Scorer - Romain, McQ (2) 2019/20 - Wins 2, Draws 1, Defeats 3 | Points: 7 | Position: 16th | Goals 7:10 | Top Scorer - Balanta (3) 2020/21 - Wins 1, Draws 1, Defeats 4 | Points: 4 | Position: 20th | Goals 3:8 | Top Scorer - Balanta (2) 2021/22 - Wins 5, Draws 1, Defeats 0 | Points: 16 | Position: 1st | Goals 17:8 | Top Scorer - PMC, Walker (4) The early success can be attributed to several factors, one of which is McMahon's willingness to make decisive changes at crucial points in the game. Myles Weston was introduced at half time against Bromley (H) and King's Lynn (A), transforming the game on both occasions, while Mo Sagaf had a similar influence at home to Weymouth. George Saunders struck the equaliser versus Wealdstone shortly after entering the action and Josh Walker also came on at Stockport to score, albeit this was an enforced change, but nonetheless underlined a trend that has continued to develop since. Daryl has proven as adept at setting up a team as he is altering one, consistently keeping faith with a preferred 3-4-3 formation that enables him to best incorporate a collection of permanent mainstays into the side - seven players have started every game, and that figure would probably be higher were it not for a couple of disruptive injuries occurring. Continuity has been key: there were only four additions over the summer, all of whom integrated seamlessly into a settled environment and this has been vital in sparking a run of form nearly identical to how we finished the previous campaign. Indeed, over the last sixteen competitive fixtures stretching to mid-April, there have been twelve victories, three draws and just a solitary reverse. It's a formidable record which now needs to be replicated on a grander scale over the course of a full, demanding campaign; in order for that to happen, we need to eradicate the sloppy early mistakes alluded to earlier. That we've trailed prior to the ten-minute mark in four of our six games so far may epitomise the spirit in the team to recover, but it also exposes a potential vulnerability. Sooner or later, you feel, we won't be able to rely on our strikeforce getting us out of trouble. Of course, supporters would gratefully accept an open 4-2 victory every week but it doesn't seem sustainable over a long-term period. Thankfully, though, it's proving successful at the minute and much of that is down to the fact that we've got scoring outlets all over the pitch - our centre half Will Wright alone has amassed as many goals as the entire team had after six games last season. Add to that the goalscoring prowess of Walker, McCallum, Weston, Robinson, Vilhete...it's not hard to understand how we're banging them in for fun. WHERE THEY FINISHED
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WRITERArchives
January 2024
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