Having escaped Winter relatively unscathed from adverse conditions here in Dagenham, it was disappointing to see an unexpected flurry of snow and freezing winds scupper an exciting weekend of National League action, including our trip to Guiseley, which fell foul of the weather. The Lions confirmed the inevitable cancellation on Thursday afternoon, which at least saved the team and most fans from travelling.
Admittedly, this decision was much easier to accept than our last postponed match in West Yorkshire, when Halifax Town called our game off with just over an hour to kick-off after 'heavy rainfall' in the area. Both the club and supporters were severely inconvenienced that day, so credit to Guiseley for thinking of us this time with the early decision. We will now head to Nethermoor Park on Tuesday 10th April with a 7.45pm kick-off. It will of course mean our second midweek trip to Yorkshire in the space of a few weeks, which is hardly ideal but at least guarantees an action-packed end to the season with a very busy schedule for John Still and his team. While a dull, football-less weekend will offer a reminder that pre-season is slowly creeping closer, it at least gives everybody an extra week to recover, especially given that we are now down to the bare bones of our squad. Thankfully, though, the players have really stepped up in recent weeks and will probably be disappointed not to have a chance to build on a series of good recent performances. Saturday's last-gasp victory over Chester was as deserved as it was fortunate due to the way in which the team dug in and refused to give up. That followed a tremendous performance at Torquay seven days prior so an extra week or rest will hopefully allow the players to recuperate their energy even more, especially given the magnitude of our next contest. We welcome Tranmere Rovers to Victoria Road in a 3pm kick-off, which will be a fantastic opportunity to test what the team is made of. When we've played similarly-good sides in the form of Aldershot and Dover recently, we've matched both in every department yet been beaten by either glimpses of quality or moments of madness. Sadly, I think the time has passed to describe this as a 'play-off clash' but with the league still incredibly tight, it's not completely beyond the realms of possibility for a late push. That's probably the last thing Dagenham can imagine at the moment, but if we can replicate our recent displays, especially with a game in hand, then who knows what could happen? Stranger things have happened to us this season. One of the main catalysts for our recent improvement in form has been down to the freedom we are playing with. Nothing is really expected of us and that's the exact reason why we done so well last campaign. It would've been brilliant to play Guiseley this weekend given that they're rock bottom; of course that means they're fighting for their lives and we can't take anything for granted but we'd definitely fancy ourselves. We can't underestimate them though - we made that mistake in November. So it may be a dull weekend with no game for the Daggers, and only one National League clash, but there's plenty to look forward to before the end of April.
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May 2024
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